The Pond Gnome
  • Home
  • Pricing
  • Construction
    • Ponds
    • Pondless Waterfalls & Streams
    • Pool to Pond Conversions
    • Remodeling
    • Commercial Work
    • FAQ
  • Gallery
  • Our Story
    • Vlogging With The Pond Guy
    • Pond Tour
    • Testimonials
    • Events
    • Seminars & Speaking Engagements
    • Employment Opportunities
  • Maintenance
    • Emergency Pond Procedures
    • Pond Water Treatment
    • Aquatic Plants for Ponds
    • Phoenix Pond Cleaning
    • Phoenix Pond Service & Maintenance
    • Troubleshooting
    • Warranties and Manuals
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

PHOENIX POND LEARNING CENTER
​BLOG

CRAWDADS AND THE PHOENIX POND

1/15/2023

 
​Crawdads. Crayfish. Crawfish. Mud bugs. Yabbies. All of these names refer to a 10-legged “mini lobster” that inhabits many of the fresh water ecosystems on our planet outside of India and Antarctica.
​
Picture

​What are Crawdads?

​Crawdads come in a wide variety of sizes and colors. Of the nearly 600 known species of Decapods, 30% are listed as endangered, and very little is actually known about another 20%.  The fish tank trade ships them all over the world with different marketing names like “blue lobsters.” They are an important part of the natural food chain in their NATIVE environments, providing food for raccoons, birds, predatory fish, snakes, and last year people consumed an estimated 75,000 tons of them! To each their own.
Picture
Here in Arizona, they are NOT native, but rather were originally imported by early settlers and currently listed by our Arizona Game and Fish Department as “highly invasive.” They are omnivorous and voracious competitors to most of our native freshwater species here. They have decimated the aquatic plant life in many of our mountain streams and they do serious damage to stream banks, causing some major erosion issues.
​

CAN I PUT CRAWDADS in my PHOENIX Pond?

We do NOT recommend keeping them in your Sonoran Desert backyard pond for a several reasons:
  1. Most of them are prolific and short-lived.  Once you have an established population, they are difficult to eradicate, and the dead ones will sit behind your rockwork and stink up your yard, as well as providing food for algae blooms.
  2. Gardening your aquatic plants is no fun with mudbugs pinching your digits every time you try to divide an aquatic plant. They’re just not cooperative when it comes to gardening.
  3. They will catch and kill your pet fish every chance they get. Yikes!
  4. The Arizona Game and Fish Department has them listed as “invasive and unwanted” in our Great State 48.  Aquatic pets like crawdads have a habit of escaping into our wild ecosystems and wreaking havoc.
  5. Many species of crawdads are diggers and will spend endless hours working on a way to get that 3’ deep tunnel they are programmed to build into your pond membrane system. It will be difficult for them to get through most high quality liners like EPDM or RPP; however, with the tools Mother Nature gave them, they very well may get through anything.
Picture
They grow them big in Montana!

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
WILDLIFE AROUND A POND
FROGS IN A PHOENIX POND
PONDS FOR BIRDS & BUTTERFLIES



Comments are closed.

    Categories

    All
    Fountain
    Landscape Ideas
    Pests
    Pets And Phoenix Ponds
    Pond Design
    Pond Fish
    Pond Installation
    Pond Lifestyle
    Pond Maintenance
    Sustainable Options
    Water Quality
    Wildlife Around The Pond

The Pond Gnome offers Pond Design, Pond Construction, Pond Maintenance, Pond Remodeling, Pond Replacement, and Pond Cleaning Services for the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan area, including the cities of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Carefree, Cave Creek, Glendale, Peoria, Sun City, and other surrounding communities.​

Our Services

Ecosystem Ponds
Pondless Waterfalls and Streams
Commercial Installations
​Pool to Pond Conversions

Public Speaking/Seminars
​

Company

Company Profile
Testimonials and References
Portfolio
​Events
Blog
​
Employment Opportunities


Support

Contact Information

Maintenance
Water Treatment
Contact Us
Client Hub​
Digital Product Catalog
The Pond Gnome
22767 N 104th Ln
Peoria, AZ  85383
(623) 572-5607

Email
​ROC#277878

Picture
Picture
Remodeling and Home Design
  • Home
  • Pricing
  • Construction
    • Ponds
    • Pondless Waterfalls & Streams
    • Pool to Pond Conversions
    • Remodeling
    • Commercial Work
    • FAQ
  • Gallery
  • Our Story
    • Vlogging With The Pond Guy
    • Pond Tour
    • Testimonials
    • Events
    • Seminars & Speaking Engagements
    • Employment Opportunities
  • Maintenance
    • Emergency Pond Procedures
    • Pond Water Treatment
    • Aquatic Plants for Ponds
    • Phoenix Pond Cleaning
    • Phoenix Pond Service & Maintenance
    • Troubleshooting
    • Warranties and Manuals
  • Blog
  • Contact Us