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Good beginner shrimp?

18K views 23 replies 5 participants last post by  Nubster 
#1 ·
I am wanting to eventually keep Crystal Red Shrimp, but having never kept any type of shrimp before, I was wondering if I should start with a hardier type? I have kept tropical fish successfully for about three years, but I'm no expert on water quality etc, preferring to keep things simple.
 
#11 ·
Box filter should be ok...but the inlets might be large enough to suck up baby shrimp. By box filter I assume you mean those clear plastic corner filters that are powered by an airpump. If you mean the HOB filters, they are fine too as long as you have some sort of pre-filter on the intake.

The sponge filters are preferred since the shrimp are safe and they love to crawl all over it and pick at the sponge eating whatever they find.

I prefer substrate, just more natural but that's just my opinion.

Shrimp LOVE plants. Make sure you have some moss too. They really like going through it eating the biofilm and stuff.

Clean water is important and stable conditions even more so.

My tank isn't what I would call low flow but the shrimp seem to be doing just fine.

Here is a shot of one of my girls...



I have a tank of yellow neos too. They are really neat as well.
 
#12 ·
Thanks Nubster, this is all great information. I do mean the corner box filters, but if a sponge filter is preferred by the shrimp, I'll do that. I need to read about making a sponge filter.

I'm setting up a 48 litre Interpet Fish Pod tank for them. What do you use for substrate? Do you have a photo of your set up?

How much and how often do you do water changes?
 
#13 · (Edited)
I still do 50% water changes weekly even though I have a low bioload with just shrimp in the tank. Especially in my big tank since I dose ferts.

DIY sponge filters should be pretty easy but really, for the cost of buying them, it's not worth the time or effort to make one unless I felt I could improve the design. Not sure availability over there, but here you can get an ATI Hydro Sponge filter for $5-$10 depending on the size.

Here is a full tank shot of my main tank. This is before I added the sponge filter that is in there now. I will probably remove the HOB filter in a couple weeks once I am sure my sponge is well seeded. My substrate is just inert black sand.

 
#16 ·
Yeah, just shrimp and a few dwarf crayfish. It's a 75g tank.

A lot of people use and really like those sponge filters. I use the ATI Hydro Sponge filter in both my shrimp tanks and will use them in my 40B tank too when I get it setup.

ATI Sponge Filters

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...kw=ati+hydro+filter&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Just connect the airpump and let it run like you would a normal filter to cycle. If you have another tank, you can stick it in that tank for a week or two to become seeded, then you would be way ahead of the cycle game.
 
#18 ·
Wow, big tank for the shrimp, bet they love that! What do you do with all the babies?

Great idea, I'll put it in my main community tank for two weeks and then move it to the tank I'll be using for the shrimp.

I keep thinking of more questions...are there different types of Cherry Shrimp? I know there are different grades.

What temp do you keep your tank at?
 
#22 ·
Red Cherry Shrimp are Neocaridina heteropoda. There are color morphs such as the yellow and chocolate but they are the same shrimp. Mixing color morphs will result in the shrimp "reverting" back to a more natural brown coloration like they are in the wild. RCS are not red in nature but were selectively bred to create the red morph. There are Sakura, Fire Red, Painted Fire Red, Taiwan Painted, these are all Neocaridina heteropoda, just called different things based on their grade.

As far as what I do with babies, right now I am just letting them breed. Once I start getting lots of shrimp, I'll start pulling the nicer ones and placing them in their own tank. My goal is to breed at least Fire Red grade shrimp, for myself as well as to sell to hopefully help offset some of the cost of the hobby. I know that unless I did it on a huge scale it isn't profitable, but if I can at least support some of the cost I'd be happy.
 
#19 ·
Hey redchigh, thanks for the advice. That tank does look great with the black background and substrate, I bet it shows the colours up really nicely. I'm going to put some plants in and get some Java Moss. Do they like wood in the tank? Do you keep/breed shrimp redchigh?
 
#20 ·
I used to sell them, and I can still get you a good deal if you need more.
Pictures are here-
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/aquarium-classifieds/fs-rcs-red-cherry-shrimp-live-41377/

They love mosses like java moss, tannins from real driftwood seem to be beneficial. Fine leaved plants are great too... Fast growing plants also keep the water quality good. Shrimp are fairly sensitive to nitrates and nitrites. Stargrass is good.. Combined with floating plants like duckweed, it really adds a dimension when the shrimp can walk on the underside of the floating plants. They also need calcium and iodine, but don't worry about dosing anything. Just feed good food- a combination of shrimp pellets, algae/spirulina tabs, fish food, and fresh blanched vegetables like zuchinni, squash, cucumber, etc.. pumpkin is great for bringing out their color.

You have to be careful adding fish, since they'll eat the baby shrimps. crawfish, ottos, snails, and super tiny fish work well though. (Pretty much any fish smaller than an inch and a half will be ok as long as there are hiding places)

evidently you got me talking. lol.
 
#21 ·
No that's fine, I need all the advice I can get! :D

It's just going to be a shrimp tank. I was going to ask if they can be kept with snails? I'm not planning to add any but no doubt some will sneak in on the plants.

I'm in England so would be a bit far for them to travel, but thanks! I'm just planning on getting some from the LFS.
 
#23 ·
Great thread! I'm looking for potential tank mates for a selectively aggressive Betta (He picked on a blue apple snail, but has had no problems with a gold specimen introduced at the same time). Tank is 15 gal with moderate cover from live plants, a nice stack of medium sized rocks, and a HOB filter baffled at the inlet and outlet to reduce flow and ensure minimal water current. I was thinking a dozen ghost shrimp would make for an inexpensive test to see how the Betta would respond, but the RCS seems like a superior alternative.

If I added some java moss, additional plant cover, and a couple floating plants, is it possible that the prolific breeding of the shrimp would offset potential losses from predation? Anyone have success mixing Bettas and RCS in a tank this size?

BTW Nubster, that is a great looking tank. Nice work!
 
#24 ·
Thanks!

You could need to start off with a pretty large colony from the start to stay ahead of predation. Of course you could get a smaller amount just to see how the Betta reacted and if it didn't start dining you could leave it as is or add some more. My Betta never bothered my shrimp when he was in my 75g tank. He would give chase to a tetra now and then but only for a few seconds then stop. He also did not like snails crawling on the glass. If he spotted one he'd knock it off everytime. I think it will largely depend on the personality of the fish. Worth a try.
 
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