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Re: Plant eating crawfish? YES!!
> From: "Kudzu" <Kudzu at airnet_net>
> Subject: plant eating crawfish?
>
> This may be a bit off topic. While collecting some plants yesterday in a
> local spring a crawfish backed out of his lair and is now in one of my
> tanks. I posted a note in the NG about what to feed him. (BTW he seemed to
> love the shrimp pellet) Someone wrote back and said that they were plant
> eaters! Has anyone on the list had any experience with crawfish eating
> plants? The reply said they will use their claws to cut off the plants and
> then eat them. Doesn't sound right to me but now I am wondering.
You better believe they are plant eaters !! Whats worse is they will first attack
any exposed roots! Then, when there are no more exposed roots they will dig
around the base of your plants (exposing soil, vermiculite etc. to the water
column) to hide under and eat previously underground roots! To top it off they
ambush slow moving fish at night. I came upon crawfish the same way you did and
added them to my heavily planted atrium pond. Fortunately, the albino catfish
kept their numbers under control and the assorted amazons and vals grew fast
enough to stay ahead of damage. Shrimp especially fairy shrimp are a better deal
for your tank. They are more attractive and never dig or attack plants or
fish. You are better off adding the crawdad to your next main course!!
~Bk. in Florida.