Crayfish and saltwater

Hey guys, im at wmrk in my lfs now and i had the bright idea to see if freshwater crayfish could survive in a marine tank. It's been roughly an hour and hes still alive.should i buy some to put in my marine tank? Or is it likely that it would eventually die? I believe that they are brackish water fish but im not too sure

 

not shure on that but if the crawfish dies in the tank it will release toxins that will nuke your tank be very careful if you have any thing valuble in the tank i suggest not experimenting on it.

 

Well hours have passed and he's still going strong, eating and all... It's an empty tank only the crawfish is in there by his lonesome

 

There are a bunch in fully freshwater streams in the woods where I live. Are you sure it is brackish and how do you know it would nuke the tank? Do they nuke fresh tanks if they die? Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the crayfish died in the long run. I would keep it QTd for a while before mixing it with other saltwater critters. You can't ever be sure how it would react to a full marine environment. It might get killed right away. It might succumb to stress of a strange environment. It might prove to be a coral eater or at least taste some coral. I would be very cautious about ordering them for a marine tank until you've seen one survive in QT for a few weeks and especially if the nuking the tank thing turns out to be true.

 

Yep I took all of that into consideration. I have it in a QT tank and waiting a while before I introduce it into my tank. This type is usually found at the mouth of the rivers where I'm from so therefore I assumed that they were brackish. Never could tell...:-/

 

Now add Carrots, celery, some spices to your QT tank and bring it to a rapid boil. Call me when dinner's ready!

 

Crayfish are freshwater. It will not survive in this environment. I don't know how to say this without coming off as harsh, but it is not comfortable in there right now. I would politely ask that you put it back into it's natural environment. It's gotta be hurtin'. No sense in killing something just for experiment's sake. Thanks.

Peace.......John.

 

Nearly all species of crayfish are fresh water although a few species are found in brackish water but even in brackish water that does not mean it can survive in a full marine environment.

Its not likely to live long term, and is likely not feeling so great.

 

Well, you have to realize that there is a whole range of what is called "crayfish". And there is about 250 species and subspecies here in the US alone. And yes, some of them are brackish. I have personally taken crayfish from brackish deltas and bays. Also remember that the OP here is not from the US. What they may know as a crayfish could be completely different.
The only thing I can suggest is that if something is brackish, and was being kept fresh, you should slowly ween it to marine, not just toss it in. And I have no idea as to whether they can be fully weened to salt. But in either case, keep us updated, and do as much research as possible.

 

All the fishes and corals we all keep once were experimented on at one point or the other. How else would we know optimum conditions and what can or can't live in our tanks?!?

Either way, I moved it back into a freshwater system.

I'm confused though, Mollies, scats and a few other fishes are completely freshwater as they are saltwater. 8)

Trinidad actually have crawfish found exclusively just after the shore line in our beaches. The ones I have are found at the mouth of the river!