Chat transcripts

[20:02 14/05/2004] <@craig> Good evening everyone!
[20:03 14/05/2004] <@craig> Welcome to this weeks installment of Live! Fishchat!
[20:03 14/05/2004] <@craig> Tonight's topic, Crayfish and Blue Lobsters will be presented by Badmans very own Andrew, aka Crash.
[20:03 14/05/2004] <@craig> As is usual, please hold your questions until after the presentation.
[20:03 14/05/2004] <@craig> Andrew, when ever you are ready.
[20:04 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Alrighty, thanks a million Craig.
[20:04 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Two facts about me: I love aquatic critters, and I love the color Blue. Mix the two, and I'm in heaven.
[20:04 14/05/2004] <+Crash> As some of you may know, I've worked at Petco since January. And as some of you may also know, Petco carries 'Blue Lobsters.'
[20:04 14/05/2004] <+Crash> These are $20 blue crayfish, and since the first time I saw them, I was intrigued. Fish are cool; don't get me wrong, but not nearly as interesting as these crayfish.
[20:05 14/05/2004] <+Crash> I immediately decided that I needed a blue crayfish. Their claws looked vicious so I knew I had to do some research to see if they're compatible with fish.
[20:05 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Uh oh, looks like they like to eat small fish, and can even injure larger fish with their claws! So looks like my crayfish needs a tank to himself, well, except for the few feeder fish I'd have to toss in for him to munch on.
[20:06 14/05/2004] <+Crash> The next thing I wanted to figure out was how big he got. A found a few contradicting lengths, because there are a few varieties. The one I ended up getting (which turns out isn't the same one that Petco sells) is a Procambarus alleni. They get to be about 6 inches, so a 20l or larger tank would be the perfect home for my crayfish.
[20:06 14/05/2004] <+Crash> The other types of popular crayfish, Cherax Teniumanus (Cobalt Blue Lobster, Kind at Petco) and Cherax Plebius (Black Lobster, also available at Petco) can get to be 15 inches. These guys would need a much larger tank at that size; a 40 breeder would be minimal.
[20:07 14/05/2004] <+Crash> There are crayfish in many different types of locals, such as ponds, lakes and rivers. So the next thing I wanted to figure out was what substrate and decorations would make my crayfish happiest.
[20:07 14/05/2004] <+Crash> They like to burrow and dig, and they absolutely need a cave of their own, just barely big enough for them to crawl into. They eventually dig out their cave more and more to make it more comfortable.
[20:08 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Substrate can be either gravel or sand, so nothing special. I have a lace rock cave for mine with Petsmart gravel. A layer of about 3 inches is probably the best, allowing them to dig as much as they'd like.
[20:08 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Filtration was the next of my concerns. I started out with a Whisper, which worked fine for a while. I have since switched to an internal sponge filter because the Whisper was just clogging with plant particles every day.
[20:09 14/05/2004] <+Crash> I was happy when I found out that crayfish don't need heaters. They're happy from 70 to 75 degrees, which is usually the temperature of most houses, but can tolerate anywhere from 65 to 86 for short periods of times.
[20:10 14/05/2004] <+Crash> One last thing to consider when setting up a tank for a crayfish is that crayfish LOVE to climb. So much so that they tend to crawl up the filter intake and out onto your floor. Because they have legs, they can easily waltz over to some nook or cranny in your house and hide there while you search frantically for it everywhere else.
[20:10 14/05/2004] <+Crash> They can live out of the water for some time, probably for a few hours. But of course, they have gills and need to breathe water. IF you want to take your crayfish out to play, that's ok, just keep it in a shallow bowl of water.
[20:10 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Back to my point, when setting up a crayfish tank; take every precaution you can to make sure there are absolutely no ways out. I use masking tape.
[20:11 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Now that the crayfish is set up in his nice little home, there were a few more things to figure out. Mainly, the diet. Crayfish are opportunistic eaters. In other words, they eat whatever they can get their hands...er...claws on. They need both plants and animals in their diet.
[20:11 14/05/2004] <+Crash> My crayfish loves Anacharis and Mondo Grass. He also gets a treat of Comets or Tuffys a few times a week. Further more, I feed him some shrimp pellets and algae wafers, especially after he's molted because he can't catch fish for a few days.
[20:12 14/05/2004] <+Crash> One last thing, they should NOT be fed live shrimp because they can catch any disease the shrimp have. It's along the same lines as feeding live fish to another fish; your prized fish may be able to get diseases like ich.
[20:12 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Which brings me to my next topic: Molting. Mine molts about every 3 weeks. The first time it freaked me out. I woke up in the morning and there was my crayfish, all dead and rotted away on his side. A second look into the tank and I could see him hiding in his cave.
[20:13 14/05/2004] <+Crash> After they molt, they are pretty defenseless. They just hide in their cave and eat their old skeleton for about 4 or 5 days. It's usually best to leave the crayfish alone during this time, I mean, don't put any feeder fish in with it. The feeders scare the crayfish, it's quite humorous, but it stresses the poor crayfish.
