How to Care for Mexican Dwarf Crayfish

Mexican Dwarf Crayfish are small varieties of crayfish that do not go bigger than 2 inches in size and possess similar qualities to a larger crayfish. These guys are orange in color and tend to keep moving all around the aquarium so you can see them every now and then unlike some other crawlers in our tanks. 

They are very easy to keep and maintain within our tanks along with the other fishes and tank mates due to their calm nature and behavior. 

Here are some of the tips and methods to ‘Care for Mexican Dwarf Crayfish’ in your tank:

pH SCALE

The pH scale of the water in your tank can be around 7 – 8, as these guys can survive under a pH scale similar to that of most of the other tank mates. Mexican Dwarf crayfish are very hardy and tend to survive better in these kinds of water parameters.

Water Temperature

Mexican Dwarf Crayfish do not require any kind of water heater or temperature controller in their tanks due to their ability to survive in temperatures between 68 – 80° F. This water temperature is the most suitable for them, but however, a slight fluctuation in the temperature will not affect their existence. 

Add Plants

Make sure that you add in some Hardy, easy-to-grow plants in your aquarium like the ‘Amazon sword, Bacopa, Vallisneria, wisteria, etc. These guys are very humble and do not tend to eat off live plants, unlike the other big crayfish. The plants also act as a hiding space for them when it comes to the breeding time and molting stage of the crayfish.

Add Hardscape & Driftwood

Adding in a lot of Driftwood or maybe just some kind of hardscape just gives more surface area for the Crayfish to swim and crawl upon. They love hiding between the rocks and creating a private space for themselves between the rocks. Make sure that you add in some driftwood and hardscape to create a suitable and natural habitat for our ‘Mexican Dwarf Crayfish’.

A Lot Of Hiding Space

By hiding space, we mean a lot of hiding spaces in your aquarium. If there is no enough space for the Mexican Dwarf Crayfish, they end up killing each other for space and privacy, thus, creating enough space is essential for these guys. The Mexican Dwarf Crayfish needs a hideout during the Molting stage as they become vulnerable to other tank mates until their shell becomes hard and prone to outside predators. 

In addition, when the breeding period comes close, the females prefer a hiding space to lay eggs and have their own private space.

Add Enough Feed

Make sure that you feed enough for each individual Mexican Dwarf Crayfish or else they’ll end up hurting and killing each other. You could feed them any regular fish food like Algae wafers, floating pellets, or other fish food. 

In addition, these guys will literally eat anything that is fallen on the base of the aquarium, they basically scavenge anything that they find to eat, but if they don’t get anything to eat, they end up killing each other. So just make sure you add enough food for them to eat.

Add Java Moss

Make sure you don’t forget to add some Java Moss in your aquarium, giving them a soft surface area to nibble upon. Java moss is able to give them a good hiding space as a whole. 

Considering the above tips and suggestions, we need to make sure that there is enough space in the tank, and the other tank mates are necessary ‘Nano tank’ fishes that are humble and peaceful with other small tank mates like shrimps and Mexican Dwarf Crayfish.