breeding crayfish

[QSLRC]

Hi there. I'm new to this forum. I would appreciate if anyone can advise if there are commercial farms that is growing out this red claw for sales. Pls do send me a message. Thks.

 

[user343434]

Hi mate,

 

I am on my way to do, but after about 5 years of learning I'll give it a 2 years more before I go active and build an Aquaponics Farm on my land. 

Bu now I have in average 2000 Crays all sizes in my backyard AP system which I built for my wife and Nephew to get them from moving dirt and weeding in the rice fields to modern farming. 

I started with a small scale Backyard AP system and grew it accordingly with the raising interest of my wife. I guess the Limit is here reached but beside we just added 3 Tilapia Tanks for a bit more variety on the BBQ  ?

 

Just before people think its easy to go commercial:

Try first in a small scale and get them there sorted by meaning selection of the meatiest for breeding and how to stop them going everywhere incl through and pump and filter. 

Because if you don't you will have a market full of 40-50 grs wild growing and spreading low priced Yabbies and never even touch the top of the notch quality. 

 

Then the Steel Blue colored ones are looking more tastier and off cause have a better market price to the consumer than the pale white and greenish ones. 

Please select again: which Father and Mother is true Color since Generations?

 

Further: here was a guy posting pictures of Crays for sale and they were covered with small Mites. Oi fellow, that means you have to pump your pond out, dry (burn) it for a season and kill all diseases and Pests before you offer them on the market... 

 

Last: what to do with the 1000's of unwanted ones? Well, lots of BBQ's with my mates and their wifes and all do the same:

Suck the head and eat the tail... 

 

This System as on my Pictures are 5 Years and 8 month Development, updating and rebuilding and about 500.000 THB. 

 

 

[chilidog]

This topic has been going on for awhile and I was wandering if anyone has been successful at breeding and sale red claws. I have been breeding them for about 4 years and and had lots of ups and downs, lost 3000 this year. Its been the learning curve to find out what a good pond set up is. I knew lots of people around me growing them in tanks but no one I know made any kind of money other than when people wanted to buy breeding pairs.  PM me if your interested in sharing information.

[user343434]

Hi chilidog,

 

yes you are right, if somebody thinks of the big Buck out of crayfish tanks invest better in a new BBQ from Home Pro and keep your mates smiling by put on what you get out of your Tanks.

Crayfish are not growing big in Tanks or at least not more than 1-2 per Tank. 

Also profitable in bigger ponds will be a illusion. Thai Shrimps are doing better or why is there till today no Thai who has made a change to Yabbies?

And for anyone who thinks Crays and Aquaponics makes the coin.

Either Cray nor Tilapia will create a Profit. You always need to focus to reduce the loss to a minimum but still grow healthy Bio Greens.

As I wrote in prior posts:

My Relatives which not became seafarers are specialized in hydroponics in the Netherlands and they told me about a better chance for Aquaponics in a Tropical Climate than in areas with a winter shutdown.

But its still Farming so don't expect becoming rich.

I have my time served in the offshore and before I retire at the "Stone Table in front of 7/eleven" I will make a little Aquaponics Farm that Feeds my Thai relatives and getting them out of the bone jarring rice and cane fields into a modern and more comfortable farming method which should keep me busy until my old bones force me to sit at the stone table ? .  

[Latis]

On 11/15/2013 at 8:09 AM, crayfish said:

^{Hi Bunnydrops}

^{You ask about water temperature. Crayfish can live from 1 degree above freezing to 34 degrees centigrade. When they go under 10 degrees they go into a state of hibernation, If they actually freeze then they die. Keeping them here in Thailand is safe providing you don't have them in direct sunlight. They need to be kept in the shade and preferably in running water which cools as it flows.}

^{last night one of the females laid eggs, these are the first eggs from the redclaws and made me very happy as I have waited several months for this. I celebrated with a little too much beer.}

^{Keep in touch}

are you still keeping crayfish?

 

[user343434]

I have now again 9 aquariums with berried mothers. Since I have put them under my Ebb flood grow beds they spread as mad. Deep shade is the magic as they live in AUS in every mud puddle where the sun is not reaching any spots of their hideouts.

 

My celebration turns into panic as slowly its getting boring on my Sunday BBQ's and I reckon soon my guests complaining and call me a cheap charlie not buying steaks, but till now was eating one thing and the Barley, Hops and Malt Body Serum for inner treatment the other.  LOL.

 

Anyone has found a shop with proper Liner.. Fish safe or better Food-grade?

[CLW]

What is the Thai name for the several edible crayfish species?
I would like to buy a few as hobby at Chatuchak but the variety is overwhelming.

[CLW]

I have now again 9 aquariums with berried mothers. Since I have put them under my Ebb flood grow beds they spread as mad. Deep shade is the magic as they live in AUS in every mud puddle where the sun is not reaching any spots of their hideouts.
 
