Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Set up your aquarium
• Part 2 of 3: Feed Your Cancer Properly
• Part 3 of 3: Create a Safe Environment for Cancer
• Tips
• Warnings

Crayfish are easy to keep in your home aquarium. All that is needed is to provide the animal with a sufficiently spacious aquarium, suitable food, and a little time and attention. River crayfish are great pets: it's fun to watch them build small hills and mounds for their homes, hide among rocks and algae, or burrow into the gravel at the bottom of an aquarium.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Set up your aquarium

1. 1 Buy or catch a crayfish. Cancer can be purchased from a regular or a tropical fish store.Before buying, read about the different types of crayfish and their needs. It's better to start with one cancer and learn how to properly care for it.
   • Regular red crayfish are cheap, while rarer species such as exotic blue crayfish can be significantly more expensive.
   • In many regions, crayfish are found in shallow areas of rivers and other bodies of water. Take a small net and look for crayfish under the rocks: you may be able to catch a suitable specimen.
2. 2 Prepare for Cancer suitable aquarium. It should be large enough to hold at least 20–40 liters per crayfish. It is best to use an aquarium with a volume of 60-80 liters, especially for large varieties of crayfish. The aquarium should have an air pump or compressor with a long tube (air wall), as if there is a lack of oxygen, the cancer can suffocate and drown.
   • Crayfish prefer cool water in shallow waters and riverbeds, so do not use a heated aquarium.
   • Look for an aquarium with a built-in aeration and filtration system. This will keep the water clean and circulate properly.
3. 3 Fill the aquarium with suitable fresh water. Crayfish are best served with water with a neutral pH (about 7.0). The optimum water temperature is 21–24 ° C. You should have no problem maintaining a suitable water temperature in your aquarium as long as you keep it indoors.
   • It is convenient to control the pH level of the water using a special kit. This kit can be purchased at your pet store or pool supply store.
   • Do not place foreign objects, such as seashells, in the aquarium, as the minerals they contain can alter the pH level of the water.
4. 4 At least once a week clean the water in the aquarium. Crayfish produce a lot of waste and it can be difficult for conventional filtration systems to deal with. Therefore, it is necessary to change the water often enough to keep it clean. Drain ¼ – ½ of all the water from the aquarium regularly and slowly top up with clean fresh water.
   • If the aquarium is not equipped with a filter, the water should be changed twice a week.
   • Use only tube or foam filters. Crayfish love to bury themselves in pebbles, so they are not suitable for bottom filters, in which they can get stuck.
5. 5 Add a few different items to your aquarium. Place rocks, algae or some plastic pipes on the bottom of the aquarium. They will serve as a place for the cancer to play and nooks in which he can hide. It is convenient for crayfish to hide (especially during molting, when they are most vulnerable) in sufficiently large objects, such as hollow stones, pipes or various containers.
   • Turn off lights or cover one side of the aquarium so that as little light as possible gets into it. Cancers love the dark.

Part 2 of 3: Feed Your Cancer Properly

1. 1 Give the crayfish some shrimp pellets once a day. Shrimp pellets or lobster chunks sinking in water should be the staple of the cancer's diet. The pelleted food is rich in protein and contains all the nutrients that cancer needs. To help the cancer find food easily, sprinkle food near its favorite hiding places.
   • Occasionally, crayfish can be fed frozen foods such as daphnia, red worms, and plankton.
   • Never give live or raw plankton to crayfish, as it may contain harmful microorganisms.
2. 2 Supplement your pet's diet with vegetables. Feed the crayfish from time to time with lettuce, cabbage, squash, or cucumber. Cut them into thin strips and drop them to the bottom of the aquarium. You can also give the crayfish peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. River crayfish happily eat plants, so your pet will be happy!
   • Cancers love spoiled and decaying organic foods. Your pet will like vegetables that have begun to rot rather than fresh ones.
   SPECIALIST'S ADVICE

   

   Doug Ludemann

   
   
   Professional Aquarist Doug Ludemann is the owner and operator of Fish Geeks, LLC, a professional aquarium maintenance company based in Minneapolis. He has been working in the field of aquaristics and fish care for over 20 years. Received a BA in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from the University of Minnesota. Previously worked as a professional aquarist at the Minnesota Zoo and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

   Doug Ludemann
   Professional aquarist

   Feed your cancer once a day or several times a week. Don't leave excess food in the aquarium and add variety to your pet's diet. It is best to combine meat and granulated foods.