[20:13 14/05/2004] <+Crash> They molt to grow. After the last molt, I could see a HUGE difference in the size of my crayfish, especially his claws. Actually, I have a video of that molt which he was so kind to let me tape here: http://www.2cah.com/crash/pokey.mpg
[20:13 14/05/2004] <+Crash> It's large, 37 megs. Craig was kind enough to host the file for me, make sure you all thank him for letting me share this with you.
[20:14 14/05/2004] <+Crash> I'm going to continue with my talk, but feel free to watch the video
[20:14 14/05/2004] <+Crash> As crayfish get older and full grown, they start to molt less frequently, until they molt only about once a year. The lifespan is, according to the Petco caresheet, 5 years. I am not sure of the accuracy of this figure, but I would say that it is at least 5 years.
[20:15 14/05/2004] <+Crash> So I had a happy little crayfish crawling around my tank. I wondered "Do I have a boy crayfish, or a girl crayfish?" Well, I can't really explain it, so here are some pictures that do: http://www.bluecrayfish.com/gender.htm
[20:17 14/05/2004] <+Crash> The male crayfish tend to hang out and about the tank, climbing on stuff and hunting. The female crayfish tend to be a little more laid back and hide in their cave more often, but they do come out to eat and explore, just not as much as the male. Males do also have a tendency to defend their cave, so they can just hang out defending it if they feel the need to.
[20:17 14/05/2004] *** Guest69 (~Guest__@rdu26-21-173.nc.rr.com) has left IRC (Badmans Rules!)
[20:18 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Mine turned out to be a male, and he spends lots of time out of his cave exploring his little territory and climbing all over everything.
[20:18 14/05/2004] <+Crash> A few more random facts that didn't really fit in anywhere else: The blue 'lobsters' in Petco are, of course, Crayfish. Lobsters are saltwater critters. Crayfish are basically the freshwater version of a lobster.
[20:19 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Secondly, a blue crayfish is a blue color morph of the common brown papershell crayfish. It is the lack of a gene that causes them to be blue. They are not hybrids or genetically modified or painted. They do actually exist in the wild with other 'normal' crayfish. Procambarus alleni (the one I have) is bred in ponds in Florida for the aquarium trade.
[20:19 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Lastly, the one thing you have to look out for crayfish disease wise are little worm like critters. They are a parasite common to crayfish. They are a type of worm, or Annelid, a commensal organism, meaning that they live on, but do not harm the crayfish.
[20:20 14/05/2004] <+Crash> The specific scientific name for these is Branchiobdellida. They are members of the leech family. There is more specific data on the net, just type commensal worm in any search engine.
[20:20 14/05/2004] <+Crash> To remove them, simply rinse them under cold water while scrubbing with a fine toothbrush. Use the edge of your fingernail to get the ones around the eyes. You can rinse them off in chlorinated water with no ill effects to the crayfish.
[20:21 14/05/2004] <+Crash> That's all I have for you tonight, lets see if i can answer any of your questions!
[20:21 14/05/2004] <@craig> Excellent presentation Andrew!
[20:21 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Thank you craig
[20:21 14/05/2004] <@craig> If you have a question, please type: /query craig I have a question
[20:22 14/05/2004] <@Jessica> you mentioned rinsing them... is there a trick to holding them and doing this?
[20:23 14/05/2004] <+Crash> you hold a crayfish by its back, lemme get you a pic
[20:23 14/05/2004] <+Crash> http://www.bluecrayfish.com/pix2/rightway.jpg
[20:23 14/05/2004] <@Jessica> ah, thanks
[20:24 14/05/2004] <@craig> Geoff..
[20:24 14/05/2004] <+Noname> Hey, I was wondering if you knew where certain crayfish originate in the wild, or know where I could find this info.
[20:24 14/05/2004] <+Crash> there are crayfish in just about every body of freshwater
[20:26 14/05/2004] <+Crash> I know I've caught buckets full in a river, and I've netted some in a nearby pond. The guy at bluecrayfish.com gets his out of ponds near his house and sells them online. The blue/black crayfish from petco come from australia
[20:26 14/05/2004] <@craig> Andrew, if you don't mind, I'd like to post a link to a Google search to help Geoff with his answer..
[20:26 14/05/2004] <+Crash> go ahead
[20:26 14/05/2004] <@craig> http://www.google.com/search?q=crayfish+origins&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
[20:27 14/05/2004] <+Noname> Thanks both, ^_^
[20:27 14/05/2004] <@craig> Sam..
[20:27 14/05/2004] <@samantha> K... I know Pokey uproots your plants and munches on anacharis and such. I'm wondering - are there any plants that he doesn't disturb and uproot and/or eat?
