Jump to content


Photo

Crayfish with sunfish?


14 replies to this topic

#1 Robert E

Robert E
  • NANFA Guest
  • NJ

Posted 05 June 2018 - 08:43 AM

Hi I have a 48 gallon with a pumpkinseed and I was wondering if I could keep a crayfish with it.



#2 JasonL

JasonL
  • NANFA Member
  • Kentucky

Posted 05 June 2018 - 01:24 PM

Should be fine but make sure your cray has some hiding spots or he will be easy pickins when he molts.

#3 Redfin

Redfin
  • NANFA Guest
  • Border of Chicago & Des Plaines Watershed and Cuyahoga Basin

Posted 05 June 2018 - 06:51 PM

I've had crawfish kill/injure little sunfish if they get too close, usually won't happen though so you should be good.  If the smaller sunfish have to hide from larger fish it could force them into tighter situations in the same hiding spots as the crawfish which leads to most of the issues.

 

Should be fine but make sure your cray has some hiding spots or he will be easy pickins when he molts.

 

I agree with this as well.



#4 Robert E

Robert E
  • NANFA Guest
  • NJ

Posted 05 June 2018 - 07:55 PM

Thank you for the replies! O:)



#5 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 05 June 2018 - 08:34 PM

No, it will not work out well


Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#6 lilyea

lilyea
  • NANFA Member
  • Peace River Watershed, Central Florida, USA

Posted 05 June 2018 - 09:34 PM

Hi I have a 48 gallon with a pumpkinseed and I was wondering if I could keep a crayfish with it.

 

Yes you can keep them together, but from my experience the crayfish will eventually become food (even with hiding places).



#7 Doug_Dame

Doug_Dame
  • NANFA Member

Posted 05 June 2018 - 10:10 PM

The ultimate hiding place for a crawdad is inside the fish tankmate. Ultimate, as in last. 


Doug Dame

Floridian now back in Florida
 


#8 Matt DeLaVega

Matt DeLaVega
  • Forum Staff
  • Ohio

Posted 06 June 2018 - 11:13 AM

No, it will not work out well

Martin Moore style!

 

I agree with the comments thus far. A molting crayfish is a helpless tasty tub of goo, when it molts, it will likely meet it's end. However, they are not in short supply. I am all for doing it as long as you understand the ultimate hiding place. Then get a replacement. It is just a long lasting live food.


The member formerly known as Skipjack


#9 JasonL

JasonL
  • NANFA Member
  • Kentucky

Posted 06 June 2018 - 12:12 PM

I kept a cray of around 3-4 inches in a tank with bluegill and longear for a couple years. Fish were well fed and didn't kill him. That said, I hardly ever saw him either. Spent most of the time buried in various hiding spots. Finally got rid of him when I cleaned the tank and put him in a small artificial pond in my backyard.

#10 Irate Mormon

Irate Mormon
  • NANFA Member
  • Crooked Creek, Mississippi

Posted 10 June 2018 - 12:33 AM

Martin Moore style!

 

I agree with the comments thus far. A molting crayfish is a helpless tasty tub of goo, when it molts, it will likely meet it's end. However, they are not in short supply. I am all for doing it as long as you understand the ultimate hiding place. Then get a replacement. It is just a long lasting live food.

Ha ha Matt, I kept a crayfish with a greenie for two years.  The cray had a piece of driftwood he could stay under.  The two seemed to coexist peacefully for some strange reason. 


-The member currently known as Irate Mormon


#11 TimCodger

TimCodger
  • NANFA Guest

Posted 10 June 2018 - 11:02 AM

I think there are two options, they either get accustomed together or crawfish will kill your sunfish, sorry. It's my opinion



#12 Irate Mormon

Irate Mormon
  • NANFA Member
  • Crooked Creek, Mississippi

Posted 11 June 2018 - 03:13 PM

Especially the fire crayfish, those things are just deadly.


-The member currently known as Irate Mormon


#13 Fleendar the Magnificent

Fleendar the Magnificent
  • NANFA Guest
  • Ohio

Posted 29 October 2018 - 06:20 PM

I have 4 crayfish in my tank along with 2 green sunfish. Right now the sunnies are 2 and 3 inches long with small mouths, but once they get bigger, a freshly molted crayfish is irresistible to them. Give the crays some *good* rocks and other places to completely hide otherwise they'll become fish poop.



#14 Matt DeLaVega

Matt DeLaVega
  • Forum Staff
  • Ohio

Posted 01 November 2018 - 06:09 PM

I have 4 crayfish in my tank along with 2 green sunfish. Right now the sunnies are 2 and 3 inches long with small mouths, but once they get bigger, a freshly molted crayfish is irresistible to them. Give the crays some *good* rocks and other places to completely hide otherwise they'll become fish poop.

This is true.They are very vulnerable when molting. Unless you are ok with losing fish to crays or vice versa, You ought not mix them. Your level of tolerance to losing critters should help make up your mind.


The member formerly known as Skipjack


#15 Fleendar the Magnificent

Fleendar the Magnificent
  • NANFA Guest
  • Ohio

Posted 26 November 2018 - 09:01 PM

In my past experiences with crays and sunfish, as long as I gave them enough hiding spots and they grew in size along with the sunfish, I never had any issues with them killing the fish or vice-versa. I tried to keep the crays roughly comparable in size to the fish which were in the 1" range. I also kept the sunfish and the crays well fed, so they never really went hungry enough to eyeball one another. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that they won't chow down on one another....





Reply to this topic



  


0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users