Mexican Dwarf Crayfish is a beautiful and relatively peaceful crayfish to keep in your tank and is often one of the most commonly traded species....
Mexican Dwarf Crayfish, also called as Mexican dwarf orange crayfish and its scientific name Cambarellus patzcuarensis var. "Orange", is a beautiful and relatively peaceful crayfish to keep in your tank. They are extremely common pet in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
MEXICAN DWARF CRAYFISH DESCRIPTION:
Mexican Dwarf Crayfish is native to Lake Patzcuaro (hence its scientific name), a volcanic crater lake in Michoacán which is located in southwest of the major city of Morelia, and to springs in Chapultepec, Opopeo, and Tzurumutaro, Mexico. The species is widely available in the aquarium trade in Europe and North America, and is often one of the most commonly traded species.
This species can reach a maximum length of 4-5 cm or 2 inches, and can live about 2 years but have been known to live even a little bit longer. Wild individuals of this crayfish are mostly tan, brown, rust colour, sometimes with a gray or blue tint. However, the orange colour morph of the dwarf species originated in the Netherlands. Some have a pair of longitudinal dark stripes and others are mottled, lacking stripes.
Cambarellus patzcuarensis are quite territorial in nature and will defend their homes and threaten each other if they come too close to each other. They can be especially aggressive towards their own kind (mostly males), sometimes they would lose an arm but it will grow back.
The female and male species can be distinguished by looking at the lower part of their abdomen when they are about 2 months old. Males have an extra set of pleopods used for internal fertilization that look like like a triangular forming of small legs. Females have seminal receptacle and lack the extra pleopods.
MEXICAN DWARF CRAYFISH CARE:
Mexican Dwarf Crayfish need the minimum tank size of 5 gallons, but no more than 2 in the tank of 10 gallons and no more than 4 in the tank of 20 gallons. They can be kept in soft to moderately hard water with pH level of 6.0 to 8.0, water temperature 15-28 °C. In soft water, keep aragonite gravel in the filter or on the bottom to provide calcium and pH buffering.
Unlike most crayfish, this species does not destroy plants, and digs very little. In nature, they are found in lava sandy area, so that the basalt is close to the natural substrate of this species They need hiding places when molting, as the new shell is soft and even small fish (or other crayfish) can kill them during this time. Volcanic rock with lots of small holes, or short segments of waterlogged bamboo are useful as molting refuges.
They live peacefully with small fish and usually do not attack even newborn guppies, although they may eat fish eggs or non-swimming larvae, and will eat dead fish. Don’t keep crayfish with loaches or similar fish that probe nooks and crannies - the crayfish will be killed during their molt.
Cambarellus patzcuarensis are omnivores and prefer organic food. They will eat basically anything you throw in the tank like live or frozen worms, insects, brine shrimp, flakes, pellets, cooked shrimp, green peas - most any kind of fish food. Supplement their diet and make sure they get enough calcium by regularly feeding specialized invert foods.
MEXICAN DWARF CRAYFISH BREEDING:
Mexican Dwarf Crayfish begin breeding at four months old. Crayfish mate belly-to-belly, after a claw-waving courtship ritual. Dark green eggs are laid in clutches of about 20-50, attached to the mother’s pleopods under the abdomen.
The eggs hatch in about 2-4 weeks depending on temperature, and the baby crayfish drop off and scatter about a week later. The mother continues to eat while brooding, and won’t eat her kids as long as she has sufficient food.
The babies eat newly hatched brine shrimp, flakes, pellets, etc. Soaked leaves from deciduous trees will provide hiding and climbing places, plus bugs, bacteria, and fungi that the babies can eat between feedings. If starved or overcrowded they will attack each other and tear off legs, but these will grow back as long as the crayfish can still get around and feed. The babies can grow up in the tank with the adults, or you can separate the mother before the eggs hatch and raise the babies in their own tank.
BUY MEXICAN DWARF CRAYFISH AND RELATED PRODUCTS:
COMMENTS