# CPO Mexican Orange Dwarf Crayfish



## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

I am looking at getting a pair of CPO Mexican Dwarf Crayfish for my 20 gallon long community tank. They may even get their own 10 gallon if I decide to leave my 20 gallon at home while I go to college.

What are the easiest reccommendations to keeping them healthy? Are they good with quick fish like tetras, or will they eat them? Are they tolerant of cold or warm waters?

Also, if anyone knows where I could select a pair to purchase I'd appreciate that! Not sure if Igor still breeds them?

thanks!


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Not sure who has them just now. BAs Miss. had them for awhile but last week had none left. 

I have not had mine all that long, but they don't seem to be too difficult to keep. Mine share a tank with floating frogs and some small Caridina sp. shrimp, and for a couple of months, 3 female Endlers who had several broods of fry in there. So far as I can see, the crays did not harm anything in there, not even snails. They don't seem to bother plants either.

One of the harder things is being sure of the sexes. The males have a pair of tiny claspers under the belly, just where the first body section joins the rear.. not the actual tail, the part you'd eat on a lobster. They are extremely tiny though, and I, for one, even though I am terribly near sighted, frequently can't see them unless I get an enlarged digital pic of the belly to look at. On full grown males, if you can turn the cray over under good lighting, you may be able to see them. 

They like places to hide, like shrimp. They eat almost anything - pellets, algae tabs, and live things like worms. That would include baby shrimp, if they manage to catch one. I've seen one or two posts saying they've caught fry, but I suspect they don't catch many, as mine don't seem to be that quick with their claws. Plus, they can only swim backward, so shrimp, even if they are being hunted, are able to escape pretty easily, because shrimp can swim forward and the crays can't.

They're quite a lot of fun, so far. I hope I get a berried female at some point. I know for sure I have at least one male & female, and a couple of others.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

I got mine from Bwhiskered on here aka Charlie. Mine are both in a 2.5 gallon tank right now (only because I have nowhere else ready for them)

They are in with a couple of amano shrimps and all are doing just fine.

He has a good lot of them, at great prices, so drop him a pm...he's just off Brant St in Burlington real easy to find.



PS. I have kept mine in room temp water, with just some moss and a small filter in the tank...sponge is fine. If they have enough spots to hide in/under they will get along usually fine, in some cases NO. Its basically a crap shoot with these, they either will fight over territory or they won't. They will attack any fish asleep on the bottom of your tank, so you have to be careful of that...they are opportunistic feeders. Keep them well fed on algae wafers and you shouldn't have a problem.

I love these little guys...they are sooo characteristic, you can teach them to take food out of your fingers.


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

I have kept mine for about 2.5 months now. They were about 1.2cm when I got them, extremely small, but they grew REALLY FAST. Within a month they were almost full grown. 

I got 5, they fight with each other once in a while but no real harm done, well, until one female got berried. She would hide most of the time but would come out for food very quickly. And before her babies hatched, she killed two others that were a bit smaller. After 3 weeks or so her babies hatched, but either the mother or other adults got to them all, I think I might only have 2 to 3 left. Good thing is she (or another female) is berried again. I added tons of hiding spot with ceramic rings used for bio-media. I'll see how this batch goes.

My observation is they are on the hunt for the orange shrimps I have in the same tank, but they haven't been very successful as the orange neos still manage to multiply fast, they aren't fast enough for even baby shrimps, but enough for their own frys.


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## mr_bako (Dec 23, 2010)

*Cpo*



BettaBeats said:


> I am looking at getting a pair of CPO Mexican Dwarf Crayfish for my 20 gallon long community tank. They may even get their own 10 gallon if I decide to leave my 20 gallon at home while I go to college.
> 
> What are the easiest reccommendations to keeping them healthy? Are they good with quick fish like tetras, or will they eat them? Are they tolerant of cold or warm waters?
> 
> ...


i have 3 left...i just keep them at room temperature no heater is required


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## Bwhiskered (Oct 2, 2008)

I have lots of CPO's. A tank at room temperature with lots of moss and a few hiding places like broken clay flower pots is all you need.


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## FireWolf (Jul 8, 2013)

well the orange crayfish are somewhat better than the blue ones from what I have noticed so far...(mind you I like the color blue on the crays) I had orange ones before and they were pretty good with plants and other fish, didn't really bother much the rest of the fish. 

I currently have 3 blue ones, but this guys love eating plants. lol, so trying to keep a planted tank is a bit of a battle...

I keep the blue fed same as with the orange ones before.... algae waffles, veggie pellets, flakes, ghost shrimp and the every now and then frozen blood worms...

with me the orange and blue do have a tendency of going after snails every now and them, if they can break the shell they will have a go, but if the shell is a bit harder they might just leave them alone. 

like bettaforu said, crays are opportunistic, so will have a go at fish if they can as well.

good luck with yours


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Moved my female CPO out to a breeder box yesterday....I was fixing something in their tank and noticed she was curled up a bit, so when I got out the magnifier, I saw she had eggs under her tail.

She's all happy in her own home right now until the babies are born then she can go back to the male.


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## Bwhiskered (Oct 2, 2008)

Good to hear that the CPO's are doing well.


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