17 Suitable Tank Mates For Blue Crayfish [Complete List]

Blue crayfish is undoubtedly a rare addition to your aquarium. But, these rare crayfish have a terrible reputation for their aggressive temperament. Also, it’s really difficult to choose tank mates for blue crayfish when these crayfish always remain hungry. So, you might ask what tank mates are suitable for blue crayfish.

Before selecting tank mates, you should ensure that the chosen tank mates and blue crayfish have similar diets and temperaments. There are also several factors to consider. Some suitable tank mates of blue crayfish are hatchet fish, danios, neon tetras, rosy red minnows, and so on.

In this article, I’ve compiled 17 good tank mates for blue crayfish. I urge you to keep reading this article further to know the details of each selected tank mate.

Overview Of Blue Crayfish

Before looking for suitable tank mates, you should know the characteristics of your blue crayfish. It will help you find appropriate tank mates for blue crayfish.

So, let’s take a quick look at the overview of blue crayfish.

Scientific Name	Procambarus alleni
Common Name	Blue Crayfish, Electric Blue Crayfish, Sapphire Crayfish, and Florida Crayfish
Size	4-5 inches (10-12.7 cm)
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Aggressive and territorial
Care level	Intermediate
Minimum Tank Size	30 gallons
Optimal Temperature	(18-24 degrees Celsius) 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit
Optimal pH level	6.5-7.5
Breeding	Egg layers
Lifespan	Up to 6 years

If you’re a beginner, this beginner guide will help you: how to take care of pet crayfish?

What To Consider Before Choosing Tank Mates For Blue Crayfish?

You should know about some factors before choosing tank mates for blue crayfish. These are-

• You must avoid bottom feeders as tank mates for blue crayfish. Since blue crayfish tend to eat anything that fits in their mouth, the bottom feeder fish remain at risk of becoming prey for crayfish. In addition, you should discard the fish from the list of suitable tankmates that sleep at the bottom of the tank.

• Do not select slow-moving fish. Your blue crayfish will easily hunt those slow-moving fish.

• You should not keep small invertebrates as tank mates of blue crayfish. Your crayfish will gobble up these small invertebrates like snails, shrimp, etc. 

• Also, you must avoid choosing fish that have fancy tails and fins, such as betta fish, goldfish, guppies, etc.

17 Suitable Tank Mates For Blue Crayfish

1. White Cloud Minnow

Scientific Name	Tanichthys albonubes
Size	1-1.5 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Peaceful
Care level	Easy

White cloud minnows are small fish that usually stay in the middle or top of the tank. So, there won’t be any risk of devouring white cloud minnows by blue crayfish.

This hardy fish has similar requirements for water parameters. Since white cloud minnows are omnivores, you can feed these fish anything that your crayfish eat. Besides, its care level is easy for any beginners.

2. Rosy Red Minnows

Scientific Name	Pimephales promelas
Size	2-3 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Calm and peaceful
Care level	Easy

Rosy red minnows are termed hardy fish. This fish can tolerate both freezing and near-boiling temperatures. So, rosy red minnows can readily survive in the same water parameters conditioned for blue crayfish.

Besides, blue crayfish and rosy red minnows share a similar diet. Both inhabitants eat larvae, small insects, plant maters, algae, small invertebrates, etc.

3. Hatchet Fish

Scientific Name	Gasteropelecidae
Size	1-2.5 inches
Diet	Carnivores
Temperament	Docile and peaceful
Care level	Difficult

The biggest advantage of keeping hatchet fish as tank mates of blue crayfish is their feeding habit. These fish prefer to eat from the surface of the tank. On the other hand, blue crayfish tend to stay underwater.

So, they won’t have any clash while sharing the same tank. After all, both of them won’t have any conflict while competing for food.

Besides, hatchet fish aren’t super active. They require around 74-83 degrees Fahrenheit to thrive. The optimal pH to survive is about 5.8-6.9 for hatchet fish.

Thus, you can see that hatchet fish is one of the suitable tank mates for blue crayfish.

4. Danios

Scientific Name	Danio sp.
Size	2 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Docile
Care level	Easy

If you want a new addition of playful and easy-to-care inhabitant, you can add Danios fish with blue crayfish. To match the color of the blue crayfish, you can choose blue and silver striped Danios too.

