All of my ghost shrimp are gone. What others can I try?

[melissasroja]

Hi everyone. I hunted high and low for ghost shrimp and finally got 14 of them for my 3 tanks. Well 3 weeks later all are gone. We saw a guppy actually swallow one whole which really shocked me since the shrimp were all decent sized. I thought it was a fluke or a sick shrimp but clearly I was wrong. I really really like shrimp though and am hoping someone will tell me there are others that will be safe with my fish. My tanks are as follows:

10gal with 2 african dwarf frogs & 1 male betta. I did have ghost shrimp in this tank but I removed them quickly because the frogs were trying to make a meal out of them. I dont know if there are other shrimp that the betta and frogs wont bother but if there are them I would love to get some. I also had apple snails in that tank and no one ever bothered them so I may add more of those in as well. The betta is fairly relaxed. Hes been with a pleco in the past and was ok with him and he doesnt bother the frogs at all.

29gal with 2 dwarf gourami's, 2 peppered cory cats, 1 very small bristlenose albino pleco, a few very small zebra danios and a few small dwarf rainbowfish. This tank will be turned into a 55gal within the next month or two. I never saw any attacks on the ghost shrimp in this tank at all and they all seem to be quite relaxed and peaceful fish. The shrimp just vanished.

29gal with male and female guppies, male and female mollies, male and female platies and male and female swordtails. Now I know everyone is thinking its a huge breeding ground in there but honestly I dont get tons. We do get fry but since we dont pull them away from the adults most dont survive. The ones who do make it turn into some beautiful fish though. I also have a few apple snails in there as well. So for this tank since they do breed I would like shrimp that are less likely to hunt down the few fry that make it.

If anyone has any ideas please let me know. I would prefer shrimp that will eat leftover food and not so much algae eaters except for the frog tank which tends to get some algae. The other two tanks get very very little.

One final question would apple snails be ok in the dwarf gourami, cory, dwarf rainbow tank? I would love to put some in there if they would be ok. Thanks very much.

Melissa

 

[dbosman]

Snails will be fine, or perhaps too fine, in your tanks. If you get a population explosion it will eventually stabilize. For the fragile sorts, yes that means the excess will die off.

As to shrimp, any fish with a large enough mouth will eat them. Large fry will eat baby shrimp. As you noticed with your guppy, some fish have amazing large mouths.
Otos are the only fish that seem to never bother shrimp. Cory's generally don't, but some will. Most plecos will suck them down like candy, at night.

Amano shrimp are less bothered because of their size, but they can't breed in a freshwater tank and larger fish will suck them down like.. Bamboo shrimp may survive if there are enough micro-organisms in the tank. They are filter feeders.

I suggest a shrimp tank. Even a couple of gallon tank will support a fairly large number of shrimp if they do well for you. There are some great shrimp keeping sites.
I suggest starting with red cherry shrimp. They will either do well or dwindle away.

While I know lots of people who have had good colonies of red cherry shrimp I don't personally know anyone who has successfully propagated yellow cherry shrimp. I know it's been done. I know only one person who has maintained a colony of the snowball variation of "red" cherry shrimp.

Another starter option, in a shrimp only tank, is Crystal Red or CRS. If you purchase a lower grade, such as B or C/B the price can be as low as $1.00 each.

 

[jetajockey]

i keep a group of 5 BN plecos in my planted shrimp tank and I haven't seen them go after any shrimp/shrimplets at all. The most that they ever do is when I drop pellets in, they pellet camp and shoo away any shrimp that try to get a piece. You might be better off with something like amano shrimp but I don't know, I've never tried it. I had guppies/platys decimate a RCS colony once, though.

 

[Bartmann]

Mellisa,

Assuming your water chems are ok, you may want to try amano shrimp. they are bigger and would not be concidered as food so easy. They are also reasonably priced. They will climb out of the tank and walk around until you find them or they die if they do not like the tank or water chem's... gl

 

[mfgann]

Yeah, thats the hard part about shrimp.. almost all other fish consider them a food source. Some will hunt them down one by one, others only nab an occasional shrimplet snack. Perhaps you could set yourself up a little 5G shrimp breeding tank.. that should support about 50 shrimp, then as the population booms, use the culls to stock your other tanks with RCS. If they get eaten, you still have a nice colony going.

CRS are more demanding..The lower grade CRS are supposed to be hardier, but I'd start with RCS, as easy as they are, and you can add CRS later if you like (CRS and RCS do not interbreed).

 

[Frogmanx82]

If you can grow some java moss in the tank, cherry shrimp might have a chance to breed. Amano shrimp are a pretty good size and much hardier than ghost shrimp. If you aren't concerned with breeding the shrimp, I'd go with the amano first. Cherries or crystal reds are good. You can order crystal reds off the internet at a number of places. They are packed pretty good even for the cold weather. I just got some in the mail a few weeks ago no problem.

 

[melissasroja]

Thanks everyone. I have a few moss balls in the tanks and noticed the shrimp did hide under them before they all vanished. Maybe Ill add in a few more for hiding spots. A shrimp only tank is a good idea. I may go with that. Or Ill give amano shrimp a try and see how they survive.

 

[mfgann]

Thanks everyone. I have a few moss balls in the tanks and noticed the shrimp did hide under them before they all vanished. Maybe Ill add in a few more for hiding spots. A shrimp only tank is a good idea. I may go with that. Or Ill give amano shrimp a try and see how they survive.

Moss balls? Like the Marimo moss balls? Shrimp do like to graze off of them, but the java moss mentioned is not the same thing. (If you already knew this, sorry, I just want to be sure you do). Java moss grows like a tangled mess that the shrimp can climb into and hide in. Shrimp love plants and lots of hiding. They'll also be more outgoing in a shrimp-only tank, swimming around at times.

Good luck, whether you do RCS or amano.