My celebration turns into panic as slowly its getting boring on my Sunday BBQ's and I reckon soon my guests complaining and call me a cheap charlie not buying steaks, but till now was eating one thing and the Barley, Hops and Malt Body Serum for inner treatment the other.  LOL.
 
Anyone has found a shop with proper Liner.. Fish safe or better Food-grade?

Pond Liner Film
Vis and Son Company Limited
www.vsc.co.th

[user343434]

On 7/1/2018 at 4:59 PM, CLW said:

What is the Thai name for the several edible crayfish species?
I would like to buy a few as hobby at Chatuchak but the variety is overwhelming.

My wife tried to get the name, she calls them goong ?

[Thian]

On 7/1/2018 at 4:59 PM, CLW said:

What is the Thai name for the several edible crayfish species?
I would like to buy a few as hobby at Chatuchak but the variety is overwhelming.

Sometimes there's a petfair in Impact, i've seen the red claw and other imported crayfish for sale there.

[user343434]

By the way, there is one kind of crayfish that could outweigh the sea lobster.

I heard and was reading that it could reach the size of a middle size dog but also an age of 60 years .

As far I got told, Giant Tasmanian Freshwater Lobster has a brother in the states that grows faster. 

Has anyone heard about farming that beast, grow time and market for it? 

 

Just beside noted.

As I was joining the school with 6 years of age my Granddad was Haring and Crab Fisher.

Lobster was a by catch and we got it on our sandwiches in school. I was always trying to swap with my mates for a cheese or ham sandwich.

In that time (1968) you were seen as a asocial fellow from a poor family if you came with a Lobster Sandwich to school..

How the times changing..  

[chilidog]

There is a giant fresh water crayfish in Tasmania but I'm pretty sure they were believed to be extinct until recently.

 They would be on the protection list.

As far as the post about edible crayfish in Thailand the only viable one would be the red claw. I have seen Marron

crayfish for sale but only the fingerlings. Marron take about 2-3years before being mature enough to carry eggs and when they have eggs it take like 10 months to hatch. I did try and import Marron from Australia few years ago and getting told No by customs with the reasoning there were already to many in Thailand. ?

[user343434]

BIG cheers to all who are so keen on this Treat and the amount of posts tell me there are lots of lads and lasses in LOS who are very interested following this.

 

Red claws look for me also the best choice.

They Grow fast, they are not as aggressive/cannibalistic than Marrons and easy forgiving. 

It was just an Idea to stand out of the common market but by a grow rate of 6-7 years I will see the 5th harvest from the heavens LOL. 

 

I have red claws and I with for them. Good eating they are and by now the best freshwater crustaceans I had on my BBQ. 

I'll look up what the Aquapoincs Forum says. 

Funny thing with happy ending:

I have a weenie little miscalculation 5 years ago where I came about the design of my grow beds. 

My grow beds need to be 7.5m wide and 50 m long to have the perfect ratio fish/plants. 

This pushes my idea even further because I still believe that growing crays to a market size is possible as long they have space.

My correction gives them another 1.2mtr width. I am actually happy that I made/found this mistake.

 

BUT, if there are Aquaponics Farmers out there they already have success growing crays under the plant rafts, I am sure they won't tell as it would take the cheese off their bread.

Google knows a lot but in this matter are the info thin spread and very wage.

I'll be open and I found out that the Crays NOT eat any of the roots from our Veggies we have put on floating rafts directly into the Tanks.

But they were climbing into the roots to hide and even better they picked selectively the rotten bits out and kept the plants more healthy.  

The cheapest labor we found so far ;-)

 

Aquaponics are in a huge break through in AUS and US and now also slowly developing in Europe.

My Aunt just collected a group of hydroponic veggie farmers in the Netherlands to set up a test greenhouse based on my design.

I was more than 5 years ago a newbie in this business (off cause I have lots of knowledge in Holland Hydroponics but this is Thailand) and didn't care of any existing systems like Nelson and Pade or Friendly Aquaponics offer on the www and so I went through a lot of loops and oopses into another direction involving more Ship based ideas and ... This belongs into the Aquaponic Forum ;-) 

 

[crayfish]

Hi, I am the op of this thread which I started 5 years ago. I have recently stopped keeping crayfish and have turned the tanks into cricket breeding tanks.

There are several reasons why I stopped with the crays. 1. I live in a village that has many electricity cuts, sometimes for as long as 12 hours. That puts the crays in danger as their oxygen levels drop. 2. keeping the crays for well over a year to reach full size does not seem worth it, you can't keep many crays in a six square meter tank. To do this on a commercial basis requires a large investment which I don't have.

I enjoyed keeping the crays and learnt a lot from the experience, and now I am enjoying breeding crickets, facinating creatures and really delicious.

Good luck to all of you with your crays

[scubastephen]

Good luck and bbq at your place in 6 months.

Sounds like what we call matron in western Australia.

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