wife approves more fish and doesnt kick me out. lol

[mrairportjunke]

Re: wife approves more fish and doesnt kick me out. lol

yeah.  my tank has gravel in it but when the wifes not with me, im gonna buy some crushed coral to put in my tank instead.  dont wanna buy the crushed coral in front of her cause she dont want me spendin anymore money on the tank.  I have spent a ton in her eyes.  i tell her its all worth it.  lol.  anyone got any sand or crushed coral they wanna share with a fellow fishbox brother.  lol

[Spot86t]

Re: wife approves more fish and doesnt kick me out. lol

I've got a mix of argonite/crushed coral/puka shell/sand that I used to have in several tanks.  About 2  buckets of it sitting outside that I'm not using since I decided to do a planted tank and went with different substrate.  I need enough to put a fine layer on the bottom of a baby pool for my blue crayfish babies, but I'm sure I can spare enough for a 10 gal tank.  I've got one bag of aragonite I haven't even opened yet - I think it's a 15 or 20# bag

You're welcome to HAVE some although if you're in Waller it would likely cost you as much in gas as it would to just go buy some.

[PhishPhreek]

Re: wife approves more fish and doesnt kick me out. lol

yeah.  she dont want me spendin anymore money on the tank.  I have spent a ton in her eyes.  i tell her its all worth it.

Actually, it's one of the least expensive hobbies you could have.  Have you priced what it costs to  play a round of golf,  get a hunting lease & gear,  add some custom go fast items to your car, maintain a boat & go fishing or an airplane and go flying, put a swimming pool in the back yard and keep it clean.  I could go on, but you get the picture.   Just explain it to her, your saving money by staying at home and keeping fish !  

and when you have fry, you can sell them and get some of your money back - such a deal !

[mrairportjunke]

Re: wife approves more fish and doesnt kick me out. lol

yeah i do.  but you know how women are....  lol.  and thanks for the offer Spot86T.  If you werent way out in Lake Houston then yeah Id stop by the house wit a six pack and bug your about your substrate and those crayfish.  I was thinkin about maybe tryin to raise some crayfish for my puffer too but I think i would have more success with the snails.  What do you do for the crayfish and feed them and what kinda tank you ahve them in???

[Spot86t]

Re: wife approves more fish and doesnt kick me out. lol

I have a few different varieties.   The electric blues (procambarus alleni) are each kept in a 10 gallon.  Otherwise they eat each other - whoever molts first turns into breakfast, lunch and dinner for a day...  
Some Austrailian marrons (cherax cainii or tenuimanus - I haven't confirmed just which they are yet), they've yet to breed but they havent had the chance, I keep them separated for the same reason.  I've got a pair of Austrailian Redclaws (cherax quadricarinatus) - they eat those there like we eat the red ones here. that stay together in a 20L, each with their own "house".  They're pretty good bout not fighting as long as I feed each one in a different corner.  I've got 3 eatin-style reds - picked up from a crawfish hut in Crosby, and 3 they gave me just yesterday that are mostly white.  The reds are together in a 40 breeder and seem to get along OK.  

I've got a random sprinkling of a few different locals gathered from the ditch and yard and a friends pond

They all eat any leftover fish food (I keep a sprinkle of fish in each tank to keep skeeters away), they love tetramin tablets, and some like shrimp pellets, others like algai wafers.

They're all escape artists though, and will also catch/eat any fish too slow and dumb to get out of their way.

[mrairportjunke]

Re: wife approves more fish and doesnt kick me out. lol

yeah. i dont want fancy crayfish. i just wanna breed some that are cheap to feed to my green spotted puffer im picken up monday.  actually im probably gona get 2 of them cause im tryin to pick up another 29 gallon to replace my 10 gallon.  I i have a spot where i have a 29 sitin next to a 10 and it looks kinda dumb so tell my wife.  shes a decoration type lady you know how they are.  so i keep tellin her 2 29's would look better there and be evan.  ahha.  shes kinda startin to fall for it.  keep fingers crossed.  anyways.  i wanna raise some cheap kinda crayfish crawfish to feed the puffers.  figure that would be easier and cheaper than buyin them every week or so.  I wonder if a 10 gallon would be enought to breed a few in?  what you think crayfish man.  lol.  you put filters and stuff onther dont you?

[Spot86t]

Re: wife approves more fish and doesnt kick me out. lol

They need clean water and oxygen just like fish - although most species are not too persnickity about their water.  I use sponge filters in all my 10's and 2 sponge filters in the 20L's

10 gallons is enough for one crawfish.  otherwise they'll eat each other.  I've had two get territorial in a 20L before - problem solved itself when one molted.  the other ate him.  Now I use a divider in the 20L's or I just give each his/her own 10G.  The problem comes when you get a pair, they're in a 20, they mate, she berries and they hatch.  Now where do you put 250+ baby crays before the parents start snacking on them??

native yard craws don't seem as agressive as the ditch ones (they look distinctively different).  The ditch ones resemble the procambarus ones, the

My answer:  $8.97 6'x15" kids pool from walmart - not the plastic preformed ones, the kinda stiff-sided liner type. They were cheap enough so I bought 2, layering them as extra insurance against pokey claws.  Added some potted and some floating water plants (shade keeps water cooler)and a very thin layer of sand on the bottom.  Picked up a solar aerator on ebay last year - forget how much but it's a handy little gizmo.  Cheap pump (harborfreight  9.99) piped into a basket with filter media in it (homemade).  After dechlorinating it, rinse all your tank filters in the pool.  Place it in a shaded spot so they don't cook and if there's no algae on your plants, then once a week toss in some (a TINY bit) sinking crushed pellet food.  Warning - frogs, snakes and herons really like eating crawfish too so a net cover might be handy too.  Oh - wrap the pump with course filter media too - lots of it cause it'll suck baby crays right up otherwise.

[Mzungu]

Re: wife approves more fish and doesnt kick me out. lol

I'm not sure because I have never really spent time reading on this site, but you could always look around http://www.pufferresources.net/forum/ .