Whisker shrimp

D

Darkness9876

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Aug 11, 2008
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No Where Kansas
I have a 90g terrarium and I'm looking for something to put in the water portion.

I saw some whisker shrimp the other day and wanted to know there requirments, like temp, food, lighting, plants all that. I really liked them they were like giant ghost shrimp.

I already have 6 glofish and 2 flying foxes but that should be it for the fish. Would these fish eat a shrimp that big?

Or what do red cherry shrimp look like, I've been to my lfs and they have a tank that says it has them for $3.99each but I have never seen one in the tank.

Anyway any help would be aprreciated, thanks.
 
Here's a bump so someone with real knowledge might answer.

How much water space (gallons) will there be, Darkness? Any kind of shrimp you choose needs very clean, stable water conditions. No spikes, no ammonia.

I saw a site that talked about those and the zebras.. being "long arm" shrimp.
LONG-ARM SHRIMP

To ensure that both males and female long-arm shrimp (Macrobrachium) are obtained, buy at least six. Because long-arms get a lot bigger, and display more aggression, an aquarium larger than 10 gallons may be necessary to keep them doing well.
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You should probably Google them and collect all the general info that's out there. Then for the specifics, ask whatever else you need to know here.

Don't know about your fish, but here's a pic to show what the Red Cherry Shrimp look like.

shrimpd2-500px.jpg
 
The question of how much water will be available is very important. Machobrachium can be more aggressive (depending on species) than the dwarf shrimp. Hopefully pixl8r will chime in as they are his specialty.
 
I guess I have to hit the chimes.

Whisker shrimp are frequently Macrobrachium lamarrei lamarrei. They are an easy to keep species, that will reproduce without any special conditions, such as brackish or marine water. They will be more aggressive than the typical dwarf species, but they are docile (if you're familiar, they compare to M. dayanum or any shrimp from the M. hendersonii species family). They do not aggressively hunt shrimp or invertebrates, but the males tend to be territorial. They reach about 2 to 2.5 inches long, if I remember correctly.

However, I don't know that Gold fish would be good tank mates shrimp. Even with larger shrimp, they can be harrassed and injured by fish, causing them to die. I highly recommend creating an invertebrate or species only tank. Then you get to see the full range of behaviours that the animals can display. FYI, many Macrobrachium species have interesting 'mating dances' that they do, instead of the mad dashing around that the dwarf shrimp do. The choice is yours though.

Good luck.
 
Whisker shrimp at my lfs are around 1.5 at the moment. This is as big as my glofish, you misread, they are the genetically engineered glowing version of the standard zebra danios. I have never seen them pester my small ghost shrimp. I dont know that I would like a 2.5 inch shrimp though thats pretty big. These rcs sound interesting though.

For my tank set up it is a paludarium that is soon to house some green tree frogs and house geckos. It is a 90 wide tank that has a water section that is roughly 6" deep and covers around half the floor of the tank for a grand total of around 13 gallons of water. I run a fluval 2 at 105gph and that comes down a waterfall so it has plenty of disolved oxygen. I have a dwarf red lilly and anubis nana petite as well as some java. I am working on adding some driftwood as well for both my fish/shrimp and above water for my lizards and frogs. I run a triple tube strip light with aquarium lights at 92 total watts. Without my air conditioner on and with the tempature in my house at 80f my tank runs around 82-86f but I suspect that will fall once we have out blinds up and the airconditioner on.

Well I hope that helps with some info on my tank.

I think I would rather have the rcs now. Do you think they would fair well in my tank?
 
If the fish get aggressive or nippy at all, that would rule out keeping shrimp with them. As for the tank, the volume of water, space, circulation, and lighting should be fine. The only way you can be sure ahead of time is to first buy the full API test kit (if you don't already have one) and start testing the water on a regular basis. No one here can tell you if your water stays clean enough. You'll have to find that out yourself. If it's always stable with no ammonia and nitrites... and you do partial water changes every week to remove nitrates and all the rest... there are no other problems as far as contamination, salts, metals, or minerals; then the cherry shrimp will do well over the long term.

The shrimp will need places to hide and you'll have to provide for the baby shrimps they always produce. Your intake for the filter needs a foam or sponge covering. That will restrict the water flow, somewhat, and cause other maintenance issues for you having to keep it free and clean all the time. If the covering clogs up with muck and debris, that'll effect the water quality.
 
Check on your land inhabitants too. I was really wild about doing a paludarium until I got to looking into it more. Many of the frogs/lizards/toads that people put in these are actually toxic to either each other, you or the fish. You might be able to find some information on compatible species online. I found a site a while back that had a list of what didn't go together, written by people who had tried and learned the hard way.
 
I know the green tree frogs and the anoles can survive and thrive together I have seen many tanks set up with that combo.

Thanks for all the info its been really helpful.

As for the toxicity towards the fish none of those species will get into the water and contaminate it. The most damaging thing that could get into the water would be the waste from these animals and the filter should pick that up rather quickly.

My filter is encased behind a mesh screen that keeps out even the smallest particles of cocofiber that fall into the water. It is small I belive than the filter sponge. Would that be suffiecent to keep the shrimps out?


Anyhow How big do my flying foxes get? Also why will my glofish be too big? They are kept in 10g tanks all the time and are healthy. Also what is IMO I see this frequently but I am unsure what it means. I think it means In My Opinion but I want to make sure.
 
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