FAQs on Freshwater Shrimp:
Caridina, Neocaridina; Japanese Marsh Shrimps
Related Articles: Freshwater Crustaceans, Invertebrates for Freshwater Aquariums by
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Crawfish Pie, Let's Make a Crawfish Tank! By Gage
Harford
Related FAQs: FW Shrimp 1,
& FAQs on: FW Shrimp Identification, FW Shrimp Behavior, FW Shrimp Compatibility, FW Shrimp Selection, FW Shrimp Systems, FW Shrimp Feeding, FW Shrimp Disease, FW Shrimp Reproduction, & Shrimp by
Family, Genus, Species: Atyids: Genus Atyopsis (Bamboo, Wood Shrimps),
Genera Attya, Atya,
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"Lobsters), &
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FW Crustaceans 3, FW Crustaceans 4,
&
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on: FW Crustacean
Identification, FW Crustacean
Behavior, FW Crustacean
Compatibility, FW Crustacean
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Systems, FW Crustacean Feeding,
FW Crustacean Disease, FW Crustacean Reproduction
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Yamato
Numa Ebi, or Amano Shrimp, Bumble/Bee, Crystal...
|
Ich in Shrimp/Planted Tank 12/17/18
Hello Crew!
<Ms. H.>
I am finally back in the hobby after many years. However, it has not
quite started as smoothly as I would like. The tank is a planted
29 G standard (fishlessly cycled- 0 ammonia, nitrite, ~10 ppm
nitrate, 74*F currently) and was initially stocked with 28
celestial pearl Danios, 1 (maybe 2 inch) albino Bristlenose
Pleco, and ~30 cherry shrimp. Before that, the tank was
cycling with just plants and hitchhiker snails for about 5 weeks. The
livestock was added on 12/5. Absolutely none of the local fish stores
are decent, so these critters were shipped to me from a single supplier.
So far, I have lost two shrimp (one a few days ago and the other
yesterday), one Danio (arrived very skinny and haven't seen it in a
while), and now the Bristlenose Pleco (late yesterday). I was trying to
figure out what on earth happened, since the tank has consistently shown
0 ammonia/nitrite and I had seen everyone eating. Today, I noticed a
couple of the Danios had suspicious white spots (one or two per fish,
some on the body and some on the fins). I am guessing ich is what took
the Pleco and that it was hard to spot on the albino fish. I am
especially kicking myself because I ordered online to specifically avoid
major ich problems like all the local stores have! No idea, beyond
shipping stress, on what could have happened to the shrimp.
<This last; "what could have happened to the shrimp." What are you
referring to?>
Now I am faced with a dilemma. Most advise for treating ich involves
salt/heat. Can I go to 85/86* safely with CPDs?
<They should be okay at this temperature temporarily (a week or so); as
long as there is sufficient aeration>
I'm thinking it should be fine in the short term (and will be slowly
raising temps unless told otherwise). Can heat alone work (which I see
is sometimes recommended)?
<Heat alone can (indeed) work>
Most importantly, will this kill my shrimp and plants if I try to do
this in the main tank?
<See the mention of the Cryptocorynes below. RCS upper temp. limit is
generally/given as 80F... again, I would risk raising it to the mid 80's
here>
The tank is planted with crypt wendtii and balansae, so I am
particularly worried about melting the plants down to nothing (again
LOL). I can live with dead plants if it means healthy fish but I am
rather attached to the shrimp already. I have the ability to set up a QT
tank for the fish to treat separately, but I don't know if that would
cause more stress to the fish.
<Agreed; and, what a trial trying to net them out!>
From what I can find on here, leaving the display without fish for a
week or so at 80* should be long enough for any cysts to die off, but
please let me know if that's wrong. Treating the whole tank with
anything aside from salt and heat is pretty much a non-starter if I
understand correctly too. Finally, would acquiring a UV sterilizer be of
any use (as either an alternative or adjunct to any of the above)?
<There are other methods, but I would just go w/ the heat here>
Lesson learned- always QT (even if it's the only fish and it's all from
the same supplier and they are very reputable) and QT the fish and
shrimp separately.
<Ah yes>
Many thanks in advance!
<Welcome. Please do keep us informed of your observations. Bob Fenner>
Re: Ich in Shrimp/Planted Tank 12/18/18
Thanks so much for the quick response.
<Welcome; certainly>
The "what could have happened" referred to the mysterious shrimp deaths
of the first two.
<Ahh>
Sadly, I have come back to 3 more dead shrimp today. The tank temp is
sitting only around 82 right now. Should I stop increasing temp?
<... I would raise it to 85 F....>
Will the week you mentioned at an elevated temp be enough to rid the
tank of ich?
<Hopefully so>
The fish are darting around, so I think everyone is getting stressed. I
am at a loss on what to do from here. I've heard Paraguard is invert
safe,
<?! It is NOT. The Malachite (Green) is quite toxic to shrimps:
https://www.seachem.com/paraguard.php>
so I am honestly tempted to lower the temp a little (roughly ~80) and go
with it in tank or just net all the fish out and treat separately. I
really don't want to lose more shrimp (or fish for that matter) if I can
avoid it. I lowered the water level a bit and have a sponge filter
already running (the sponge gives a ton of aeration).
<The choice is yours>
Furthermore, am I making an inaccurate assumption with the shrimp? I
have been assuming stress is causing losses this whole time since water
parameters have been correct and I haven't seen any obvious signs of
disease.
<I/one cannot really say based on the proffered data. There could be
other cause/s, influences at play here>
Thank you all again for the assistance.
<To be as clear as I'd like: I simply respond to folks GIVEN the
information available and what I have confidence in, to WHAT I would do
given similar circumstances. In this case, were it me/mine, I would go
forward with the increased temperature, possibly add some activated
carbon to the filter, flow path (to discount metabolite, other noxious
factors); and NOT medicate, NOT move the organisms here. Bob Fenner>
Re: Ich in Shrimp/Planted Tank 12/18/18
Bob,
<Georgi->
I probably should have looked at the ingredients before thinking about
Paraguard. Testimonials or not, I am not risking malachite green with
shrimp. My apologies.
<No worries>
I bumped up the heater again to get it to 85F and will plan on a week at
that temp once it gets there. I'll pick up some carbon just in case
something is going on that I can't see/test for.
<Good>
It does make one wish for a crystal ball though. I appreciate all of
your (and team's) efforts to essentially assist people blindly.
<Ahh>
Assuming no more shrimp deaths or major fish distress I will maintain
course per your advice. If anything else happens I will just go ahead
and net the fish out to treat separately.
<Anima bona fac; be of good life. Cheers, BobF>
Painted Fire Red Cherry Shrimp
11/15/17
Hello, this is Jinoo Kim. I have been breeding regular cherry shrimp for
about 2 years.
<Nice beasts!>
With a long time breeding and proper culling, I finally managed to reach
Painted Fire Reds. I have three (one male and 2 females) so far in a ten
gallon. I had to sell all my hard work to start working with these guys
and
expand into higher grade shrimps such as Taiwan Bees.
<Understood.>
How long would it take for the three shrimps to reach a high population
in the 10 gallon?
<When I start with about 6-10 shrimps, I find it takes about a year to
get to the point that the shrimps are "common" enough (in an 8-10 gallon
tank) that there's enough to spare. By that I mean you can remove 10-20
specimens and still have a viable population in the tank. Bear in mind
it takes 3-4 months to reach sexual maturity, and even if each female
produces a couple dozen offspring a month that survive to adult size,
which is a generous
estimate, it's still going to be, say, 4 months for first generation of
offspring to reach maturity, then another 4 months for the next, so at
least a year before we're talking about a population measured in the
hundreds.>
I never started so little since I started breeding with 30 cherry
shrimps in a 20 gallon. I need to fill up the ten gallon so I can sell
the shrimps and have more money for the higher grade shrimps.
<Understood. But to actually make serious money, you want populations in
the hundreds if not thousands, so you can take big bags of shrimps to
the retailer. So with just 3 really good specimens that have the genes
you want, it's going to be probably 4-5 generations before you get big
enough populations you can The ten gallon is super established, there is
algae literally on every wall of the tank. The tank also has a blue
Stiphodon, which I don't think eats shrimp.
<Should not eat adults, but tiny babies might be at risk, so provide
cover.
Stiphodon are mostly aufwuchs feeders though, so competing for the same
food as the shrimps. Good luck, Neale.>
Re: Painted Fire Red Cherry Shrimp 11/15/17
Thank you for the answer!
<Welcome.>
I'm breeding the Painted Fire Reds as a hobby now (I might sell some,
I'll even send you some shrimp for thanks if you want, that way I can
test shipping).
<Kind of you to offer, but not necessary. A photo or two of your
collection
would be just fine!>
I'm going to move them to a display tank after I reach a good
population, with a Betta (to control population, I don't see them eating
adults plus a lot of hiding space). I'm going to use the ten gallon as a
cull tank. Now I
am breeding a bunch of Taiwan Bees (most notably the Galaxy Pinto, which
is a hybrid) in 20 gallon longs.
<All sounds very promising and professional! Good luck.>
Again, thanks for the help.
<No problem. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: LED lighting for 55 gallon tank. Stkg Car.
6/29/16
so 55 gallon tank: 4 Cajun crays, 1 dwarf gourami, 12zebra Danio, 10 bleeding
heart, 4 sterbai Corys.....how many red cherry shrimp can I safely add?
<I'd start w/ about a dozen and see if they'll reproduce there. Bob Fenner>
Re: LED lighting for 55 gallon tank 6/29/16
thanks!
<W>
Safely raising KH and GH in a Neocaridina tank?
3/22/15
Hello,
<Abby,>
I keep small planted, cycled tanks (under 6 gallons each) and have been
successfully keeping mature colonies of Neocaridina for about three years, with
enough shrimp to sell regularly. These colonies see weekly water changes (with
Prime and no other additives) and are fed sparingly of Ken's sinking sticks with
calcium, pure Spirulina powder, and dried/blanched leafy greens.
<Sounds good. I keep Red Cherry Shrimps much the same way, getting little direct
food but plenty of kitchen leftovers, from cooked peas and old salad through to
rice noodles and hard boiled egg yolk. They seem to thrive on this sort of diet.
No real need to fork out for expensive foods, though some calcium and iodine
rich foods should be used periodically, I think.>
Recently I've noticed the colony dwindling and that several females (across all
tanks) have molted prematurely and dropped their eggs - each time I was able to
save most of the little guys by fashioning a tumbler out of a fish net, using
the flow of the filter (with the net at a distance) to keep them fresh but not
buffeted. These shrimplets survived but a few days and then seemed to disappear
one by one.
I tested yesterday:
0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
5 Nitrate
*pH 7.8*
*GH 2*
*KH 4*
*TDS 70*
And out of the tap, TDS is 40.
The pH had always been 7.2, the GH 8, and the KH 6, with very little variation.
The TDS meter is new, so I have no prior values for that.
<Understood.>
As I understand it, the KH being higher than GH can indicate use of a water
softener.
<No, not normally. Standard domestic water softeners are all about lowering the
"fur" and "limescale" minerals present in hard water. They do this in various
ways, though ion exchange resins are the norm in the UK. The result is water
that doesn't contain the limescale minerals, but it's more swapping minerals
than removing them, so you aren't producing anything
"soft" in the aquarium sense, which is water that has a low total dissolved
solids. The corresponding negatively charged ions (carbonate, bicarbonate,
sulphate, etc.) are all still there. Indeed, because more sodium ions are
present (this is used to replace the calcium and magnesium ions removed) it's
arguable that the water is less "natural" than most fish would experience, so
isn't widely recommended for use in fishkeeping.>
In any case I imagine those low parameters are the reason the shrimp are having
such a rough time, as nothing in my maintenance routine has changed since the
birth of the tanks.
<Possibly. As tanks age, they tend to become more acidic. In short, organic
material builds up in the gravel, filter sponges, etc., and these tend towards
decaying in a way that produces nitrate, tannins, and other pH-lowering acids.
These will, of course, react with any dissolved alkaline substances in the water
such as carbonate salts, in what I'm sure you remember from school as
neutralisation reactions. It's very common for tanks to thrive on benign neglect
for many years, but they suddenly go into a crisis of some sort, with the pH
dropping and fish, plants and shrimps ceasing to thrive. Alongside a decent
water change, a thorough clean of the tank is called for, the aim being to
remove as much organic muck as possible from the substrate and filter without
upsetting the happy filter bacteria that have been keeping the tank alive for so
long. Make sense?>
I'm not having luck in finding any cases that are particularly similar to my
own. Is there a way that I can raise GH and KH without raising pH to the point
that it will kill the shrimp? How should I proceed?
<Raising the carbonate hardness directly with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
is doable. But I'd suggest raising the entire hardness spectrum a little using
the old Rift Valley Salt Mix, perhaps at one-quarter the recommended dosage to
start with. Read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
Add to each batch of new water, check the pH and hardness of the tank, observe
the livestock over the following week, and if all goes well, keep this as part
of your ongoing maintenance process. Rift Valley Salt Mix is cheap as chips, and
you can tweak the three ingredients up and down as needed; some folks leave out
the marine salt entirely, though I wouldn't, as it provides some useful iodine
and other trace elements that many organisms need. Lower the Epsom salt quota to
lower general hardness, lower the baking soda quota to lower carbonate hardness.
Easy peasy.>
I appreciate your time,
Abby
<Glad to help. Cheers, Neale.> cherry shrimp hassling injured Corys
2/11/15
Dear WWM Crew,
<Helen,>
I'm seeing something in my tank that I thought was impossible: cherry
shrimp are pestering fish.
<Not so much pestering as feeding on dead tissue.>
The tank in question is a little 5G one I'm using as a quarantine tank.
I set it up months ago with a few cherry shrimp and a handful of plants
and have been using it first to breed up a bunch of cherries and
secondly to quarantine fish: both shrimp and fish are heading ultimately
for the kindergarten fish tanks. It has been a wonderful way to get a
good population of cherry shrimp into the kindy tanks. I knew they bred
fast, but I've never kept them in a predator-free environment before and
there
are now hundreds of the things!
<Indeed.>
So yesterday I sent off a batch of white clouds to kindy and this
morning I received some Corydoras paleatus that, once quarantined, are
heading to the same kindy Fishtank. Unfortunately the Corys arrived in
the post in bad shape: two were dead on arrival and the remaining 3 have
injured fins.
Anyway, I acclimatised them and put them into the tank, but there seems
to be a problem: I've seen shrimp picking at the fish's tails. I reckon
that the Corys have been damaged in transit by being in a bag with dead
mates for 24 hours, and that the shrimp are actually "only" picking off
dead bits of fin. But it's bugging the Corys enough to make them swim
away each
time. I'm worried that it will stress them and decrease the chances of
them surviving this initial adjustment/quarantine period.
<Possibly, but it's a small risk. Obviously the idea would be separate
them for the interim, just in case.>
Now I had no idea this could happen! Shrimp and Corys coexist entirely
happily in my main tank and always have done so. I figured that the
Corys might hunt some of the baby shrimp, thus curbing the population in
there somewhat, but it didn't occur to me that the shrimp might attack
the Corys.
<Corydoras will eat small shrimps for sure.>
What would you do? I could catch some of the shrimp out, but the process
of netting them would further stress the Corys, and I don't have
anywhere to put the shrimp other than a bucket or back into my main
tank, which would mean any disease the Corys are carrying could be
transferred with the water to the main tank. I could net the Corys out
and put them into a
bucket, but that doesn't seem a great idea either, seeing as the
quarantine tank is filtered and planted and should in general be a good
place for them to heal and recover.
<Can you not isolate the catfish or the shrimps in a floating breeding
trap or breeding net? Not ideal, but at a pinch should work.>
I could feed the tank heavily in an attempt to make the Corys seem less
interesting to the shrimp. The filter could probably cope with this:
it's a well established tank by now. Do shrimp stop looking for food
when they are full?
<Not really. They're grazers with an essentially straight-line digestive
tract. Food goes in at about the rate faeces come out, which is ideal
for their natural habitat where they consume algae and organic debris.
Adding the odd algae wafer should attract their attention, but the
degree to which it'll dissuade them from pecking at the catfish is
unknown.>
Have you ever seen this happen?
<Yes.>
What would you do?
<See above.>
Any advice would be welcome,
Thanks!
Helen
<Most welcome. Neale.> Red Cherry Shrimp
12/16/14
Hello All, Hopes things are going well for you. I have a question about
red cherry shrimp please. I am considering putting them the aquarium I
am setting up and would like to know first of all if there is a
particular number I should buy for them to be out in the open more.
<Like schooling fish, get at least six. The more the merrier really, and
since they're pretty cheap, getting a dozen isn't unreasonable.>
Also, what kinds of freshwater fish should I avoid keeping that would
pose a danger to these shrimp?
<Pretty much all of them. But very small, very inoffensive fish can
work. I keep mine with Heterandria formosa, and have had success keeping
Cherry Shrimps with Oryzias spp too. By "success" I mean the shrimps not
only survived they bred, with enough youngsters surviving for their
numbers to increase over time.>
Thank you. James
<Cheers, Neale.>
Red cherry shrimp population dwindling
8/28/13
Hello crew,
<Nick,>
I'm new to the hobby and hooked, your website has been very helpful.
<Thanks for the kind words.>
I have a 10 gallon aquarium set up for my daughter, with six white cloud
minnows, all seemingly happy and healthy, and started with five red
cherry shrimp, now down to two.
<I see.>
Tank has been up about 3 months now, Ph7, gH4, kH3, ammonia, nitrites
and nitrates all at 0 according to API tests. 2 gallon changes every
week, using ro water from my home system, SeaChem neutral regulator and
following with fresh trace a day after the change to avoid
precipitation. There is one mat of java moss, otherwise unplanted (but
lots of silk and plastic
plants and a ceramic hiding place for the shrimp). Tank is unheated,
Temperature fluctuates between about 74 and 79F daily, I'm in San Diego
CA and its the middle of summer, I'll be letting the temp fall to 70 in
the winter (I have a tank heater ready to go, we rarely use heat or AC
here).
It used to get over 80F but I went to LED's and an egg crate top. From
the research I've done, these numbers actually seem to be more favorable
for the shrimp then the fish, yet I've had a slow die off of 3 shrimp,
each one dying a week to 10 days apart, the most recent today.
<Have you used any fish medicines? These are often lethal to shrimps.
Have you checked your tap water for copper? Failing that, make sure your
water conditioner removes copper, just to be on the safe size. Copper is
toxic to shrimps (well, it's toxic to fish too, but shrimps are more
sensitive).>
I've noticed nothing unusual about the shrimp. They do tend to hide a
lot, but would always make appearances, mainly foraging in the Java
Moss. I feed them sparingly, have used boiled carrots and kale and
Hikari shrimp cuisine. They never seemed too interested in eating, one
or 2 would be on the carrots when they were put in, no interest in
boiled kale, don't seem
to sense Hikari food unless I drop it right in front of a shrimp. The
fish scoop the rest up of the Hikari before the rest of the shrimp eat.
