"Company for my solitary blue crayfish"

[Craw Chief]

Q:

'Company for my Solitary Blue Crayfish', 'Since one of my crayfish died earlier this week I''m in a bit of a quandry. Should I replace him with another or perhaps introduce some fish. I''ve heard stories of fish become live bait (which I don''t really want) or of the fish attacking and potential killing the crayfish (will I definitely don''t want). Has anybody got any recommendations/hints/tips? Regards

A:

'The best way is NOT to do it. If they happen to be a different specie, they will really fight too. If you insist on getting more, just watch them for the first five minutes really close, then check on them really close for the first three or so hours. Additional hiding places will help

'Thanks Bob, I think they''re all the same species from the local supplier. Are they less likely to fight if they are the same species? I''m concerned that all the ones I''ve seen at the supplier are considerably smaller than my surviving cray (half the size at most). I''ve got a large tank with some caves so they would have individual places to hide. It''s a shame really, the tank is quite big and looks odd with a solitary cray! Regards,

'As long as they are the same species , your odds are greatly increased with them NOT fighting. Most of the deaths occur during moulting. I will take a pic of my life saver netting and put it up in the next day or two

[Craw Chief]

Similar posts:

'I introduced the two crays to the tank at the same time and they were OK for about 6 months. Apart from the odd fight (particularly just after moulting when I separate them) they seem to be happy together. I only do a 10-25% water change and ensure that the water temperature is consistent. I always test the water before adding it. My local supplier only has smaller crays (half the size of mine) and I''m tempted to get another. They seem to be natural predators so is there any way of ensuring that new crays introduced to the tank won''t be harmed? I know it''s a very open question but it''s worth a try!

'they should be ok as long as they have been together for a while and have enough spacee, but nature has a way of always proving us wrong so you never know.