Electric Blue Crayfish - Care Guide
Not only is the Electric Blue Crayfish simply gorgeous, it is also very active and fascinating to watch! Their coloration is so tremendously bright, it seems like it can't possibly be natural - but it is! This is one of the most colorful creatures you will ever find that can live in a freshwater aquarium.
Overview
The Electric Blue Crayfish hails from Florida, specifically areas east of St. Johns River, various locations south of Levy and Marion Counties, and even some of the Florida Keys. In fact, they are the only crayfish species native to the state of Florida. Alternative names for this crayfish include the Blue Crayfish, Everglade Crayfish, and Florida Crayfish. Interestingly, it is the lack of a particular gene that causes the brilliant blue coloration of these crayfish.
These crayfish can live in almost any freshwater aquarium and are among the toughest freshwater tank inhabitants available to the hobby. These are very active creatures that love to explore and do not spend all of their time under rocks. They are well known for keeping tanks clean and free of waste, and are especially useful in large aquariums of 30 gallons or more. Due to their maximum potential size, they should not be kept in aquariums any smaller than 20 gallons. These crayfish can live up to 5 or 6 years old with the proper care.
If you are planning to keep this crayfish with other crayfish or other large types of fish and invertebrates, is important to keep them in a tank with plenty of hiding places. Crayfish are vulnerable when they are shedding their exoskeleton, so landscaping the tank with live plants, driftwood, rocks, and/or caves is vital to their survival. Also, it is normal for a crayfish to eat his/her exoskeleton after molting.
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Water Chemistry Tip: Stability is always more important than exact values! Always make small part wise changes to water conditions!
Notes from the Aquatic Arts Staff:
Though crayfish are NOT friendly, they can often live with fast-moving fish (such as rasboras, danios, etc.). They are fairly slow and only a sick fish would be able to be caught by the crayfish. We have kept them with guppies and dwarf shrimp, and have never seen a death ourselves, but we cannot guarantee that dwarf shrimp will be safe if kept with a large crayfish. Some crayfish have also been known to eat snails, though this is does not always happen.
Feeding
Crayfish will typically eat whatever they can catch, but since they are slow-moving, they are rarely able to harm most types of fish or shrimp. They prefer foods like invertebrate pellets or blanched vegetables (such as zucchini, carrots, and spinach), but will also eat fish food and algae wafers.
We feed and recommend our Spirulina Flakes, Sinking Pellets, Algae Wafers, And Glassgarten's BacterAE.
Warning! While copper is a required nutrient of invertebrates, we recommend you avoid any food product, medication, or plant fertilizer that contains Copper in any form. Copper is toxic to invertebrates in excess. Many commercial fish foods, medications, and plant fertilizers contain copper or more commonly copper sulfate. Always look at the ingredient list for any product going into the aquarium to ensure they are copper free.
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What to Expect from Us
We generally ship young crayfish that are anywhere from 2 to 4 inches in length. They will already be a brilliant blue color, but their color should intensify even more as the crayfish matures and grows larger. This crayfish may TEMPORARILY change color after molting, which may occur during shipping. If your crayfish is not blue and you find a molt in the bag or in your aquarium, do not worry - this is normal and the bright color should return in 2 weeks or less.
We ship the crayfish in plastic cups bagged in water to help ensure they do not escape. These cups are injected with medical grade oxygen before they are placed in a box and shipped out. This method of packaging the crayfish has proven to be MUCH more successful than our previous method (shipping them in a container with paper towel soaked in water).
All Aquatic Arts brand plants and animals come with a 100% live arrival guarantee, plus free email support directly from the highly educated customer service staff! All that we require is that you send us a clear, digital picture of the unopened bag of DOAs, and we will replace them free of charge.
