Redclaw crayfish

Care at a glance

The Australian redclaw crayfish is often sold in the shop as a blue lobster: a blue-green crayfish whose males carry a red patch on the outside of the claws. What rarely gets mentioned is that it grows to a quarter of a metre, far too large for the nano tank it often ends up in.

Give it a roomy tank with sand, a cave or pipe per animal and sturdy plants, because soft plants get eaten. It is fairly calm for a crayfish, but anything that sleeps on the bottom at night or swims slowly is at risk. Feed sinking tablets, vegetables and the occasional piece of fish; after every moult it needs a few days of shelter.

Good to know

• Outgrows most home tanks
• Territorial
• Digger — needs fine sand
• Eats or uproots live plants
• Preys on shrimp and snails

Best not combined with

• GuppyPoecilia reticulata
• Cherry shrimpNeocaridina davidi
• Amano shrimpCaridina multidentata
• Nerite snail (zebra)Neritina sp.

Related species

• Red claw crabPerisesarma bidens
• Spixi snail (zebra apple snail)Asolene spixi
• Vampire crabGeosesarma sp.
• Giant freshwater shrimpMacrobrachium rosenbergii
• Japanese trapdoor snailViviparus malleatus
• Horned nerite snailClithon corona