# Shrimp...



## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

I'm considering trying shrimp again (last attempt ended up with a late delivery, and all 10 Ghost shrimp died). This time, I want to try Red Cherry shrimp. c:

But I was wondering... is it possible to mix Red Cherry and Ghost shrimp together? I don't mean to breed, but will they coexist peacefully, or would there be aggression? And how about Blueberry shrimp? The tank would be planted with shrimp only, no other fish or invertebrates added.

Would the size differences make for a less desirable outcome? Blueberry shrimp are supposedly less than 1 inch in length at maturity, Cherry shrimp at 1.5 inches, and Ghost at 1.5 inches. So the Blueberries would have the disadvantage in terms of overall size...

I'm looking to breed the adults and use the babies to feed my puffers, cichlids and other fish. Maybe keep some of the young to let them grow, and have as 'pets' like the parents. Are either three of these prolific breeders?

The tank would be around 10 gallons, but I might have two set up. Sponge filters, a little bit of aeration via bubble tubes, and a small heater. I'd probably be using a sand substrate, but is that a good idea? Should I use gravel instead?


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

I just thought of this -- would aquarium plant substrate work, even? I'd prefer to use that actually, if it'll be okay for the shrimp. If so, can anyone suggest a good substrate to use?

Plants I'm considering having in the tank(s) would be;

Java Fern
Banana Plant
Duckweed
Moss/Marimo Ball

Also I think it goes without saying, really, but won't shrimp attack snails? I also wanted to get some mystery or nerite snails (not necessarily for the shrimp tanks), and I'd like to know for sure if they'd just end up as food.


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## Corwin (May 23, 2010)

shrimp are peacefull animals and wont fight unless you overcrowd them. That said they will consume their infants so if any of them get pregnant and have babies most of the babies will be eaten, and likely the rest will be sucked into the filter unless you have some sort of sponge over it.

Shrimp will exist perfectly fine with any substrate that doesnt have any heavy metals in it, so dont worry about the substrate, just get one that is nutrient rich.

I have heard stories however of fertalizers affecting shrimp reproduction, as well as the shrimp themselves so if your concidering doing fertalizers in your tank you may want to do some research into that.

Shrimp wont attack snails, ive keep all the types of freshwater snails currently popular in the hobby (with the exception of sulawasei rabbit snails) with my shrimp without incident.

Ive heard stories that shrimp love moss balls as they collect food particles and become sort of a buffet table for the shrimp, I havent had any myself but I would recomend them to anyone wanting to keep shrimp with live plants.

Also I would recomend getting a dense plant like Java Moss for the infants to hide in when their born, also infants require microscopic organisms only evident in planted tanks so the more plants the merrier if you have intentions of them breeding.

Beware some types of shrimp will interbreed, so you may want to do some research into that before you chose the types you want, if interbreeding would be an issue to you.

If you will be feeding them to your fish ensure to gut load them prior to giving them to your other fish.

Shrimps occasionaly molt so if you ever see an exoskeleton floating around the tank DONT take it out as the shrimp will need to eat it in order to regain essential calcium.

As always I recomend you look at this website: www.planetinverts.com its an excellent source of information.


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

Thank you SO much for the reply, Corwin. It was _extremely_ helpful and informative. 

As for shrimp species interbreeding, that isn't a problem with me at all. Unless of course, it would cause deformities and such in the babies... then it would be a problem. My plan would be to remove a female that is carrying eggs and wait for them to hatch in a separate tank, before moving her back into the main tank. 

I've been wanting to get moss/marimo balls for a while, and I've been considering ordering some from Aquariumplants.com. The site had some pretty good reviews on a few of their plants that I'm interested in -- not to mention the prices are nice. I think you're right about the moss balls though... I've seen pictures of ghost shrimp gathered on one ball in the dozens.

I honestly didn't know about the exoskeleton bit, so thank you very much for bringing that up. I'll keep it in mind if I do see any floating around the tank!

