Blue crayfish

Question
Hi Karen, I just found an answer to a similar question (as mine) about having crayfish with fish in an aquarium.  I have a 40 gallon tall tank and just added my first item, a blue crayfish.  I am not to adding fish yet (business trip) but plan to next weekend.  I am seeking mid to upper swimmers (no bottom feeders). I am thinking of starting with 4-5 tiger barbs for my first fish.  Good idea?  Would you suggest another?  Thank you!!!  Kim

Answer
Hi Kim,
Tiger barbs sound great. However, you might want to try adding them as the last additions so there won't be the possibility of them getting established and claiming the whole tank and behaving aggressive towards any newcomers. Try to keep them in a group of 6-8 as the larger the group the better. That way they have more individuals to interact with and they'll leave the other fish alone.

Other good tankmates you might want to consider are Danios, like zebras, leopards, blue danios, or Giant Danios. They should be far too fast for your Blue crayfish to bother. You could also think about the other beautiful species of barbs that are available such as the rosy barbs, gold barbs, as well as the other color varieties of tiger barbs that are available like the "moss-green" barbs and the really neat "Albino" tiger barb. You can mix these with the regular tiger barbs just fine.

You could still have tetras also. Large tetras would be very interesting however I don't think the smaller tetras would really be at risk because Crayfish just aren't that fast. Buenos Aires tetras would be very suitable, Black skirt tetras, Serpae tetras, Silver tips, or Head-and-Taillight tetras.

You might want to skip on bottom feeders. The crayfish would probably have a problem with them.

But I think you could have a very interesting aquarium with schooling fish above and Mr. Crayfish patrolling the bottom of the tank.

Best wishes and I hope this helps!
Karen~