im getting a shrimp tank woo hoo.......

[krazy4country]

the only problem is i know nothing about shrimp............

what kind of shrimp should i get?
what kind of tank requirerments do they have in order to survive?
what do you feed them?


the tank is going to be a 20-25 gallon

if you guys could help me out id be really grateful

p.s. my dad says that when he thinks i know enough about them and the care they need to flourish he'll get the tank ready and the shrimp ordered in.

[zerojoe0917]

i personally like RCS (Red cherry shrimp)

[chazsgirl]

I love my ghost shrimp but if you want babies the easiest to breed is cherry shrimp! I would love some crystal red shrimp but way too much $$ for shrimp! good luck!

[NickD]

The red cherry shrimp would be the best beginner shrimp. They breed readily and are easy to care for. Plus they're cheap.

I'm also hoping to get a shrimp tank set up soon. But I didn't have to get my dad's permission; just my wife's.

[Hollygirl]

I don't keep shrimp myself, but have been considering them in the near future. I found two great sources of information (besides here at AC of course).

www.petshrimp.com (http://www.petshrimp.com)

www.theshrimpfarm.com (http://www.theshrimpfarm.com)

Good Luck!

[msjinkzd]

what kind of shrimp should i get? What is the pH of your source water? This helps determine what would work best for you. Typically cherry shrimp are a great starter shrimp as they do well in a wide range of parameters.
what kind of tank requirerments do they have in order to survive? A cycled tank with temps in the mid- 70's, some plants are nice, dark substrate is my preference, and either a sponge filter or a filter with the intake covered to protect baby shrimp.
what do you feed them?I feed a range of foods. Hikari crab cuisine is good because its small pellets. Micro pellets are fine. They are ominivorous, so will eat anything. Its EASY to overfeed a shrimp tank and get secondary "friends" like planaria.

Hope this helps

[NickD]

msjinkzd knows. In case you didn't already know she's one of the resident shrimp experts. Also on snails and probably many other things.

[Mgamer20o0]

i would start off with cherry shrimp see how well you like them and then move on. shrimp will eat anything. dont forget to cycle the tank before hand.

[Fishy_Fun]

I agree cherry shrimp would be your best bet.If i were you i would go with a dark substrate and a sponge filter.You can feed them lots of different things mine especially like green beans and peas but you should feed them a varied diet for best growth.I usually have a schedule of what i feed mine.Hope this helps and good luck with your new future shrimp lol

[krazy4country]

http://www.bugsurvey.nsw.gov.au/html/popups/images/lge_fr-sh_col.jpg

i dont know if this is a freshwater shrimp but when i searched "freshwater shrimp" it came up can anyone tell me what is is

[Fishy_Fun]

I'm not to sure on what it is but it looks like my yellow shrimp i just bought from jinkz

[krazy4country]

http://www.bugsurvey.nsw.gov.au/html/popups/images/lge_fr-sh_col.jpg


can someone please tell me what this is

[DAVIDFBT]

the only problem is i know nothing about shrimp............

what kind of shrimp should i get? Cherry Shrimp, easy to care for, and easy to breed.
what kind of tank requirerments do they have in order to survive? 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, <20ppm Nitrates, 76-80 degrees F.
what do you feed them? Crushed up flake food, and very small pieces of algae wafers.


the tank is going to be a 20-25 gallon Great, that's enough for 250-300 of them.

if you guys could help me out id be really grateful No problem. :)

p.s. my dad says that when he thinks i know enough about them and the care they need to flourish he'll get the tank ready and the shrimp ordered in.

Answers in bold.

[zerojoe0917]

i don't think it is a freshwater shrimp,

it seem to be a salt water shrimp

[krazy4country]

Answers in bold.


thanx ALOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[krazy4country]

i don't think it is a freshwater shrimp,

it seem to be a salt water shrimp


oh well than i guess its out of the question

[NickD]

oh well than i guess its out of the question
If you're interested in yellow shrimp, there is a variety of freshwater shrimp which is yellow. It's actually the same species (Neocaridina heteropoda) as the red cherry but it's yellow instead of red. msjinkzd sells them and I just got some. Since they're the same species as the reds they have the same requirements.

Don't mix the reds and the yellows in the same tank. They will interbreed and the offspring will revert back to their wild coloring which is sort of brown.

Contact msjinkzd. She'll hook you up. She seems to be away this weekend but hopefully she'll be back soon.

[krazy4country]

another question now that i know WHAT to feed them HOW MUCH should i feed them when i get them????????????????

[DAVIDFBT]

Depending on how many you have, you can feed an algea wafer that has been crushed into little pieces and scattered around the tank, or you can feed them a tiny pinch of fish food.

[NickD]

another question now that i know WHAT to feed them HOW MUCH should i feed them when i get them????????????????
For the 10 yellows I got recently, msjinkzd said to feed them a quarter of an algae wafer every other day or so.

