aquariumlover10 Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Ok so I love crays, I kepta wild cray in my 10g for a few months, I wound up to be a definit non dwarf cray, had 2 molts in 1 week, reached 6" ate about $50-$60 worth of stuff, into a pond it went,but I reallyy want some more crays, I can't get any for awhile because I can't getanother tank, but I was looking at the electric blue and dwarf orange, and I settled that I liked the orange better, now I know nothing about dwarf crays so I need some help here, can I kep mutiples togther?(I've seen conflictinginfo on this) what plants can I safly keep they with? What's the smallest tank size you'd recomend? Breeding? Food? Average size? I have seen so many diffent things about them so I want to ask here so I can get the best info possible. Also any tips or other info is appreciated, thanks. CharlesWex, CiaraHono, SurraGync and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OblongShrimp Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 I keep the dwarf orange. I have them in a 40 gallon (maybe 10+ of them) but the still fight and pull claws or legs off each other. I have them with my blue rili shrimp and have never seen them catch them....if they are they suck at it since the population of blue rili is getting larger. My large male is probably 1.5 or so inches. If you are looking to get into them let me know, I am trying to downsize some stuff and I they aren't going to be making the cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumlover10 Posted December 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Thanks, I can't get any for awhile so I couldn't take any, butdo you think I could keep a pair in a planted 10g? It wouldbe filtered with a hob rated for 15g, also have they ever eaten a large amount of plants? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OblongShrimp Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 i have never noticed them eating plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty703 Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 I kept and bred both CPO's the orange dwarfs and Blue Shufeldti (specifically blue genetics) I can tell you from experience that you need a good sized tank for the CPO's...more space is better. They are explorers and move around the tank constantly, so if there is another CPO in the area they will fight with it. Females are larger than males, but males are very aggressive and territorial so they will hunt down the other males and kill them....then chase the females constantly. I have had a female kill my male too, and its not a pretty sight. I usually remove Mamma's when they are berried to a hang on breeder box to give her some peace, once she drops those babies I pull her immediately as she will eat them. Babies are fed on squished pond snails for the meat as it is high in protein and they grow fast on it. I keep LOTS of moss in the tank with them and when they are up a bit (approx. 3 weeks) I move the babies to a tank for them only, as parents will kill baby crays! In the rearing tank I have caves made of small clay pots buried in the substrate, rocks to hide under, driftwood, cholla wood, and as I mentioned tons of moss, so much its hard for them to get around, but it keeps them separated. Once they are bigger I sell them off, and start again. Ive had mine with shrimps too and its funny to see a shrimp land on the crays head and it doesn't even know its there....they won't catch a shrimp unless the shrimps on the way out anyway! Shufeldti is a whole other type of dwarf....these are very peaceful with each other and I have kept 20+ in a 10 gallon tank. They are not like CPO's and hide a lot, you usually don't see them at all unless you move something in the tank. They are smaller in size than CPOs ( which I prefer) I like to see my crays. I did find a dwarf blue cray from Taiwan that our LFS had in and they were much bigger than CPO, but didn't grow as big as the Electric Blues which can get to 5" and will eat all your plants and fish Bred them too.... I really liked this little blue cray, but found out they only get males, so no breeding (figures) I had mine in my 120 gallon filled with swords,tetras,barbs etc and it was funny to watch him try to catch these fish....never gonna happen! I will be getting some crays in the New Year, just need some time to fix a tank up for them....love those little guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumlover10 Posted December 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Thanks for the info, I am wanting to get the dwarf orange, I hear its the least aggreaive and has the smallest appetite for plants, how large of a tank would I need for one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty703 Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Ive kept one in a 2.5 gallon no problem. Just give it driftwood, moss or cholla wood for a hidey hole and feed it sparingly. I taught mine to come to the glass and stand on its tail with pincers up for a piece of algae wafer....they are very smart. woopderson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumlover10 Posted December 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Wow, that sounds awesome, I use to be able to hold mine and not befv pinched, but it would destroy everything and everyone I may actually upgrade my shrimp tank to 5g when I move and get a orange dwarf for the 2.5g thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty703 Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 I have 2 female blue diminitis crays. They are very laid back, when they meet one another, they just move around and go on about their business. These are a very dark almost steel blue in color and the shell is dense, not see thru. I am looking for some males, so if anyone has a couple for sale, please let me know. thanks. here's a pic. its sitting on the rock....almost black looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Monty how do the diminitus compare to the Shufeldti? