4 Things You Should Consider Before Buying a Pet Crayfish

You think you want a pet crayfish? Remember, there are all sorts of things to think about with having this exotic pet.

The Fish Tank

First off, you are going to have to invest in a fish take with a water pump and filter. Also, if you plan on having any other fish to go along with your pet crayfish, you'll need to consider the size of the tank. That's because crayfish are aggressive scavengers. They are omnivores who like to eat practically everything. This means your fish too. So if you plan on having multiple fish, sometimes you'll need to buy a bigger tank.

Water Changes

Crayfish are pretty hardy animals. I mean they can live in just about any filth. However, you will have to do frequent water changes with a pet crayfish. Partly because these animals put out a lot of waste, but also because they can make your tank look ugly very quickly and create an unhealthy environment for any other fish in your fish tank. Doing regular water changes are not hard, it's just something you should remember to do regularly. Some people do them weekly and others do them bi-weekly.

The Other Fish

If you do actually decide to put other fish into your fish tank with your pet crayfish, you will have to take into account the fish you select as tank mates. Fish that swim near the top of the tank, are fast and/or are aggressive themselves will be the best tank mates for crayfish. However, there is never any guarantee that a fish will survive living with a crayfish. It's always possible that you may wake up one morning and one of your fish is missing in your tank. It's happened to me before, unfortunately.

A Place to Hide

Crayfish can also fall victim to attacks from other fish, believe it or not. This is most likely to happen when a crayfish molts or when your pet crayfish sheds his exoskeleton. When a crayfish sheds his exoskeleton, he is weak and soft. He's also not too aggressive. Because of this, other fish will sometimes attack him. For this reason, it's very important to have hideouts in your fish tank for when your crayfish molt. Actually, your pet crayfish will like having a hideout anyway. These animals like to burrow and hide often times, when they aren't on the prowl hunting everything in sight. PVC pipe can be used as a hideout for your pet crayfish or you can buy them for cheap online or in most pet stores.