milalic

We have heard a lot of advice and read some article(many of them opinions) on how to successfully start a tank for shrimp and keep them. I want to read your experiences starting your first shrimp tank:

1. what things you try out and worked and which did not?
2. what was your first shrimp? Why did you choose that one?
3. what advice would you give new comers to the shrimp keeping hobby?

Lets discuss these things and other related to basic shrimp keeping.
Hope to see lots of participation.

 

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modster

1. Moss wall - my shrimps like it a lot.
2. Grade A CRS. I chose them because they look nice. I know most people start with cherry first because they are easier to take care of, but I don't want to go through the trouble of removing them later.
3. Be patient! Read everything that you can find. Wait for your tank to be completely cycled before adding shrimps. Also pay attention to your water parameters. Unlike fish, shrimps are quite picky when it comes to water condition.

Jeff.:P:.

a.) I've always tried to keep a lot plants and moss's to keep my shrimp happy, which seems work out in many ways. They're happier with the security of the plants and abundance of food that plants supply. Also I try to keep a lot of floaters which really work to reduce any nitrates.

Some foods that I've tried; like some algae wafers shrimp seem not to like or touch, but I think that ranges from shrimp to shrimp. My CRS and RCS really love alternating foods of Shirakura and High quality flakes in moderation.

b.) I started with Ghost shrimp just because of the price and hardiness. They did quite well for a while breeding and multiplying. I then moved onto rainbow shrimp and red cherries. Which breed quite readily and look great. I've always had amano shrimp but haven't tried breeding any of them due to the required salinities. I now have B grade crystal shrimp in a tank of their own. They are very happy and just found my first babies today . I made sure of keeping zero levels across the board, with lots of plants and great food.

c.) Be patient; like modster said. Read, read and read some more. They're a load of resources out there. Watch your water parameters like hawk. Feed sparingly. Floaters are great nitrate sponges. Make sure your tank has fully cycled before adding any shrimps. Watch them everyday. Try to have a shrimp only tank. Try to keep temperature and parameters consistent, watch your fertilizers and excel.
Don't start with the most expensive, really sensitive, highest grade shrimps work your way up.
And enjoy! hope this helps

Some links to check out!
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/shrimp2.htm
http://www.petshrimp.com/
http://www.planetinverts.com
http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Shrimp/

milalic

I am sure there is a lot more people around that keeps shrimp. Lets share your experiences, so the newbie can learn.

Brushy6

I'm still a newbie so feel awkward adding this but here goes: I grow algae rocks for my shrimps. Started doing it because I'd read the baby shrimps need lots of micro-organisms, then noticed the adults love it too. I liked this because when I was starting out, I was scared of over-feeding with commercial food. Now the shrimps like the algae rocks so much I can't grow it fast enough for them (have a dedicated tank that gets afternoon sun).

rich_one

that is a most interesting idea...

cs_gardener

I'm keeping cherry shrimp and I started with them because they are colorful and easy. I've had a healthy population for about a year now.

I put them in a completely cycled, moderately planted 10 gallon NPT. The tank's original inhabitants were guppies that were moved to a different tank since they were rapidly overpopulating the 10. I do minimal maintenance; mostly just topping off the water, and a small water change every 2 months or so at which time I also clean the sponge filter. I have mostly slower growing plants and use hornwort to help keep the water quality good. The shrimp really like searching the hornwort for anything edible and I can also put their food pellets on it so they can easily reach the pellets but the resident snails can't.

About 3 months ago I added 6 threadfin rainbows and that has fortunately worked out well since the rainbows can't eat anything big. The fish were at first afraid of the full-grown shrimp, but now they all ignore each other. Since I added the fish I've started feeding fish food (big surprise, right?) and I've had to make certain that anything I put in is shrimp-safe. The shrimp seem to enjoy the variety of things I offer to the fish (freeze-dried and frozen daphnia, pulverized flakes, and frozen brine shrimp) in addition to their own pellets.

Mostly, I just try to keep the tank parameters stable and avoid meddling with something that's working.

Afyounie

My first shrimp was the snowball shrimp. I read it carried a lot of eggs, so I thought it would do well. They have lots of eggs, which allows for at least a few to live to adulthood to continue on the colony. They are hardy and I like them a lot. The colony has started to get bigger now since they can hide easier.
If you want to get into shrimp keeping, read about the shrimp you want to keep. I read almost all the articles at planetinverts.com. Also, don't be afraid to get shrimp. They are easier to keep than they appear. Just make sure your tank is well cycled or well planted. Give them places to hide where fish can't go. My snowballs hide in my micro sword grass from the angels. Have confidence that you can keep shrimp, and everything should be ok. Also as cs gardener said, don't mess with things that are already working.

overboard

I just tried shrimp for the first time and so far everything is great. I bought the last four shrimp in a tank labeled "algae eating shrimp $2.99" and "Flower shrimp $5.99". All four are the same, I paid twelve bucks, but I have no idea what they are. They can sense a piece of algae wafer hitting the water from two feet away. They molt about every five days. They are in with featherfin rainbows, honey gouramis, pygmy and dwarf cories (habaras & hastas... something like that.) The biggest one sometimes has little feeler-fights with the dominant male honey gourami, but no harm is done. They are the same size; the rest of the fish are much smaller than the shrimp, I think that is why it works. They are very entertaining!

adimeatatime

1. No matter what I tried to cover the filter intakes with, I had trouble ranging from them stopping up (sponge and pantyhose) too quickly to the shrimp being able get through any spaces I may have missed (various types of screen). Then I tried a filter media bag with a media that was big enough to not get sucked up through the holes in the intake that seems to be working well in one tank. I take the tubing loose and rinse the bag/media and slip it back on. Sponge filters work great as well and the shrimp love to pick at them.

Some of the shrimp I have do better in shrimp only tanks. The babies/larvae are easy targets for even the smallest/slowest (our Betta's love to hunt them in the plants) fish or when my twig catfish move around they hit the shrimp with their tails knocking them around and larger snails just run over them .

2. Tiger and amano. I was ordering some fish online and saw "algea eating" and "Zebra" shrimp on the list as well. I needed a few more dollars to be able to order so I added the shrimp to my order. The "zebra's" started a hunt for information so I could figure out which tank they would do the best in. They turned out to be Tiger shrimp and in the search for information on them I got hooked on the little guys. I am now trying to keep bumblebees, tigers, sri lanka, white banded, cherries and have a tank with odd shrimp that have come in with the orders. They are not available locally, so I have purchased most online.

3. Be patient and put the shrimp in a tank that they won't have to hide from the other inhabitants or be able to get into the filters. You will see them more often that way. Watch your water parameters and be very careful when cleaning. The babies are so tiny they are easy to miss seeing and will end up siphoned out.

Thanks for starting this thread milalic, it is a really great idea. Shrimp keeping is very rewarding but can be heartbreaking when you are losing shrimp and just can't figure out why. To see how others dealt with issues that come up is really helpful for me.

 

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