The crays should be roughly the same size to prevent the larger ones from viewing the smaller ones as lunch. However, it would be extremely important to go for a large aquarium and provide lots of hides. Some aquarists have kept multiple Florida crayfish in the same tank with some success, and if you'd like to breed yours without having multiple aquariums, you'll have to. Something like a school of zebra Danios may work, but we personally prefer a single-species set-up for Procambarus species here at The Shrimp Farm. You may get away with keeping these crayfish with certain species of fish, but they would need to be quick and nimble in order to avoid being snapped up. That includes their tankmates, and even their own species! As such, it's usually best to keep them on their own. These are opportunistic omnivores, which basically means they'll eat anything they can get their claws on. If you'd like to keep a Florida crayfish, the main thing you'll need to keep in mind is that they're not well-suited to community aquariums. Setting up a Florida crayfish aquarium Tankmates Never release a Florida crayfish (or any aquarium fish or invertebrate, for that matter), into the wild! Non-native crayfish can potentially threaten native populations and even entire ecosystems, so please be mindful of this. It seems Procambarus alleni hasn't managed to gain as much of a foothold outside of its natural range as these species, they do have somewhat of a presence in various regions of Europe and beyond. As a result of specimens escaped or released from aquariums, there are already massive feral populations of American species like the marbled crayfish (Procambarus virginalis) and red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) present around the world, like in Europe. Invasive potentialīecause they're so adaptable (and breed quite vigorously), crayfish have huge invasive potential. Irresponsible water management may also pose a threat to the species.

In the long run, they might become too long for the crays to survive in their burrows, ultimately damaging the population. It does mention that the dry seasons in its natural habitat are lengthening as a result of climate change. The IUCN considers this crayfish to be a species of Least Concern, noting it's quite common in its natural range. This comes in quite handy in areas like Florida's many floodplains, which flood with seawater on a regular basis. Procambarus alleni has even been found to be able to withstand brackish water. In fact, they're more common in areas that experience seasonal droughts than some of their Procambarus cousins, like P. It's very adaptable, meaning it can survive pretty much everywhere! Stagnant, warm and dirty waters are generally no problem for the Florida crayfish.Įven if a pond dries up, the crays can simply burrow into the mud or sand to wait out the dry season in relative safety. In the wild, this species inhabits a range of different habitat types, from swamps to drainage ditches. It's a common sight in the Everglades, as well as pretty much everywhere in the panhandle that's located south of Levy and Marion Counties and east of the St Johns River. Natural habitatĪs the name suggests, the Florida crayfish is indeed found exclusively in the state of Florida. The selectively bred blue version, known as the electric blue crayfish, has pretty much completely overtaken it! Not surprising, in our opinion, as the blue coloration with its lighter speckling really is quite spectacular.

It's rare nowadays to stumble upon wild-colored Florida crayfish in your local aquarium store. The wild form of this species is greyish or brownish in color, usually with hints of blue and red on the claws.

Florida crayfish appearance & natural habitatįlorida crayfish appearance & natural habitat AppearanceĪt a maximum length of up to 5', the Florida crayfish is considered a medium-sized crayfish.

Blue clawfish