<Try Hikari algae wafers; mine love them. Also don't feel afraid to
experiment. My Cherry Shrimp and Ricefish aquarium lives in the kitchen,
and I'll try little bits of all sorts of things; among the things the
shrimps have gone for are avocado, hard boiled egg yolk, cooked clams
and mussels, raw as well as cooked fish fillet, even tiny bits of ham!
Stuff that's soft and easily picked apart is ideal; if you can buy whole
cocktail shrimp, eat the tails yourself and throw some of the rest in
the tank -- my
Cherry Shrimps go bananas for the inside of cooked shrimp heads!>
The first shrimp was found dead in the middle of the tank right on the
substrate, the last two actually were in the java moss, all were
motionless but intact, not more than a few hours dead.
<Oh dear.>
Is there a chance that I am starving them?
<Possible in a new tank. Cherry Shrimps are extremely opportunistic
though and will pick apart pretty much anything, not just algae.>
I doubt I am overfeeding, I feed the fish New life Spectrum pellets and
flakes, Almost nothing gets to the bottom other than a few flakes from
time to time. Is it just the unpredictability of invertebrates?
<Possibly, but Cherry Shrimps are like cockroaches in the right tank.
Basically they want a mature aquarium with lots and lots of plants,
gentle water current, and lots of the right sort of food. Water
chemistry isn't crucial so long as it isn't too soft and acidic (hard
water is probably ideal) and the temperature should be middling, i.e.,
room temperature or slightly higher (around 22 C/72 F is ideal).>
Now that it's more than half of them dead I'm having doubts. Any advice
is appreciated, and thanks very much for your awesome website!
<If you lived local, I'd let you have a few of mine. Meantime, review
the aquarium and feeding, and if you want, have another go. Do try and
get a fair number, at least 6, as these animals are gregarious and may
well pine away if kept in too small a group.>
Nick
<Cheers, Neale.>
Red cherry shrimp population dwindling 8/28/13
<PS. Just noticed you're using RO water. Probably best not to. A mix
50/50 with hard tap water is ideal for Cherry Shrimps. Aim for a general
hardness around 10-15 degrees dH, pH 7.5. While they may tolerate softer
water, they do need at least some calcium in the water to properly
manufacture their shell. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Red cherry shrimp population dwindling 8/28/13
Thank you, Neale.
<Welcome.>
The feeding strategies are appreciated.
<Cool.>
I will work on a strategy to raise GH. In the documentation I've read,
3° of GH was acceptable for both the minnows and shrimp, and my tank is
between 3-4, it makes sense that it's not ideal for shrimp though.
<I think so.>
The reason I use RO water is, our tapwater registers at one part per
million of ammonia out of the tap (API test) as I believe San Diego uses
chloramine in it's water.
<A good water condition should deal with the ammonia and chloramine.>
The RO water still has traces of ammonia , but with SeaChem Prime I'm
assuming it takes care of it, and I also assume the bio filter is
effective as the aquarium registers zero every time I check, a couple
times a week now. Prime also claims to fix heavy metals, so I
assume copper is not an issue. Haven't tested though, so thanks for that
suggestion. Perhaps I will try the 50/50 ro to tap ratio, unless you
think the 1ppm out I the tap is too much to overcome.
<A good water conditioner should neutralise this.>
Im sure the shrimp would appreciate more plants, but they seem to like
hiding in the fake ones, and I am not willing to open the CO2 can of
worms yet, so I don't think the heavily planted tank is in the near
future :)
<Oh, I don't bother with CO2! Stuff the tank with Java Moss and Anubias,
and let nature take its course. My kitchen tank is literally a 10-gallon
vat of Java Moss, and so far as I can tell, there's hundreds of Cherry
Shrimps crawling through the stuff.>
Not trying to sound like a SeaChem ad, but I use their neutral
regulator, which has kept the tank at a constant 7.0 pH per my tests.
The problem is, if I raise calcium with an additive, the phosphate
buffer precipitates it out. Is that even a problem?
<I don't personally recommend adjusting pH directly. Much better to let
animals adapt to the ambient pH of your tap water. If you have liquid
rock like my tap water, then a 50/50 mix with RO or rainwater will
result in something around 10 degrees dH, pH 7.5 or so.>
Will the calcium still raise the GH out of solution?
<Calcium carbonate will raise both general and carbonate hardness, but
this isn't necessarily a bad thing.>
Should I try another buffering system?
<I would not.>
I'd rather not, as this has worked to the letter, and the fish are
vivacious.
<Little steps. Make small changes. Maybe changing 10, 20% each weekend.
See how the fish react.>
Could this be as simple as throwing in some calcium substrate or coral?
<Is an option, but unpredictable. How much is needed? How long will it
last before it stops reacting? Difficult to say.>
Thanks again for your help, any further input on raising my GH is
appreciated.
<Ah, would direct you here first:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
Nick
Re: Red cherry shrimp population dwindling 8/28/13
Thanks again. Last question: Your vote on quarantining more shrimp
when I'm ready to add them to the community (lots of debate on that, I'd
certainly do it for any fish, is it necessary for inverts? I purchase
everything from the same shop)?
<Quarantining is always a good idea. But shrimps carry few diseases that
can affect fish; the only serious threat I can think of is Whitespot,
and even then, only in the sense that any wet object can carry Whitespot
from one tank to another -- the shrimps themselves cannot be infected by
the parasites. Just be prepared to treat for Whitespot if necessary
using the salt/heat method that's harmless to fish and shrimps.>
The above mentioned is a great article, I read it a few months ago when
I was planning the tank, looks like the Pearson square will help me sort
this out. Thank you!
<Welcome.>
Nick
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Red cherry shrimp population dwindling
11/20/13
Hi Neale and crew,
<Nick,>
An update and a few questions about my continuing red cherry shrimp
problem.
To recap: 10 gallon, low light plants, ro water with additives giving kH
4-5, gH 9-10, pH 7.2-7.6
<All sounds good.>
I tried another batch after my first population died off, same results
but a little longer lived this time. I have switched from phosphate
buffering to carbonate buffering my ro water since I had a green water
bloom. I added floating hornwort to try to go the cheap route, had
little effect over a week other than making a mess, so I sprung for a
Salifert phosphate test:
predictably, literally off the charts, darker color reading than 3 ppm.
<I see.>
After reading about the damaging effect phosphate can have on coral,
<High phosphate perhaps, but I do believe *some* phosphate is
essential.>
I'm guessing at these levels it could retard other invert shell
production too, just a hunch, I haven't read much about phosphates and
shrimp to that effect.
<Honestly don't think this is a major factor. My shrimp population lives
in a kitchen tank on their own, and apart from periodic top-ups for
evaporation, I don't think I change the water more than 2-3 times a
year!
It's just an algae-ridden swamp in there, and I throw all kinds of
kitchen scraps in there for them to eat (the other day a small piece of
a spare rib bone!). But the shrimps breed freely. I wouldn't keep fish
this way, but Cherry Shrimps really aren't delicate in the right tank. I
do keep the tank quite cool though, maybe 22 C/72 F, and there's a lot
of plant growth as well as algae, so the shrimps have lots to eat. Our
water is rock hard here, and that may help too.>
I'm bringing the phosphate level down with water changes and Phosguard,
which I believe is an aluminum oxide adsorbent. Down to around 1 ppm
after 5 days. Any hints on that process?
<What you're doing sounds fine.>
I'm thinking another contributing factor would be the silly white and
blue substrate we have, the tank is in my little daughters room so I let
her pick it out, very cute but
<Ah now, that's a possible factor. Shrimps are sensitive to some metals
like copper and I'd definitely use a copper test kit to see if that's a
factor. Even if you don't buy such a kit, most marine aquarium shops
will do such tests for a nominal fee (often nothing). Copper could come
from your household plumbing, from odd coloured rocks and gravels, or
from certain medications.>
Nick
<Hope this helps, Neale.>
Live rock - lowest salinity (RMF, any input here?)>Again,
your stmt.s are exact, sufficient< 4/24/13
Hi Crew
As part of an Amano shrimp breeding project, I'm looking to move from
raising the zoeae in marine conditions to brackish conditions. With some
evidence that live rock provides a good food source for the larvae, I'm
wondering what the lowest salinity is that live rock would tolerate?
Sorry to ask, but you guys are the only reliable salt water contacts
that I have.
Cheers
Gord
<Hello Gord. As a general rule of thumb, virtually all marine (as in,
living in the sea in its strictest sense) invertebrates are
osmoconformers.
They can't regulate the balance of salt and water in their bodies, and
any changes (like reducing ambient salinity) are likely to stress and
eventually kill them. So the short answer, is that lowering the salinity
beyond normal marine (~35 gram/litre, ~1.025 SG at 25 C) will eventually
kill off all the little critters on the expensive live rock you bought.
BUT WITH THAT SAID, there are plenty of invertebrates adapted to
below-normal salinities; brackish water environments are teeming with
worms, shrimps, crabs, snails, clams, etc. The pattern tends to be that
while diversity goes down, abundance of each species goes up, so instead
of 100 species of clam as you'd see on a reef, you get just 5 species of
clam in the mangrove a few miles inshore, but those 5 are massively more
abundant than any of those reef-dwelling clam species. So, while most of
the invertebrates on your live rock will surely die at, say, 75% normal
marine (~26 gram/litre, ~1.018 SG at 25 C), there may be a few hardy
forms that positively thrive in the absence of competition. Of course,
these may not necessarily be the ones you want, but you can hope! At
least some algae for example are more likely to adapt to lower salinity
than copepods, and "pretty" things like soft corals and anemones are
among the least likely to adapt. In short, it's worth a shot, but you
can't predict what you'll end up with, and in any event, going much
below 75% normal marine is likely to kill everything on the rock save a
few algae and bacterial species. You could, I suppose, seed "dead" live
rock (or tufa rock) with brackish water or estuarine mud that you
collect yourself, assuming of course temperature changes aren't too
severe. Unless you live relatively close to the sea then this wouldn't
be an option, but it's a thought. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Live rock - lowest salinity (RMF, any input here?) 4/26/13
Hi Neale
Thanks very much for that. It's predominantly algae and bacteria I'm
after, as it happens, to provide "filtration" and a food source. I'd be
looking at 50% salinity, so it definitely sounds worth a try. Will let
you know how I get on when the next hatch happens.
Cheers
Gord
<Ah, real good… collecting your own evidence by experimentation! Cheers,
Neale.>
Live rock - lowest salinity (RMF, any input here?)>Again,
your stmt.s are exact, sufficient<
4/24/13
Hi Crew
As part of an Amano shrimp breeding project, I'm looking to move from
raising the zoeae in marine conditions to brackish conditions. With some
evidence that live rock provides a good food source for the larvae, I'm
wondering what the lowest salinity is that live rock would tolerate?
Sorry to ask, but you guys are the only reliable salt water contacts
that I have.
Cheers
Gord
<Hello Gord. As a general rule of thumb, virtually all marine (as in,
living in the sea in its strictest sense) invertebrates are
osmoconformers.
They can't regulate the balance of salt and water in their bodies, and
any changes (like reducing ambient salinity) are likely to stress and
eventually kill them. So the short answer, is that lowering the salinity
beyond normal marine (~35 gram/litre, ~1.025 SG at 25 C) will eventually
kill off all the little critters on the expensive live rock you bought.
BUT WITH THAT SAID, there are plenty of invertebrates adapted to
below-normal salinities; brackish water environments are teeming with
worms, shrimps, crabs, snails, clams, etc. The pattern tends to be that
while diversity goes down, abundance of each species goes up, so instead
of 100 species of clam as you'd see on a reef, you get just 5 species of
clam in the mangrove a few miles inshore, but those 5 are massively more
abundant than any of those reef-dwelling clam species. So, while most of
the invertebrates on your live rock will surely die at, say, 75% normal
marine (~26 gram/litre, ~1.018 SG at 25 C), there may be a few hardy
forms that positively thrive in the absence of competition. Of course,
these may not necessarily be the ones you want, but you can hope! At
least some algae for example are more likely to adapt to lower salinity
than copepods, and "pretty" things like soft corals and anemones are
among the least likely to adapt. In short, it's worth a shot, but you
can't predict what you'll end up with, and in any event, going much
below 75% normal marine is likely to kill everything on the rock save a
few algae and bacterial species. You could, I suppose, seed "dead" live
rock (or tufa rock) with brackish water or estuarine mud that you
collect yourself, assuming of course temperature changes aren't too
severe. Unless you live relatively close to the sea then this wouldn't
be an option, but it's a thought. Cheers, Neale.>
Amano shrimp hatched today - need info on sea water
1/31/13
Hi Crew
<Gordon,>
Please help my poor little pickled brain. I have no marine experience
and I'm landed in a crash course situation. My Amano shrimp
(Caridina multidentis) hatched today and I have 100-150 little zoes. I
realise I have to act fairly quickly to avoid losing them. I'm following
this method:
http://caridina.japonica.online.fr/English/Elevage.htm
It seems to refer to full strength seawater but mentions it should be at
34ppm. On
http://www.planetinverts.com/Amano%20Shrimp.html it states 34ppt as
full strength seawater. Am I going completely out of my head here,
Wikipedia (I know, I know, but I'm in a hurry) states seawater to be
3.1% - 3.8%. Am I correct in assuming 1.7%, not 17ppm, would be brackish
and 3.4%, not 34ppm, would be full strength?
<Basically, 34 ppm simply means 34 grams of marine salt mix per litre.
Easy as pie if you're happy with Metric. If you go download my "Brack
Calc" application,
http://brackishfaq.webspace.virginmedia.com/Programs/brackcalc.html
you can switch it to US units and you'll find it's a shade over 4.5 oz
per US gallon. In fact Caridina spp. likely tolerate a range of
salinities as larvae, so I'd not be overly concerned about getting it
dead-on.>
If you could give me a quick answer I'd most appreciate it, as from what
I can gather I've only got a few days to hold the zoes in fresh water,
including today, and I need to age the sea water as much as I can (at
least 24 hours) before using it.
Cheers
Gord
<Good luck, Neale.>
Re: Amano shrimp hatched today - need info on sea water
2/2/13
Hi Neale
Thank you very much for that early-bird response!
<Welcome.>
I went on a wing and a prayer with my old home brew hydrometer and
finally had seawater at about 1.023-1.024 at midnight last night. From
what I salt measured in, I'm not far off with 30g/l then. A relief to
know I'm OK since I don't really trust that hydrometer.
<Cool.>
For the sake of understanding, what it going on here? I've always
understood ppm to be equivalent to mg/l or mg/kg.
<Remember that salt absorbs water from the air, so unless the salt is
bone-dry (i.e., from a new box that hasn't been opened) each gram/oz of
salt will actually be some small percentage water, or put another way,
less salt than you think it should be. So you add 35 grams to a litre,
but the specific gravity ends up being a bit below what you expect, like
1.022 instead of 1.024 at 25 C. Hence you do need a hydrometer to
double-check the salinity of the water when you make it using some
amount of gram/litre or oz/gallon. On top of this, ppm is only
approximately g/l. Gram/litre is the exact and correct way to describe
salinity. Normal seawater is taken as 35 gram per litre, but in reality
is +/- some very small amount depending on where you are in the world.
One ml of water (i.e., one-thousandth of a litre) of water should weight
1 gram, hence the 35 parts per thousand. It isn't 35 ppm, parts per
million, though misunderstanding of the "per mil" for "parts per
thousand" may have meant the term "ppm" has crept into the aquarium
literature as an erroneous way of saying parts per thousand.>
My first attempt was rather amusing, sea water at 34 mg/l. In the back
of my head I had a feeling it wasn't going to be right. I needed double
strength water as I will be diluting it so I had to make up 500ml with
27g salt dissolved in it and put 5ml of this into 4l. Needless to say
the taste didn't exactly remind me of a quick dip in the briny!
<Quite so. 34 mg/l would be freshwater. Perfectly drinkable, and indeed,
probably less salty than many foods and drinks we consume.>
Cheers
Gord
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Amano shrimp hatched today - need info on sea water
2/2/13
Hi Neale
Brilliant! Understood! I just have to remember that there's aquarium ppm
as well as scientific, and aquarium ppm is g/l not mg/l.
<Better still, just don't use ppm; it's ppt, parts per thousand, though
even that is deprecated (in scientific jargon, ppt can be used for parts
per trillion).>
Thanks for explaining that, it would have itched and itched at me.
Cheers
Gord
<Cheers, Neale.>
Fertilizer/phytoplankton culture... SW, and Amano f'
2/12/13
Hi Crew
<Gordon>
I had an Amano Shrimp hatch recently and acquired some live
phytoplankton to feed the zoea (please correct me if my plural is wrong
here, because I'm not sure).
<Is the plural of zoeae>
By the time I paid postage and got some decapsulated brine shrimp eggs to
make up my order to the minimum £6, it was near enough £15 for 100ml of
plankton. Naturally I'm inclined to culture the phytoplankton. I did
some reading and found a method that used Miracle Grow to feed the
algae. I had a look and Miracle Grow do a large range of products, so
I'm not sure which to use.
<Mmm, it's their "brand X" product:
http://lawn-and-garden.hardwarestore.com/77-498-dry-plant-food/miracle-gro-plant-food-615144.aspx?utm_source=PLA&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=rkg
Takes very little>
I'm experimenting with using organic concentrated seaweed fertilizer,
for use in the garden.
<Yikes... a mess. I would "go inorganic" here, unless you have a lot of
large jars, outside space>
My first culture seems to be doing OK when added to seawater mixed with
concentrate to the dilution on the bottle for liquid feeding of
terrestrial plants, i.e. what would be in the watering-can but with salt
added. I considered it might be too strong, and have one at 50% strength
and two at 25% strength. Originally these last three were seeded with
2.5cm3<s?>/l of the made up concentrate as per the bottles instructions
for liquid feeding of terrestrial plants but they didn't seem to be
doing so well. I.e. 2.5cm3/l of what would be in the watering-can added
to salt water.
<Understood... I would dilute further... like an order of magnitude>
I seized on the seaweed fertilizer because I had it and I assumed
something composed of rendered down algae must pretty much contain the
building blocks of algae in a good balance. Is this a reasonable
assumption to have made?
<In general, yes... but you need to start w/ a pure culture of the algae
to be cultured>
What do you think of my concentrations to feed the algae? Have you a
tried and tested method?
<Not that one, but had three algology (in the UK), phycology here in the
US, classes... one of which was culture... We made our own basic
(inorganic) fertilizer mix... was copied out of formulae in Bergey's
Manual et al. I'd search, read the works of Frank Hoff nowayears>
Also the algae seems to have a real desire to cling to surfaces, much
like FW algae. I know it's not FW algae because I've never seen any
that's a weird khaki colour. I thought that it was supposed to be
free-floating, like green-water, but it is flocking. The setup is clear
2l fizzy drink bottles with an airstone in each, sitting on a south
facing windowsill. I'm near Edinburgh, Scotland, to give you an idea of
climate.
