[pineapple]

What are the most frequent questions) and misunderstandings hobbyists new to shrimp have, Pisces Girl?

I imagine iodine dosing might be one.

I keep Cardina japonica and Neocaridina denticulata sinensis (Cherry Red) in very soft water, BTW. They seem to thrive.

Congratulations on steering this forum. Good news for all.

Andrew Cribb

 

[Piscesgirl]

Hmm...I would have to agree iodide/iodine dosing is one of the major questions folks have, and it actually can sometimes become a bit on the heated side. I have to say that it is a personal choice, and I do advocate its use. I've heard many stories of folks who had shrimp deaths stop immediately after dosing iodide/iodine. Now, I'd rather err on the side of caution and use is sparingly. I use approximately four drops a week after water changes, although I used to do it twice a week. The difference now is that I'm feeding more sea veggies/nori which have iodide in it. We have to remember, as well, that some of our ferts have Potassium Iodide in them as well, perhaps fulfilling the 'need.'

Another question is fish compatibility, and again I err on the side of caution -- I keep shrimp only tanks. I'm told, and would think that Ottos would be fine. I've told several folks not to keep shrimp with Bettas and guppies, only to have the said fish eat the shrimp just as I'd warned. However, I've also heard of stories of Bettas and other fish living with shrimp, without problem. Again, personally, I don't do it. I find, also, that the shrimp are so friendly in my tanks, and the Cherry shrimp will actually sit on my hands when I'm doing water changes, messing with the plants, etc. In fact, it's quite hard to 'shuush' them away!

 

[turtlehead]

shrimps should have their own tanks to provide security and everything else, they will live properly in a tank just for themselves.

 

[gnatster]

shrimps should have their own tanks to provide security and everything else, they will live properly in a tank just for themselves.

Quite a broad stroke you paint there. Really depends on a lot of factors. Things like size of shrimp. size of fish, predisposition of fish, clawed or unclawed shrimp etc etc. Please refrain from making a general statement such as that, especially in a thread that has FAQ as it's name.

 

[shalu]

I often read shrimp need certain ph range to do well, much like what you hear about fish(not true about fish in my experience). In particular, it is said ph higher than 7.6 can be lethal to Crystal reds, any truth to that? My shrimp tank has ph a little higher than that, and I have not had CR long enough to disprove that, but I tend to think that is another myth.

 

[Piscesgirl]

I am pretty sure that is a myth as well, but I can't prove it either as my tanks are soft water. If anything, the harder waters should have more calcium and minerals, which I would assume would be beneficial to them.

Now, temperature wise, my understanding is that Crystals prefer slightly cooler temps than many of us keep our tanks, but I can't again say that is an absolute. I keep my tank around 76.

 

[pineapple]

Since you mentioned feeding shrimp more in the way of "sea veggies" seaweed, I should mention that recently I saw a nutritional analysis of various foods including milk, cheese of various types, cabbage, kale, and etc.... for the calcium content. I would have guessed that cheese or milk was at the top of the list. Indeed not. Seaweed had by far the highest Ca content. The context of the report related to women's health. In our context, the Ca content might be of benefit to the shrimp.

Hijiki : This seaweed is rich in calcium and very good for pregnant women as it contains ten times the amount found in a glass of milk.

Andrew Cribb

 

[Piscesgirl]

That's great info, Pineapple - thanks! I love Nori too

That brings up another point: A lot of folks recommend spinach, but I don't feed it. I eat a lot of Spinach myself, but try to make sure to increase my calcium on those days. Spinach interferes with Calcium absorption, and I actually read that they don't suggest Iguanas get much spinach for that reason. So, I don't recommend it although if it isn't everyday, and if they have sufficient calcium otherwise, I'm sure it won't hurt.

 

[Norbert Sabat]

Some of my experience.
Very soft water isn' bad for shrimp. I have amanos, tigers, rednosed, rainbows in KH 2-3 GH 2-3 for few month and nothing wrong with them. All shrimps are very sensitive from NO2, NO3, Cu, sometimes from SO4. I lost a lot of tigers when i have 0.2ppm NO2 and 30-40ppm NO3 in new tank. Amanos aren't so sensitive but they don't like high pH (over 8 ). Tigers don't like hight temperature (over 27*C). Amanos are very resistant from high CO2 level (one day i had 60-70ppm CO2 and all shrimps except rednosed survive)

 

[Piscesgirl]

Oh I agree that shrimp can do fine in soft water -- my shrimp tank is very soft. Although, I try to add Calcium Carbonate from time to time to assist them with calcium and provide a little buffer for the water (I run co2 24/7). It seems the shrimp and Tonina keepers keep their phs in the 5s. That makes me very uneasy, but my understanding is that they do fine.

 

[glenhead]

One thing I haven't seen addressed is the bioload contributed by shrimp. I know that back before the earth cooled (late '70s) marine invertebrates were considered to be three times the bioload of fish - that's obviously considered inaccurate nowadays, and freshwater inverts weren't even discussed back than (as far as I knew). I carry a pretty heavy fish load in my tanks as it is - what would shrimp add?

 

[Piscesgirl]

Oh goodness, I'm not scientific enough to be able to attack that question; however, I see hervibores as contributing less to a bioload (not counting plecos!) then carnivores. Another hobbyist also explained it to be thusly: Horse manure is much less unpleasant to clean up than carnivorous animals such as dogs, etc. (to some of us anyway). There is something about it that seems less 'dirty.' I can't explain it otherwise! For algae control, you would need at least a shrimp per gallon to make a dent in the algae -- I don't see that as being a large bioload.

 

[iris600]

I have a question, the Nori you mention, are you getting it from the fish store or is it safe to use the sushi grade nori found in the supermarket asian food section?

 

[gnatster]

I have a question, the Nori you mention, are you getting it from the fish store or is it safe to use the sushi grade nori found in the supermarket asian food section?

Sushi grade from the grocery store is fine, and less expensive then the ones found in the lfs.

 

[Piscesgirl]

Gnat is probably right -- but it's hard to find Nori out in my area (easier to find hush puppies, I assure you!). I like Julian Sprung's Sea Veggies. They are already in little small pieces instead of sheets. I just sprinkle some in every few days.

 

[Phil Edwards]

Piscesgirl,

Most stores that sell saltwater fish also sell sheets of algae as food for tangs. It's Nori, but not the usual big sheets that one gets at an oriental food market.

Remind be to bring some to the next CAPE meeting, I've got a market just down the street from my house. Let's see, that's now a MH fixture, C. parva, and Nori.

 

[Piscesgirl]

heh, Phil, I might eat it before it gets home! (the Nori of course, not the fish!)