Tank Mate for a Crayfish

[Celtic Wanderer]

For Christmas I bought my 3 year old a 3.5 gallon tank and a crayfish and
boy does he LOVE it. He gets so excited when he wakes up from his nap and
it's time to feed Jack the crayfish. Jack also happens to be my son's name.
He is not very orginal when naming things.

Now he wants to add some fish. I am pretty sure there is nothing I can
really add to the tank that will not end up as a entree, but I tought I
would double check. It is a 3.5 gallon tank with filter but no heater. Are
there any fish, even a goldfish, I could add to the tank? I was even
thinking one or two cory cats, I have them in my aquarium and they seem
pretty fast. Or Jack is a big fan of red tailed sharks, would they work? I
know I am grasping at straws, but he's three and I really like seeing him
excited about his first aquarium!

Thanks for you help,

--
Celtic Wanderer
http://home.comcast.net/~Celtic_wanderer

[Gill Passman]

Celtic Wanderer wrote:
> For Christmas I bought my 3 year old a 3.5 gallon tank and a crayfish and
> boy does he LOVE it. He gets so excited when he wakes up from his nap and
> it's time to feed Jack the crayfish. Jack also happens to be my son's name.
> He is not very orginal when naming things.
>
> Now he wants to add some fish. I am pretty sure there is nothing I can
> really add to the tank that will not end up as a entree, but I tought I
> would double check. It is a 3.5 gallon tank with filter but no heater. Are
> there any fish, even a goldfish, I could add to the tank? I was even
> thinking one or two cory cats, I have them in my aquarium and they seem
> pretty fast. Or Jack is a big fan of red tailed sharks, would they work? I
> know I am grasping at straws, but he's three and I really like seeing him
> excited about his first aquarium!
>
> Thanks for you help,
>

You are pretty limited on a 3.5 gall coldwater tank. It's too small for
goldfish and without a heater unsuitable for any tropicals - certainly
way too small for a Red tail shark.

Personally I'd see if he maintains his interest and, if he does,
consider getting a larger tropical set up for him. Of course, at 3 years
old he is a bit too young to participate too much in their upkeep. My 4
year old daughter is very keen on the fish - I get her to help as much
as possible including observing behaviour and a little bit of feeding
controlled amounts....

Gill

[Elaine T]

Celtic Wanderer wrote:
> For Christmas I bought my 3 year old a 3.5 gallon tank and a crayfish and
> boy does he LOVE it. He gets so excited when he wakes up from his nap and
> it's time to feed Jack the crayfish. Jack also happens to be my son's name.
> He is not very orginal when naming things.
>
> Now he wants to add some fish. I am pretty sure there is nothing I can
> really add to the tank that will not end up as a entree, but I tought I
> would double check. It is a 3.5 gallon tank with filter but no heater. Are
> there any fish, even a goldfish, I could add to the tank? I was even
> thinking one or two cory cats, I have them in my aquarium and they seem
> pretty fast. Or Jack is a big fan of red tailed sharks, would they work? I
> know I am grasping at straws, but he's three and I really like seeing him
> excited about his first aquarium!

I've never kept a crayfish myself, however crays have a reputation for
catching and eating fish. Some species of crays are better fishermen
than others. If Jack is really excited about fish, it might be pretty
upsetting to him to find his new pets disappearing.

That said, if you want to try putting fish in with Jack the Crayfish, go
with temperate species rather than tropicals like cories and red-tailed
sharks. White cloud minnows are ideal for small, unheated setups.
Zebra danios are also good if the water stays above 65F. You might
improve the fishes chance of survival by putting some dense plastic
plants in the tank so they have a good place to hide.

Personally, I'd upgrade to a cheap 10 gallon tank (or even a 20 long)
and divide it. There are a lot of coldwater fish suitable for half of a
10 or 20 gallon tank. Rosy red minnows (often sold as feeders), white
cloud minnows, zebra danios, Corydoras paleatus, and killifish come to
mind. Goldfish get awfully big for half of a 10, but one could probably
be permanently housed in 2/3 of a 20 gallon tank.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[CanadianCray]

What type of crayfish is it? Unless it is a dwarf cray a 3.5 gal is gonna be
too small for it when grown to full size. Also as you have said anything you
put in there will end up being dinner. In a 3.5gal that's guaranteed.

