Crawdad Tank idea

2966 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Age of Aquariums, Apr 19, 2007

fish_4_all

Discussion Starter · Dec 30, 2006

Here is a concept I have been working on for some time. The basics are this:
The green represents the caves for the craws
The red is the holes through which the craws can actually crawl through to visit other parts of the tank
Each section is divided using a solid colored plexi. Plexi is used so that it can have a couple dozen 1/2 inch holes drilled in it for circulation. The bottom of the plexi is up to 2 inches off the bottom to allow for circulation and substrate. This can substitute for the connecting tunnels as the craws will undoubtedly burrow their way under it anyway. The top is also below the waterline by as much as 3 inches for circulation.
2 powerheads are set up kitty corner from each other flowing toward the other end.

The actual dimensions were based on a small crawdad I found online, I think it was a bumblebee craw as they only get 2-3 inches long. My original dimensions were 48x24 because of their small size. Larger craws need larger tanks off course and you can modify the number of sections. I had 5 sections because they craws are supposed to non aggressive and it would have housed up to 10 of them. Only being 14 inches tall to allow for ease of maintenance and moving caves and stuff around as well as removal of food and gravel vacs. Each section has an individual cover so they can be opened individually and it would be easier to secure the lids so the craws can't escape.

I would have put this in the DIY section but I thought it would was better suited here. That and it is just an idea because I have not actually done this, yet.

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Jaysn

· #2 · Dec 30, 2006

All the crawdads I've ever eaten, er caught,

have been hiding under rocks or other debris in the water. They're definitely nocturnal critters. I'm not sure where the non-aggressive idea came from, since sometimes after filling a bucket and driving home with it, there will be dead and mostly eaten ones in the bottom. Although whether that's from them being captured and then transported or not I don't know. I've also had them eat small fish the few times I tried to put them in community tanks. These are also common freshwater craws though, not sure about other species.

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fish_4_all

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 30, 2006

It was a non native species that was rather small at adult, 2-3 inches and was supposed to be mainly vegetarian. I can't find the site anymore unfortunately otherwise I would have the info. I could catch some locally but they are cold water species here and don't like water above 65 F. I tried a couple and they didn't make it very long. They migrate to colder water when that happens and don't hit the lakes to spawn until late September/October. That and the locals get up to 5" without claws.

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Age of Aquariums

· #4 · Apr 19, 2007

That looks alot like the tank used on mythbusters. I think it will work.

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