Upgrading Zoidberg's tank!

[HerpDerp]

I'm excited that I'm upgrading zoidbergs tank and I think this is a "frog forum" but I just had to share! This past fall I caught a crayfish from a small retention pond in a sand pit. It was pretty polluted so I figured he'd be better off in a tank anyways. I couldn't identify him right away because his shell was coated in nasty brown grime so I had to wait for a molt. Finally he molted and I identified him as a virile or northern crayfish. They can get about 5 inches from what I've read. He's in a 5.5 right now so an upgrade is in order!

I thought I would take advantage of the $1 per gallon sale at petco. I'm going to get a 15 long and construct my own lid for it with leftover egg crate and screen from my false bottom. I plan on having a pretty steep grade on the bottom so he can come partially out of the water when he wants to. I'm also buying sand for the new tank to mix with the gravel which I think he'll be quite happy about. I will be sure to post some before and after photos of the new set up too! I'm off to the store later today .

Any other ideas for those of you who are aquarium/crustacean savvy? (Bill perhaps? lol)

[Striped marsh]

Can't wait to see some photos im sure it's gonna look great and Zoidberg will be very happy in his new home, Are you going to Put live plants in there with him?

[HerpDerp]

I'll have to post some pictures tomorrow when the water clears up a bit. It's super cloudy right now thanks to a combo of the new sand and the old water used to seed this tank. I actually ended up getting a 20 long because there weren't any 15 gallons there. Can't say I regret it . I got 3 feeder guppies thinking maybe food, or a cool addition if he decides not to eat them. They've all survived so far so I'm thinking I may be able to get a few more and let them breed a bit. I'm sure Zoidberg wont mind the occasional snack LOL. And I know my WTFs will like the treat once in a while too.

I tried a couple live plants in the 5.5 gallon he was originally in. They lasted about a day before they were all uprooted and snipped up. He did have some fun jamming them in the rocks on the outside of his cave though hehe. So no live plants for this set up.

[HerpDerp]

I know not many people see this, but I'll keep updating anyways! I don't seem to have a clear "before" picture of his old tank since I only got close ups of him. So here are some pictures:
This is Zoidberg in his first home. It was just a 5.5 and about half full, so not much water in there!

This is the whole tank. It looks a little bare since I only have a few decorations from the 5.5, but I'm going to get some of those tall fake plants so they partially float on the surface. Not sure if you can see, but all three feeder guppies are still alive!

I did half sand and half gravel so he has different surfaces to dig in. He seems to appreciate it. These are some rocks that I took out of a river in northern Maine. I boiled them and cleaned them before putting them in.

I just threw these rocks together without really thinking much of it and he decided to dig under one and build up a gravel wall in the front. I'm very excited to see how he "remodels" the set up.


And after putting this in my bedroom it occurred to me that the trickling from the filter might bother me while I try to sleep. I was correct. I ended up unplugging it halfway through the night. SO I've ordered a high quality corner filter that's powered by an air stone to do my filtration. The water level will be brought down a little bit when I get it so he can poke out of the water if he wants. I also forgot to take pictures of the lid I constructed. I'm rather proud of it actually lol. The egg crate that I had leftover wasn't long enough so I have a second 4inch wide piece that I had to make. I left the ends open on both pieces so they interlock together. I love it because I can drop shrimp pellets anywhere in the tank without having to work around a solid lid!

[IrishRonin]

After keeping several crayfish over the years I have learned one thing. It is their tank and they're going to design and shape it as they see fit. They don't seem to like it when we remodel it for them, every time I would set up my tank as I wanted it my blue would have it completely different in 2 days. They are awesome little critters, a lot of fun to watch thanks for sharing

[HerpDerp]

His 5 gallon never looked the same from day to day! I'm just waiting for all that gravel to end up mixed with the sand. In the 5 gallon he would take all of the bigger white rocks and pile them together so I bet he makes a nice pile of black gravel somewhere in the sand LOL.

[Heatheranne]

Very cool! I like the set-up. Can't wait to see his remodeling. I do hope you'll keep us updated.

We used to catch and release crayfish every year from a nearby creek. Fun .

He's great! I love the photos of him peeking out.

[MatthewM1]

heres a care sheet I found for north Americans, it's written for blue cray's but they are just a color morph of the common ones. I've been looking around for info as I'm thinking about getting one in the spring. NORTH AMERICAN CRAYFISH CARE SHEET North American crayfish should be kept at 55

[deranged chipmunk]

Michelle, hit plantedtank.net go to the shrimp and inverts subforum. If you don't find the info you are looking for, just post your questions. It may take a day or two, but there will probably be someone who has or who has kept your species. I know a lot of people keep crays in planted tanks. Just don't go asking for a caresheet, we don't do them.......lol

[HerpDerp]

Matthew: Thanks! I had found that page when I first got my crayfish and hadn't been able to find it since then! A lot of useful information there.

Bill: I can't believe anyone would want to keep crays in a planted tank! I had plants in his tank originally and the pulled them all up and ate them within a few days LOL. I will definitely visit that site though to make sure I'm not missing any good info to have!

And I'll definitely update as he moves things around and as I add more fake plants. I plan on getting some long plastic plants that will come up and partially float on the surface so he has something climb on besides the rocks. I think I may have sent the tank into a mini cycle with the new guppies. It's extremely cloudy now, but I don't have a test kit (I know, shame on me). Not much I can do now but keep up with water changes until it's over and hope that the new filter comes soon!

[MatthewM1]

No problem. do you have a light you place over his tank or do you just use room light? I can't decide what to do for my future set up, I'm leaning towards a lamp with a dimmer on top of the screen so I can set it to a timer

[Heatheranne]

Ha ha ha!!!!

[HerpDerp]

I came home from work to baby guppies! . I'm curious to see how many survive!

[deranged chipmunk]

Good for you!! I came home to find several shrimp that were pregnant

[Heatheranne]

Snack time! Ha ha!

[HerpDerp]

Well Zoidberg fails as a crayfish. I don't think he's eaten a single baby guppy. The parents have munched on them more! Now I just need to figure out what to do with excessive guppy populations... haha.

[HerpDerp]

The duckweed and snails from Bill arrived safely last night. There were a couple extra bits of plant in there too . I tried to keep them out of Zoidberg's reach but he already discovered one. The other one seems safe though. Once I get the light for I'll be able to take some good pictures of it. That will also give the duckweed a chance to explode!

[deranged chipmunk]

Glad to hear the plants made it there safely. Did the snails survive? That duckweed will grow insanely for you once you put a light over it. I don't remember adding any plants, but i have been known to just start tossing things in bags....lol

[HerpDerp]

I'm pretty sure ALL of the snails survived. I was pretty impressed by that lol. The plants were really small. You probably didn't even notice them. One of them is less than an inch tall and kind of looks like Amazon sword or java fern not sure which. The other one is like a viney looking thing... but it's half eaten now LOL. I can't wait to see the duckweed grow!