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibikaie Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Wow, that's a really nice little cray! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daphilster08 Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 I have been breeding cambarellus diminutus for a little over a year. I love these things. I have males but there is quite the waiting list. If you want to be added to the list send me a message on here or on my Facebook page (Search Tamed Waters) aquariumlover10 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty703 Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 here's a pic of one of mine, who is getting a lot more adventurous now. It comes right out to the front to get fed. Going to pick up some more today....hoping to get a good mix of m/f this time. Can't tell if this ones a boy or girl, but its soooo pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Dwarf crays are extremely hard to sex when young. At least for me. That is why many people including myself send them them out unsexed up through juvie age. Now that my remaining CPOs are entering adulthood, I am able to sex them okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty703 Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Yeah maybe the little hockey legs don't grow until the male is getting to maturity, whereas the female just has the dot in the middle which doesn't change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 You may be correct. For others to understand a little better, imagine taking a juvie shrimp and turning it upside down and trying to see gender. heh Not easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty703 Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Haha...I did just that today. I bought another 6 of the blue diminitus crays and turned them upside down in a small container with a light on them and a magnifier.....turns out I have at least 1 male, and would you believe my luck I got a berried female too! Now this is a great jumpstart to my breeding program. Soothing Shrimp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilshieh Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I've kept the dwarf cajun crays before, they were easy to keep, did not eat plants, and pretty friendly towards one another. They berried twice but I don't know what happened after that because I stopped taking care of that tank I housed the male and female in a 10 gallon tank that was lightly planted and had a large piece of lace rock in it with lots of holes/caves. They never really went after my fish but they might for things with longer fins. All inverts imo are opportunistic feeders so everyone can tell you they'll do fine with so and so but if a dumb one just goes in front of the cray, it'll attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelsier Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Monty, Did you find the blue shufeldti bred true and kept the blue color? I hear a lot of people saying they lose it because it is caused by a particular mineral deficiency. How do you find the diminutus compared to shufeldti? If they're more peaceful than cpos, I'd be very interested in getting some. How were prices? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty703 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 I had purchased 2 pair of blue bred shufeldti, so most of the offspring from these were also blue in color, more of a blue/grey than a definite blue. The shufeldti were very peaceful together, but tended to hide a lot, not like CPOs. These Diminitus seem to get along well together, they just move around one another, but don't fight. I like them a lot. The diminitus on the other hand does change color...they can be brownish, greyish or very dark blue almost black. These are the ones I have. The one that is berried is sooo dark I can hardly see her against the gravel, she blends in with the black pieces. I have a male that is blue, and another female that is more of a steel blue, and then another dark one. I will post pics of the babies from the berried female once she has them as I am not sure who is the father, she was in a tank with lots of them when I purchased her....just my luck I found she was berried. aquariumlover10 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty703 Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 Well an update on Mamma dimi...I thought she'd dropped the eggs being a 1st time Mommy, so I pulled her and took her to a Fish Show where she won 1st place in Ivertebrate class. Cool. Then last week when I went to clean out the marina box I pulled out a snail and disturbed the substrate, and ended up with a flurry of pale little creatures all floating around the box....approx. 20 of them. Baby dimis. They are actively eating good and I now just swish the water around to net all uneaten food and they get swished around with it, then settle back down into the substrate/gravel in the box. I also found one lone baby in my other shrimp tank that I had re-designed for my upcoming fancy tigers/ellen wang CRS. it was sitting on a piece of driftwood and its pale blue. Ive decided to leave it in there until its bigger then I will transfer it to another tank for crays. It must have been on a piece of moss I pulled out of the marina box and tossed into that tank. Its sooo tiny I cannot get a decent pic of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtheLad Posted March 28, 2015 Report Share Posted March 28, 2015 I've tried to kept some, well actually 6 cray in my 15g tank.. 1 died eated by its kind after molt 2 days ago, she strungling moving around avoiding other crays. I wonder, how long does it take for their shell to be hardened after they molt? and just today, another cray molt, and he lost his arm T_T.... will it grow again ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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