[20:29 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Well theres still one stalk of frill thats planted, but the rest is floating now. He's munched on the frill a little, but not a lot. I don't think he's very fond of it. He loved my apongenton and swords too.
[20:29 14/05/2004] <@samantha> K, thank you :)
[20:29 14/05/2004] <+Crash> no problemo :)
[20:29 14/05/2004] <+Crash> Anyone else? russ?
[20:29 14/05/2004] <@craig> Are there any other questions?
[20:30 14/05/2004] <russ> yes
[20:30 14/05/2004] <russ> I 've got two actually
[20:30 14/05/2004] <russ> First...great presentation
[20:31 14/05/2004] <@craig> Folks, looks like the moderator bit never got set tonight, so the floor is open, even if unintentionally. :-D
[20:31 14/05/2004] <JP> You slacker.
[20:31 14/05/2004] <JP> Great presentation Andrew.
[20:31 14/05/2004] <+Crash> craig you're lucky i didn't get interrupted ;)
[20:31 14/05/2004] <+Crash> thanks russ, jp
[20:32 14/05/2004] <JP> You mean I could have made obscene comments? -_-
[20:32 14/05/2004] <russ> I realize that marine inverts are not tollerant to nitrates, but Ive never considered freshwater inverts. How about nitrate build ups for these guys?
[20:32 14/05/2004] * @craig can still +m the channel :-D
[20:32 14/05/2004] <JP> :P
[20:32 14/05/2004] <+Crash> they do not tolerate bad water conditions, weekly water changes are required to keep the nitrates down.
[20:33 14/05/2004] <+Crash> They are freshwater critters, and freshwater critters LOVE freshwater ;)
[20:34 14/05/2004] <russ> Thanks. You mentioned about commercial breeding in Florida...this reminded me of a program I saw about 2 years ago where some albino morphs were discovered residing in undergraown cavern pools that were estimated to be 50 years old.
[20:35 14/05/2004] <russ> There were only traced to a few caverns though.
[20:36 14/05/2004] <+Crash> wow cool, so they were all white with red eyes?
[20:36 14/05/2004] <russ> Pink eyes:-)
[20:36 14/05/2004] <@samantha> wow
[20:36 14/05/2004] <+Crash> i need one of those lol
[20:36 14/05/2004] <@craig> Andrew, I am going to ask the stupid question of the evening, just how did you come up with the name 'Pokey'?
[20:36 14/05/2004] <@samantha> oooo
[20:36 14/05/2004] <+Crash> sam named him ;)
[20:37 14/05/2004] <@samantha> :D
[20:37 14/05/2004] <@craig> Okie, fess up. :-D
[20:37 14/05/2004] <russ> Must be a Garfield fan ;-)
[20:37 14/05/2004] <@samantha> lol cause he always pokes me I guess... and those big claws are um... pokey?
[20:37 14/05/2004] <@samantha> um.
[20:37 14/05/2004] <@craig> Good enough.. ;-)
[20:37 14/05/2004] <russ> that sounds fair
[20:37 14/05/2004] <@samantha> Okay so I have a bit of a question
[20:38 14/05/2004] <+Crash> a bit of a question is only going to get a bit of an answer ;)
[20:38 14/05/2004] <@samantha> I've got this summer-lair all set up for Pokey as you're well aware, and I've got a penquin something or other on it... would it be better to get a different kind of filter or put some kind of sponge over the intake to prevent clogging?
[20:39 14/05/2004] <+Crash> a sponge would be fine, but it will get covered in plant particles in no time
[20:39 14/05/2004] <@samantha> okay, what would you recommend I do?
[20:40 14/05/2004] <+Crash> the radio shack microphone thing
[20:40 14/05/2004] <@samantha> lol seriously?
[20:40 14/05/2004] <+Crash> yea
[20:40 14/05/2004] <@samantha> k
[20:41 14/05/2004] <+Crash> anyone else? dinner is smelling awfully good right now
[20:41 14/05/2004] <+Crash> we're having *gasp* fish
[20:41 14/05/2004] <@samantha> lol
[20:41 14/05/2004] <@samantha> ewwww
[20:41 14/05/2004] <JP> Mmmm.
[20:41 14/05/2004] <@samantha> eww.
[20:41 14/05/2004] <JP> What kind?
[20:41 14/05/2004] <@Jessica> andrew, it was excellent, thank you :-)
[20:42 14/05/2004] <+Crash> electric blue hap
[20:42 14/05/2004] <+Crash> thanks jess :)
[20:42 14/05/2004] <JP> That's the best.
[20:42 14/05/2004] <@samantha> Andrew, great job :D I really enjoyed it
[20:44 14/05/2004] <Squishy> Pass around the bibs and melted butter:)
[20:44 14/05/2004] *** Crash is now known as Crash-Food
[20:44 14/05/2004] <@Jessica> lol
[20:45 14/05/2004] <+Crash-Food> Thanks for ocming everyone!