If the snails coexist with the shrimp just fine, then I may end up putting the two species together in the same tank (to start off, anyway. Once I get more snails they'd be getting a tank of their own). But that leads me to another question... how would snails do with a sand substrate? It might be a pretty silly question to ask, but I really don't know the answer. Would they have a hard time moving along it?

Thank you for the link, I'll have a look at it. c:


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## Corwin (May 23, 2010)

I actualy asked the same question when I was just breaking into sand as a substrate, snails do perfectly well on sand, though if you take one out of a tank with gravel and put him into one with sand it takes a bit for them to figure out how to move on it properly.

Personaly I dont really recomend sand as it is a much bigger hassle than gravel (you have to stir it every few days or it starts to build up gasses which in high enough concentrations are bad for your fish and for you), and all you really get out of it is a bit of an asthetic bonus. That said its really up to you.

Ensure the plants you are purchasing are low light plants if you arent setting up a proper lighting system. Also the plants will need nutrients to grow which is why I recomended a nutrient rich gravel over sand. You could mix the two but eventualy you would wind up with gravel anyways.

Personaly I would recomend Nerite snails as while they do lay eggs in freshwater they cant reproduce, allowing you to controll their population. Though I do personaly keep them mystery/apple snails are by far my least favourite, they get too big and are too inconveniant, lol and also their eggs look disgusting and tend to distract people your trying to show your tank to. lol if you get Apple Snails expect to hear a lot of "Eww what is that! or What the *expletive* is that!". Also ive found that more agressive fish will ignore Nerites, probably because they blend in and you cant see much of their bodies outside of the shell.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Don't mix ghost shrimp with the others. The reason is that while the colored shrimps are carefully bred for aquarium use under suitable conditions, ghosts aren't. You will very often see white things inside them. These are parasitic worms which are very very very hard to get rid of and which don't usually show up until it's far too late to do anything about them. They will wipe out your colored shrimp.


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

Okay so, gravel it is. xD I'm leaning towards either black or a deep red gravel. I think the two look very nice in aquariums... our 55g community tank has black gravel, and it really brings out the color in our fish. 

I also didn't know that about the ghost shrimp... in that case, I don't think I'll even buy them again. I'm leaning more towards red cherries, anyway. I fell in love with the blue tiger shrimp, but according to a few sites, they're rare and pretty expensive. 

As for the snails, my intentions were to breed them as well, and feed them to our clowns and yoyo loaches. Snails wouldn't be in the main fish tank, I tried that already... after less than a week they were missing from their shells completely. Nerites are nice looking, but I don't think I'd want to put them in my 20g brackish tank... the mollies might harass them, and I don't like disturbing Creasy (dragon goby) unless I really need to. Sticking my hands/arms into the tank would stress him out. Snail eggs are gross, but it's something I'd just have to put up with, if I want more. xD

I'm going to stop by the LFS and see if they have any mystery snails in stock. Last time they had maybe 3 or 4... the majority of the MS were dead or dying from fish chewing on them. 

So I'd have a 10g for the shrimp, and might toss the snails in there. I probably won't end up getting more than 10 of them... and if they breed too quickly (which I'm not so sure they will, as I'd be constantly plucking them out) then they'd get their own tank.


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## cossie (Dec 19, 2010)

*your opinion on x-ray tetras.*

i like the cherry shrimp


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## Corwin (May 23, 2010)

As far as I know a 10g wouldnt support ten apple snails, though i could be wrong regarding that.


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

Well, it would definitely depend on their size. I can see the tank as more of a... temporary home. I know they can get to be the size of a golf ball, and a 10g wouldn't fit them at all. I wouldn't even put more than 2 around that size in a 10g.

Another option besides mystery snails were ramshorn snails. But I can't seem to find any site online that sells them, besides Aquabid. I'm really trying not to buy anything from there. Nice prices, but it's just easier to deal with sites similar to petsolutions.com, thatpetplace.com, liveaquaria.com, etc...


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