Since Danios aren’t bottom dwellers, these docile fish won’t be the target of blue crayfish. These fish tend to stay at the mid to top level of the water depth. Also, there’s no hassle of feeding different diets as both blue crayfish and danios are omnivores.

5. Neon Tetras

Scientific Name	Paracheirodon innesi
Size	1-1.5 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Calm
Care level	Easy

If you already have a blue crayfish, you can have neon tetras as another new addition of blue in your aquarium. Neon tetras love to play in the middle of the water layer.

These hardy fish are easy to care for. Moreover, their tank requirements are almost similar to blue crayfish.

6. Red Tail Shark

Scientific Name	Epalzeorhynchos bicolor
Size	6 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Territorial
Care level	Intermediate

The red-tail shark can be deep blue or black-bodied with a red tail. The temperament of both red tail shark and blue crayfish are aggressive.

Also, these fish can grow up to 6 inches. So, it is difficult for blue crayfish to try gobbling up the red-tail shark.

These territorial fish tend to stay in the middle layer of the water column. But, these red-tail sharks come down at the bottom to search for food.

Due to their large size and temperament, red tail sharks are compatible with another bottom dweller- blue crayfish.

7. African Butterfly Fish

Scientific Name	Pantodon buchholzi
Size	5 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Slightly aggressive
Care level	Advanced

African butterfly fish is another good choice for tank mates of blue crayfish. These fish usually live in the middle or bottom of the tank. Also, these peaceful fish are famous for camouflaging to prey on small insects.

Their required water hardness is around 1-10 KH. Moreover, the water pH should be around 7. Also, the water temperature has to remain within 75-86 degrees Fahrenheit. As you can see water requirements of African butterfly fish and blue crayfish can peacefully live with them.  

8. Golden Wonder Killifish

Scientific Name	Apolcheilus lineatus
Size	3-4 inches
Diet	Carnivores
Temperament	Docile
Care level	Moderate

Golden wonder killifish thrive well in the water parameters required for blue crayfish. Also, they’re pretty adaptable to any condition. The peaceful nature of golden wonder killifish makes them more wanted.

Because of being slender-bodied fish, these fish can swim too fast. As a result, golden wonder killifish remains on the list of suitable tank mates for crayfish.

9. Bala Shark

Scientific Name	Balantiocheilos melanopterus
Size	13 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Peaceful
Care level	Medium

Like a red tail shark, the Bala shark is another suitable tank mate for blue crayfish. These fish can grow up to almost 13 inches. So, you must guess right that blur crayfish can not eat or try to fight against the Bala shark.

Besides, the water parameters requirements of the Bala shark is as the same as the requirements for blue crayfish. You can provide the same food for blue crayfish and the Bala shark. So, the Bala shark is pretty much compatible with blue crayfish.

10. Dwarf Mosquitofish

Scientific Name	Heterandria formosa
Size	1.5-3 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Non-aggressive
Care level	Easy

Generally, these fish are kept in ponds to control the population of mosquito larvae or mosquitos. Hence, these fish are named mosquito fish. The dwarf mosquito fish are extremely easy to care for.

Moreover, these fish are highly adaptive in an adverse environment. So, you can readily keep dwarf mosquito fish with blue crayfish.

Another reason why mosquitofish is a suitable tank mate is its bottom-dwelling nature. As a result, these mosquitofish won’t become the possible prey of your bottom-dwelling blue crayfish.

11. Pearl Gourami

Scientific Name	Trichopodus leerii
Size	Up to 4.7 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Docile and peaceful
Care level	Easy

Since pearl gourami tends to hang out at the top of the water level, these fish can be a good match with blue crayfish. Besides, these fish are almost equal in size to crayfish. So, there is less possibility of getting eaten by blue crayfish.

But, pearl gourami is timid and peaceful. Hence, keeping pearl gourami with aggressive blue crayfish can be risky too. It may take a while for you to set up a peaceful environment with these two livings.

12. Severum Fish

Scientific Name	Heros severus
Size	7.35-8 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Semi-aggressive
Care level	Moderate

Severum fish are top-dwelling fish that can grow up to 8 inches. So, the lurking fish-eating blue crayfish can not cause any harm to these Severum fish. After all, blue crayfish tend to stay at the bottom of the aquarium.