<Ahh, yes... I wish Neale to see this. He spent time there...>
It is mix of plankton - Tetraselmis sp., Isochrysis, Pavolova,
Thalassiosira weissflogii and Nannochloropsis.
<Mmm, and the water used to mix in was sterile/sterilized to start with?
Am dubious re such mixed cultures... one species comes to be favored...>
I still have about 20ml left in the bottle of plankton so I reckon I'm
on my last attempt if these experiments fail and my shrimp has berried
again.
<Best to keep cultures going... keep serially diluting to make anew...
to have on hand at all times.
Obviously, what little I'd make back on selling the shrimp on would be
totally wiped out by buying more phytoplankton, if I can even get the
zoea to adult stage, so it would be great to have the stuff available as
and when required.
<Understood>
I'd be grateful for you pulling apart my assumptions and methods and
letting me know if you have a better way of doing this. I've found
myself in at the deep end without any warning or real time for planning
and reading, so I'm going to have to throw my hand out to you again and
ask for your advice. As you can probably tell I have absolutely no SW
experience but I try to do my best by all the life in my aquariums,
expected or not.
<A review of the basics of food culture in Hoff's works, the Breeder's
Registry and MOFIB on line will serve to enhance your knowledge and
skills, give you sense of comfort/company>
Thanks once again.
Cheers
Gord
<And you, Bob Fenner>
Fertilizer/phytoplankton culture further input, referral by Neale
2/12/13
<Gordon, to save duplicating what RMF has written thus far, will abstain
from further comment, except to ask you to check today's and likely
tomorrow's batch of FAQs because I've been answering a fairly similar
question about breeding Uca spp. Fiddler Crabs. Little/nothing is known
for
certain re: breeding crustaceans with marine larval stages, so much
depends
on understanding the biology, recognising the limitations of aquaria
(e.g.,
filter pumps, lack of plankton in the water column) and planning
accordingly. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Fertilizer/phytoplankton culture 02/13/13
Hi Bob, Neale,
Thanks very much for your replies. I'll have a look at the sources
mentioned and the FAQs. I read them daily, anyway. Looks like there's
going to be plenty to get my teeth into!
<Welcome.>
Thanks for the link for the Miracle-Gro, I'll hunt that down tomorrow
and try to move to inorganic as and when I split the cultures.
Bob, by cm3 I mean cubic centimetres (cc, ml).
<Indeed.><<Ahh... wish I knew how to produce the "3" as superscript>>
Neale, I'm set up with the larvae in 8l of 30g/l salt water with an
airstone bubbling very gently in one corner. I give the tank a gentle
stir with a wooden spoon about four times a day to bring everything back
up into suspension. For the first time today I noticed the larvae
grabbing tiny clumps of flocculated algae. I'm using a jeweler's loupe
for observation in case you think I have superhuman vision! One grabbed
a tiny hair that had a growth of algae on it and I watched it strip it
bare! Absolutely fascinating to watch these tiny organisms. Some seem to
be feeding from the bottom also, drifting down, pausing then propelling
themselves back up into the water column.
<Sounds very promising indeed.>
My female is berried again and isolated, so I've got a repeat shot at
this.
I'll keep trying and I am keeping a journal of my efforts. I can type it
up and send it in if I am successful and once I have proven my method,
if it is of interest or use.
<For sure. There are a handful of reports of breeding Amano Shrimps, so
it can be done, but it is fiddly, and each additional report provides
aquarists with useful ideas for setting up their own protocols.>
Thanks again for the advice, both. It is much appreciated.
Cheers
Gord
<Good luck, Neale.>
Re Amano shrimp, repro. success!
3/6/13
Hi Crew
<Gordon,>
Just wanted to report in my limited success of about 20 Amano shrimp
(Caridina multidentis/japonica) transferred to fresh water from salt two
days ago. Still maybe 10 or so waiting to come over. I put them in a
lightly planted 60l tank, they are hard to find in there but I have seen
six at one time today, so I'm assuming all is well.
<These are Amano Shrimp juveniles, I take it?>
Difficult? No. Time-consuming? Yes, at first. Worth it? Completely!
<Indeed!!>
Next stop - Bamboos (Atyopsis moluccensis). I have heard successful
breeding hasn't been achieved with this species. Wouldn't mind being the
first. My goal, however ambitious, is to take the difficulty and mystery
out of breeding lower order shrimp and see more home-bred specimens
available. Maybe I'm "riding on a wave" but it's an environmentally
sound aim to strive for and I'm going for it.
<A worthy aim.>
No questions, you'll be relived to know, just a share. Criticisms,
experience, thoughts and observations always welcome though!
Cheers
Gord
<I do hope that you find the time to write down your methods, take some
photos. I'm sure many of the magazines will be keen to publish your
results; I'd be happy to help if I can. Cheers, Neale.>
How often do you feed cherry shrimp?
12/17/12
Neale,
<Jill,>
I ended up putting the cherry shrimp I got into a separate tank.
They look so delicate.
<They're not. I just cleaned an external canister filter and found a
bunch of them living inside it! To get through the filter inlet they
must have been sucked in as babies and grown to adults inside.>
The guy I got them from said feed them once a week a leaf of blanched
spinach.
<If you want. But they're scavengers and eat leftover foods. I don't
deliberately feed mine on a regular basis, but instead let them eat
algae and organic detritus, while offering now and again things like
bits of raw fish bones and scraps of seafood they can pick at.>
The other website said 2 or 3 times a week various shrimp foods.
<If you want.>
The guy at the supposedly smartest pet store said once a day Hikari
shrimp food.
<Unless they're on their own in a really clean tank, daily feeding is
unnecessary.>
He's been around a while but I don't know if he keeps them personally
nor how fast they sell their stock. Hikari has a good reputation so I
bought some.
<Hikari make first rate fish foods; indeed, I've used their algae wafers
and "Cichlid Gold" for something like 20 years.>
I hadn't fed them but once in four days with some freeze dried blood
worm, other than they have tons of java moss, and they weren't very
active and so I fed them yesterday some Hikari, and now they're all over
the tank like little acrobats!
<Quite so.>
I read over feeding causes deaths....there are so many differing
opinions on the frequency to feed though. How often do you think
is good?
<Honestly, there's no set amount, and overfeeding is no more deadly to
shrimps than to fish -- providing the filter can cope with any uneaten
food, overfeeding isn't lethal. The problem with overfeeding is when you
dump so much into the tank the filter is overwhelmed, and then the
ammonia and nitrite goes up. But for what it's worth, something like a
single algae wafer would be ample for a dozen adult shrimps (perhaps
more) and would be sufficient for 2-3 days.>
It's not like I can see nor recapture miniscule pellets if they don't
eat them all! I'm not sure how many I have.....it could be 15 but
there's so much java moss it's hard to say.....and one just gave birth
so there are fry too...probably a lot of fry like maybe 15 if her belly
was any indicator. They're currently in a 5 gallon and I change
out 1 gallon daily. Will I need a larger tank? Is it
necessary to change a gallon daily if that size is ok?
<Five gallons could work, but I find an 8 gallon tank hits a sweet spot
for shrimps.>
I will probably need to rehome some at some point, just need to know the
number it becomes an issue. They're so miniscule they probably
aren't heavy polluters but I've being doing the daily water changes
because I heard they're sensitive.
<They really aren't. I've seen them thrive in my windowsill tank which
almost boils in summer and freeze in winter, and is filtered by a simple
box filter that gets checked out maybe 3 times a year.>
Well fed they'll be less likely to eat the fry. I can't see the
fry but the guy said you won't for a while. There's panty hose
over the filter intake so I hope they are all safe on that end, and hope
it also in time adds an additional layer to the filtration system the
way a sponge filter does by colonizing helpful bacteria. Also, do you
think duckweed and frogbit are useful or pests?
<Depends on the context. Duckweed is usually a nuisance because it's
easy to transfer (e.g., on nets, hoses or buckets) into tanks where you
don't want it, and once it's there, it's difficult to remove. But it can
look really nice in "nano" tanks, bright green, and providing plenty of
surface for small fish and shrimps to explore at the top of the tank.
Frogbit is that bit bigger and so easier to manage; I like Amazon
Frogbit a lot, and use it freely. But neither is the equal of Water
Sprite, Ceratopteris thalictroides, the perfect plant in so many ways.>
The guy who sold me the shrimp offered me some. I planted some of
my water sprite as it's the type that can be planted…
<No! Don't do that! At least not to all of it. Much prefers to float,
and infinitely easier to grow like that.>
so I could put something else at the top or just get more watersprite.
I think those two might be nice plants too, but they're listed invasive
in some states and I don't know if they could become a problem in an
aquarium or easy to control. Thank you. I hope your enjoying your
week end.
Jill
<Twas a nice weekend indeed. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: How often do you feed cherry shrimp? 12/17/12
Thanks!
Most of the water sprite is floating. Maybe I'll try frogbit and
avoid the duckweed, that's what I needed to know, thanks!
<Cool.>
Do you know what the plant in the picture is?
<No image came through.>
Most had died out when I had actinic lighting, but it thrives in regular
light now I've got it fixed and this sprig came with my new endlers and
is already growing a little. It never breaks apart....but the shop
that's now closed down out of business had called it "soft hornwort." I
haven't seen any info on it. Whenever I ask for soft hornwort at
other shops, people sell me or give me the coarse type that sinks and
shreds!!!!!! As you can see, this plant is lightweight and floats at the
top and small fish love it. I never noticed much shedding and I
wish I could buy some rather than wait for this sprig to slowly grow,
but I have no "name."
<Well, try sending another photo.>
Thank you, hope your week is as nice as your weekend.
Jill
<Likewise! Cheers, Neale.>
Restocking 29 gallon tank..... Temperature compatibility
with 2 tiny mollies? 12/9/12
Neale,
<Jill,>
I pick up some new fish tomorrow from a guy who has too many. You said
(I think it was you!) that cherry shrimp can be converted to low
brackish.
<Indeed. SG 1.001-1.002 at 25 C/77 F will do them no harm, and that's
ample for livebearers.>
So wouldn't this also apply to fire red shrimp because they have the
same name and they're just a color variation?!
<Should be fine, but the best approach is to try a few out and see what
happens. If they're still happy and feeding a couple weeks later, add
some more.>
Here's their info and the same 2 names as for cherry shrimp:
http://www.planetinverts.com/FireRedShrimp.html
You also told someone in the forum that the cherries prefer a cooler
temp....I saw this when I was trying to find info on if they were
brackish tolerant. People do commonly keep shrimp locally, though my
home averages 79 F most of the year. When we have cold days it will be
75 F inside my home at the coldest point, but temps usually climb higher
daily, even during winter. I'm in Texas.
<That will cause no harm to these shrimps. They're subtropical to
warm-temperate animals, native to China and Japan.>
I was intending to throw the fire red shrimp and some Endler's (that I
heard do tolerate brackish)
<Yes, and again, SG 1.001-1.002 will be ample, for these and the
Mollies. No need for more salinity than that.>
into the established 29 gallon tank with the 2 female baby balloon
mollies, and then slowly convert to low end brackish due to the mollies.
These mollies could eventually grow into a problem for the other fish, I
know this, and I will deal with that if/when it happens. They're
pretty small now...and I threw in a bunch of cover plants for hiding
places for shrimp and Endler's. I just want to know.....do I remove the
heater or set it at a lower temperature, and what temperature would you
recommend?
<I'd set the heater to 25 C/77 F and leave it at that. All will be fine
at this.>
Or is the temperature difference going to be bad for the mollies who
have been raised with it set for 78 degrees? It looks like they
will tolerate to much cooler, but I don't know if it would cause illness
to suddenly go from 78 to 72. (Though....it could run even warmer
naturally on a warm day. The shrimp may not like it, and I can't
afford a chiller!!) Thank you! I appreciate all of the helpful
advice you've given me to help restart my very 1st full sized tank.
If you say little mollies need to move out, I do have another tank I can
set up for them and I had been planning on setting it up anyway. I never
realized shrimp like it chilly.
<Tolerate more than like; they can, do thrive at tropical temperatures
all year around, even if that isn't what they'd enjoy in the wild. Mine
live and breed wildly at this.>
I see cherry shrimp in all the shops and they're kept on the warm side
like my home, though they're just stock and it's not their final home.
Many people keep air conditioning at 70-72 F, so I'm odd I guess!
Jill
<Hope this helps, Neale.>
Re: Restocking 29 gallon tank..... Temperature compatibility
with 2 tiny mollies? 12/9/12
Yes, thank you.
<"Real good", as Bob F would say. Cheers, Neale.>
African Butterfly Fish, Bamboo Shrimp, and ????
6/23/12
I love to read your solutions to aquarium questions. Here is mine. I
have a well-planted 37 gallon aquarium with sand substrate. It’s been
established for about a year and. I just moved everything out of it to
my 55 gallon. While shopping at Petco today for a dog door (I can hear
all the booing already) we found some bamboo shrimp and thought they
were awesome, so we bought 5 for the empty 37.
<Okay.>
I do my research, but I want to see what you think of my plan.
<Will do.>
I would like to add my African Butterfly Fish to the 37. He’s in our 125
gallon right now, but the black skirts are snagging many of his crickets
before he can get them, not to mention that our school of 6 Red Irian
Rainbows are learning how tasty they are. I have to put in about 6
crickets to get one to him.
<I see. They do eat floating foods, including good quality flake -- try
something like New Spectrum or Hikari.>
Right now, I have two Aquaclear 50 filters running on the 37. My mantra
is ‘over filter’.
<Not necessarily a good thing. Pantodon live in still water, and will
normally find spots away from water current. Once optimal water quality
is reached, any additional water turnover (movement) is merely water
current, which is appreciated by some fish, disliked by others. As in
real life, mantras and dogmas may make sense at face value, but a few
words can't ever reflect the complexity of the world as it is, so be
flexible.>
I would like to drop the water level about an inch, remove one of the
filters, and add my Butterfly Fish. I have floating Anacharis for him to
hang out in, and I’m hoping that removing one filter will make a nice
calm space for the Butterfly and still supply enough current below for
the shrimp to feed in the water column.
<Ah, yes, good plan.>
I would like to add a school of large, non-nippy tetras like 6 Congo
tetras or Head and Tail Lights.
<Doable.>
What do you think of my plan, and are there any other fish that you can
think of to fill midwater that won’t harass/become food for the
Butterfly or dismember my shrimp?
<Pretty much anything too big to be eaten, not too big to be scary, and
of course placid and non-nippy. Among the less familiar species from the
same part of the world, the non-aggressive Ctenopoma are very good
choices, especially Ctenopoma acutirostre and Ctenopoma fasciolatum,
both of which exhibit nice colours, and the second species comes in a
nice steel blue rather different to many other aquarium fish. African
Knifefish can work well too, as should small Synodontis species like
Synodontis nigriventris. Polypterus palmas and its allies are about the
right size and temperament, too.>
Perhaps there are some species that are not live bearers that I have
overlooked. For some reason, I have problems with livebearers here, but
no problem with egg laying species.
<Is your water too soft? Livebearers need hard water.>
Thank you in advance for your opinion. I’m sure it will be helpful.
Thank you, also, for helping so many people solve their aquarium
problems.
Stephanie
<Most welcome, Neale.>
Weird cherry shrimp illness? – 6/6/12
Hi, my name is Jenny, and I had received 13 or so cherry shrimp as a
little birthday present about a month ago (along with three unneeded
baby apple snails, but I guess they could be good company.)
Now first, I must say, I LOVE your website! Your crew had really
helped me get through the problems I previously had with my fish, and I
am very grateful (along with my fishes :] ) that you have this
website running!
<And thanks for the kind words.>
Now, if you can help me with this question, it would be great!
Ever since I got the shrimps, I have been keeping very good care of them
in a 1-1.5 gallon tank, which is all I had considering that my other
tank had a 2.5 inch-tall angel and some voracious guppies dwelling in
it. I changed the water every two to three days, tried to keep the
filter clean as best as I could, and carefully vacuumed the gravel
(being sure I didn't sweep up the babies, [my goodness, they're so
small!])
I am feeding them algae pellets right now. I do not really have any
foods high in calcium for them, but I will try to find something.
<They're actually not that fussy. They'll eat almost anything. I have an
8-gallon tank in the kitchen, and I dump all sorts of bits of uneaten
food in there: cucumber ends, wilted lettuce leaves, overcooked sweet
potato, sushi Nori trimmings, and small slivers of fish or shellfish. On
top of that they eat the algae that grows in the tank and pinches of
flake food every few days. These animals are very undemanding and in the
right tank breed at a tremendous rate.>
They all seemed healthy. They molt regularly, and they are just as
voracious for food as my angel and guppies! I knew I couldn't leave them
in there forever, so once I got my Cory into a different tank, I started
cleaning out and re-setting up a 10 gallon for them. I'm planning
on using the same 6.6 gallon filter in the shrimp tank right now, and
pouring the water from the 1.5 gallon into the 10 gallon, just adding
half a gallon of new water every day until I get it completely full.
<Fair enough.>
Now, I noticed two of my biggest/oldest juvenile cherry shrimp are
starting to turn a milky white. It started with one of them, and
where the saddle was supposed to be, it just started to turn white.
It spread all the way down its tail, and its eyes also clouded over.
This just happened to the second-oldest juvenile, too. I looked
this up, and another person had the exact same thing happen, only their
shrimp died two days later. They've been like this almost a week
now. I do not know the ammonia levels, but they are not high, I
can guarantee it.
<Do bear in mind adult males are semi-transparent, varying from
off-white to pink, with only a few darker red markings. Only the females
are genuinely cherry red, and their colours vary a bit as well, with a
nose-to-tail band along the top coming or going, supposedly depending on
their reproductive state.>
The Nitrate is 20 ppm, nitrite 0, pH is somewhere between 7.2 and 7.6
(dang, the test strips are hard to read...) Temperature fluctuates
between 72 and 80 degrees, but not too drastically. May
increase/decrease a degree every hour or two.
<All fine. Cherry Shrimps actually prefer subtropical conditions, and in
summer you may as well leave the heater off. Have the heater set for
about 18 C/68 F to keep the chill off in winter, but otherwise these
shrimps will be happier a little cooler than your tropical fish.>
I believe that what may be causing this is a calcium deficiency, but all
of my adult shrimps, including the biggest, "Big Mama" are doing fine!
I would have expected it to be her instead that is getting this white
color.
Today, I just checked on the shrimp and I saw a white molted shell, but
I only saw one of the white shrimps. Maybe it was something that
happened before molting? Maybe it's just coincidence? I'm
not sure...
If you want, I could send a picture of one of them.
<Feel free. Try and keep the image down to about 500 KB though.>
I would be very glad if you could inform me on what may be happening to
my shrimp!
Thank you for your time,
Jenny.
<Hope this helps, Neale.>
Re: Weird cherry shrimp illness? 6/7/2012
Thanks for the reply.
