Crayfish is a freshwater animal that belongs to the family of crustacean. It makes a nice delicacy when cooked and also a very nice pet. It is commonly seen in many households in America and other countries as pet, and it’s also raised in farms in larger quantity for consumption.
Recently, crayfish has become a very popular sea food which is loved by almost everyone.
But the question is, what kind of water do pet crayfish live in. Can they live in tap water?
Can crayfish live in tap water? Crayfish can live in tap water. The water need to be free from chlorine and be left still for about 24 hours so that the temperature will be suitable for crayfish. Stones and substrates placed at the bottom where they could hide.
Crayfish consumes alot of Oxygen which is very necessary for it’s survival, so you can use conditioned tap water, spring water, or well water.
The water should cover the back of the animal, and needs to be no more than 15 cm (6″) deep.
If kept in deep water, crayfish can deplete the oxygen at the bottom.
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Since they cannot easily swim to the surface for air, they may suffocate.
When keeping crayfish in a tap water, it is important not to fully fill the tank, minimize the amount of water you add in the tank, so that oxygen could reach to your crayfish at the bottom of the tank, unless you will provide air pump, Heather and filter, so that the water could be habitable for them.
Again tap water contains chlorine or chloramine and ammonia.
So, it would be great if you neutralize the chlorine and ammonia before adding the water into the aquarium where you will keep them.
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What Kind Of Water Do Crayfish Need?
Crayfish is a crustacean, but unlike other crustaceans such as crab, crayfish is a bit different in terms of the nature of the eco they can survive in.
What kind of water do crayfish need? Crayfish is a freshwater crustacean and does not live in brackish water.
Apart from salty water, crayfish is not that picky when it comes to water, for the fact they have enough oxygen that could sustain them.
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They don’t truly care much about the type of water they live in, except the water is salty, which they don’t like.
They could live comfortably in tap water, well water, spring water etc and they won’t mind, for the fact the water is clean and has oxygen in it.
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Can Crayfish Live in Stillwater?
As a matter of fact, yes, crayfish do live in Stillwater, and they even love it.
If you are keeping your pet crayfish in freshwater like tap or spring water, it is important to keep them in a still water, in order to maintain room temperature and make the aquarium very conducive for them.
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Even in the wild, they are mainly found at the part of water that is very calm.
Even other crustaceans like crab do love still water too, as they do come out when the water is calm and do avoid parts that are not.
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So they do live in still water and dislikes unnecessary disturbance.
That’s why they normally hide in aquarium sometimes.
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Do Crayfish Need Salt Water?
You might be wondering, ‘ if crab love and do stay in salty water”, and crab and crayfish are in the same family, do crayfish also require salty water too?.
Do crayfish need salt water? Crayfish is a freshwater animal and does not survive on brackish water for long.
One of the easiest ways to kill or harm a crawdad is to place it in a salty water for a long time, it will die!.
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Although crayfish is related to shrimp and crab, these two relatives of crayfish loves and inhibit salty water, little wonder why many people do think that ‘crayfish do live in salty water like it’s relatives’.
The fact is that, it does not in anyway need or live in salty water, as it is very harmful to it’s health.
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Can Crayfish Live in Cold water?
If crayfish is a freshwater loving crustacean and can live in all kinds of freshwater, can they also live in cold water?.
Can crayfish live in cold water? Yes, normally crayfish can survive in a wide range of water temperature, including freezing water temperature, but might not survive for long.
Although they could tolerate almost any type of water temperature, be it cold or slightly warm, but it is important to know and understand the species in your tank, because some crayfish are tropical, while other crayfish love to live in cold water.
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Even though they could tolerate any water temperature, it is very important that you maintain the temperature level of the tank water between 65-77 °F temperature range or 18-25 °C. This is because this temperature level is normal for the growth of most crayfish species.
The crayfish lives in both temperate and tropical zones, therefore the water temperature depends on the species of crayfish that you are keeping in your tank.
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Moreover, try to keep your aquarium temperature at a stable level, because they prefer to live in a water with neutral pH which is around 7.0 pH.