Besides, these fish have a semi-aggressive temperament. The required temperature for Severum fish is around 73-84 degrees Fahrenheit. So, Severum fish can be one of the most suitable tank mates for blue crayfish that have similar requirements. 

13. Furcata Rainbowfish

Scientific Name	Pseudomugil furcatus
Size	2.5 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Peaceful
Care level	Easy

One of the most beautiful but underrated fish is Fucata rainbowfish which can go well with blue crayfish. These peaceful fish stay in the middle to the top of the water level.

However, Furcata rainbowfish may go down to the bottom of the aquarium to hunt or hide. But, their fast-moving trait saves these fish from the attack of blue crayfish. Also, these rainbowfish can thrive in similar water requirements to blue crayfish.

14. Tinfoil Barb

Scientific Name	Barbonymus schwanenfeldii
Size	14 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Mild mannered
Care level	Easy

Since tinfoil barb is semi-aggressive, these fish can be good tankmates of blue crayfish. Although tinfoil barb hangs around at the mid-level of the water, these fish come down at the bottom to sleep.

Hence, it’s a bit risky to recommend tinfoil barb as a tankmate of blue crayfish. But, your blue crayfish won’t be able to gobble these big fish. After all, tinfoil barb can be as large as 14 inches.

15. Silver Dollars

Scientific Name	Metynnis argenteus
Size	6 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Semi-aggressivr
Care level	Easy

Another mid dweller and fighting fish is silver dollar fish. Also, these fish are fast-moving. The adult silver dollar fish can get pretty large, which discards them from the list of prey of your blue crayfish. Due to their semi-aggressive nature, silver dollar fish can thrive well with blue crayfish. 

16. Wrestling Halfbeak

Scientific Name	Dermogenys pusilla
Size	2.2-3 inches
Diet	Small invertebrates including insects and insects larvae
Temperament	Calm and peaceful
Care level	Easy

Like mosquitofish, wrestling halfbeak fish are popular surface-feeding fish. These livebearer fish can grow up to 3 inches. Despite being small fish, wrestling halfbeaks won’t get attacked by the bottom dweller blue crayfish.

The required temperature for wrestling halfbeak is around 70-86 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, the water pH should be between 7-8. So, wrestling halfbeaks can thrive well in the same tank as blue crayfish. 

17. Brown Pencilfish

Scientific Name	Nannostomus eques
Size	1.57-2.36 inches
Diet	Carnivores
Temperament	Timid
Care level	Easy

Another suitable tank mate for blue crayfish is brown pencil fish. These fish meet the very first criteria of the selection of crayfish tankmates. That is their top-dwelling trait.

Besides, these fish are pretty energetic and fast-moving. If you check the required water parameters for brown pencil fish, you’ll find it similar to the needs of blue crayfish.

Can You Put Two Blue Crayfish Together?

Blue crayfish are highly aggressive and territorial. These crayfish do not like the presence of another crayfish in the same tank.

So, the experts recommend not to keep two blue crayfish together. If you want to make two blue crayfish cohabit together, you must ensure a large space for two crayfish in the tank. The aquarium should have a minimum 20-gallon space if you keep two blue crayfish together.

For details, you should pay a visit to this article.

Can Blue Crayfish Be Kept With Fish?

You can keep blue crayfish with fish. But, you should consider a few factors as blue crayfish aren’t much friendly. These blue crayfish can cohabit with fast-moving fish. Also, the fish should be top or middle dwellers of the aquarium.

Can Blue Crayfish Live With Betta Fish?

You should not keep blue crayfish with betta fish. No matter how lucrative betta looks, these fish aren’t compatible with blue crayfish.

Although betta fish stay in the middle to top layer of the water, these fish sleep at the bottom of the tank. If your crayfish start nipping, the fins and tail of betta may get hurt.

Since both of these livings are aggressive, they won’t go well together. So, it’ll be entirely up to luck and their personalities whether they make good tank mates.

Can Blue Crayfish Live With Guppies?

The answer is a big no! Guppy fish can grow up to 0.6-2.4 inches long. So, these fish are so small that they can fit into the mouth of blue crayfish in a blink.

Final Words

I hope this article helped you select the perfect tank mates for your blue crayfish. You should ensure that both crayfish and their tank mates get equal facilities. If any of them turn into prey to others, you should separate these aquatic inhabitants in separate tanks.