Snails and shrimp for a planted tank

smyke

smyke

newbie
Oct 9, 2007
509
0
16
Connecticut
Real Name
Mike
I am looking to get some snails and shrimp for my planted tank. Both would join my 2 BN Plecos as a clean-up crew. Other tank mates are 2 Bolivian Rams and some neons.

For shrimp I think I will go with Amano since they are the most hardy from what I read (please correct me if I am wrong) although all the other, more colorful types are very intriguing as well. I currently have 3 ghost shrimp in there but they dont seem to last for too long (many disappeared within few days after I put them in the tank).
I read somewhere that ghost shrimp may eat other shrimp. is that true?
What special food should I feed them?

As far as snails go I am totally clueless. I would want the kind that does not grow too big, would not uproot or eat plants and would be eager "cleaners". What should I feed them? I read that they need calcium so I would give them cuttlebone. Would that throw any other parameters off?

Sorry for all the newbie questions but I want these critters to have a good life in my tank.

Thank you for your help.
 
Nerite snails are a good choice, don't get big, don't eat plants & don't breed in freshwater. They're also hard little worker's mine eat cucumber & shrimp pellets :)

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For shrimps, I would suggest Red Cherry Shrimps (RCS). They are hardy enough but very colorful. If you put a lot of them (i have 8), they won't be as shy and will venture around the tank.
For snails, I would also suggest nerites. They come in a lot of patterns (i have a red tracked one), they don't eat plants and they don't breed in freshwater. Not to mention, they clean the tank extremely well. You will not have to deal with glass algae, EVER. I have 2 in a 10 gal tank and they are doing their jobs pretty well. You might want to put a cover on your tank though since they tend to crawl out. :p

Both of my suggestions are very hardy and will accept a good range of bottom feeder food. :)
Hope this helps and good luck!
 
Your rams may kill any shrimp you put in there. Some wont, but others will. Keep an eye on your tank and make sure you have a back up plan for any shrimp you put in there.

I have seen zebra nerites at petco. Otherwise I would recommend buying some online. Even with shipping the price is fair and you can get a huge diversity of colors. I get mine from Mgamer.
 
I had to move my Bolivian rams because they were going after my rcs. Bolivian rams have high prey drive :/
 
Thats why I was hesitant to buy the RCS seeing how tiny they were. Glad I didn't.
Out of 10 ghosts only 4 survived but I chucked it up to them being 50 cent shrimp and of poor quality. Now I know who had a nice meal. It couldn't have been the neons.
So I will just stick to Amano.

I will check out Petco and Petsmart for nerites.

Thank you all for your input.



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They,re freshwater snails but can go into brackish water too. I have zebra & tiger nerites :)

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