# crawfish tankmates



## pennyls9332 (Aug 24, 2013)

i have two crawfish and am getting a new tank (idk how big) but i was wondering what fish would be good tankmates. i was thinking african chichlids but would like other opinions so please comment


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## pennyls9332 (Aug 24, 2013)

oh and the new tank will be between 20 and 40 gallons


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Barbs and danios make excellent tank mates for crayfish. If you have 2, I strongly suggest that you get a 55.


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## pennyls9332 (Aug 24, 2013)

what about a blood parrot. i really like the way they look and now that i have to tank its closer to 40g and im gonna get a sunsun canister filter for the tank. so the bioload wont get to high bc its rated 200 something gph


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Filtration does not determine bioload. 

Blood parrots are too large for your tank.


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## pennyls9332 (Aug 24, 2013)

i measured the tank and its 25x25x18 . so from my math its a 48 gallon. please correct me if im wrong


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

You're not wrong, but it's still not big enough.


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## pennyls9332 (Aug 24, 2013)

ok i didnt think they would work anyway with the craw fish. do you think tetras would work? i like barbs but i already have some in another tank and would like something different


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Tetras will be eaten, in my experience. The parrots probably won't make it to outgrowing the tank because of the crayfish - you're right.


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## pennyls9332 (Aug 24, 2013)

thats why i was thinking about african cichlids bc they are a little more aggressive


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

The crayfish rules the night and any fish that sleeps on the bottom, like cichlids, is at serious risk of being attacked in their sleep.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

I used to keep crayfish in bait tank's of two hundred gallon's with large goldfish,sunfish, that I use for Flathead bait untill they began killing the fish.(crayfish will also kill eat other crayfish).
Also tried them in planted tank's until they began uprooting,digging up plant's which they then munched on.
Larger african's could work but they too need larger tank to achieve proper growth ,relieve territorial disputes.(Adult fish could easily injure kill adult crayfish)
Not many fishes other than smaller barb's,danio's, (too quick to be caught,stay near the surface) that can be kept with crayfish.Larger fish,will eat the crayfish, and crayfish will eat what it can catch in the way of smaller fish.
With larger tank,,lot's of rockwork for crayfish to hide from larger predator's, one might be able to keep some of the less aggressive cichlid's with a crayfish but it seldom work's out .


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