<Ahh, Neale has gone out till Sat.. I'll see that he sees this>
I guess I'll try to keep the temperature a little lower. Maybe the
high temperature could be contributing to the problem..?
<Yes>
Not sure if it's contagious or not, but I can only seem to see one
shrimp with the white coloring. The other shrimp could have gotten
better, hopefully.
I could not find the connection cord for my camera, and the SD slot does
not work on my computer, so I could not get a picture.
I don't think it's the shrimps' exoskeleton that is changing color, like
how a cherry shrimp can turn white. It seems to be inside the
shrimps' bodies, like they both have eggs, except they don't look like
eggs (also impossible because they had never developed saddles,
and they cannot be pregnant because I have no males) It's kind of
hard to describe, but it looks as how the saddle looks under a female
shrimp's exoskeleton, except it's so much bigger and extends farther
down the back of the shrimp. Like someone filled the shrimp with milk or
something, making the shrimp look a cloudy off-white color.
If you have ever seen a dead ghost shrimp, how it turns a pink-ish white
color, it looks just like that, only it's just in the back of the shrimp
instead of the whole body.
I'll see if the temperature is affecting it by cooling it down to 70-72.
I actually do not have a heater, so I use a small fan to cool down the
water temperature; does it very gradually, so no stress on the
inhabitants of the tank.
<Okay>
In the meantime, I've already put them all in the 10 gallon, so I need
to work on getting the water level to 10 gallons instead of leaving it
at 2.
Again, thank you for the reply, and I hope the description above will
help determine what this strange condition is!
Jenny
<Cheers, Bob Fenner>
Re: Weird cherry shrimp illness? Attn.: Neale
6/10/12
Thank you for informing me that Neale was gone, Bob, and thank you for
replying back.
If you would be so kind as to show this email to Neale when he returns,
I would be very grateful. Well, it's bad news for one of the shrimps
that had turned white, as he passed away some time last night. I
hope that he hadn't suffered very much…
<Shrimps tend to turn white when dying. So rather than a disease as
such, I'd suggest this is a symptom of some underlying stress. Cherry
Shrimps are astonishingly hardy animals, but there are two things they
hate: copper and high water temperatures. Bearing in mind they come from
relatively cool, well oxygenated streams in Taiwan, they're best treated
as subtropical rather than tropical animals. In summer, check they
aren't overheated. I've kept them in unheated tanks in the UK, and they
seem to have no problems handling cool temperatures down to 15 C, and
perhaps less. As for copper, you can use a copper test kit for this. Any
retailer who handles marine fish should be able to do a copper test for
you, either for free or some nominal amount (one pound is the usual
here). If you have copper in the system, you can get media that removes
copper, or else replace everything inside the tank likely to have
absorbed copper (such as calcareous rocks or shells) and of course
change as much water as is practical, perhaps 50% today, 50% the next
day, and another 50% the day after. Do also make 100% sure you are using
a water conditioner that removes chloramine, copper and ammonia from tap
water, as well as ammonia. Also, in theory anything added to the tank
that might have been dipped or sprayed in pesticide (such as snail
killing potions) can introduce toxins, so things like plants should be
added only after being thoroughly rinsed. Likewise rocks stored in the
shop where bug spray or cleaning fluids might have been used might also
bring in pesticide residues lethal to shrimps. Last but not least, you
never, ever add fish medications to a shrimp tank -- except for salt,
the only safe thing to use with shrimps.>
The other "missing" white shrimp was found last night, so it's good to
know he's still alive, I guess.
<Good. There are white, thread-like worms that can infest shrimps, but
I've not seen them on Cherry Shrimps, just wild-caught "feeder" shrimp.>
Well, now that the first shrimp had passed away, I know that the other
shrimp may do so very soon. So, in case this disease/condition is
contagious, should I remove the other live shrimp? Should I cull
him and any others that may get this way?
<I would isolate any obviously infected shrimps, yes; a floating
breeding trap might be okay, but honestly, I'd probably euthanise (a
whack with a hammer should do the trick for something like a shrimp) or
at least move into its own tank for observation.>
I also saw some kind of oily substance floating on the surface of the
water, and I haven't seen it before. I'm guessing it's from when the
shrimp had died and it released some substance into the water.
Should I remove this oily-looking liquid, or will it go away on its own?
<Definitely remove. Unlikely to come from the shrimps, but oily films
might oxygen getting into the tank. More seriously they do suggest a
shortcoming in terms of water quality or water movement (i.e., turnover,
splashing at the surface).>
I also have a picture of one of the shrimps. Sorry if it's a
little blurry or hard to see, but you can clearly see the white mass in
the shrimp. I hope the picture helps with figuring out what is
happening.
<Too blurry I'm afraid.>
Again, thanks for the reply. I'll try my best to care for the
remaining shrimp as best as I can.
Jenny
<Don't give up hope! It's a question of fixing any potential problems,
and then isolating any infected/affected shrimps until such time as they
recover. Cherry Shrimps thrive on benign neglect (you should see my
Cherry Shrimp tank!) so you've really should be able to find a way to
keep them reliably and easily. Cheers, Neale.>
|
|
Re: Weird cherry shrimp illness?
Attn.: Neale
6/10/12
Well, just looked at the shrimps today, not as active as usual.
I have the tank temperature at 72, but I can't seem to get it to come down
more.
<Water can't get any cooler than ambient air temperature, and direct
sunlight will increase water temperature still further.>
I think I have found a new shrimp that has started to turn white. I
really hope not, though. It's the reddest of all the younger shrimps!
Hope that by bringing the temperature down I can stop it from going farther.
<Let's see. I wouldn't go out of your way to make it cooler than 22 C/72 F
just yet.>
I will euthanize the other shrimp that was white, but probably not with a
hammer. I'll go with a less... messy way of euthanizing it, with a
small cup of water and a bit of clove oil,
<Not sure Clove Oil works on shrimps.>
I did fix the oily substance "problem," though. Sometimes if any of my
tanks don't have very good water circulation, they start to grow some kind
of algae on the surface, and I'm guessing that the substance on the
surface was just the beginning of the algae growing. Small adjustment
made to the filter, so now the water's circulating a lot better. Substance
was "gone" in about 20 minutes or so.
<Good. Yes, more splashing does minimise the oily film.>
I'll try to cool down the tank to around 68 or 70 and try to get this whole
shrimp epidemic under control (easier said than done, haha.) Hopefully
I won't have something like this occur again!
<Indeed.>
Thank you very much for helping me with this, and have a good evening!
:)
-Jenny
<Most welcome. Cheers, Neale.> |
RCS dying. 5/31/12
Dear WWM crew,
<Dan>
thanks to your site I'm now a much more knowledgeable fish keeper than I
would otherwise have been.
<Welcome>
I have a newly established (cycled) planted fresh water aquarium 60cm x
30cm X 30cm, ADA soil with a thin sand substrate and a population of 20
chili Rasboras and 5 RCS, ammonia <0.02 ppm, nitrite 0 and nitrate
<10ppm.
<Mmm, okay>
I have just one question, is it possible that my RCS could be dying due
to contamination from an Anubias 'nana' that I transferred from a tank
treated six months ago with a copper based Ich treatment.
<Not really; no. The amount of "released" free copper is miniscule... Of
more benefit (Cu is an essential micro-nutrient) than harmful... check
out many commercial fish foods... is often an ingredient>
The shrimp were very active, feeding and swimming and most have molted
in the two weeks that they have been in the tank. The 'nana' in
question had a large quantity of green hair algae on the leaves and I
suspect that this may be the problem.
<Yes! This "hair algae" could be a toxic blue green/Cyanophyte... This
might play a negative role here. I'd be moving the plant elsewhere, even
just isolating in a jar... Using a bit of activated carbon to see if
some sort of chemical can be removed thus>
I have removed the plant to see if this has any effect on the death rate
of about 1 RCs per day.
<Ahh!>
Thank you in advance for your help,
Dan
<Thank you for sharing. Would it do good to have you review what little
we have on these shrimps?
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/Neo%20CaridinaShrimpF.htm
Oh, I would add a bit of iodine-ate... as you'll read re. Bob Fenner>
Re: RCS dying. BGA toxicity poss. 5/31/12
Thank you so much for your response.
<Welcome>
After seeing your suggested cause of death, I looked up Cyanophyte and,
after reading the WWM article blue green algae I noticed that
the plant in question has some reddish brown smears on the leaves.
<Ahh; a common appearance for some BGAs>
The plant came from a 20 gallon planted tank, due to the high
temperatures of the South East Asian summer I have been leaving the
lights off in the day.
<Good>
The tank has a lid and the thermometer is showing temperatures in the
low 30c range. Could this be a trigger for the growth of the Cyanophyte?
<Yes... along w/ aspects like low flow rate, low DO, high nutrients of
different sorts, a lack of competitors for such>
Would it be toxic to the six zebra danios and seven tiger barbs in the
tank?
<Some types, yes; not all... That is, put another way, there may well be
types that are toxic to shrimps, but not these cyprinid fishes>
As I understand it, limiting their food source by feeding more
sparingly, providing competition for nutrients by adding plants and
keeping the lights on is a solution to this problem. Is this so?
<Indeed; this is so. You are a quick study>
Thank you again,
Dan
<Welcome. BobF>
Rainbow shrimp, source - 05/11/2012
|
Hello crew, hope you're doing well.
|
WWM: Yes,
thank you!
|
I have a question about some amano shrimp lookalikes. I was reading through the
freshwater shrimp faq #1 the other day and noticed a tip from Sabrina to keep an
eye out for amano-like shrimp mixed with the Amanos.
|
WWM: Indeed.
|
''If you're lucky you might find 'rainbow' shrimp in as contaminants with the
Amanos.''
|
WWM: No idea
what she's referring to here.
|
Today while visiting a nearby pet store I did in fact spot some unusual looking
amano shrimp mixed with typical Amanos! I'm curious about what makes rainbow
shrimp a lucky find, and I've been trying to find info online. Could I get the
scientific name of these fellows to narrow down my search a bit?
|
WWM: There
are some shrimps called Indian and Malaysian Rainbow Shrimps, apparently
unidentified species of Caridina, and there basic care is essentially identical
to Amano Shrimps except they do breed in aquaria.
|
-George
|
WWM: Cheers,
Neale.
|
Re: 'Rainbow shrimp -- continued'' - 05/11/2012
|
Oh my! Breedable amano shrimp?! *runs off to the store to buy some before
someone else gets them all*
|
WWM: Ah now,
I did say that some breedable Caridina species have been sold as "Rainbow
Shrimps". Who knows what the ones being sold at your pet store turn out to be.
And what's the big deal with Amano Shrimps anyway? Lots of prettier shrimps that
are very easy to breed, like Cherry Shrimps.
|
Thanks Neale! -George
|
WWM: You are
welcome. Neale.
Re: ''Rainbow shrimp''
– 05/12/12
Grain of salt taken. I'm still going to make an effort though! I
agree, cherry shrimp are very nice, I have a group residing in my
nursery tank. I like how cheeky the Amanos are though; when I tried
putting a cherry in with my fancy Betta, the poor thing zoomed away and
hid until I tore the whole tank down to rescue him. When I tried the
same thing with an Amano,
she just stared him down, and even occasionally darts in and snatches
his food away right from under his nose. That's what I call attitude!
Anyway, would you like me to try and send a picture of this mystery
shrimp when I get it home?
<For sure! Have fun shopping! Neale.>
Re: ''Rainbow shrimp''' – 05/12/12
The Mystery of the Amano Lookalike, part II: When I got to the store, I
noticed the price tag was a bit outrageous, so I decided to take some
pictures instead and try to figure out what this is, and how not to kill
it before laying down such a big chunk of change. So far, the closest
matches I can find are Caridina cf. Cantonensis sp. 'red tiger',
Caridina babaulti var. Malaya and Caridina serrata sp. 'red tupfel'. I
sent some pictures to some shrimp guy online, so I could potentially
find out pretty soon. Here's one of them that wandered up by the glass!
Sorry about the picture quality, had to use the camera on my cell phone.
<Is really no use for identification… could be anything… likely
Caridina, Neocaridina sp… but which? Hybrids, too, are common, and much
produced on fish farms in the East. So while the Aqualog book is good,
helpful -- it's only as up-to-date as its year or printing. Would peruse
PetShrimp.com, if you haven't already; I think they have a forum too.>
You can just make out the weird horizontal stripes on the body if you
squint and strain your eyes a bit. In real life the stripes are bright
red. Very attractive little beasts! I hope I can find out what they are.
You have you have yourself an awesome day... Or night?
<Hmm… is almost 9 PM, UK time.>
You guys are all my heroes! Keep up the great work.
-George
<Cheers, Neale.>
|
Assassin Snails
4/25/12
Good day,
Not sure if it's the right email that I'm sending this to.
<Sure is.>
Just a quick note on your page about these snails. I bought 3 yesterday
to get rid of my other snail infestation. Have some cherry and amano
shrimps in the same tank.
<Yes.>
When I got to the tank this morning, I found a red cherry sucked
almost dry with one of the assassins still busy cleaning it out.
<Can happen. My specimens seemed to ignore the shrimps, and the
Cherry Shrimps bred merrily away with the Assassin Snails. But the
Assassin Snails are hunters, and they surely can take down a sick/weak
shrimp given half a chance. They will also eat the moults -- don't
forget shrimps cast off a moulted exoskeleton each time they grow. For
the snails, moults are a good source of calcium. What you have there
could very easily be nothing more than harmless recycling of a shrimp
moult into snail shell!>
I don't mind the loss since I've learned something from it.
Have a great day.
Regards
J.J.
<You too, Neale.>
|
|
Aquarium question
3/18/12
Hello, my name is Matt. I have two 10 gallon aquarium's at the
moment, both have 4 fish in them. I need some extra room so I'm
combining the two tanks into a 20 gallon tank. I know the fish I have
will get along with each other, but I have Amano shrimp in the
one tank. My question is if the Blood Red Dwarf Gourami fish I have in
the one tank will get along with the Amano shrimp?
<Should do. But very small shrimps might be at risk. The presence of
plants will help.>
There are 6 live plants in the tank and there seems to be lots of
room.
Thank you for your help.
<Good luck! Neale.>
Do Red Cherry Shrimp eat fish
eggs? 2/2/12
Hi WWM Crew,
<Hello Jamie,>
I've got 3 tanks cycling at the moment, 1 x 65 litre and 2 x 35
litre. They were previously used for breeding Mollies (but they
weren't really big enough for that), and still have a few Assassin
snails in them after some problems with snails being introduced on
plants (that's another story though).
I've yet to introduce plants to these, but that is another topic,
although suggestions would be appreciated.
I'm planning on using 1 of the 35 litres tanks for a male Betta and
the 65 litre tank for some Cardinal Tetra (10-15) and a female
Betta.
I want to move the female Betta to the tank with the male on occasion
for breeding, and I'll use the other 35 litre tank for and Tetra
eggs that I can save (if I can get them to spawn).
I'd like to use Red Cherry Shrimp to help control the algae on all
the tanks, but I'm concerned they'll get a taste for any of the
eggs on offer as well.
<Indeed.>
Can you tell me if this will be the case, or if you can recommend
something else of suitable size for the tanks for cleaning, it would be
appreciated.
<I keep Ricefish (which lay eggs) with Cherry Shrimps, and every so
often I'll find two or three baby Ricefish swimming about that
clearly came from uneaten eggs. So whatever impact the shrimps have on
the number of eggs, mine don't eat them all, if they eat any of
them at all. Your own mileage may vary, of course! Few animals turn
down fish eggs given the chance, because fish eggs are immobile, easy
portions of protein and fat. Nerite snails are probably the closest to
"safe" because they're such dedicated algae eaters. But
shrimps and most other snails will surely eat an egg if they
can.>
Many thanks in advance,
Jamie.
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: A Newby~ Question about fish
compatibility... 10 gal. filter set up
1/21/12
Neale,
<Jill,>
The ten gallon I'm starting has been up and running going on 5
days. I used the water from my water change and vacuuming of the
29 gallon, I added two java fern, and yesterday I added a large clump
of java moss.
It has a Whisper filter- when I finish using it as a quarantine tank
and I'm ready to add cherry shrimp, which would
you recommend as a better alternative for the shrimp: [1] Should I
fasten a sponge over the intake, or [2] should I use knee high panty
hose to cover it--and if so, in one or two layers?
<Either. But a sponge would provide a good place for them to
feed.>
I read that small shrimp and shrimp fry can get caught in the intake
and die.
<Mine don't seem affected thus.>
I bought this tank as a kit and would hate to waste the filter and
spend more money on a new one if it could be avoided. These were
suggestions I read, my main concern is if they would interfere with the
filtering process and be harmful. I don't know enough to make
a judgment!
Also, I guess I probably need to use a hardier fish to cycle it before
I should consider adding the Knight Goby or Indian Glass
Fish?
<Ideally, cycle without fish beforehand and avoid being stuck with
fish you don't really want/need.>
Thank you.
Jill
<Cheers, Neale.>
Amano Shrimp problem, repro.
1/21/12
Hello, I have a Problem with my Amano shrimp, one of my females has
weird flaps that have formed just before her tail starts, at first I
thought that she may just be pregnant but they have started to brown
and she is becoming more and more shy. After searching the internet for
possible causes and having no luck I would really like to know what is
wrong if anything as I am worried for her, I do hope she is just
pregnant but from research and looking at photos I'm rather sure
that she isn't. I have tried to take photos but unfortunately the
female concerned will not let me and I do not want to cause her any
more stress chasing her around the tank. Thank you so much for your
help, Leah
<Amano Shrimps don't get pregnant in the sense of retaining
developing embryos inside their bodies. Instead, when the eggs are
fertilised, the female carries them under her abdomen (the bit of a big
shrimp that we would eat when shelled). As those eggs develop they turn
speckled brown, and that's a sign they're developing. Without a
photo to be sure, that's what I'd guess you're seeing here.
Cheers, Neale.>
Cherry shrimp issue 1/8/12
Dear Crew
A very happy new year to you all.
<And to you.>
I've been keeping cherry shrimps for nearly two years now.
The issue I have is that they often die within a month or so and they
never breed.
<Odd. I seem to be overrun with them.>
I have begun to keep them in a small 9 ltr tank by themselves and
again, same problem.
<Oh dear.>
My tank has 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia and 5ppm nitrates. I do a water
change of 40% every week. I am in London so we have hard
water.
<Neither hardness nor nitrates seem to be a major issue with this
species, so shouldn't be a factor.>
I feed them on algae wafers and occasional shrimp pellets as
recommended by the LFS. There are plants in the tank so I add a
tiny amount of JBL Ferropol, the daily 24 fertiliser drops and a tiny
amount of Easycarb every other day.
<Why not try skipping both these supplements in one tank and see
what happens?>
Do I need to therefore use RO water?
<I do indeed use a 50/50 mix of rainwater with hard tap
water.>
The only other problem I could possibly think of is that the tank does
have a large population of tiny snails and they appear to smother the
shrimps for the food.
<Shouldn't be a factor either.>
Any clues as to what I am doing wrong?