[msjinkzd]

feed about half what you think they need....if you notice that they are frenetically swimming, or attacking the wafer/pellet immediately, increase slightly. Its way to easy to overfeed shrimp tanks. They really feed on infusoria (microorganisms on plants) more than they get credit for. The excess food leads to secondary issues of planaria, scuds, etc etc not to mention water quality issues.

[Quinn1928]

have fun!!

[excuzzzeme]

I got my shrimp and what little I know from MSJINKZD and talk about healthy and flourishing - I may need to move them to a larger tank! Seems like every single female I have has eggs! In the past month I have gone from 30 to too many!

[DrNo]

I do not have much experience with shrimp, but am curious what you guys do with substrate vacs and these guys.... do you just vac normally and find they move out of the way? Even with a grate on the python I'd fear sucking them into the flow.

[murraycod]

Hi Krazy,
The website on which you saw the yellow shrimp is: NSW (New South Wales); gov (Government); au (Australia). NSW is an Australian State and their Gov had a programme of involving kids in carrying out a freshwater ecology census in March this year. Fun and education. The photo is a little misleading since that shrimp, although a freshwater species, is a clear/grey colour rather than the vibrant yellow you saw.
Cheers
Greg

[krazy4country]

ok thanx just wonderin if it was fresh or not

[oblongshrimp]

I would go with one of the following, all require the same care. Difference is primarily how they look and what they cost. The links go to my website where you can see pictures and parameters for each species.

Wild Type Neocaridina (http://www.theshrimptank.com/WildTypeNeocaridina.shtml)
Red Cherry Shrimp (http://www.theshrimptank.com/CherryShrimp.shtml)
Snowball Shrimp (http://www.theshrimptank.com/SnowballShrimp.shtml)
Yellow Shrimp (http://www.theshrimptank.com/YellowShrimp.shtml)
Blue Pearl Shrimp (http://www.theshrimptank.com/BluePearlShrimp.shtml)

I would recommend convincing your dad to let you get the tank and set it up ASAP. You will want to let it sit and mature for at least a month (preferably two) before adding shrimp. Add some old filter media in and let the biofilm start growing :). Shrimp are much more sensitive to ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.

You really have to take your time with shrimp or you "randomly" lose one or two every so often.

[darkmindzz]

do ghost shrimp breed easily... i have six and would love to become a grandfather ???

[oblongshrimp]

there are several different species sold as "ghost shrimp". Some can breed in fw but some need brackish to full salt for the larva to survive.

[krazy4country]

oblong shrimp, i have a ? with the blue pearl and snowball shrimps could you keep them together

[krazy4country]

ohh i forgot to say thank you ,soo thanks oblongshrimp

[ChilDawg]

I do not have much experience with shrimp, but am curious what you guys do with substrate vacs and these guys.... do you just vac normally and find they move out of the way? Even with a grate on the python I'd fear sucking them into the flow.

I usually wind up getting two or three every time, but I feed the water into a bucket first, so I can fish them out. They haven't yet evolved to have a fear of the gravel vac...here's hoping!

[oblongshrimp]

all those shrimp I listed will interbreed resulting in offspring that would probably look similar to the wild type neocaridina. You can take a look at my compatibility chart (http://theshrimptank.com/CompatibilityChart.shtml) which should help you identify species that can be housed together without crossing.

I rarely gravel vac as all my tanks and tubs are drilled to speed up water changes (i just attach my hose and open a ball valve to drain them). When I have used my gravel vac I have found that shrimp (much like fish) do not like the suction force and will try to swim away from it. If you are careful it shouldn't be a big problem. Just go slowly and try to avoid sucking them up and they generally do the same.

[pik01]

msjinkzd has mentioned attaching a brine net over regular small-diameter tubing with a rubber band and just taking it slowly but I'm still not quite sure how the poop gets past the brine net (care to clarify jinkzie?). I use 1/2" tubing and vac slowly, pausing the siphon to shoo away any curious shrimp. Gives me another excuse to stare at the tank :)

[oblongshrimp]

a brine shrimp net won't work. When I tried cleaning a canister filter I dumped a bunch of the muck at the bottom of the filter into a brine shrimp net to try and save the shrimp that were living in my filter. The muck couldn't get through the mesh so I poured in nasty black crap and clean looking water came out. Kinda cool but all my shrimp stayed in the muck so it didn't help me much. If you have the gravel vac attachment the actual suction at the end of it is not all that strong and shrimp will try and swim back out if they accidentally go into it so just watch what your doing any you should be fine.

[krazy4country]

[quote=oblongshrimp;1694054]all those shrimp I listed will interbreed resulting in offspring that would probably look similar to the wild type neocaridina. You can take a look at my compatibility chart (http://theshrimptank.com/CompatibilityChart.shtml) which should help you identify species that can be housed together without crossing.

quote]


right after i posted i found the compatibility chart

thanx for all your help!

[oblongshrimp]

no problem, I am glad to help. Send me a pm or email if you have any additional questions I can help you with.

[msjinkzd]

I have used a net with success, especially in shrimp tanks as the waste is low. What works even better is a coarse sponge stuck in the siphon tube. Most of the time I don't bother with any of this and just take my time using a small siphon.