"Celtic Wanderer" > wrote in message
...
> For Christmas I bought my 3 year old a 3.5 gallon tank and a crayfish and
> boy does he LOVE it. He gets so excited when he wakes up from his nap and
> it's time to feed Jack the crayfish. Jack also happens to be my son's
> name. He is not very orginal when naming things.
>
> Now he wants to add some fish. I am pretty sure there is nothing I can
> really add to the tank that will not end up as a entree, but I tought I
> would double check. It is a 3.5 gallon tank with filter but no heater.
> Are there any fish, even a goldfish, I could add to the tank? I was even
> thinking one or two cory cats, I have them in my aquarium and they seem
> pretty fast. Or Jack is a big fan of red tailed sharks, would they work?
> I know I am grasping at straws, but he's three and I really like seeing
> him excited about his first aquarium!
>
> Thanks for you help,
>
> --
> Celtic Wanderer
> http://home.comcast.net/~Celtic_wanderer
>

[Mariachi]

Hi I have a blue claw cray (I'm in australia so it might be differnt or
something) he is only small around 7-10cm (4") and I put in 3 guppies
and he ate them in less than a week. So i put a divider in (I have a
14g tank)....made of perspex (sp?) with some holes drilled into it. I
keep the filter on the crayfish side and have 4 mollies on the other
side. They are all doing ok. The two females had babies a week ago and
they all swam over to the cray side...I think the cray is slowly eating
through them as I started off with around 25 babies and now have only
like 12-15..which is fine by me since I don't have space for all that
fish. Sometimes the cray tries to attack the fish on the other side and
"storms" the barrier...I think it offends him.

Anyway I think it depends on how destructive your cray is..i've heard
of ones that let fish land on them and others that wait in plants to
dive on fish. But i've heard guppies go well with cray since they breed
like crazy so you will always have fish in there.

[bassett]

Have you considered another Crayfish, called Jill

[Alpha]

That is a very bad suggestion in a captive environment! Crayfish are nasty
towards their own.

"bassett" > wrote in message
...
> Have you considered another Crayfish, called Jill
>

[CanadianCray]

That is not true at all. Don't speak in generalities when speaking about
numerous species. Many species get along well in very crowded tanks. It is
totally dependent on the species & if the male is in mating form or not.

I know 50 gallon tanks with over 150 8" C. Quads "Redclaw" crays in them.

"Alpha" > wrote in message
...
> That is a very bad suggestion in a captive environment! Crayfish are
> nasty towards their own.
>
> "bassett" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Have you considered another Crayfish, called Jill
>>
>
>

[Mariachi]

I posted in here yesterday but I think my message has gone missing so
I'll post it again.

I have a 3-4" blue claw cray from australia in my 14g tank. I tried
some guppies in there (3) but they were eaten in less than a week. So i
made a divider out of perspex and have 4 mollies on one side and the
cray on the other side (the filter is on the cray side) there's holes
drilled in to the perspex to allow water flow. The crayfish sometimes
rushes at the barrier trying to attack the fish on the other side and
the mollies had babies around new years and there is only half left. So
bascially fish don't do too well with crayfish. But i've heard of
crayfish that let fish land on them and all that. So i am hoping the
babies mollies that survive living w/ the cray will know to avoid him
and survive in the long run.

[Celtic Wanderer]

Thanks for all your advice. I think for now I am just going to leave well
enough alone.

Celtic Wanderer

"Celtic Wanderer" > wrote in message
...
> For Christmas I bought my 3 year old a 3.5 gallon tank and a crayfish and
> boy does he LOVE it. He gets so excited when he wakes up from his nap and
> it's time to feed Jack the crayfish. Jack also happens to be my son's
> name. He is not very orginal when naming things.
>
> Now he wants to add some fish. I am pretty sure there is nothing I can
> really add to the tank that will not end up as a entree, but I tought I
> would double check. It is a 3.5 gallon tank with filter but no heater.
> Are there any fish, even a goldfish, I could add to the tank? I was even
> thinking one or two cory cats, I have them in my aquarium and they seem
> pretty fast. Or Jack is a big fan of red tailed sharks, would they work?
> I know I am grasping at straws, but he's three and I really like seeing
> him excited about his first aquarium!
>
> Thanks for you help,
>
> --
> Celtic Wanderer
> http://home.comcast.net/~Celtic_wanderer
>