# Marbled self-cloning crayfish seems to eat my snails



## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

I recently read that marbled self-cloning crayfish would eat live snails. Then I recalled that I saw lots of empty snail shells in that tank. I have snails in almost any aquarium now. 
I went to that tank to look closely and found that there were almost no snails in there. And it definitely were enough of them before.

So, I'm not 100% sure, but it looks we have another good way to fight with snails invasion


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## KING KONG (Oct 24, 2012)

*marbled cray*

I feed my marbled cray and common cray ram horn snail lol 
they seem to like it. So just to piss the crays off i decided to put a really large apple snail in that tank hehehe


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

How do you guys manage having Marbled Crayfish, they just keep reproducing, wouldnt they eventually over-run everything?


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

I think their logical biological systems would prevent them from over populating a small space. That or cannibalism would ensue. Either way the problem takes care of itself.

Think about guppies, a 10gallon doesn't get full of them, it evens itself out.


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

So if i put them in a say 5 gallon tank, they will not over-run each other and stop reproducing due to thight space? How bad will it get though, will it be bad to the point they are crawling on top of each other, like we see lobsters being sold at the super market? I have this very bad image in my head that because they self replicate, and i have no creatures to eat them, that they will continuously reproduce and will look like the lobsters they sell at supermarket all on top of each other in the water.


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

In theory, logic dictates that too many size variations of fish, crayfish, crabs, reptiles, etc. will result in cannibalism, especially considering spacing requirements. In a 5gallon there really isn't much room for the crayfish to make territories. So fights should be expected.

When I kept crayfish I kept 1 per 3 gallon critter keeper. I had 6 at once on my desk's shelf. They all were great, but I learnt to separate them due to ignorance. 3 in 1 container resulted in 2 deaths.


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

Thanks, now i can say with more certainty that this is simply not the right crayfish for me.


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Are they are really reproducing that easily. I don't think so, otherwise people will not sell them for $10 each 

As I work with other crayfish or shrimps, they will not be getting pregnant in a community tank (with fish that scary them) or in an over-populated tank. So, they will stop breeding


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Yeah I believe I basically stated the same thing before.


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

My marbled cray do reproduce very easily. Easily enough that I can continuously feed them to my turtles. I don't feel like I'm feeding my turtles $10 each time, plus I only paid $3 for my first one from Frank's. 

I do keep multiple types of snails in my crayfish tank and find that they do eat them, but not nearly fast enough to keep the snail population down. I feed more snails than crayfish to my turtles for this reason. It works out though, because the crayfish eat the younger snails and leave the big ones for me to pick out for the turtles.


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

wow, having a turtle seems like the ultimate solution to too much crayfish and ramshorn snails!!! I used to have large red ear turtles long long time ago, but i am simply not equiped or have room for them now.

my turtle were never friendly, always afraid. I went to Aqua Inspiration, and the turtles there are so friendly, they follow my wife hand everywhere. What type of turtle and setup do you have for it anyways?


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

My turtles are friendly. Somewhat. They just beg for food 24/7 and will eat out of my hand (well, they try to eat my hand). Turtles are naturally defensive and scared, but they will adapt to their surroundings and seeing me for many hours a day for the past few years has made them more social. They often stay on the basking platform when I walk around now (they used to only bask when no one was around and would scramble into the water when there was any noise). 

I have a 7" male yellow belly slider, 7" female map and 10" female asian stripped neck. They are in a bare 55g tank filled to the top with a DIY above tank basking platform (made from egg crate). 2x Fluval 405's and a heater. Setup is basically a bare minimum (they had this tank since they were the size of a quarter) but I plan to make them a much bigger setup when I move next year. Plan is to have a 2 section tank with easy drain and fill so I can feed them in a smaller section where I can easily drain and fill (they are typically only messy when they eat - and extremely messy when I feed them plants).


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Friendly turtles?! My turtles would sooner bite the hand that feeds them than to scurry off like little monsters lol. I've never tried to feed snails to my turtles, that's a good idea. I think I'll try that lol


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

Turtles love snails. Avoid feeding MTS or assassin snails though. I've read that the shape can cause issues and the shells are typically much harder than ramhorns. I believe pond and ramhorns would be the best, as they breed like crazy and have softer shells. I do have a friend who has been feeding his turtle MTS for years without issue, but I haven't tried it.

If you've never tried it, you really should. The crunching sound is quite funny. I saw in the other thread that you have 3 turtles like me. I throw in a bunch of snails at one time and 2 of mine will go hunting, but the third is a little dumb so I hand feed her. 

Since this topic was about crayfish, I think I should share my setup:
20g long tank, heavily decorated with random ornaments, cholla wood, pvc pipes and yarn bunches (I'd guess about 90% of the floor is covered). The entire top 2" is covered in riccia. Tank is filled with snails, crayfish and guppies; all breeding like crazy. 

It would be nice to find a way to reduce MTS population though. I have way too many of them now since I don't feed them to turtles.


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Well my turtles are about 5" big, the biggest is 7" (the female). I think I'll just pick up some pond snails from petsmart and breed them in a 5gallon lol. How big are your turts smoke?


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

I have a 7" male yellow belly slider, 7" female map and 10" female asian stripped neck.

5g is fine for breeding snails. I'd do a sponge filter or HOB and put in Riccia or moss. I can provide a starter clump of riccia for you if you need (I'm in Markham), but they're snail infested (ramhorn, MTS, assassin).


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Ok, I still have some of them these crayfish for sale.


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