Thinking About Doing a Shrimp Tank

a 3g is certainly enough room for shrimp. They do reproduce readily, but you could always try some adults in with travis. he would readily eat the babies, but adults would be fine. As for what type, that depends on your water chemistry. Do you have any idea about your pH or hardness? What temp do you keep the tank? Is it at all planted?

Cherries are usually an excellent choice for a first shrimp as they are relatively hardy and undemanding as long as the tank stays stable.

I would cover the filter intake with something like a prefilter (sponge or pantyhose). the rough estimate for stocking shrimp is 10 adults per gallon. I usually recommend people start with somewhere around 10 shrimp.

you can find a wide variety available on the classifieds here as well.

Good luck! Shrimp tanks are really fun!

lookit said:

Thanks, msjinkzd. I have extremely soft acidic water (pH usually around 6.6 - 6.8; KH 2 - 3; GH 1-3), because I use DI water exclusively. (The building where the tank is was built in 1937 and the plumbing is original. I tested the tap water with my API masterkit and the amonia and nitrite levels were toxic to humans, much less aquatic livestock.) In any event, I could treat the water to raise the pH and hardness (but would prefer not to; maybe I could add a sea shell or some limestone rock.) Yes, the tank is planted. At the moment it has a rear wall of wisteria, several java ferns, some java moss, one anubias and a couple of anubias sprouts, anacharis and a crypt. Because Travis is such a tropical dude, I keep the temp at 80 degrees F for him; however, I can modulate temp as needed.

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With water that soft, you would be better suited and m ore likely to have success with caridina species. Bee, crystal reds, tiger, zebra, etc would all be good choices. Teh bad news is they are more expensive.

If you wanted to start with a less expensive neocaridina species (like cherries, yellows, snowballs, etc) you would ideally want to buffer your hardness up to at least 6 with 8-10 being more ideal. You could do this with crushed coral or baking soda (baking soda would have to be added at every water change). I often think its best to work with your parameters rather than try to adjust them especially since shrimp are not very tolerant of shifts in params. The caridina really prefer cooler temps though, usually low 70's so you may no longer require a heater in that tank if you go that route.

If you were not worried about having shrimp that would reproduce, you could try something like green lace shrimp. They are a fan filter shrimp which stay relatively small (2") and would like your water. They are low order breeders, so would no reproduce.

Another option would be amano shrimp. They are also loworder breeders. What is nice about them though is that they will not hybridize with other species if you decide to try them as well.

Just post up if you have any other questions. Shrimp can really be very rewarding to keep!

My pleasure! Just post up if you have any questions!