<Nothing obvious; but mine do seem to thrive in tanks that receive
benign neglect. No fertiliser, lots of algae, tiny fish (e.g.,
Ricefish), floating plants to remove nitrate, and very infrequent water
changes.>
many thanks
Pat
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Cherry shrimp issue 1/8/12
Ok, thanks Neale - I might just try cutting out all the added
fertilisers and easycarb and adding some RO water.
<Sounds like a plan. You might also have your tap and aquarium water
tested for copper. Any decent marine aquarium shop should be able to do
this.
Cheers, Neale.>
shrimp are dying 10/16/11
Hello again
I'm new to the dwarf freshwater shrimp keeping. I
have a 24 gallon tank (Cardiff by current USA) it came with a pretty
powerful pump which would caused the shrimp to get pushed against the
overflow. I bought another pump that was less powerful (100 gph) which
seems to not push the shrimp against the overflow to where they
can't get off.
<Oddly enough, most of these shrimps are native to fast-flowing
streams, so a fair bit of current suits them well. Of course, they do
need plants or something else to grab onto, Java Moss being
particularly acceptable, but floating plant leaves being popular
too.>
I keep reading about the circulation in the shrimp aquaria and am
wondering if I have too low of a flow rate and low O2 levels.
<Red Cherry Shrimps aren't too fussy. I have them in a variety
of tanks, including ones with indifferent water flow, and provided the
temperature is adequately low, 22 C/72 F seems about right, they
thrive. Indeed, I have some at room temperature with Florida Flagfish,
and their aquarium gets rather cooler than that, and the only
filtration is a simple air-powered box filter at almost the lowest rate
of flow. Crystal Red Shrimps are reputed to be much more delicate. Not
everyone finds them difficult to keep -- I've not kept them so
can't comment from personal experience -- but as with Red Cherry
Shrimps, I'd be more focused on water temperature that water
flow.>
I have about 60 red cherry shrimp and have added about 40 crystal reds.
I have about a handful of pond snails, leopard Nerite and olive Nerite
snails. I took out the assassin snails after I read about others
experiences with those and dwarf shrimp.
<I've never had problems mixing Assassin Snails with Red Cherry
Shrimps, but I dare say in the absence of anything else to eat, these
predatory snails might consume weak or otherwise ailing shrimps. I know
there are reports of Assassin Snails consuming shrimps, but I'd
wonder how many involve healthy shrimps as opposed to dead, dying or
weak shrimps.>
I put the assassin snails in there to get a start on the pond snails.
I've noticed that after the addition of the crystal reds, they seem
to be aggressive towards the red cherry shrimp. I actually saw one
attack a berried RCS tonight, which is dead now. I think she was on her
way out anyway, before the attack.
<This is a very perceptive comment. Most of these small shrimps can
get along if they're similar enough in size, assuming the tank is
big enough and there's plenty for them to eat. But they're all
opportunistic to some degree, and they can and do eat one another given
the chance. Usually the victim is a smaller, sick or weakened shrimp,
but immediately after moulting can be a vulnerable period too,
especially in tanks lacking sufficient hiding places.>
I did a water change last night with dechlorinator and don't use
any additives. The water parameters are: Temp is at 72 degrees, nitrite
and nitrate at 0 as well as ammonia. pH at 6.5 KH at 40 ppm and GH at
120-180 ppm.
<Sounds reasonably good for them, but I find Red Cherry Shrimps do
better in neutral to slightly basic conditions, i.e., pH 7-7.5. Crystal
Red Shrimps may or may not prefer slightly acidic conditions, but
I'd aim for a more neutral set of conditions if keeping both
species together. Acidic water conditions tend to be unstable, and even
if a pH of 6.5 is "ideal" in strictly biological terms of
this species, ensuring a steady pH of 6.5 can be hard work. Slightly
alkaline conditions, say, pH 7.5., might not be ideal, but they will be
stable, and the shrimps can prosper under such conditions.>
I know that the RCS are tolerant to a wide range of conditions and that
the CRS are not so tolerant.
<Red Cherries are certainly the easiest to keep and breed.>
Your thoughts would be appreciated
Lawrence
<Do check the copper concentration of your tap water. Copper can be
very toxic to shrimps. Do also consider keeping, breeding the Red
Cherry Shrimps first, to get yourself going and accustomed to
what's required when keeping shrimps. Cheers,
Neale.>
Re: shrimp are dying 10/18/11
Thanks Neal. I forgot to mention that the substrate that I use is from
Fluval that is designed to keep pH acidic for the CRS and provide
nutrition for the plants. I have some limestone in the tank to help
offset the pH so it doesn't go too low.
<I do not like to use substrates to alter pH, and in any event,
these two are working against each other, so why bother. The bigger
picture is that when substrates are used to alter pH, you can't
really control or predict the pH. I think it's much better to
produce the water chemistry in the bucket, and then buffer that water
chemistry, and thereby ensure stable conditions in the
aquarium.>
I don't even know if the limestone really effects it that much.
<Neither will work much once covered with bacteria and
algae.>
I'm wondering when the lights go out if the pH dips that much.
<Can do. Use a pH test kit.>
Another question is how often do you feed your shrimp?
<Hardly ever. I keep them in tanks with suitable small fish, such as
Ricefish, and ensure there's a bit of leftover food along with
algae for them to eat. Once a while I'll tip in an algae
wafer.>
I feed Fluval shrimp granules once a day.
<Sounds ample.>
thanks
lgs
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: shrimp are dying
Hi Neal
I'm thinking that the stone might not be limestone. I did the
vinegar test and it didn't foam, but I know this stone raises the
pH of the water.
<Then should react with vinegar, surely? If it raises carbonate
hardness, and thereby pH, it should react with an acid since it would
have to be an alkali rock of some sort.>
It's called lace rock and I took it out last night and did a small
water change.
<Do believe this rock is a kind of limestone.>
I lost another 2 shrimp over the night and I can't figure it out.
The tank is only about 6 weeks old. I have a big piece of driftwood in
there that is new and I don't know if this could be the
problem.
<Shouldn't do if cured, but uncured wood will lower the pH
quickly, and that could cause problems.>
I don't know how this was treated. I bought it online. It's
African driftwood. Have you heard any problems with using driftwood in
shrimp aquaria?
<Not when using cured wood in sensible amounts.>
thanks
lgs
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: shrimp are dying 10/18/11
Hey Neal
I checked the local tap water contaminant report and copper was at
.28ppm.
I should use R/O water from now on. Do you think shrimp would be
sensitive to that level of Cu?
<Could easily be. Water conditioners that neutralise copper are
available, if RO isn't economical. However, I would remain open
minded about other possible problems. My cherry shrimps are breeding
quite happily in water with trace levels of copper. Cheers,
Neale.>
Re: shrimp are dying 10/18/11
Thanks again Neal. I didn't mention that there were trace amounts
of Arsenic and Lead as well. I think I'll just look into a R/O unit
and call it good. If they keep dying, I'll be left scratching my
head again.
lgs
<Again, do look for a water conditioner that neutralises metals. But
yes, RO or rainwater may prove a useful starting point here, with
Discus buffer added as required to create the right water chemistry.
The Rift Valley salt mix at about 25% dosage would be a cheap and
effective alternative.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: shrimp are dying 10/19/11
Neal
Do the rice fish bother your shrimplettes?
lgs
<Not as far as I can tell. There's lots of young shrimps in
there! To be fair, my tank has lots of hiding places, so whether the
shrimplettes avoid trouble or are merely left alone I cannot say.
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: shrimp are dying 10/25/11
Neal
<Lawrence,>
I have ordered some "Daisy" rice fish. They should do just as
well as the other rice fish, shouldn't they?
<Should do, but there is some variation, with some Oryzias species
being considered fairly delicate. That said, Oryzias woworae is one of
the easy Ricefish, and doesn't seem difficult to keep at all,
provided it is kept in tropical conditions (some Ricefish need or
prefer subtropical or unheated conditions). Oryzias woworae isn't
fussy about water chemistry, but slightly hard, around neutral water
seems best, ~10 degrees dH, pH 7.>
I have switched to R/O DI water and still am having shrimp loss.
<With some sort of salt mix or Discus buffer added, I take it? Pure
water will not be acceptable to these animals.>
The tank has been set up since mid August. Is it possible that the tank
might not be done cycling?
<Possibly, especially if the water is too soft.>
My test kits are showing zero nitrites and nitrates and ammonia, but
then I've always had a hard time distinguishing faint color changes
on the color charts. If you will recall I have RCS and CRS and both are
dying. RCS are supposed to be very hardy, which make me think the tank
may still be cycling. On a side note, do you know if the dwarf orange
crayfish is compatible with shrimp? I've heard it both ways.
<In theory Cambarellus should be compatible, but honestly, I
wouldn't risk it without having another population of shrimps
breeding away in another tank. Crayfish are opportunistic, and at
moulting time will view shrimps as a useful source of calcium.>
I appreciate your help, greatly.
lgs
<You're welcome. Neale.>
Help with seemingly happy RCS that keep passing
away 10/1/11
Hi There,
Just stumbled across WetWebMedia and must compliment the site and the
volunteers for providing such a informative, valuable and pleasant
resource.
<Thanks for the kind words.>
I have kept fish on off for many years but would just consider myself a
recreational fan of fish when compared to the many hardcore enthusiasts
and could use some seasoned advice. I have a 5 gallon tank (I know that
this size tank is quite unpopular here but it is all I have after my
recent move) that has been active for a few years with a few killifish
(A. australe) but which I decided to switch to red cherry
shrimp (rcs).
<I see.>
I recently purchased 10 rcs from an individual and added 4 more from a
local fish store when it seemed to me that I could use more female
specimens (an since they were carrying eggs).
<Indeed. A starter population of 4 females to 2 males works
well.>
The shrimp were acclimated by dripping my tank water into the water
they came in over a period of two hours until ph reached tank ph.
Initially shrimp seemed to be doing just fine and cleaned the tank of
any algae, slime and growth form the tank walls, plants,
driftwood��everywhere. They are very active and showing color
and two molted�� so they seem happy.
<Yes.>
Unfortunately, I have been losing one shrimp each day (4 so far). I
have been doing 10-15% water changes every day the ammonia in the new
water is the same as the tank at 0.25-0.50 so I don��t know
if this is actually helping (out of the tap it is at 1.0+).
<I would avoid such frequent water changes. Red Cherry Shrimps seem
to thrive on "benign neglect". Algae, gentle (air-powered!)
filtration, and some organic mulm on the bottom all seem to be very
helpful. Quite possibly even rather small changes in water chemistry
can affect them badly. On the other hand, when left to their own
devices, with small water changes weekly, and few fish or other
tankmates, they seem to multiply readily. Low nitrate and phosphate may
well be important, but you also want the tiny microbes on the sediment
and sponge filter that they like to eat.>
I have read that water treated with chloramine often still produces
ammonia readings even with established tanks but honestly I
wasn��t really checking the ammonia much when the tank was
stable with the former killifish residents who seemed to lead a decent
life.
1) Water conditions:
*ph = 7.1
*Ammonia = 0.25-0.50
<Here's one major problem. If your water has non-zero ammonia
levels, then minimise water changes as far as practical, and use an
ammonia-removing water conditioner. In a Cherry Shrimp tank without
fish, 10% weekly would be an acceptable water change.>
*Nitrite = 0
*Nitrate = 0
*General hardness = 130
*Temp = 78
*Water treated with API StressCoat from tap and with Seachem neutral
regulator
*some plant tabs inserted in sand.
*occasionally add a pinch of non iodized aquarium salt (say once every
other month or so)
<May or may not be helpful; I wouldn't bother. But I would try
to ensure the water is moderately hard, maybe 10 degrees dH, through
the use of a 25-50% dosage of Rift Valley salt mix, as described
here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
Cherry Shrimps need some calcium carbonate to make their shells, and
conversely, acidity will make it harder for them to grow their
shells.>
2) Tank set up:
*Sand substrate of about 2.5 in
*Plants: java fern, java moss, hornwort, some duck weed, A. nana,
African tiger lotus
*driftwood, lave rock and some stones.
*heater
*flourcent light
*I��m currently running two Aquaclear 20s to increase
beneficial bacteria and ensure minimal waste. Filters have sponge,
filter floss, ceramic porous stuff, some AmmoCarb. I plan to cut back
to one once I figure out the problem
3) Fish load
* 1 male Betta in own section separated from shrimp
<Bettas can eat Red Cherry Shrimps; at the least, they'll attack
them if hungry, and even if the damage isn't enough to kill them
instantly, it can cause problem over days, weeks.>
* 14 now 10 (though I only ever can find like 6-8 at any given time)
rcs
* 2 Ramshorn snails (one in the Betta space, one in the tank)
Questions:
Is it the ammonia that is gradually killing the rcs? They look so
active and eating, coloration and molting and retaining eggs (remember
I purchased two rcs with eggs) would seem to indicate healthy
shrimp.
<Ammonia is a problem with all livestock.>
If that is what you suspect, I��m a bit surprised as this
tank set up was previously established BUT there was one big change, I
upped the PH when there were no fish in the tank from some thing below
6 to 7.1 using SeaChem's Alkaline buffer to get to a PH I thought
better for most new fish (since I was changing from the australes).
Could this have killed off all of the beneficial bacteria? The snails
and plants were fine with this change.
<Don't use pH buffers to change the pH without changing the
hardness first. Just adding potions to change pH is always a bad
idea!>
Outside of the dying rcs, the remaining rcs don��t seem
exceptionally bright. They totally cleaned off the algae and slime. So
I put in some flakes which only one or two seem to eat. I put in Hikari
algae tablets (has no copper but other metals is this why they
don��t like it?) which none ate
<Mine love them! See here:
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/freshwaterreef.html
>
and which I had to vacuum back out to avoid fouling the water. They
can��t seem to deal with live Tubifex worms. I��m
assuming they will figure out the flakes if they are starving but I
thought they were supposed to be really easy and not picky?
<They are not picky at all!>
Why can you keep so many more shrimp than fish. These guys seem hungry
all of the time and consumed so much on the first day that the sand was
blanketed by tube like rcs poo. How is this any different from fish?
Less protein diet to decompose?
<Shrimps don't have such a high metabolism or oxygen demand as
fish, so there's less for the filter to deal with. You can't
ignore their affect on water quality completely, but six shrimps
probably doesn't have as much impact as, say, a single Neon
Tetra.>
Sorry so many questions but I��m just getting back into
thinking about this stuff since I��m having so many
casualties. Any insight would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Hans
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Help with seemingly happy RCS that keep passing
away 10/1/11
Thanks for the quick reply (now that is amazing given the load of
e-mails you must receive).
<Indeed!>
I have already used ammonia removing water conditioners... see API
Stress coat and SeaChem neutral regulator below. I would think this
plenty... are they not effective or do you have some other conditioner
suggestion here ?
I'm still confused by the happy behavior of the rcs and the
deaths.
<Should be fine. Do remember not to add anything with copper in it,
e.g., fish medications, as these are toxic to shrimps. Likewise, if you
have copper pipes in your home, then a water conditioner that removes
copper is helpful.>
Also, on the food front, thanks for the pics and nice fish/inverts you
have there. hopefully my shrimp will figure out that the algae tablet
and fish food flakes are more likely going to provide them with food
than just sifting through their own poopy over and over again =)!
I'm quite surprised as any shrimp (Amano, ghost, etc) that I've
had in the past generally take prepped food first! I seem to have an
oddly picky batch of rcs=(.
<Perhaps.>
I'll go get some newer test kits to dest dH and kH versus my GH
scales but suspect that my water is moderately hard.
<Which should be fine.>
In summary it sounds like I will cut back on the water changes and just
be patient and see how it goes. Hopefully they start eating prepped
food and stop kicking the bucket.
Thanks again!
Hans
<Good luck, Neale.>
Re: Help with seemingly happy RCS that keep passing
away 10/1/11
Sorry for one e-mail. I'm assuming that not all questions end up on
the web site? That would be great as I sent all of this from my work
e-mail and my preference would be for that not to be out there. I
looked on the FAQ and didn't see our conversation so if you might
be able to confirm that this isn't posted or to delete my e-mail,
that would be great.
I will be more careful in the future.
Thanks again So much!
<All messages do go on the web site, but without any personal
information.
Messages are usually posted on the web site about 24 hours after
we've answered them. Cheers, Neale.>
Mysterious Cherry Shrimp Deaths-
8/20/11
Hello.
<Hello.>
I added 30 Cherry Shrimp about 4 weeks ago to a planted shrimp-only 10g
tank, and every day one has died.
<Odd.>
At the time, 2 Otocinclus were added. The Otos are fine!
<Okay.>
Now I'm really confused on why they're dying. This is what I
know - Ammonia and Nitrite are 0. I'd test PH and other, but I
don't have the kits for that.
<Well do check. At minimum check the pH; Cherry Shrimps do best in
water that has a pH around 7 to 8. They dislike very acidic, very soft
water.>
There shouldn't be anything wrong with the water source - the four
Amano Shrimp in my 30g are thriving from the same water source - so
that's got to rule out copper, metals, etc...
<Possibly.>
No Hydra or Planaria present.
Tank has a matured sponge filter. Flow appears to be okay, with
numerous tiny oxygen bubbles about.
Temp is 78F because of Summer.
<A bit warm for Cherry Shrimps, but shouldn't be fatally so.
Ideally, 20-25 C/68-77 F, towards the cooler end of the range in
winter, but not substantially above in summer. Extra oxygen is useful.
Do bear in mind that these are subtropical, mountain-stream animals
that aren't well adapted to stuffy, sluggish, warm water
conditions.>
There is some lava rock in the tank with moss growing on them.
I add half a Hikari algae wafer every 2-3 days. There is algae growing
in the tank.
The majority of shrimp are healthy - scavenging the substrate, climbing
the tank glass, rock and plants and swimming about happily - but then
one of them acts lethargic, sometimes trouble swimming, mostly keeps to
the lava rock and ends up dying within 2 days. I'm really not sure
what's going on, and it's really frustrating because I've
made this tank as shrimp-friendly as possible. Additionally, any
females with eggs seem to drop them. All I can guess is that a plant
had been treated with pesticides (but I do 25% water changes on all
tanks weekly, so it should have been diluted right?) or stress somehow
- but if it's that, what's causing the stress?
<Possibly, but it's unlikely a plant from another tank could
carry enough residue to harm livestock in your aquarium. But certainly
worth considering.>
I hope you can help.
<There's nothing obviously wrong here. Copper and formalin are
two common killers, but you say you haven't used them. The water is
a bit warm, but not high enough to kill Cherry Shrimps. The tankmates
seem okay, though sometimes mixing bigger shrimp species with smaller
ones doesn't work out, the bigger ones killing the smaller ones
(perhaps if they aren't getting enough calcium or protein any other
way?). I'm not a huge fan of lava rock for a variety of reasons,
but good quality stuff should be aquarium-safe.
