[rle68]

i hope you all can help. i have had 3 dwarf orange crayfish for 3 months now. 2 up and died right in front of me...i bought 2 more at a local fish store and they are not doing well in a different tank at 24 hours

no ammonia nitrates and nitrites are in the 7 range where they are supposed to be

water temp 76
plants and hidey holes all over

they fall over when they walk look like they are dead i am moving them and bringing them back

my biggest 1 is almost an inch and a half and shes fine

the 2 new smaller ones are whats worrying me

any ideas.. cant get a straight answer on google all anyone says is iodine

 

[Garbonzo]

Well honestly that was my first thought. Iodine is an important component for them to molt properly. If they do not have iodine, they cannot shed their old smaller carapace to accommodate their growing body: think of growing in a nonexpendable suit of armor. Their internal organs are crushed; therefore, they die. I would go with a premade reef iodine solution as directed unless you are very familiar and precise with Lugols. You could probably get by with half the recommended dosage every two weeks IF you're not running a large load of carbon. A little more info about your system would be helpful to trouble shoot.

 

[rle68]

im going to get some kent marine iodine tomorrow at petco

some more info... i have 3 tanks and 1 in each of them 10-15-20...

ammonia in all 3 = 0
nitrites/nitrates are at 7 range.. no chlorine, no metals of any kind

water is on soft side but getting better .. damn rainsoft water softner :blowup:

 

[Garbonzo]

Also, I read over your post rather quickly and just reread it. You say NITRITES are at 7? If this is the case I would ask you about how you treat your water as well as with what, and how do you go about your cleaning regimen? You should honestly not have a measurable nitrite in your tank.

 

[Regalblue41]

One thing you could try for a source of iodine is shrimp....A friend of mine use to breed and raise the blue crayfish,Not the fake ones raised in a solution of dye,,these were cobalt blue crayfish [yabbies],they need a little calcium to develop their exoskeleton.You can use a small piece of washed egg shell for help,they don`t do as well in soft water long term wise,that does not mean to nuke the tank so to speak,they are freshwater invertabrates so change anything slowly...Hope this helps

 

[rle68]

sorry read it wrong
nitrites are .5
nitrates are less than 2
ph 7.2
ammo 0
hardness showing 0 .. problem of soft water system
alk at 60
chlorine 0

yes changing anything is done on a slow basis.. learned my lesson along time ago

i did add a dose of prime today.. not sure if thats going to hurt or help at this point

all 3 are still alive but 2 are walking or crawling all funny the smallest 2

 

[Regalblue41]

Are they all newer tanks.Like Garbonzo was saying you don`t want any nitrite in your tank,In water it makes it were they cannot extract oxygen out of it,basically they suffocate,bacteria breaks it down naturally,in an established aquarium..Some people use a little salt,kosher, rock salt or aquarium salt it is the same thing,,It helps with gill function,,but you have to becareful if you use it because you have plants

 

[rle68]

tank is about 2 months old have had 2 guppies in there for 5 weeks...i have it figured out there is something wrong with the gravel and flourite in the tank... i moved the crayfish to my 15 gal guppy tank.. and they are doing alot better.. water is close to the other tank but about a month older...same water from 15 was used to start the 10

 

[zacharts]

lol yolo

 

[rle68]

:behave: lmfao hehehe

i found out one of my small males lost a claw his name is now lefty...the white orange dwarf.. (dont ask i dont know why he is white) is called casper...

the last larger female is big momma.. all are doing very well in the other tank.. im going to drain the smaller tank this weekend and replace the gravel and buy 1-2 new ones and see if that fixes anything

 

[bernwink]

I have shrimp and snails. I have never used iodine. I do have crushed coral mixed in the gravel so they have enough calcium. I have a small orange crayfish who has done very well. I do water changes every weekend on all my tanks and use a python. Oh, I also make sure the crayfish gets a varied diet in addition to whatever he finds in the gravel. I hand feed him beef heart, blood worms, and other comparable frozen food sold in pet stores.

 

[Garbonzo]

You may want to add Dr Tims or Stress Zyme to your tank as well to boost your bacterial population.

 

[gerald]

I would add some aragonite gravel (crushed coral) and/or rift lake minerals. Their native habitat (Lago de Patzcuaro, 150 mi west of Mexico City) has quite hard water. Also there are some diseases that native crayfish carry (without symptoms) that can be fatal to tropical crays, so if they were grown in water exposed to native crayfish, they might have been infected.

 

[rle68]

just a quick update.. 2 of the little ones who were moved into the other tank have now molted. they seem to be doing fine...i have no other explanation for it other then i think the gravel/ sand combination doesnt agree with them...

the tank has 4 adult guppy females and 12 frye right now and they are doing fine...im going to add some cherry shrimp this weekend and see how they do if they dont do well ill remove the gravel.. and add a mix of coral and rock