# Procambarus Clarkii, ghost



## Terminalance (Oct 31, 2013)

I have never seen anything remotely close to that. Procambarus Clarkii is naturally a dark red but selective breeding has brought the blue strain to the top of the market. I have had some locally got procambarus clarkii as well as a store bought blue one. MAKE SURE you keep your tank sealed tight and absolutely no possible way for this thing to get out because TRUST ME it will find a way. I had the blue one in my tank for one night and it somehow managed to climb up the heater cord, into the outflow of the filter and out the tank. Found it under a bed in a room on the other side of the house the next day. A stupid mistake on my part which has since been corrected so PLEASE learn from my mistake. Also, I don't care what website you read saying how docile they are, they are opportunistic feeders, meaning they will eat anything and everything they can catch with their claws. Meaning your plants, fish, and each other. They will even try to snip at fish 5x their size. Otherwise great animals and fun to watch. Breeding them is easy as well, just be careful because they are known to cannibalize if their territory overlaps. Females have the short and fat claws. Males have long and narrow claws and have an extra set of "hockey sticks" on the underside at the base of the tail that are used during mating. The blue ones sell for around $20-$30 at my LFS, so breeding and selling them could be good benefit to you!


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

Thanks... yes, I have other crayfish including clarkii (red, blue, white, ... etc), but this one is too nice not to try... it's very pricy though, about USD$150 for an adult pair, and about $40 each for a 1" baby here in Canada. They are pretty popular in Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, ... etc. 

I'm getting some to try. I'm sure not everyone will be as nice as the one in the picture but I will see. 



Terminalance said:


> I have never seen anything remotely close to that. Procambarus Clarkii is naturally a dark red but selective breeding has brought the blue strain to the top of the market. I have had some locally got procambarus clarkii as well as a store bought blue one. MAKE SURE you keep your tank sealed tight and absolutely no possible way for this thing to get out because TRUST ME it will find a way. I had the blue one in my tank for one night and it somehow managed to climb up the heater cord, into the outflow of the filter and out the tank. Found it under a bed in a room on the other side of the house the next day. A stupid mistake on my part which has since been corrected so PLEASE learn from my mistake. Also, I don't care what website you read saying how docile they are, they are opportunistic feeders, meaning they will eat anything and everything they can catch with their claws. Meaning your plants, fish, and each other. They will even try to snip at fish 5x their size. Otherwise great animals and fun to watch. Breeding them is easy as well, just be careful because they are known to cannibalize if their territory overlaps. Females have the short and fat claws. Males have long and narrow claws and have an extra set of "hockey sticks" on the underside at the base of the tail that are used during mating. The blue ones sell for around $20-$30 at my LFS, so breeding and selling them could be good benefit to you!


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## Terminalance (Oct 31, 2013)

I'd be curious to see what happens if you DID manage to breed two of these very patriotic (USA) looking specimens. I wonder if the same pattern would result in the offspring or if it is recessive and they revert to their natural look?


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

Terminalance said:


> I'd be curious to see what happens if you DID manage to breed two of these very patriotic (USA) looking specimens. I wonder if the same pattern would result in the offspring or if it is recessive and they revert to their natural look?


It does look very USA kind of colours. AFAIK, they are bred from American species. I know very little about crayfish but I know it's big in Asia, people try to breed new patterns all the time. I ordered some including an adult male and I was told it will be as stunning as the one in the picture, I will receive it in a few days and will try to snap some pictures and share here.


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

This is the one I will get...


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## Terminalance (Oct 31, 2013)

That sucker has some mean claws!! Can't wait to see the pics man! Just make sure you bolt that lid down, I'd hate to see your $100 walk out of the tank!


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

Here is an update: the ghost is doing very well in my tank.... and who wouldn't think they look amazing...







I also have some baby ones too. And they look nothing like the adults before they are bigger.


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## c_gwinner (Mar 23, 2012)

That is one cool looking cray I must say. Hope you can have some luck breeding them to help recoup the cost but seems well worth it just from the pics.


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

And I got these bad babies too ;-)


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

c_gwinner said:


> That is one cool looking cray I must say. Hope you can have some luck breeding them to help recoup the cost but seems well worth it just from the pics.


The adult male is from a friend, basically free ;-) So I bought some babies to try my luck. I know pretty much nothing about crayfish breeding (genetic-wise), luckily I can ask my friend who is a very experienced crayfish breeder.


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## briscoe (Mar 29, 2013)

randyl said:


> Here is an update: the ghost is doing very well in my tank.... and who wouldn't think they look amazing...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Beautiful crayfish dude! Good luck with it


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Beautiful color in the older one!


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