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Ade
Tadpole
United Kingdom
153 Posts |
 Posted - 19/03/2010 : 19:18:53
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As I mentioned in my intro, I also keep freshwater invertebrates, mostly shrimp, so here are some pics of them:-
High quality cherry shrimp
Blue pearl shrimp
Very low grade crystal red shrimp
Berried female snowball shrimp
Our semi albino male red claw crayfish
We also have 2 female crays living with the male, recent additions that I haven't photographed yet, along with a few other species of freshwater shrimp and tropical freshwater fish, including a very pretty male powder blue dwarf gourami (he used to have 3 females with him, but they succumbed to a nasty and virulent virus that has been plaguing dwarf gouramis for the last few years). 
Ade |
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lewy
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
1356 Posts |
Posted - 22/03/2010 : 12:52:10
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Wow! Great stuff - love the crayfish  |
Lewy
THE AMPHIBIAN.co.uk Team
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Kazerella
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
969 Posts |
Posted - 22/03/2010 : 18:28:59
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Shrimps are exotic! You're the first person I've known who keeps them  |
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Ade
Tadpole
United Kingdom
153 Posts |
Posted - 22/03/2010 : 21:08:14
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Yeah, the UK Shrimp hobby is still fairly young yet, mainland Europe it's been big for a while now. I actually get most of my shrimp from German breeders as the varieties available over here are either limited or overpriced severely. They're very cool pets though, a bit more interesting than fish, and require less space etc than most fish.
I have some better pics of our crays now:-
Ade |
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Kehhlyr
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
264 Posts |
Posted - 22/03/2010 : 22:49:37
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Woo, I used to keep a couple of crays. :)
I shall dig some pics out.
Don't EVER have a conch shell in the tank with them, if they get stuck they can be a total pig to remove.
In some parts of the country you need to have a licence to have some species of cray.
Or at least you used to, is it still like that? |
-=Kehhlyr - The Resident Loon
SOME OF MY ANIMALS
 
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Edited by - Kehhlyr on 22/03/2010 22:51:33 |
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Ade
Tadpole
United Kingdom
153 Posts |
Posted - 23/03/2010 : 10:01:09
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It's even worst. The only species you can legally keep in the UK now is Cherax quadricarinatus(the red claw, which mine are, they're just partial albinos. lol). A few areas you can get away with signal crayfish as these areas have be designated as zones for these (originally for the benefit of cray farmers.), the rest are banned by DEFRA and policed by CEFAS though.
You CAN apply for a license to keep other species, however as yet not a single one has been awarded to hobbyists. The only folks who get licensed are public institutions (Universities etc), laboratories and public aquaria. Get caught with an illegal species and it's a £4000 fine. On the one hand it's a shame, as I would love to keep dwarf orange crays, on the other hand it's keeping our native crays at least relatively safe from interlopers and crayfish plague (mainland Europe's waterways are packed with Marbled crays, a species that multiplies by pathenogenisis, and has no scientific name as males of the species have yet to be found....).
There are no shells (other than small snail shells, off the small snails that used to wear them. lol) in their tank, just a large piece of bogwood and some rocks. I had 3 briefly (2 females one male, most breeders recommend this ratio), however the 2nd female was too weak and submissive and was killed by the other 2 which have paired it seems.
Ade |
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BlueTongueDan
The Amphibian Moderator
United Kingdom
157 Posts |
Posted - 23/03/2010 : 21:22:12
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Wow, those are awesome!
Interesting stuff about exotic species being liscenced.
I really like the look of the Crayfish! What do you feed them?
Great photos too!
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Ade
Tadpole
United Kingdom
153 Posts |
Posted - 23/03/2010 : 23:58:19
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What don't we feed them.... lol
They're complete scavengers, and at the moment have happily eaten Hikari crab cuisine, frozen bloodworm, Dennerle algae wafers, cooked turkey (I keep telling my wife off.... lol), raw minced steak (again I keep nagging my wife to feed this less, but it's their favorite food), Endler's livebearer young (sounds harsh I know, but the things breed profusely, and it's a way to reduce numbers) oh and a rather old platy that hid in the tank when it first got turned into a crayfish tank and an Amano shrimp that refused to be caught and transfered to a different tank.
So basically crayfish are VERY predatory (although our male left the fish alone until the female showed him how to hunt, females are more aggressive than the males), and will eat pretty much anything EXCEPT lance fish. I know this as the shop I bought them in claimed that this was what they had been eating in store and sold me a pack. lol Now the female is there it might be worth trying again, she can show him what to do with them...
Oh, and you have to watch your fingers as well, it's a myth that it doesn't hurt when a crayfish pinches you with those claws... Busted when the chap in the shop let his fingers get within reach.... Yet again the female...
Not a good idea to keep them with fish (unless you don't mind them eating the fish), larger ones when the crays moult will then eat your crayfish, so that doesn't work out either. They really do best in a species tank, our pair are in a 120 litre one, external filter, 200 watt heater and a very large power head for extra agitation (they do better with well oxygenated water (ack I hate saying that. lol)).
Ade |
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Kehhlyr
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
264 Posts |
Posted - 24/03/2010 : 02:34:57
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I used to keep mine in a mixed tropical aquaria, I think I only lost 1 fish to the crays when I had them.
I used to have a tank in the shed purely for breeding pond snails, mine would LOVE those and half-dozen dumped into the tank would make great hunting for it.
Either that or frozen muscles, my bluey used to go nuts as soon as muscle juices went past it in the water.
I must dig out those pics, think I've got a vid somewhere as well.
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-=Kehhlyr - The Resident Loon
SOME OF MY ANIMALS
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Ade
Tadpole
United Kingdom
153 Posts |
Posted - 24/03/2010 : 09:21:00
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You were lucky there that your fish were ok. These ones were ones that had been bought and returned to the store when keepers discovered how bad an idea it was to add a crayfish to their nice tropical community tank, and also how large they grow (ours are barely half grown at about 5 inches).
So long as you don't have fish that can eat them, shrimp are a far better bet in a community tank, especially heavily planted ones. For anybody looking for something larger the Giant African Fan shrimp (GAFS) is a perfect species in larger tanks with plenty of flow. They are completely harmless to even the smallest fish, been filter feeders, but do need quite a bit of flow. Growing to about 15cm though they're definitely not dwarf shrimp.
Ade |
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Not all that exotic, but..