If these shrimps are a new purchase, I'd perhaps suspect the batch
being dodgy, or else be more reflective on how the shrimps were adapted
to the new aquarium. Review purchasing, quarantining (if done),
acclimation to your water chemistry, and so on. Cheers,
Neale.>
re: Mysterious Cherry Shrimp Deaths (RMF, how persistent is Malachite
Green?)- 8/20/11
Just had an idea. The aquarium silicone has been stained turquoise-blue
with Malachite Green. However, the treatment was performed (as far as I
can remember), a year and 3 months ago. Is it possible the staining
could still retain it's toxicity?
<Possible, but my gut feeling is that after 15 months any residual
Malachite Green would be at such a low concentration it's unlikely
to harm your livestock. Of course the shrimps may pick at algae that
bioaccumulate the stuff, so it's hard to say. Filtration through
carbon or something better like PolyFilter or HyperSorb may be
worthwhile, but if the aquarium isn't large, and shrimps are key to
your long-term plans, perhaps replacing the tank with a new one, and
using this as a hospital/quarantine system makes sense.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/malachitegreen.htm
I've asked Bob F. to comment here. He may have an idea on the
toxicity, persistence of Malachite Green. Cheers,
Neale.><<Olde Malachite Green in the Silastic seal should not
be an issue. RMF>>
Re: Mysterious Cherry Shrimp Deaths 8/23/11
I sent a reply on Sunday, but I don't think you've got it.
<Nope!>
Just had an idea. The aquarium silicone has been stained turquoise-blue
with Malachite Green. However, the treatment was performed (as far as I
can remember), a year and 3 months ago.
<A long time ago.>
The air pump tubing has also been used in water with copper, and it
does have the blue staining copper gives. It was last used in copper
water about a month/month-an-half ago.
Is it possible the staining could still retain it's toxicity?
<Possible. But really, it's very hard to be sure without
examining the shrimps in a forensics lab for crustaceans! Instead,
concentrate on what you'll do in the future. If you want to keep
shrimps, then phase out any bits of hardware potentially contaminated,
including gravel, and replace with new stuff. Else, set up another
system for shrimps and leave this one as a fish-only system. Different
shrimps have different tolerances, and it may well be that one species
of shrimp survives where another dies, so if you still have happy
shrimps of a different species in the tank, maybe stick with those.
Cheers, Neale.>
Grow my own live feeder shrimp?
4/17/11
This is mostly a curiosity/exploratory question. I see many, many
references here to feeding new fish with live feeder shrimp. I love the
concept of growing my own fish food, and I'm having a ball growing
copepods in my cellar as treats for my small fish. But after searching
this site for a long time, I can't find any reference to growing
them. I do see references on the web for "freshwater ghost
shrimp" as food. Is this what is meant by live feeder shrimp? Can
you direct me to any online or book references for growing live feeder
shrimp? Thanks!
Tim
<Hello Tim. Yes, "feeder shrimp" are any sort of
freshwater shrimp. At least here in the UK, brackish water ones are
quite widely sold as live foods for tropical freshwater and marine
fish. Since the brackish water shrimps can survive for a long time in
either set of water conditions, they're ideal for that. Now, while
it is possible to breed *some* shrimps at home -- Cherry
Shrimps are perhaps the easiest -- not all shrimps can be bred
at home -- Amano Shrimps are the famous example. The non-breedable ones
typically have a larval stage to their life cycle, and while the
females will mate and produce eggs, the larvae that emerge from those
eggs are difficult to rear and may need brackish or marine conditions
to develop
even if the adults are freshwater animals. It's turned out to be
very difficult to rear things like Amano Shrimps. As a very broad rule,
Neocaridina tend to be breedable, Caridina spp. are a mix of breedable
and non-breedable species, and Palaemonetes non-breedable. The bottom
line is that breeding breedable shrimps is easy -- Cherry Shrimps for
example will take care of breeding without any effort on your part,
provided the tank has plenty of green algae, no predators, and gentle,
ideally air-powered filtration. But even so, you're very unlikely
to produce meaningful quantities of them that might be used as live
food. Each female produces a few dozen offspring every month or so, and
those offspring take a few months to mature, and the adults themselves
only live about a year, so you'd need to reserve some to keep your
population going. There are much, much easier live foods you can
produce at home, most notably earthworms for big predators, and perhaps
just as crucially, earthworms lack thiaminase, which crustaceans
contain, so they'd be healthier too. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Grow my own live feeder shrimp?
4/17/11
Neale - Thanks for all the info! After researching the Web on
freshwater Ghost Shrimp, I, too, came to the conclusion that this would
be a difficult project. Oh well. I guess I've just got to get a
grip on my enthusiasm for new things!
Tim
<Glad to help. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: plants and cycling 1/30/11
Hi Neale,
quick question,
would I be able to put crystal red shrimp in my brackish water tank,
kept at a very low salinity, around 0.001?
<Yes, they'll be fine. Virtually all the small algae-eating
shrimps in the trade thrive in slightly brackish water, SG 1.001-1.003.
I keep my Cherry Shrimps at SG 1.002 in a planted tank alongside some
Limia nigrofasciata, and they positively thrive, as do the plants
(Vallisneria, mostly). It may well be that the marine salt mix contains
essential minerals like iodine lacking in freshwater aquarium
conditions -- they certainly seem to live a long time and breed
readily. Cheers, Neale.>
Quick cherry shrimp compatibility question,
Chaetostoma 1/18/11
I have a 35 gallon tank with 6 black neon tetras and a rubberlip
Pleco.
<Mmmm>
I bought 10 medium sized cherry shrimp the other day. I have observed
them the last few days moving about the tank and seeming to be eating
algae.
However, I have seen none today and, somewhat alarmed, have been
watching my tank almost obsessively for several hours with no sighting.
I did research before I bought, and the everyplace that mentioned black
Neons and cherry shrimp said they were compatible. Have I bought my
fish an expensive
snack? Is it possible the black Neons ate them?
Celeste
<Not the Tetras, but the Loricariid. Bob Fenner>
Re: Quick cherry shrimp compatibility question
1/19/11
Bob,
<Cel>
Thanks for your reply, and I apologize for the grammatical error. That
it could have been the Pleco was a passing thought I, unfortunately,
disregarded. Am I correct in assuming this would happen with any
Loricariid? Hope you are enjoying your vacation!
Celeste
<Mmm, I don't think I would trust any Loricariid with these
small shrimps... There are other "algae eaters" of use... Bob
Fenner>
compatibility 11/24/10
Hello, I was wondering if ghost shrimp, Amano (algae eating)
shrimp and fiddler crabs would be compatible with each other.
I know fiddler crabs require brackish water, but what salinity can the
shrimp tolerate? If they get along, what SG would be best for all
species? They would be in a 30 gallon tank. I would provide sufficient
habitat/hiding spots for all species including water plants for the
shrimp and adequate land for the fiddler crabs. Thanks.
Zach
<Funnily enough Amano shrimps develop in the sea, but the adults
mostly live in freshwater. But they will tolerate slightly brackish
conditions just fine, certainly SG 1.003 to SG 1.005 at 25 C/77 F, and
perhaps a
little higher. In fact most shrimps tolerate slightly brackish
conditions, and I have some Cherry Shrimps in a tank at 1.002 at 25 C
alongside some Limia nigrofasciata. But Uca species may need more
saline conditions depending on the species. Plus, Uca are
opportunistic, and while their diet is primarily algae and organic
detritus sifted from mud, they may catch shrimps given the chance. So
by all means try it out and see what happens, but don't invest a
huge amount of money in this just in case it doesn't work. I'd
try out the brackish water Palaeomonetes sold as live food -- at least
here in England -- before investing in more ornamental shrimp species.
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Hi Neale - Heterandria formosa - Cherry
Shrimp & PraziPro 10/13/10
Hi Neale,
How are you? I hope all is going well!
<I'm fine, thanks for asking.>
The PraziPro worked, the Heterandria formosa are doing great; thanks
for the advice.
<Cool.>
I gave my 10 gallon main Het tank a single dose at the beginning of
August.
Would it be safe to add Cherry Shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda) to the
tank? It is bare bottom, has a sponge filter and a lot of java
moss.<Should be fine by now. Try half a dozen and see what
happens.>
I can't find copper listed on the bottle but I've heard other
medicines can affect shrimp and I want to make sure the PraziPro
won't effect them.
<Prazi Pro contains Praziquantel, and yes, it probably is
toxic to shrimp.
But assuming you've done a series of water changes, the amount left
in the aquarium should be trivially small, partly because of dilution
but also because filter bacteria break down organic compounds fairly
quickly.>
Cheers,
Michelle
<Sounds like you're having fun with these very nifty
livebearers. Cherry Shrimp appreciate much the same conditions, so this
combo should work nicely. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Hi Neale - Heterandria formosa - Cherry Shrimp &
PraziPro 10/14/10
Hi Neale,
<<Michelle,>>
I've been thinking about Cherry Shrimp for awhile and some have are
available now.
<<Excellent.>>
I'll give my tank a couple extra water changes to be safe and get
some next week.
<<Cool.>>
Can the shrimp go straight into the main tank, or should they be
quarantined?
<<Depends. The free-swimming Whitespot pathogens can move from
tank to tank on any wet object, be it alive or dead, so yes, Shrimps
can carry them. But the pathogens can't survive away from fish for
more than a day or two, a week at the outside. So if the shrimps have
been kept in a fish-free aquarium isolated from aquaria containing
fish, including different nets and buckets, there is little risk of the
shrimps carrying any diseases at all. On the other hand, if you
can't be sure they've been isolated, then yes, quarantining is
a very good idea. I will make the observation that both shrimps and
Heterandria have a high tolerance for salt, so using the salt/heat
method to treat for Whitespot will effectively "clean" the
shrimps if you add them to the aquarium directly, and without any risk
to either fish or shrimp.>>
Also, I bought some Indian Almond Leaves off eBay; would the shrimp
like those in the tank?
<<Sure, but why bother?>>
<Sounds like you're having fun with these very nifty
livebearers. Cherry Shrimp appreciate much the same conditions, so this
combo should work nicely. Cheers, Neale.>
The Hets are really a lot of fun! I started with a handful and it is
neat to see new babies all the time and watching them dart through the
Java Moss.
<<Definitely nice fish.>>
I think it is great that a lot of different types of aquariums are
doable in people's homes. As a matter of fact, even though I have
three tanks, I find myself thinking about other aquariums I would like,
and I think some articles about Multi Tank Syndrome on WWM would be a
good idea. :)
<<Ah yes, there's always another fish worth keeping! I agree,
reading some articles about how to make fish rooms and aquarium racks
would be a nice idea. I've seen several people convert their
basements into fish rooms, and there's a lot of work involved doing
the air pumps, wiring, plumbing and so on. Naturally, if *you* feel
like writing something about the care and maintenance of your
livebearers, why not check out back page of WWM Digital magazine and
read up on what we offer authors!>>
Cheers, Michelle
<<Have fun! Cheers, Neale.>>
Cherry Shrimp deaths . . . 8/26/10
I (fairly) recently bought 3 Cherry Shrimps to go in with a tank of
Neon Tetras and Lambchop Rasboras about 2 or so months ago. But for
some reason, they keep dying.
<Usually Cherry Shrimps are a very reliable species. Mine breed like
rabbits even in tanks that don't get the best of care! But like all
shrimps they're sensitive to copper, so make absolutely sure you
haven't used copper-based medications in the tank. Also check your
water conditioner neutralises copper, especially if your pipework is
copper, and in the UK, most household plumbing will use copper
somewhere along the line, e.g., for the hot water tank.>
The shell on them seems to split horizontally and they die a few hours
later.
<Odd.>
I can't understand this because all the water parameters seem fine
. . . 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 25 Nitrate, PH at 7 and 16 dH water
hardness (apparently Neons are acidic fish but they've had no
problem with my water).
<All sounds fine. Don't use a "pH down" product
though; such potions tend to do more harm than good. For all these
fish, pH 7.5 will be fine, which is what I'd expect for 16 degrees
dH.>
I also have a snail (well 'snails' now, it bred today!) in the
aquarium and nothing is wrong with its shell.
<Okay.>
Can you advise me anything?
<With Shrimps, there are basically just a few things to get right.
One is the copper issue. Also avoid formalin and malachite green. Next
up, ensure plenty of water circulation along the bottom of the tank.
Since these Shrimps need oxygen but don't swim in midwater, they
can suffocate if there is stagnant water at the bottom. When moulting
they need some sort of hideaway, even from one another. Dense plant
thickets are good, but caves are even better, and those caves should
ideally be small enough that fish can't get in. Often, Shrimps go
behind filters to moult. Water chemistry isn't crucial, and Cherry
Shrimps can tolerate slightly acidic conditions well, but the carbonate
hardness should not be too low, 3 degrees KH being about the lowest. If
needs be, offer some shellfish occasionally that they can eat to make
up any losses (small pieces of unshelled shrimp work well).
Finally, iodine is a key nutrient for crustaceans. Shrimps generally
get enough from their diet, especially if you use a food formulated for
crustaceans, such as JBL Novo Crabs. Sushi Nori would also be rich in
iodine and easy to buy at many supermarkets and Asian food stores. But
you could also add iodine to the water. Marine aquarium iodine drops
need only
be used at about one-quarter to one-half the dose needed for marine
tanks, and as such would be very economical. One last thing. Cherry
Shrimps are very gregarious, and while they shouldn't die if you
own just three, you will find your overall success much better in
groups of six or more.>
If it's any help, all aquarium livestock was bought from one of the
Maidenhead Aquatic stores in England.
<Usually a very reliable group of stores. I was visiting the one in
Harlestone Heath, Northampton yesterday afternoon while doing a store
review for another web site. Definitely worth discussing your
experiences with the manager of that store. Feel free to print this off
and have him or her discuss these points with you.>
Thanks in advance!
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Cherry Shrimp deaths . . . 8/26/10
I use Tetra Aquasafe for the water conditioner which apparently
neutralises copper, zinc and other metals.
<Cool.>
The tank is about 15 gallons, planted with Water Wisteria and Bacopa. I
change a litre of water everyday. I have never used any medication in
the tank, nor any of the PH plus or minus chemicals .
<Okay.>
. . I'm all for naturalness. :) I will be going to the fish store
(the local Maidenhead Aquatics store) at the weekend to get another 6
or 7 Cherry Shrimps then (they aren't cheap! £12 for 3!).
<£1.50 to £2.50 each is more typical, but the price may vary
with the seasons.>
How would I be able to test how much circulation is at the bottom of
the tank?
<Put a bit of flake on the bottom. If it sits there, that's bad;
if it wafts along briskly, that's good.>
I have to agree with Maidenhead Aquatics being a very good store. The
staff there have always been knowledgeable and willing to knock the
price off a bit. Great selection of fish there as well! Last time I saw
a disease in one of the tanks, there were staff on hand treating it
with a sign up saying 'not for sale right now'.
<Do ask whether these shrimps might have been poisoned in the shop;
if they've used copper, that's certainly possibly, though
you'd expect to die within a day or two of copper use. If more than
that has elapsed since you purchased them, then something is amiss in
your aquarium. Are you sure there aren't any loaches or catfish in
the tank that might view them as food? Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Cherry Shrimp deaths . . . 8/26/10
It has been 2 months since I got them.
<About enough time for moulting; could well be an iodine issue or
similar.>
I don't have any catfish or loaches in the tank.
<Good.>
I did just try putting a flake at the bottom, and it wafted away into
some lucky Neon's mouth.
<Good.>
Like I said, it's the shell splitting or turning clear in the
middle that seems to happen a few hours before they die.
<When moulting, Shrimps crack open transversely, the slot appearing
between the cephalothorax (the head/body segment) and the abdomen (the
segments with the swimmerets on, the big you eat on proper shrimps). If
that's what
you mean by splitting, then that would appear to be a moulting
issue.
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Cherry Shrimp deaths . . .
No . . . I mean the whole shrimp dies. It's the whole thing. The
carcass is red and looks to contain the dead shrimp . . . One did this
1 and a half weeks ago, and was never found again, so I can assume it
was eaten.
Whenever mine have actually moulted, they've been found again 3
days later and the white, ghostly shell is on the substrate.
<Normal.>
The split is formed after the 2nd pair of legs.
<Well, it is what it is. I really can't offer you any more
advice than that already provided. You'll have to read through my
previous messages, try out the solutions offered, and see what happens.
Saying the shrimp "just dies" isn't enough for me to
provide anything more specific I'm afraid. Cheers,
Neale.>
Re: Tadpole nursery... re pH, Alk... hardness...
reading... 6/14/10
Good afternoon/evening Neale,
<Hello again Diana,>
I have been having lovely luck with my tank since we last traded
e-mails, my two adult frogs are doing great and my one surviving
tadpole has blossomed into a full fledged frog named Spike.
<Cool!>
Performing my weekly water changes and feeding frozen brine
shrimp or blood worms every other day. However, two days ago two
of my cherry shrimp kicked the bucket leaving me with one female
cherry, one male, and four
Amanos.
<Oh dear.>
Tested my water today before my usual Sunday water change and the
ammonia was off the charts high (somewhere between 4.0 and 8.0)
and the Ph was off the charts low (between 6.0 and 6.4).
<Yikes!>
My usual Ph out of the tap is around 7.6. Nitrates are 0 temp is
around 75-78 as the weather has been warm.
<I see.>
All frogs are accounted for but my shrimp go missing on a regular
basis, hiding among the plants.
<Normal.>
They usually reappear at some point so I never worry much.
<Me neither. I often find gaggles of them hidden inside
filters or behind ornaments.>
That being said, I have only been able to account for 3 small
Amanos and 1 female cherry over the last few days which means the
big amano and the little boy cherry are missing. I have a feeling
that they may have died as well and are hidden among the plants.
If this is the case could it cause the ammonia spike?
<Possibly, but a single dead shrimp shouldn't overly tax a
biological filter, so I'd be open minded on this. Do the
usual things first. Check the filter is working properly. That
the air pump is bubbling nicely, and that there's nothing
blocking any air pipes. Use a pencil or chopstick to root around
the plants a little, and see that there isn't a dead fish or
lump of uneaten food sitting there. Plant roots keep gravel
clean, but any gravel more than an inch or two from the plants
should be gently raked down to a depth of about half an inch.
Take out the filter sponge or ceramic noodles and gently rinse
them in a bucket of aquarium water -- or, lukewarm water no
hotter than the aquarium but not much colder either.>
And, what could cause the Ph to crash?
<Check the carbonate hardness. If it is very low, less than 3
degrees KH, you might want to add some of the Rift Valley salt
mix at 0.25 to 0.5 the usual dose for Rift Valley cichlids. If
you have Platies, Frogs and Shrimps, they all like high carbonate
hardness so this is a low-risk, low-cost strategy. Do also
read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwsoftness.htm
All aquaria experience pH drops between water changes; what
limits those pH drops is the buffering capacity of the water,
normally carbonate hardness, but you can also use commercial pH
buffers. For Platies, Frogs and Shrimps, the aim is a pH around
7.5.>
My tank is pretty heavily planted with Java Fern, moss wrapped
bog wood and grass; the plants are very full and bushy making it
virtually impossible to see what is going on underneath it
all.
