Crays that are dwarf shrimp safe

3150 Views 24 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Bananariot, Sep 20, 2012

acitydweller

Discussion Starter · Jul 21, 2012

Looking to add a cray to a community tank with micro fish, cpds, cardinals, amano, otto, and pfrs.

Wondering if anyone can recommend any species which are peaceful, non cannibalistic, plant safe, and moderately dwarf shrimp safe.... Tall order I know...

Bamboo shrimp are a fall back if there are no crays meeting the criteria. Just want some variety and for all to play nice. Tank is a 45 gallon.

Thanks in advance

1 - 20 of 25 Posts

Polarize

· #2 · Jul 21, 2012

Crayfish? None that I know of. The most docile ones I know are marbled crayfish. But they are definitely not plant safe.

How about vampire shrimp? They almost look like crays lol. Aquastar had a couple a few weeks back.

somewhatshocked

· #3 · Jul 21, 2012

Even dwarf CPOs will go after shrimp, in my experience. I've also watched them sit on a ledge so they can catch nano fish fry as they swim by.

pglenn

· #4 · Jul 21, 2012

stay away from the bamboo. they rarely last even a year in the most optimal environment. which for them is actually dirty water that they can filter. clean tanks which we all strive for is actually detrimental to them

Kunsthure

· #5 · Jul 21, 2012

pglenn said:
stay away from the bamboo. they rarely last even a year in the most optimal environment. which for them is actually dirty water that they can filter. clean tanks which we all strive for is actually detrimental to them

That's not true at all. They live several years and don't need dirty tanks. They need mature tanks. All aquatic animals need clean water.

I second the vampires. They're awesome!

-Lisa

pglenn

· #6 · Jul 21, 2012

by "dirty" I dont actually mean green/brown smelly water but rather they need food material floating within the water that they can filter out. and they need a decent water current and a perch within that stream they can sit on and extend their filters to catch that material. and most aquarium keepers obsession with "clean" water will take out the things the bamboo actually need for survival. a "mature" tank will substain something like a mandarin (yes thats salt water) that picks "bugs" off the rocks but a bamboo will only eat and survive off what it filters from the water stream. they really dont last in captivity, look at any posts about them

Kunsthure

· #7 · Jul 21, 2012

Show me posts about them the prove you're right. Everything I've read and my personal experience with my bamboo completely contradicts what you contend.

-Lisa

pglenn

· #8 · Jul 21, 2012

not gonna argue and continue hijacking the thread. I'll hold to my analogy to Mandarin's in salt water tanks - both look nice but are only for very experienced aquarists. yes you need a very mature tank and yes you need to think about filtration removing the very things the bamboo shrimp needs.
their delicate nature discussed a bit here - http://www.animalspot.net/bamboo-shrimp.html

somewhatshocked

· #9 · Jul 21, 2012

Lots of shrimpers here on the forum have kept Bamboo Shrimp for years and years with no problem.

I'd hazard a guess that they don't typically die out within a year unless you're doing something wonky.

cantsay39

· #10 · Jul 22, 2012

vampire crayfish~ like bamboo also have fan like claws

Kunsthure

· #11 · Jul 22, 2012

I had four vampires and they are awesome. I would love to have them again but I don't see anyone selling them anymore.

-Lisa

Stevoh

· #12 · Jul 22, 2012

I got some CPO's on the premise that they are plant and fish safe.

While they seem to be plant safe, they are definately not fish safe. Only saving grace is that they are small and depending on the personality very flighty. However, I had a large aggressive female CPO clip off a large portion of the bottom fin on my Angel fish.

But the good news, in my case, is that they seem to be shrimp safe. Shrimp are pretty fast.

Also I am curious where Vampire shrimp are being sold.

reefdive

· #13 · Jul 22, 2012

Vasquezas is a dwarf crayfish that is in fact very timid and not the least bit canabalistic . I am not 100% all planta are safe but most of them seem to be . And the shrimp in my 10 gallon with 20 plus vasquezas roam freely . Cpo are fine unless you have sick or slow moving long fin fish . And especially those insane females .They will even attack the smaller males . Crayfish seem to be weird like that and everyonce in a while one will pop up that cannot stand any other living thing . I have seen this in clarkii , alleni and to a much lesser degree with CPO . I immediately remove the offender and try to find a mate or they go into my big mean tank and are not a problem anymore to the others . Kind of life a crayfish prison . Anyone want some big crays cheap ?

oops I forgot to add giving the Cpo's lots of food and having java moss for them to hang out in seems to eliminate that aggression . I have had the same experience with the mean female and I know others who have as well . Mine would perch on the sponge filter and grab at whatever it could . Of course feeding more and the bottom of the tank being about half covered in java eliminated that behavior

See less See more

ShadowBeast

· #14 · Jul 22, 2012

I've heard cambarellus shufeldtii are pretty timid.

Monster Fish

· #15 · Jul 22, 2012

Vampire shrimp or bamboo shrimp would be nice. Just make sure you have a mature tank (at least 6-12 months old) first before putting them in.

acitydweller

Discussion Starter · #16 · Sep 19, 2012

ShadowBeast said:
I've heard cambarellus shufeldtii are pretty timid.

I wonder if anyone here breeds these guys... blue varieties would be awesome!

Nubster

· #17 · Sep 19, 2012

Never had an issue with these guys....

Cajun Dwarf crayfish (Cambarellus shufeldtii)

See less See more

pinoyghost2

· #18 · Sep 19, 2012

I second the shufeldti...I bred the blue ones last year...had a lot of them, but just sold the last 5 adults yesterday! One guy on aquabid had them a while back.

acitydweller

Discussion Starter · #19 · Sep 19, 2012

wow. im going to have a look! thanks for the advice!

dougolasjr

· #20 · Sep 19, 2012

ShadowBeast said:
I've heard cambarellus shufeldtii are pretty timid.

How big do they get?

1 - 20 of 25 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.