Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So he must not spit much!

Hahahaha

I wouldnt even bother eating anything that small!!
These guys are 850gms each, just under 2lbs and that ruler at the bottom is 32.5cm so about 13 inches and thats just the length of their bodies, the claws are not extended out as i didnt want to get bitten!!

We make up for size with volume. I envy you folks down under with your giant mud bugs. The pictures were just to show that the red swamp crawfish are relatively large compared with "'giant crayfish" newly discovered in the US.

How long does it take to get them to that size Troutman? Are they usually that colour? I thought they were bright blue! (or are they like yabbies - different colour strains?)

Bugger you and your crayfish i had a dream about them last night

Depends on where they come from, ones in dams tend to grow quicker but generally you find bigger ones in the rivers as they are harder to fish out. In a pond situation you can get them to 250gms in 2 years so I recon these ones would be more than 5 years old. The biggest one ever recorded was a bit over 4lbs so over twice the size of the ones pictured. The Tasmanian freshwater Lobster and the Murray Cray have both been recorded at larger sizes than Marron.



They recon there are 4 different strains. There is the Blue one, a brownie one which is native to the jarrah forest rivers and the dark black ones are generally from the south coastal streams.

troutman, yea you would eat them, because when in rome...lol. eat the tail suck the head drink the beer...repete often. at least we ain't got no "drop bears"

The Signal Crayfish, a pernicious pest in the EU, is native to the Pacific Northwest and is pretty big. Not as big as a redclaw, but still pretty big and very tasty. They take a few years to grow to full size though.

I know this has been a dead post for a while, but I noticed there was a lot of interest in the rare barbicambarus species with the recent discovery of the simmonsi. While that is definitely a large crayfish, the barbicambarus cornutus is still the reigning king and only found about 130 miles north of his little cousin(nowhere else either, it too is quite rare). Because of the hype and the news releases all calling it a giant, which it is, many seem to think that it is the largest. Especially with the reports all calling it "one of the largest crayfish in north America". Anyways, I spent a lot of time and energy researching the whereabouts of the barbi cornutus and finally went on a few collecting expeditions myself. With help from satellite images, boldly knocking on property owners doors in the middle of bf Kentucky, I found the big buggers! Now, if I can only get a successful berry from some of these girls, I plan to keep a few and return at least a hundred back to the area I found these in. Then repeat every year. I spent my whole childhood catching things like this and I want to do what I can to make sure my little girl can too! In fact, I live close enough to the area they are found naturally, that I may see if I can get a few to live in the man made creek I made for my little girl to play in. Anyway, are there any aquarists still interested in these if I get a successful pairing?

you might want to be careful about releasing them into the wild..could be illegal.. while this is a great idea, i'd check with the dnr first.. you already did lots of research on the cray's...
you might want to consider looking into your state's aquaculture rules/regs and maybe breed/sell for the aquarium trade or to other ap'ers
give them lots of room, try to put 1 male in a tank with 4 or 5 females (at least a 55 gal) provide lots of hides.. the males look to breed (at least the papershell) after a molt
i've had 1 papershell crayfish berry/hatch, and 1 marmokreb berry/hatch
good luck!

I will check into it, but when I was referring to taking some back, I meant to the stream they came from. I just don't want to do any damage. I am not really interested in selling any, unless maybe to a few aquarists that I meet. Right now, I have two in a 30 gallon tank(male x female I believe) and several in a 500 gallon simulated environment from the stream they came from. Constant fast flowing water from a well coming in and exiting into a pond, limestone rocks from the creek to hide under, cinder blocks for them to hide in, various mosses and algae from the same creek, minnows, sucker fish, small catfish babies, clams and snails. All of the above, except the cinder blocks and a few PVC pipes are all collected in traps from the area, since so little is known of them, I want them to have everything they did until I figure out their specific feeding habits etc. The only thing I have introduced so far is some sinking shrimp pellets, cooked chicken and some vegetable scraps. They seem to prefer the snails and clams in the stream, but they eat snails, chicken and pellets all three so far. Pellets and snails seem preferred. They also like to tear at bones. They are much less aggressive than other species when first disturbed, but after a minute or so, they get quite fierce. Makes catching them easy, if you are fast. Lol

If any of your system has had contact with fish or animals from locations other than where these originally came from then I would give careful consideration before returning any to their original stream. You may have introduced them to new parasites or diseases which could eventually weaken or destroy the original wild stock. Apparently these are in only one stream so if this were to happen they would be history. I would talk to your DNR and see what they think the right course to take is, I think it could go either way.