<Great!>
Should I pull everything apart to find everyone or should I
closely monitor the tanks chemistry, up the frequency of water
changes and let nature take its course with anything that has
died?
<Oh, I wouldn't uproot anything, but a stick of some sort
can be used to stir the leaves a bit.>
I have included a picture of my tank to help you envision my
predicament.
<Looks charming!>
I did a 50% water change and ammonia is showing 0 and Ph is
6.6.
<Is rather low for frogs, Platies and shrimps.>
Thanks for your constant support,
<My pleasure.>
Cheers,
Diana
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Tadpole nursery///
reading...............
Good Morning Neale,
<It's about quarter to seven PM here -- but thanks
anyway!>
OY!!! KH is 1 degree!
<Very low.>
two small Amanos dead this morning. I am down to 1 cherry, 1
amano, three frogs and a gaggle of snails. Ammonia is back to
0.25 Ph is down to 6.4.
Filter operating properly, rinsed ceramic media yesterday, will
rinse sponge today.
<Right, now, when water is this soft and this acidic, your
biological filter is going to work less and less reliably. At
about pH 6 biological filtration usually stops
completely.>
So, it is clear that I need to raise the Ph and increase KH.
<I agree.>
I see your recipe for the rift valley salt mix but I also happen
to have a bottle of Nutrafin African Cichlid Conditioner - can I
use this?
<No.>
Each dose provides 20mg/L (ppm) as CaCO, or by 1 percent of GH.
Guessing I should raise the hardness and Ph slowly over a few
days...what is the best way to do this?
<General hardness and carbonate hardness are different. Think
of them as the way both "volts" and "amps"
are about electricity, but different aspects. General hardness
has little/no impact on buffering. Carbonate hardness is what you
want.>
Dosing instructions on the bottle are 5mL per 10 US gal, my tank
is 5 gal so I should use 1/4 of the half dose (I'm not sure I
can even get my head around computing that!)?
<Here's an idea. Go buy a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Make
up some dechlorinated tap water, and then add the amount of Rift
Valley cichlid salt mix -- or at least the sodium bicarbonate --
needed to raise the carbonate hardness to 3-4 degrees dH. You can
then use that water for water changes across the next few weeks.
As/when you need more, you can make some more up. Does that make
sense?>
And, how do I maintain this stability during water changes?
<Do 25% water change today and then daily for the next 3-4
days. That should level things off.>
If I change 50% of the water on a weekly basis would I simply add
a 1/2 dose of the salt mix to the replacement tank water?
<Yes, but once settled down I'd only be doing 25% changes
weekly unless the tank got really messy.>
Thanks Neale. Once again I am finding myself in an unenviable
crisis situation!
<The sudden pH drop and resultant death of fish is actually
quite common.
This is why "old hands" like me tend to focus on
carbonate hardness rather than general hardness.>
Cheers,
Diana
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Tadpole nursery... Hey, look at me!
Thank you. Yes, your big bucket of rift valley salt mix makes
perfect sense. I'll whip up the recipe this evening and begin
treating immediately and continue over the next few days. Thank
you again.
Diana
<My pleasure. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Tadpole nursery... now reading in Nova Scotia... Good
day all!
Hi Neale,
<Diana,>
I just re-read the salt solution recipe and I want to clarify
that I am understanding you correctly. My tank has only snails,
ADFs and shrimp - no fish.
<Yes.>
If I prepare this solution in a 5 gallon bucket should I mix it
at 50% (1/2 teaspoon soda and aquarium salt, 1/2 tablespoon
Epsom) and than add that after a 25% water change? And, will my
frogs tolerate the salt?
<Yes, this will be fine for the frogs. It's really a
trivially small amount of salt.>
Clearly Chemistry is not my strongest subject!
<Indeed.>
Diana
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Tadpole nursery... Monty Python future skit
content...
Okay thanks! Off to buy a bucket and some Marine salt.
Diana
<Cool. At a pinch, non-iodised (e.g., Kosher) sea salt will do
too. Cheers,
Neale.>
Re: Tadpole nursery... no, really
Good to know! Thanks.
Diana
<Most welcome. Cheers, Neale.>
|
|
Cherry shrimp and their colorful cousins. [Bob, any online
FW fish/shrimp dealers in the US worth mentioning?] <<None that
I'm aware of... Again, Craig's List, Aquatic
Auction...>> 4/17/10 Greetings from the
Panhandle of Texas-
<Greetings from England.>
Once again I seek your council o'masters of the wet world-
<Hmm...>
I have researched many sites and have found many answers. Each of the
answers cancels out the next and they really don't make much sense.
I am so confused!!!!!
<Indeed.>
I have in my near future a plan to stock a 250 gallon tank, I have just
finished building, of grandeur with cherry shrimp and some of the other
colored shrimp advertised on the "buy your shrimp here cheap
page". Which of the so called fresh water shrimp would you
recommend to a shrimp beginner?
<Any Neocaridina species is well worth keeping. All seem much of
muchness in terms of care, size, behaviour, and breeding potential.
Caridina are also easy, though some will not breed under aquarium
conditions, the Amano shrimp most notably of all. Macrobrachium shrimps
are fun and sometimes quite big, but territorial, predatory, and in
some cases a little on the delicate side. Atyopsis and other fan
shrimps are generally the least accommodating and the easiest ones to
starve to death.>
What kind of wee fish would you recommend to house with them?
<I've kept things like Corydoras and Limia with Cherry shrimps,
and not had any problems with the adults holding their own. If you want
to breed the shrimps, then choose species unlikely to eat the
juveniles: pygmy Corydoras, Aspidoras spp., surface-swimmers such as
halfbeaks and hatchets, whiptail catfish, Kuhli loaches, and small
livebearers like Heterandria formosa and Ender Guppies.>
Actually that would be another question to toss your way. Can you
recommend a reputable fish/shrimp dealer? I have dabbled in keeping
fish, crab and amphibian aquariums forever and you know what? I
don't know all of the answers yet. However I try to keep an open
mind and depend a lot on you 'Fish Yodas'!
<I cannot recommend anyone in the US, but perhaps Bob will offer up
a suggestion.>
Are cherry shrimp better kept in brackish water or fresh water?
<They prefer freshwater, but will tolerate slightly brackish water
just fine up to around SG 1.003.>
Please speak slowly. I am getting mixed answers and need your input. If
you can recommend a web site even that might be beneficial. Once again
thanks!
Bob
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Tadpoles part 2, Now cherry shrimp care, I2
use 4/15/10
Dear Neale,
<Hello Diana,>
Tank is doing splendidly and I have added 6 Cherry shrimp and 1
Amano. I have already witnessed the discarded shell of one of the
Cherries so I am taking that as a good sign that they are
thriving.
<Quite so. I adore these shrimps, and find them very easy to
keep once settled.>
I have read on the site that iodine is an important component for
the calcium uptake in my shrimps and snails.
<More so for crabs and crayfish really. In my experience the
smaller shrimps get all the iodine they need from their
food.>
I have been able to fine Kent Marine Iodide, but not Iodine as
Sabrina suggested. The back of the bottle states that it is for
the health of crustaceans so I went ahead and bought it. Do you
know if there is a difference or if they are interchangeable?
<Precisely the same thing from our perspective. If using,
I'd only use 25% the dosage stated on the back of the
bottle.>
Also, how many Amano shrimp could I potentially add to my 5.5 gal
tank - they are quite the tidy uppers!
<A couple maybe.>
Thanks,
Diana
<Have fun! Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Tadpoles part 2
Hi Neale!
<Hello Diana!>
I LOVE my shrimp! Fascinating little creatures and very
entertaining.
<Yes they are.>
My Amano shrimp is clear and quite large compared to the cherries
(at least an inch long) so I don't think 20 would fit, but I
am guessing that two-three would be comfortable given that they
don't overload the tanks filtration system (I am learning
that shrimp don't really seem to have the same effect as fish
or frogs).
<Oh, yes, I thought you mean Cherry Shrimps. I misread your
message. I wouldn't keep Amano shrimps in 5.5 gallon tank at
all, since they do get quite big, potentially 5 cm/2 inches. But
a couple should be okay. Amano shrimps may hog the food, and
could eat newly-moulted Cherry Shrimps, so keep an eye on
things.>
Also, two of my Cherry shrimp are gone and I am curious if my
frogs have eaten them - they stare at them longingly on a pretty
regular basis. My frogs are a good 1-2 inches, Mrs. Frog being
the larger of the two. It is for this reason that I am nervous
about adding any smaller shrimp (like bumblebees) who will
possibly end up as lunch. Is this a reasonable concern?
<It's a concern, certainly. The best approach is try it
out, see what happens, and if after a few weeks you have all the
shrimps you started with, add some more. I've kept Cherry
shrimps with surprisingly large fish such as Limia, and been
surprised to see the shrimps multiplying steadily.
But you never really know until you've tried it out. African
Dwarf Frogs are not reputed to eat shrimps or even livebearer
fry, but there's always a risk.>
You mention that the shrimps get their iodine from their
food...should I be feeding them something specific?
<Try algae wafers, like those used for Plecs. Half a wafer, or
even a quarter, will be ample for six shrimps, used perhaps 2-3
times a week. If you look on my web site, you'll see a swarm
of them crawling over an algae wafer:
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/freshwaterreef.html
>
For the time being I have left them to munch on the various algae
in the tank and clean up the blood worms that the
frogs and snails don't finish. If I added more shrimp would
there be enough leftovers to support a larger colony? Perhaps I
should be supplementing with something else?
<Yes.>
Have a lovely day,
Diana
<You too. Cheers, Neale.>
My Amano? 4/15/10
Hi Neale,
<Diana,>
This is my Amano, King Kong (named by my daughter). Perhaps he is
actually something else as he is quite large compared to the
cherries.
<Indeed he is a big chap. But no, he's a standard issue
Amano shrimp, so far as I can tell.>
Cheers,
Diana
<Cheers, Neale.>
|
|
Re: My Amano? 4/15/10
Dear Neale,
<Diana,>
Thank you again for all of you invaluable information and
support. I am truly enjoying my new found hobby and am especially
optimistic now that I have given up fighting to keep fish in a
tank that is too small!
<Very good.>
My shrimp and frogs are wonderfully fulfilling and infinitely
easier to keep happy.
<A good result all around>
You offer a terrific service (that I may have at times I fear
taken advantage of) and are truly offering a much needed
service!
<I'm glad were able to help.>
I am grateful for your patience, honest opinion and guidance.
<You are most welcome.>
Okay - off to get algae wafers!!
<Good oh.>
Have a great day,
D
<Likewise. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: My Amano? 4/15/10
Hi Neale,
<Diana,>
Last question of the day. <<...>> Water parameters in
my 5.5 gal tank are the following (water treated with
dechlorinator only, 5 drops Excel CO2 and a liquid plant food
added daily):
PH 7.4
KH 9
GH 6
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0
Temp 77ish
<All sounds fine, though do be aware the shrimps don't
like water very much warmer than this, so watch them during
summer.>
I am now feeding with the recommended algae wafers and adding 1
drop of iodide every 2-3 weeks for the shrimp (since I have it,
might as well use it right?)
<Yep.>
Does that look like suitable conditions for my 8 shrimp and 2
ADFs?
<Yes.>
Have a lovely evening (or morning - depending on when you get
this)
<About 10:23 British Summer Time!>
Cheerio,
D
|
Caridina japonica larvae, & SW phytoplankton
culture 4/2/10
Hello folks,
<Janet>
Two of my Amano shrimp are currently releasing their eggs. I believe
this started last evening. They are in a 5 gallon hatching tank. I have
done my homework and am prepared to do the introduction of salt water,
etc, when the time is right.
<Okay>
My question has to do with my phytoplankton culture. I just started
this culture at 5:30 pm last night (3/31).
<Started? What species...?>
I anticipated that hatching of the larvae would start sometime within
the next week. This is my first time working with the Amano larvae and
this is also my first time doing a phytoplankton culture. I understand
that the phyto culture is most potent at around 10 days.
<Depends on species, temperature, water quality, lighting... but
about this time frame, yes>
Here's the question: When it's time to feed the larvae - in
about 3 or 4 days - can I add the culture even though it's only
going to be a few days old?
<Yes>
Is there enough nutritional value in this or should I plan on trying
another type of food? What might you recommend?
<Boosting the phytoplankton growth rate by raising temp., increasing
light intensity and duration. I would look into, buy a concentrated
live culture for back up... A multiple species mix... there are quite a
few nowadays.
DT's is a good line>
Thank you so much for your advice. All of you inspire me to keep
learning.
Janet
<Please do keep good notes and relate your experience back to us.
Bob Fenner>
Amano shrimp larvae 3/20/10
Good afternoon folks,
<Hello Janet,>
I will be trying my hand at raising Cardina japonica (Amano shrimp)
larvae.
<Good luck with that. This is not often managed by home
aquarists.>
I have 2 females ready to hatch. After the zoes hatch in the hatching
tank, I will remove the mommies back to the main tank. I understand
that the zoes are very tiny
<Yes, and planktonic.>
and that they can sometimes die if they get caught up in the surface
tension of the water.
<Hard to imagine this is a major source of mortality.>
Obviously I am not using a power filter in their tank.
<Correct. At most, a sponge filter would be used. But honestly,
I'd be using a non-filtered tank receiving direct sunlight so that
plants and algae would filter the water. An airstone might be used to
keep a little current going on.>
My question is: Should I use a sponge filter on low bubbles or no
filter?
<See above. The larvae are planktonic, so anything that
"sucks" is going to cause problems.>
I plan on introducing a phytoplankton culture and brackish water to
their tank at about day 4 after hatching.
<Cool. Do keep a note on what you do. The reality is that
there's no established protocol for breeding this species, so in
all likelihood you'll be repeating the process multiple times
slightly altering the process each time until you find a route that
works for you. For example, fully marine conditions seem to be required
rather than brackish, and that's going to limit your options in
terms of plants in the tank, so more likely you're going to need
one tank for the adults, and another (marine) tank into which you
acclimate the larvae, ensuring that this new tank has plenty of
established marine algae (planktonic ideally, but some on the rocks and
whatnot would be helpful for once the larvae metamorphose). Marine
plankton can be purchased online if required, with several types being
widely used
in labs.>
Could you advise me on the filter situation and my plan?
<See above.>
Thanks so much for your advice.
Janet
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Male platy with what looks like cotton mouth plus 2 ADFs
who are turning white. Now Shrimp
3/18/10
Hi Neale,
<Diana,>
You have peaked my curiosity with your mention of
shrimp! Once I get the frogs situated in their newly
cycled and redecorated permanent 5 gallon home I would love to add some
shrimp. I have searched around on WWM to find more info about them and
am fascinated by all there is to learn.
<They're very easy to care for. Almost "just add
water" kind of animals, save in one regard: copper-based
medications will kill them very quickly.
Otherwise they're tolerant of a broad range of water chemistry
conditions, including slightly brackish, and will happily multiply
given a mature aquarium with plenty of algae and detritus for the baby
shrimps to nibble on. Curiously, the females are the bright red ones,
rather than the males, who are more transparent.>
It is mentioned more than once that the tank should be supplemented
with iodine in addition to the liquid CO2 and plant food that I
currently add on a daily basis. Will this be okay for my two ADFs?
<Should be fine.>
Also, my frogs are about 2 inches long - will they eat tiny shrimp?
<The baby ones, quite possibly. But interestingly enough, the
shrimps seem to manage to hold their own if you start off with enough
females to crank out more shrimplets than the frogs can find. Mostly
the baby shrimps hide inside filters and under plants, so they're
pretty good at avoiding trouble. After 3 or 4 months, you'll find
young shrimps here and there.
It's pretty neat. I'd recommend starting off with at least 6,
four females and two males. Note than NOT all shrimps well breed in
aquaria. Cherry Shrimps (Neocaridina heteropoda) will, while Amano
Shrimps (Caridina multidentata) won't, or rather can't, because
while they spawn and produce eggs in freshwater, the shrimplets have to
drift down to the sea to develop completely. So if you want to breed
shrimps, and see a bunch of species on sale, make a note of the species
names and spend a little time researching them just to make sure they
can breed under aquarium conditions.>
Will the shrimp eat the leftover blood worms from the frogs breakfast
or are they strictly veggies?
<Oh, they're omnivorous and will happily eat all sorts of
things. They're superb "scavengers" in the sense of
eating leftover fish food without adding substantially to the loading
on the filter.>
My 5 gal is cycling along nicely. Clean, clear water with perfect
chemistry. Feels like a fresh start. If everything continues to look
this good next week I will likely move the frogs shortly after.
<Great!>
Thanks and have a great day!
D
<You too.>
PS - Sabrina at WWM refers to Justin at Ocean Aquarium and the amazing
health of his shrimp. I purchased my 2 frogs from Justin. He and his
wife are lovely!
<That's good to hear. Cheers, Neale.> <<Sab took me to
visit their shop in San Fran... Fantastic... crazy, bad location, but a
plethora/adventure for petfish-philes. BobF>>
Betta... sys., comp.
3/17/10
I have a Siamese fighting fish in a little 14 litre bowl.
<Yikes! How are you heating such a small bowl? Bettas are tropical
fish and soon die kept at room temperature, even with a light on top of
the bowl.>
I'm looking into getting another tank most likely a 75-80
litre.
<Very good.>
I want to know what sort of fish I can put in with him.
<Not much. Bettas don't make good companions for other tropical
fish.>
He seems fairly placid, doesn't really flair up at other fish that
are in other tanks near him.
<Not really the issue. It's more the reverse. Fancy Bettas are
deformed fish by the standards of Mother Nature's handiwork, and
compared to the wild Bettas, they can barely swim. They also drag
around these great long
fins that are so delicious to nibble on that even things like Neons,
otherwise non-nippy fish, can't help but have a go!>
I heard you can put in tetras, sometimes guppies, Rasboras, Danios,
Corydoras etc. How many of each can I put into a 75-80 L aquarium? I
want to get the best variety I can of fish and colour.
<I'd think very, very carefully about this. The best companions
for Bettas aren't fish at all, but things like Cherry Shrimps and
African Dwarf Frogs.
A 37-litre (10 US gal.) system set up for a Betta, some shrimps and
some frogs can be wonderful and not too expensive.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_5/volume_5_3/stocking.htm
If you must choose fish, select species that stay close to the
substrate and aren't likely to become nippy. Dwarf Corydoras (e.g.,
Corydoras hastatus) are ideal tankmates, and so too are Kuhli Loaches.
Tetras (including Neons) and Danios should be avoided because far too
often they end up harassing the Betta. White Cloud Mountain Minnows and
Dwarf Rasboras (Boraras spp.) are not so likely to nip at the Betta,
especially if the tank is spacious and nicely planted, so the Betta and
the Minnows/Rasboras can avoid one another. But that's about it. As
any experienced Betta will tell you, the males are best kept alone, and
if you want a community tank DON'T BUY A BETTA!>
Thanks
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Betta, sys., shrimp comp. 3/19/10
Thanks for the response Neale.