3. 3 Don't overfeed your cancer. One or two pinches of shrimp pellets or a couple of pieces of vegetables a day will be enough for Cancer. As soon as the cancer has eaten, remove food debris from the aquarium, otherwise they will quickly decompose and pollute the water, and you will have to change it more often.
   • If you keep multiple crayfish (which is not recommended), feed them more food. Remember to remove any food debris from the aquarium right away.
   • Overeating is bad for Cancers. Excessive amounts of food cause their shells to become soft and weak.

Part 3 of 3: Create a Safe Environment for Cancer

1. 1 Protect cancer from other aquarium dwellers. Although crayfish require quite a lot of space, they get along well with other small aquarium inhabitants such as goldfish, barbs, mollies, swordtails and blue neons. Crayfish can sometimes behave aggressively, but they are too clumsy to catch much more agile fish.
   • Usually, crayfish attack only sick fish, which sink to the bottom of the aquarium. If you find that the cancer has eaten some fish, then it is most likely already dying.
   • Crayfish do not pose a great threat to the rest of the inhabitants of the aquarium, but they themselves can be attacked. Sometimes large cichlids and catfish attack crayfish, which can lead to injury and death of both fish and cancer.
   • It is not recommended to keep more than one crayfish in the aquarium. If you have more than one crayfish in the same tank, make sure they are of the same species and give them enough space. Cancers of different types are more likely to attack each other.
2. 2 Provide the right conditions for your crayfish to moult. Once every few months, the crayfish sheds a tight shell and grows a more spacious one. Do not remove the discarded shell. The cancer will eat it within a few days, giving it the nutrients and minerals it needs to grow a new shell.
   • Cancer need not be fed for 3-5 days after molting. At this time, he eats his old shell.
   • When the cancer begins to shed its old shell, add a few drops of potassium iodide to the tank. There are cases when molting crayfish died due to iodine deficiency. Potassium iodide is available at your pet store or drug store.
   • During molting, cancer is not protected by a hard shell, at this time it is especially vulnerable and may be deficient in nutrients.
   SPECIALIST'S ADVICE

   

   Doug Ludemann

   
   
   Professional Aquarist Doug Ludemann is the owner and operator of Fish Geeks, LLC, a professional aquarium maintenance company based in Minneapolis. He has been working in the field of aquaristics and fish care for over 20 years. Received a BA in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from the University of Minnesota. Previously worked as a professional aquarist at the Minnesota Zoo and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

   Doug Ludemann
   Professional aquarist

   Line the bottom of the aquarium with sand. In the main segment of the tentacles of cancer there is an auditory fossa, in which a freely oscillating otolith stone is placed. This hole is responsible for the sense of balance. When a cancer sheds, the otolith disappears for a while, and with it the sense of balance is lost.That is why the crayfish needs sand so that, after dropping the shell, it can replace the otolith with a small grain of sand in order to better navigate in space.

   
   
3. 3 Cover the tank to keep the cancer from escaping. Crayfish are quite curious and can climb the walls of the aquarium. To prevent the cancer from escaping from the aquarium, it is better to cover it with a lid. If you don't have a cap, use small swabs instead. Cover the top of the aquarium with them, especially around the filter. Do not use plastic or aluminum foil for this purpose, as the cancer may try to eat them and injure itself.
   • Be careful and close any openings through which the cancer can escape. If the crayfish manages to get out of the tank, it will die of dehydration within a few hours.
   • Never put an escaped crayfish in the aquarium right away. First, put it in a container of water (there should be enough water to cover the animal). Cancer gills need some time to get used to the water again, otherwise it may choke and drown.

Tips

• Place a thick layer of sand or gravel on the bottom of the aquarium. River crayfish love to bury themselves in the sand in search of food, hide, or just play.
• Take the crab underneath the claws so it doesn't bite you.
• Most crayfish species live in captivity for only 2–3 years, but with proper care and nutrition, the cancer can live up to 7–8 years.
• Crayfish in an aquarium need plants to wade between and provide shade.

Warnings

• With its small size and discreet coloration, cancer can easily get lost. Do not remove crayfish from the aquarium unnecessarily (except when changing the water or cleaning the aquarium).
• Never release a captive-raised cancer. This can adversely affect the natural population of crayfish and other animals.
• Crayfish are territorial animals, so keeping several crayfish in the same tank can lead to serious problems.
• Do not feed your cancer anything containing copper. This chemical element is toxic to crayfish. Copper is found in many fish foods, so be careful.