Question About Crayfish

[Cichlid87]

okay i was at central market and they have live crayfish for sale, and i was curious if i bought a few of them to feed to my cichlids, would they potentially get sick from them? i noticed it was really dirty water they were in and some were dead. they were having a cookoff of some sorts up there, anyway i do not want to put anything in my tank that could get them sick. Anyone have any ideas?

[Typical Tony]

it's a hit and miss with those store crays... if you want them, better QT them first.


or you can go the marbled cray route... :D

[ilicurtisili]

i have fed crayfish a few times. they make a mess. only thing that really gets ate is there tail and face. never got my fish sick.

[iron]

x2 ...and really what do we know about cray illness. They could carry illness and we would really know nothing being all their flesh is hidden behind armor.

[Cichlid87]

how long would i need to qt them before i can feed them to my fish>?

[iron]

Based on them dying off in the tank they are in. Might consider at least 2 weeks. If anymore die, I wouldnt feed them off. Too risky for my fish. IMO

[Cichlid87]

what if i boil them first?

[iron]

Might try that. lol You could just get yourself some marbled crays. It would save a bunch of trouble. :)

[khrister]

what if i boil them first?

I'd be tempted to put this after boiling :hehe:

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i311/tsutsing/CrawfishSeasoning.jpg

Use Raw Market shrimp, I feed them to my frontosa all the time.

[China8USA]

You could Qt them and gut load them at the same time. I doubt they are super healthy from the market.:)

[Cichlid87]

how can you know if the frozen shrimp are healthy? just out of curiosity

[China8USA]

Crayfish. Why would you gut load a frozen shriimp? Just out of curiosity.

[iron]

how can you know if the frozen shrimp are healthy? just out of curiosity


They are all wearing jogging outfits?

[khrister]

Saltwater pathogens does not survive in freshwater, I feed Saltwater raw shrimp all the time and my fronts likes them and never get sick with them. Meanwhile Crayfish may carry fresh water pathogens that "might" survive in our tanks...

[robert321]

these crawfish are designed for human consumption, idk what checks they go through but I would assume they'd be alright for feeding, but you know what they say about assuming. My oscars love crayfish. I don't worry a lot about quarantining fish and food because oscars just aren't that exotic, rare, or expensive. I'll feed wild caught crays to them. I've gotten some marbled crays a couple months ago that i'm experimenting with, maybe after a few months I'll have a sustainable population that'll make feeders (but getting a bigger tank to keep them is going to have to come first, regardless of what who says, they are canabolistic)