New to shrimp!

[Varien101]

I've had aquariums for 10 years and am currently 27 =) The past 2 years i've really wanted to start going above and beyond which my wife isn't to happy about it. But she always goes "oooooo" when I get something right lol.

Currently I have a 90Gal setup lightly planted, soon to be moderate.

1X Butterfly Loach
1X Bristlenose Pleco
18-20X White Cloud Minnows (They are just awesome!)
1X Blue dwarf Gourami
2X Red tail sharks
3X Ottos

I've been slowing turning my tank into a planted tank the past year and i've finally succeeded in doing it right and not having everything die =) I ended up with maybe 3 or 4 species of snails in the last 2 weeks which I have already noticed are reproducing like mad fire. (I dont mind the snails they are awesome!) 2 sides of my tank (the glass) is a giant wall of Algae which is totally awesome and I love it. I was thinking I should get some Assassin Snails to try and even out the eco balance of my tank which will very shortly be over-run by normal snails in this buffet type environment.

Any thoughts on the above?

And the entire reason for this thread! I have this huge urge to put some red cherries in the tank! I was thinking 10 to start off, but I have never ever had shrimp before. So my huge question is, can I use Ghost Shrimp as a test for my tank whether or not RCS will be viable?


Note: What are you guys thinking about my bio load atm? At my max, I can push out 3 watts per gallon + a 5 foot across window for daylight. I have 2 filters installed on the back which filters the entire tank 1 1/2 times every hour. Let me know if you need anymore info!

NOTE NOTE: Thanks!

 

[Martina1997]

hmm well to me it sound like your tank is coming along nicely I would love to see some pictures of it and do a trial with some ghost shrimp and if that works i would say try some red cherry shrimp... and also I would try to remove the normal snails because I had a tank overrun by normal snails and all my plants where eaten but i would say do a trial with some ghost shrimp .... good luck and keep us updated

 

[authmal]

What exactly is a "normal" snail? Malaysian trumpet snails are actually pretty good to have in your tank, and don't eat live and healthy plants, aside from possibly algae. They'll breed as much as they have food for, so if they're a problem, there's usually a lot for them to eat. I learned that the hard way, and no longer over feed. I think assassins are cool, but don't want them in my tank because I have nerites, which are a little more difficult to replace than a ramshorn or pond snail, let alone mass reproducing MTS.

Don't bother with ghost shrimp. For one, they won't breed in freshwater. And they're hard to see in a tank. For another, RCS are hardy shrimp. 10 may not get you much breeding, just because the footprint of your tank may make it difficult for males to find receptive females, but chances are good that one pair will find each other in the 3 or 4 months, and that'll start the ball rolling. I don't know about red tail sharks, but if you have enough plants, the adult RCS should be safe. Anabantoids have personality, and some don't like invertebrates sharing their space, and will kill all interlopers. That said, a planted tank will protect your shrimp, either way.

 

[TheShrimpFarm]

The red cherry shrimp are pretty cheap so would make a good first go. You would probably not see 10 in a 90 gallon very much. So if you could afford it, you might think about getting more. And like said above, the more you have the better chance for them breeding (if that's what you want)

 

[pixl8r]

I've had aquariums for 10 years and am currently 27 =) The past 2 years i've really wanted to start going above and beyond which my wife isn't to happy about it. But she always goes "oooooo" when I get something right lol.

Currently I have a 90Gal setup lightly planted, soon to be moderate.

1X Butterfly Loach
1X Bristlenose Pleco
18-20X White Cloud Minnows (They are just awesome!)
1X Blue dwarf Gourami
2X Red tail sharks
3X Ottos

I've been slowing turning my tank into a planted tank the past year and i've finally succeeded in doing it right and not having everything die =) I ended up with maybe 3 or 4 species of snails in the last 2 weeks which I have already noticed are reproducing like mad fire. (I dont mind the snails they are awesome!) 2 sides of my tank (the glass) is a giant wall of Algae which is totally awesome and I love it. I was thinking I should get some Assassin Snails to try and even out the eco balance of my tank which will very shortly be over-run by normal snails in this buffet type environment.

Any thoughts on the above?

Others have talked about snails so I'll skip that. Your fish should not cause too much of a problem, though depending on the Redtail's temperament you could loose shrimp due to stress caused by harassment. It could also cause the shrimp to spend most of their time hiding, making it more difficult to spot them.

And the entire reason for this thread! I have this huge urge to put some red cherries in the tank! I was thinking 10 to start off, but I have never ever had shrimp before. So my huge question is, can I use Ghost Shrimp as a test for my tank whether or not RCS will be viable?

Either type of shrimp should do fine. There are a few issues that you need to know in order to decide how to proceed for now. FYI, most 'Ghost shrimp' sold in North America will reproduce in freshwater. I've kept a colony of them going for almost two decades now.

As previously stated, RCS can be purchased for very reasonable prices. You should know that RCS or Red Cherry Shrimp, has been defined as Neocaridina heteropoda (var. red) AND Neocaridina denticulata sinensis (var. red). You need to know both since the odds of the classification error being cleared up anytime soon are negligible at best. This is important for you, as a potential buyer, to know. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that many shrimp vendors don't list, or possibly know, the scientific name of the shrimp they are selling.

Here is another problem. Red Cherry shrimp were one of the first shrimp species to be adopted by hobbyist. Hence, they've gone through many generations of selective breeding programs. This has resulted in many color variations such as red yellow and green. Yet, they remain the same species. Keeping multiple color variations, of the same species, in a single tank is not feasible. You can successfully do it, but you will not like the results. When different color morphs of the same species interbreed the offspring produce aren't red and green and yellow. Instead you get less color and more brownish color, or 'wild type' shrimp. Each successive generation of color mixing results in more damage. Just a few generations can undo decades of selective breeding.

So, if you start with RCS be aware and beware. If the shrimp happen to survive and flourish, and you want a different color morph, culling the original population is problematic. If this situation occurs, avoid using toxins (such as Ich meds), they can linger and cause other problems. Instead, capture the adult berried females and sell them. Then if you've got some semi-aggressive hunting fish in another tank, such as Angels, add them to the tank and give them some time. They love to eat young shrimp.

Good luck!

 

[pixl8r]

Don't bother with ghost shrimp. For one, they won't breed in freshwater. And they're hard to see in a tank. For another, RCS are hardy shrimp. 10 may not get you much breeding, just because the footprint of your tank may make it difficult for males to find receptive females, but chances are good that one pair will find each other in the 3 or 4 months, and that'll start the ball rolling. I don't know about red tail sharks, but if you have enough plants, the adult RCS should be safe. Anabantoids have personality, and some don't like invertebrates sharing their space, and will kill all interlopers. That said, a planted tank will protect your shrimp, either way.

Actually this is not accurate. Most 'feeder' and cheep 'Ghost' shrimp sold in North America are wild caught. That means that they've been mishandled and have a high mortality rate. Because the shrimp tend to be wild caught knowing the exact species is impossible without dissection and a microscope. However, the habitats that are fished for these shrimp have abundant populations of Palaemonetes sp.. Knowing that, North American species of the Palaemonetes genus will reproduce in fresh water. They do go through a few larval stages. But the young will mature in about four larval moltings. This takes a few days.

FYI, a good way to determine if a shrimp species is able to reproduce in freshwater only is by egg size. If the eggs are easily seen, you can assume that the young will hatch and mature in freshwater. If the eggs are extremely tiny and difficult to distinguish one from another, they most likely will need an estuary type environment to mature.