How to get my cherry shrimp OUT of the plants!?

saganco

saganco

RIP my precious kitty baby
Oct 29, 2006
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Colorado
I have a 10 gallon tank that's devoted to shrimp and snails - but unfortunately my baby tears went completely berserk and took OVER the tank (yes, someone was neglectful in finding time to "weed" the tank). So now, I'm afraid to pull the plants because the little shrimp love to cling to and hide in it. I want to get the tank plant free so I can enjoy the shrimp more. I read online that plants are not needed or even very welcome in a shrimp tank because they compete for the nutrients??

So, do any of you experienced shrimp keepers have any ideas for safely removing the plants and KEEPING the shrimp IN the tank!? I thank you all in advance!!
 
havnet heard the they compete for nutrients before. everything i read says plants are good for them. the help keep the water stable.

first of all feed them in one section of the tank. plus some up and shake the plant around in the water. move it to another holding container and shake it again making sure most all of them come off. my limited experience they move off the what ever your moving around.
 
But would the itty bitty babies also "run" and hide when you shake the plant? I just want to get at least most of the plants out and leave only some for accent and color - what I have now is a tank FULL of plants with SOME shrimp visible on occassion - not what I planned!
 
I have clear little Rubbermade containers I put plants in after trimming or removing. I add a little bit of tank water (enough to cover the bottom THINLY). I swish it around then tilt the container so the plants stay up toward the top in the 'dry' area and the water comes to the bottom/corner. The shrimp will/should make their way to the water and out of the plants. A few rounds of this takes very little time and is pretty effective.
I've also never heard that plants and shrimps compete for nutrients. Shrimps are happiest in planted tanks.
 
I added baby tears recently and it's already shown some impressive growth and is staying low because of my excessive lighting. I can't wait until it completely takes over the tank. There is no way your shrimp are competing with the plants for nutrients unless you somehow have photosynthetic shrimp or something. If anything, removing the plants will cause the shrimp stress and make them much less happy.
 
Hmmm... general concensus here is "keep the plants" - I said what I did because of #9 in this article: http://www.petshrimp.com/articles/faq.html

I like the idea of swishing in the shallow container. Only two questions about that method though... I've caught shrimp to move from one tank to another and had them in a shallow container and they jumped out. So don't they do it in the "swish container"? Also, will this work with the super teensy babies? I don't want to loose any babies!

So I'll keep SOME plants in there, but change the type of plant. The baby tears got some nasty moss infestation (clavo? - name may be wrong) so everyone said PULL IT OUT and get rid of it. So out it goes. I just don't want to "throw out the baby with the bathwater"!
 
You slightly misunderstood his reference to plants. Fast growing plants (plants that need a higher ration of nutrients) will deplete nutrients from the tank so the microorganisms that the shrimp eat will starve. But plants like java moss or java fern (low maintenance plants) don't need the nigh nutrient needs, so they do not strip the tank of nutrients as fast, so the microbes can compete better.

Moss in a shrimp tank is not a bad sign. If the moss is not one of the larger (hair type) dwarf shrimp will eat it, as they do in nature. If you haven't, I highly recommend using soaked brown leaf litter (like Mustafa advocates). The leaves will also feed the microbes that shrimp eat, creating more natural foods.
 
when the plant breaks the surface of the water, or really when the cherry shrimp on the plant breaks the surface of the water, it will be spooked a little bit and jump off the plant on its own accord. i'll bet you could get a cherry shrimp to stay on the plant if you tried :)
 
Just shake the plant a little bit in the water and then remove it from the tank very slowly. Cherry shrimp are pretty easy to "shoo" away from areas you don't want them.
 
Thanks guys - such great suggestions! I was actually thinking of going to anubias in there anyway. I just got some black gravel so the shrimp will stand out better and will see what plant (slow growing) will look the best there. Maybe a rock with anubias tied on...

So slow gentle swishing in shallow water, then slowly lift the plant out of the water. I just sent some shrimp and some of my "crap baby tears" that was full of the clavo (?) moss - and she said that there were "larvae" in there! I thought that it could have been some tiny snails, but she said there were no shells. What do you think it could have been? Tiny baby shrimp? I would think she would be able to tell that - and I swished those baby tears "NOT" gentle and nothing came out... So maybe the swishing will only work for adults and I could still be throwing out little shrimpies that are infants! What do you guys think?

By the way - off topic - what does "WERD" mean? I saw it on tv the other night and there's the little smiley face here with the sign that says that. Hate to be ignorant, but I guess I am!
 
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