My wife is going to freak

[ScubaBabe22]

It wasn't a trick. She was doing dishes one night and I was taking out the trash, and I saw her at the kitchen window (which was open). I snuck up to the window and said her name in a somewhat demonic voice (picture the scene from Ghostbusters where the refridgerator said "Zule" and that's how I sounded). It scared the crap out of her because she could only see my silouette and didn't think I could get back to the window that quickly. She screamed so loud, and I had to tell her it was me. I went back inside and held her until she calmed down. I'll never scare her like that again!

I'd still kill you!

 

[mrfish87]

Crawfish in clear water??? Hell we eat em by the thousands 'round here and they come from some ZERO vis water. Must be a different species. But when you get enough crawfish I'll show you how to throw a coonass crawdad berl.

 

[ScubaBabe22]

Crawfish in clear water??? Hell we eat em by the thousands 'round here and they come from some ZERO vis water. Must be a different species. But when you get enough crawfish I'll show you how to throw a coonass crawdad berl.

what, for the sort of yankee here, is a coonass crawdad berl?

 

[Firebrand]

what, for the sort of yankee here, is a coonass crawdad berl?

I would have to say it might be somethin like this:
http://www.outofthefryingpan.com/festival/crawfish/crawfish.eating.shtml

 

[Rick Inman]

Here's how we deal with those little critters here in Spokane... LINK

 

[wb416]

No, it just bit her.

I'm thinking it should have been "Gator stew" at that point after the bite occurred....

I was canoing once on a week long trip, and we were relying heavily on our fresh fish we caught for protein. One morning we found our fish half eaten on the stringer with a large snapping turtle making himself comfortable on our catch. Someone took the initiative and you can imagine what we dined on that evening....

 

[Firebrand]

Here are some pictures I found on the Isleton Crawdad Festival homepage!

 

[Gidds]

*puts on official fish/shellfish nerd hat, official fish/shellfish nerd transcripts available upon request*

Clear water doesn't necessarily mean clean water.
Crayfish as invertebrates are somewhat more sensitive than fish to metals that may be dissolved in your tap water and copper is especially dangerous.
Some things you could/should test for to make sure everybody stays happy (fish and crayfish have nice water and wife doesn't kill you because one is walking around):
Ammonia
Nitrates
Nitrites
Dissolved oxygen
Dissolved metals
Chlorine

That said, it has also been pointed out already that crayfish are fairly adept escape artists. A favorite trick is scaling air tubing up and out of the tank.

Some other aspects of crayfish well being to keep in mind:
How often do they moult?
Do they have trouble moulting?
How old are they?
Where did you get them?
What do they eat besides excess platies?

One more thing to considor: no need to buy a video camera to catch the moment of terror. Get a webcam and set it on motion detection then set up a live stream to the Internet :evil: This is also a good way to find out HOW the little buggers are escaping in the first place.

 

[Diver0001]

Well.....my problems are mounting. I have 1/2 dozen newly born crayfish in the aquarium and the two big ones are both gone. My wife hasn't noticed anything yet but I'm sneaking around the house with a flashlight and I sure hope she doesn't ask me what I'm doing...... <sigh> ..... This could get bad.

edit: one located. one to go.

R..

 

[Azza]

Well.....my problems are mounting. I have 1/2 dozen newly born crayfish in the aquarium and the two big ones are both gone. My wife hasn't noticed anything yet but I'm sneaking around the house with a flashlight and I sure hope she doesn't ask me what I'm doing...... <sigh> ..... This could get bad.

edit: one located. one to go.

R..

Dont you just love the way he actually stops looking for a few minutes, to give us an update, then goes back to looking for the other. ROFL