Accidental Crawfish Farmer - 10/01/14 03:11 AM
Hi,
So, I recently decided I wanted to add "Crawfish" to my 48 Gallon fresh water tank. I started looking online for different colored crawfish and I found plenty! But the asking price was about $10.00 per crawfish. That was not in my budget, and I didn't know if it would even work. Would they eat my other fish? Would they die? Dejectedly, I went to Kroger and saw they were selling "Live Crawfish" for $4.37 per lb. I bought a pound. About 35 crawfish. They delivered the crawfish in a bag and they weren't moving. I was then educated the crawfish were kept at about 36 degrees and were "dormant". I took them home and put them in a Wok pan and ran cold water over them. They slowly began to come to life and I picked about 7 out and dropped them into the tank. After a bit they began moving around and unbelievably they all lived. I turned the others out in the creek behind my house for the neighborhood kids. After about a month I only had one fatality. "Overlord" named by my daughters was cut in half through its carapace. So I took out the little ones and that left me 3 grand daddies! Turns out 2 females and one male. Now the females are pregnant and will have the babies in about 10 days. I decided to turn my girls above ground pool into a crawfish tank and I will be moving the babies into the pool. I'm hoping to have enough offspring by next summer to release into the creek behind the house and have a crawfish catching tournament.
I'm thinking an aerator and heater.
Any suggestions on keeping these crawfish over the winter?
I may add a couple more pounds of crawfish into the tank when the offer presents itself.
So, I recently decided I wanted to add "Crawfish" to my 48 Gallon fresh water tank. I started looking online for different colored crawfish and I found plenty! But the asking price was about $10.00 per crawfish. That was not in my budget, and I didn't know if it would even work. Would they eat my other fish? Would they die? Dejectedly, I went to Kroger and saw they were selling "Live Crawfish" for $4.37 per lb. I bought a pound. About 35 crawfish. They delivered the crawfish in a bag and they weren't moving. I was then educated the crawfish were kept at about 36 degrees and were "dormant". I took them home and put them in a Wok pan and ran cold water over them. They slowly began to come to life and I picked about 7 out and dropped them into the tank. After a bit they began moving around and unbelievably they all lived. I turned the others out in the creek behind my house for the neighborhood kids. After about a month I only had one fatality. "Overlord" named by my daughters was cut in half through its carapace. So I took out the little ones and that left me 3 grand daddies! Turns out 2 females and one male. Now the females are pregnant and will have the babies in about 10 days. I decided to turn my girls above ground pool into a crawfish tank and I will be moving the babies into the pool. I'm hoping to have enough offspring by next summer to release into the creek behind the house and have a crawfish catching tournament.
I'm thinking an aerator and heater.
Any suggestions on keeping these crawfish over the winter?
I may add a couple more pounds of crawfish into the tank when the offer presents itself.