[tezi]

I bought myself some X-ray and Lemon Tetra yesterday....and they came with a free shrimp! (He jumped into the bag at the LFS and they said I could have him )
He's kind of cute, but since I didn't mean to buy him, I don't have a clue what I've got in my tank now.
and, of course, I want to know how to care for him properly.
....thanks for the help.

 

[jeaninel]

Looks like a bamboo shrimp
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[lilnaugrim]

Yes, a young Bamboo shrimp

 

[tezi]

OMG! Thanks......Yes - that looks right. He is really pretty.
The internet says they get to 12cms long! So, yup he's quite a baby. wow.

hmmm, none of my tanks are ideal for him, and I don't have a group for him either.

I have a very low flow betta tank, which is about ph neutral. A high current, alkaline, hard water tank with livebearers, and an acidic blackwater style tank that was designed for the tetra, with bogwood and plants... but relatively low movement. Plus, or course, a QT tank where he is just now.

So, what would you do?

 

[lilnaugrim]

You can keep him with the Betta or the Livebearer tank for now, I don't know a whole heck of a lot about them but I know they like flow so they can sit in the flow and stick out their filters so they can get the good food. And if they're anything like other shrimp, they need calcium in their water for a good molt ^_^ But I'm sure you can google for their parameters (looks like you already did anyway) and just match as close as you can for now or you can take him back to the store. That's all up to you.

 

[tankman12]

The biggest pain is feeding them, which i dont really know about.
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[jeaninel]

Heres a link to an old thread on feeding these guys:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/invertebrates/bamboo-shrimp-feeding-96418/
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[tezi]

Im planning on keeping the little guy and taking on the challenge of creating a decent environment for him.

I read that they like neutral conditions but I also read of someone who kept one at pH 8.2 which is rock solidly where my livebearer tank is.

I also read flow rate and having established conditions are very important, so that makes the livebearer tank the best candidate.

For now he seems happy enough in the qt tank. I added some liquifry to the filter flow this morning and he popped out of hiding and started fanning on what seems to be his favourite little pebble. Do I need to worry about quarantine for him? Im thinking moving an invertebrate to a tank with currently only fish in it, would be ok.

I got a lovely pic of him which I'll try to post.

 

[tezi]

Piccie

 

[lilnaugrim]

He's adorable. I always love that prominent cream stripe on their back ^_^