<My pleasure.>
:S I've never had fish before and I was told that they prefer
tropical water but they can do OK in cold water.
<Might be told that -- but it's rubbish.>
I've had him for nearly a year and he's been fine, nice colours
and very active but I was going to transfer him to a heated tank.
<Good. The sooner the better. Like any animal, Bettas can put up
with a certain amount of abuse, and if you're lucky, they may well
survive for long enough for you to realise your mistakes and put things
right. If your home is reasonably warm, then the fish might be just
warm enough that its immune system hasn't been totally shot to
pieces. But still, when we say "tropical fish" we mean fish
from the tropics, as opposed to "coldwater fish" which are
those fish that do well at room temperature. As it happens, the Betta
has a close relative called the Paradisefish (Macropodus opercularis)
that does fine at room temperature. It's a beautiful fish, but a
bit bigger and a total thug sometimes, and consequently it isn't
much kept these days.>
I was looking into a few ghost shrimp but unfortunately I don't
think I can get them in the area I'm from, Melbourne Australia, at
least I haven't seen them anywhere.
<No great loss. Do ask around for Cherry Shrimps. These breed
readily, so once someone gets the hang of keeping them, their offspring
will be easily available via fish clubs and the like.>
I've only ever seen Yabbies or some sort of crab but they have
pincers so I thought the may not be a good idea for my Betta.
<I'll say! While Yabbies (Crayfish) are primarily herbivores in
the wild, they can, will eat anything they can catch.>
Dwarf Corys, minnows and Boraras sound good. If I wanted all 3 with my
Betta, how many of each can I keep?
<Corydoras are schooling fish, so keep 6-8 specimens in a 10
gallon/45 litre tank alongside your Betta. Likewise, adding half a
dozen Boraras brigittae for example wouldn't add substantially to
the filter load provided you were using a decent air-powered sponge
filter or an undergravel filter. I wouldn't use anything with an
electric pump with
Bettas.>
Cheers
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Betta
Yayyy I can get Cherry shrimp
Just wondering how many shrimp I should keep in the 75L tank with those
fish?
Much appreciated :)
<These shrimps are gregarious, so I'd get half a dozen, at
least. The males are smaller and semi-transparent, while mature females
are solid red.
Obviously you'll want both if you're going to breed them.
Cheers, Neale.>
Amano Shrimp compatibility 2/18/10
Hello
<Hello,>
I'm able to find compatibility charts for freshwater fish and
inverts, but not combined. Hoping you can give some advice as
you've helped me a few years ago...
<OK.>
I have two established tanks, both planted. One 55g and one 29g. Today
I purchased 8 Amano shrimp and put them all into my 29gallon guppy
tank, but I really want (and need) them in my larger tank, My problem
is, I suspect
almost everything in there could be considered a shrimp threat.
I have:
1 angel
<Will eat small shrimps.>
1 Gourami
2 clown loaches
<Shrimps is food!>
1 Chinese algae eater
1 angelicus catfish (4-5")
<Is this Synodontis angelicus or Pimelodus pictus?
Either way, yes, will eat shrimps. Synodontis angelicus, like all
Synos, will eat snails, shrimps and any shelled invertebrates;
Pimelodus pictus will eat small shrimps as well as small fish.>
1 guppy
<A nervous Guppy at that!>
My shrimp are considered large at about 1 to 1.5", but the fish in
this larger tank are all two to three years old, so mostly medium size.
From what I've read, it seems I'd have to move the loaches, and
I'm willing to move them to the guppy tank, but what about the
others? Also, if these larger fish do pose a threat to the shrimp,
would they be o.k. with sufficient hiding places, and would they be
worth a darn as scavengers and cleaners if they perceive threats in the
tank?
<They will hunt down and exterminate the shrimps in no time.
Pointless. The only shrimp that would work would be a large
Macrobrachium species, but these are in turn predatory and quite
aggressive animals, and a bit delicate too, so hardly easy
pets.>
Thank you...
Paul
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Amano Shrimp compatibility ��
02/19/10
Thanks Neale,
<You're welcome.>
I was afraid of that.
<Oh.>
Yup, my beautiful catfish is Synodontis.
<Crunch, crunch -- this genus is a specialist invertebrate/algae
eater.>
And my guppy is just fine...haha, been in there for over a year.
<Obviously smart and fast.>
Thanks, but I won't try other shrimp as the Amanos are supposed to
be the best consumers of black beard algae.
<Questionable at best. Nothing really eats Rhodophyta once in
place.
Nerites are perhaps the best invertebrates for grazing flat surfaces
and keeping them clear of algae, and shrimps do peck away at plant
leaves, but neither roll back existing algae problems. Have a read
here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_3/fwalgae.html
>
I'll move the fish.
<Cheers, Neale.>
Shrimp and cardinal tetras 12/6/09
Dear aqua experts,
<Hello Janet,>
I have only found conflicting advice in trying to find the answer to my
question, so I come to you to get my answer. I have 2 established
freshwater tanks. The 10 gallon houses 14 red cherry and Amano shrimp
as well as 10 zebra danios that are about 6 weeks old and growing.
<Very good.>
The 20 gallon houses 3 zebra danios and 6 cardinal tetras.
<I'd up the number of Cardinals if you could. I'd also make
the observation that Danios prefer cooler water to the Cardinals, so
one or other group of fish isn't going to be completely happy.
25-26 C would be about the best
compromise, but even then, not ideal.>
I would like to move the danio juveniles into the 20 gallon with their
parents and have a danio-only tank.
<Very wise. Danios like things on the cool side, around 22-24
C.>
I would like to move the cardinals into the shrimp tank.
<Okay.>
Both tanks are planted, the 10 gallon heavily. I'm sure (?) the
shrimp are very happy in their current tank with only some baby danios
to keep them company. Can I add the cardinals to the shrimp tank (after
I move the baby
danios) without the shrimp becoming reclusive, boring, anxious and
eaten?
<Yes; Cardinals pose minimal threat to the Shrimps, even Cherry
Shrimps, and the two species will coexist nicely. Since Amano shrimps
like things a little on the cool side, they're ideally kept with
Danios rather than Cardinals.>
Thank you all knowing ones.
Janet
<Cheers, Neale.>
Plant Supplements and Shrimp - 04/04/2005 I've been using
Kent Freshwater Plant Supplement in my 5.5 gallon aquarium and recently
bought a few algae eating shrimp (I believe they're the Amano
something type). <Likely Caridina japonica, "the"
algae-eating or "Amano" shrimp.> I noticed that this
supplement contains (min) .00001% copper as well as .24% chelated iron.
I've been using a little lower dosage, just in case, but I was
wondering if these metals would adversely affect my shrimp...
<Having wondered the same thing myself, and having used similar
supplements on my planted tanks with shrimp, I feel safe in saying that
I really doubt that the supplement you are using, at or below the
recommended dosage, will cause the shrimp any harm. I think your shrimp
ought to be just fine.> ...and would the use of iodine supplements
improve the situation? <YES! Oh, yes. Absolutely, yes. I use
Kent Marine iodine at a rate of ONE DROP per TEN GALLONS every week.
For your little tank, you could do one drop every two weeks. DO NOT use
the marine dose printed on the bottle.> Oh! I was also planning on
putting some Triops in there (although I don't know if you folks
know a lot about them) <I sure do! I *love* Triops!> and was
wondering whether they would eat the shrimp, the shrimp being about 1.5
or 2 inches long. <.... I don't think they would. I
certainly can't guarantee anything, but I don't think they
would. You might try getting a couple of el-cheapo shrimp (like ghost
shrimp, often sold as feeders) and put those in with the Triops - if
the Triops don't eat them, the japonicas should be safe. I've
always wanted to put Triops in one of my tanks; I just need to hatch a
few more. Awesome little boogers, aren't they??> Thanks a bunch
for your help! <You bet. I have great interest in hearing how things
go with the Triops. Please do let us know how it works out, and how
well they do in the tank! Thanks, and good luck! Wishing you and your
adorable inverts well, -Sabrina>
Missing Shrimp I am the proud owner of a new 20 gallon
freshwater aquarium. I have had it up and running for about 2.5 weeks
with two scissortail Rasboras, and it is now completely cycled. The
ammonia is 0, as is the nitrite level, and the ph is somewhere around
7.8. After weeks of anticipation, I went out today and bought two
Gouramis that fade from orange to silver, three cherry barbs, a false
Cory, and two japonica shrimp. If you haven't heard of them they
were about an inch long, and looked like ghost shrimp (the store said
they cost more for their "algae eating abilities").
When I returned home I excitedly acclimated them and then released them
into my aquarium, I came back about an hour later, and the shrimp were
gone, I had heard somewhere that some shrimp burrow and I was hopeful,
but it is now the evening and there is still no sign of them. Were they
eaten by the Rasboras (2.5") I hope not. I was also wondering if
you have any suggestions for a peaceful community fish that is blue or
green, I feel like there is so much red in my aquarium. And one last
question, I also have a ten gallon aquarium with a golden mystery
snail, one albino Cory, I adult male guppy and two adult females, 5
juveniles, and about fifteen on week olds. What should I do to relive
my overpopulated tank, my nitrite and ammonia levels are zero but I
can't help but feel that they are crowded. Thanks for having such a
great site, Steven <First, keep testing for ammonia and nitrite. Two
and a half weeks seems a little quick to establish good strong bio
filtration. And you stocked a little quickly. The new fish add to the
amount of ammonia that needs to be filtered by the bacteria in your
filter. The colony will need time to grow and adjust. Do water changes
to correct any spikes. When ammonia and nitrite stay at zero AND
nitrates are on the rise, you are cycled. Not sure what happened to
your shrimp. They may be hiding in there somewhere. They may have been
eaten. Not sure what a "False Cory" is, but my catfish love
shrimp. You may also want to check in your filter. Don>
Japanese Swamp Shrimp (Caridina japonica) Compatibility - II
Hi Bob, Many thanks for your advice. After doing some internet
research, I very much like Opaline Gouramis. I've called several
tropical fish stores in the Pasadena/greater LA area. None seem to have
either Opaline Gouramis or Amano shrimp. Considering I'm in the
second biggest city in the US, there have to be some good LFSs. Do you
have any recommendations in this area? Thanks, Catherine <Mmm,
I'd let my "fingers do the walking"... Try your search
tools: with the string: tropical fish stores in Los Angeles, and call
the folks nearer you re. Bob Fenner>
Lookin' To Talk About Shrimp - 04/19/2005 Dear Bob,
<Actually, Sabrina here, at your request> My name John from
Indonesia. <Nice to hear from you, John, thanks for writing in!>
I am really interested in fresh water shrimp. <Me, too - obsessed,
nearly!> Algae eater. <Referring to Caridina japonica,
"the" algae-eating or "Amano" shrimp?> I need to
talk to Sabrina (maybe). And I would like to join the discussion with
Sabrina. Can I know how to start. <Well, here I am! You can also
find me on the WetWebMedia forum, at http://www.wetwebfotos.com/talk -
my username is "Vintage_Fish" if you wish to correspond in
that manner. I'm also including the other question you sent with
this one....> I would like to get some importers of algae eater
freshwater shrimps. Can you help to recommend me few names of good
importers in USA or Japan? <.... I know one fellah that brings in
some VERY interesting African imports, including the most wonderful and
impressive Atya gabonensis (a large, filter-feeding blue/black or
grayish shrimp, with orange colored juveniles).... You can find his
information and stock list at http://www.rehobothaquatics.com.
I imagine, since you're looking specifically for algae-eating
Caridina japonica, you might want to try to find a contact in Japan, as
that's where the species comes from. Unfortunately, I do not
personally know of anyone for you to contact. Perhaps Bob or someone
else might chime in here with some ideas for you. Please also be aware
that C. japonica is NOT the ONLY species of freshwater shrimp that eats
algae; there are actually quite a number of very different and
beautiful species that are algae eaters. You might enjoy browsing
through this website: http://www.wirbellose.de/arten.html#Garnelen.
The website is all in German, but you can at least click on the
different species names and see what they look like. Many/most of the
Caridina and Neocaridina species are algae eaters.> Thanks, John W.
<Wishing you well in your shrimp hunt, -Sabrina>
More Shrimp Talk - II - 04/20/2005 Dear Sabrina, <Hi,
John! Good to hear from you again.> I attached the 2 pictures of
shrimps and please confirm the names. I think no. 1 is Caridina
<Likely a Caridina or Neocaridina, other possibilities as
well....> and the 2 is Atya. <Either an Atya or an Atyopsis, I
would *guess*, but it would help to see the animal from the side, in
the water. I assume this IS a filter feeder, yes? More likely an
Atyopsis species, in your area.... but it doesn't quite resemble A.
moluccensis; I'm very interested in seeing more photos of this
shrimp - Atya and Atyopsis are my to favorite genera.> Is that
right? <An excellent starting point, at the least! I urge you to
email the folks at the link that I gave you yesterday, and see if they
can give you definitive species ID for both of these.> We wild
caught them. Do you know where is the biggest market for those shrimps?
<Seems to me the best market for any freshwater shrimp is in Europe.
Also, if you try to market them in the US, please let me know - I am
very interested in taking a look at that Atyopsis (?) firsthand.> I
will send you more shrimp pictures. <Please do! But a word of
caution - our crew inbox is somewhat limited in size, so please
don't send too many at once. Just a couple at a time, and wait for
my reply before you send more. These two are great photos, I'm
eager to see more!> They are amazing, we get the size even what I
call mono because they are seems weird small. <I very much look
forward to further correspondence.> Thanks, John <And thank you
as well! -Sabrina>
More Shrimp Talk - III - 04/20/2005 Hi, John! I just wanted
to clarify, since I sent you two links yesterday, the German website is
the one to email for better identification. Here's the link again,
just in case: http://www.wirbellose.de/arten.html#Garnelen.
Though the website is all in German, I believe there is at least one
fellah that, if you email them in English, should be able to help with
identification. -Sabrina
Algae Eater With Guppies - 10/17/2005 Hi, <Hello.> I
have a 36 gal tank with guppies and live plants. I have had some algae
growth on my plants and hoped you might suggest a good fish to add to
my tank that will eat algae on the plants but is safe to keep with
guppies and their fry. One of the people at the LFS I use a lot
suggested Otocinclus. <A very effective, but very sensitive
fish.> I've also read about using Plecos, but that they can
damage plants if they are large. <Ancistrus "bushynose"
Plecs are a good choice, and stay under 5" roughly.> The algae
on the plants appears to be mostly green hair algae. There is some on
the glass and a little on the substrate that appears to be more of a
green slime. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.
<You might consider shrimp of genus Caridina or Neocaridina.... the
"algae-eating" shrimp, Caridina japonica, and the
"cherry" shrimp, Neocaridina denticulata sinensis v. red, are
both readily available in the hobby now and excellent consumers of
algae. Not to mention cute!> Thanks, -Rob <Wishing you well,
-Sabrina>
Oh Golly Mollies, Salt, pH, etc. - 10/21/2005
Hello I am new to salty systems. I've always had freshwater
aquariums which I still run two. But I saw some Dalmatian Mollies and
had to get some. I have one male and three females. I do plan on adding
maybe two or three more mollies and an algae eater and that's all
this tank will have in it. I don't want to overcrowd them. I talked
to three different fish stores to set up my system to get it ready. (I
wish I had found this site first.) So I set up a 29 gallon tank with
one teaspoon of salt per 5 gallons of water. Should more salt be added?
<Nah. Especially not if you plan on an animal for consuming algae.
With salt in the water, I would recommend using Caridina japonica, the
"algae-eating" shrimp, as these fare well in slightly salty
conditions.> I have an Aqua Tech 20-40 power filter at a flow rate
of 160 Gph with bio fiber. Is this ok or would a bio wheel be better?
<Mm, whatever you prefer. If you've already got the Aqua Tech, I
see no reason to buy something different.> All the stores said a pH
of 7.2 was right; mine's between 7.4 and 7.8. <This is fine -
BUT - please don't let it be *fluctuating* between these.... far
too much fluctuation between 7.4 and 7.8 to be safe. A steady pH is
pretty important.> The temp is at 80 degrees. I see on you're
site you recommend a high pH so should I get some crushed coral sand to
raise it, or is it okay at the level I have? <Constant, steady pH is
better than precise pH. You'll be fine with what you've got, I
think.> Also I do test the water with strips but this just shows a
range of where it should be. So should I get a better testing kit if so
what do you recommend? <I would. Look for a quality liquid-reagent
test kit.... Kordon makes 'em, so does Aquarium Pharmaceuticals....
You'll need pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate most essentially.>
Thank you for your time. -David <Wishing you well,
-Sabrina>
Fish, Shrimp, and Thanks Our fish would like to say thank you
to the WetWebMedia crew. (tank you, tanks, tanka) <To you and your
fish - you're very welcome! Please forgive the delay in
response; I've been having computer issues, but it looks to be all
sorted out now.> We have had a lot of fun with our new freshwater
tank and several learning experiences. Our first fish was a "Betta
in a bowl" purchased by my two eldest, they saved their
allowance to do this and we ended up with two new family members,
Blootie a Betta, and Pickles, an African frog. A few months later we
knew we wanted an actual aquarium so we soon had Blootie and Pickles
housed in a ten gallon with five neon tetras, several plants, free
snails which appeared out of nowhere and every thing was fine; we do a
20% water change weekly and add some aquarium salt and dechlorinator.
<Sounds like great fun! Please remember, when you add
salt, only add enough to compensate for water you *remove*, not water
that has evaporated, as salt does not evaporate.> Our tank is held
at 78F and we have several plants which we prune every two weeks, we
run a Whisper filter with activated carbon, every other week we switch
the carbon for Ammocarb, though I am not sure it does anything,
<Only the carbon is needed; test your water regularly for ammonia,
with your water change/maintenance scheme, I doubt you see a trace of
it.> we have a shallow smooth gravel substrate. We feed a mixture of
flakes, bloodworms, brine shrimp and a pea every night about an hour
before lights out. <Mmmmm, yummy!> Our first problems started
when we obtained two new fishes, Odie and Sink
(Otocinclus). The primary pea consumer was Blootie but after
Sink and Odie arrived things changed. Sink metamorphosed into a new
fish we called Stink. He chased everybody, the tetras, the frog, the
Betta and especially Odie, Odie lived in perpetual fear, Stink would
charge the full length of the aquarium to get him.
<WOW. That does *not* sound like normal Oto
behaviour! Please check out the following links, perhaps you
have something different.... First, on Otos: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/otocinclusart.htm on
SAEs (and non-SAEs): http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/saes.htm
> Stink actually latched on to Blootie a couple of times leaving a
white mark which has now cleared up. <Yikes....> Stink may have
been starving when he arrived but that passed, he turned into a very
messy fish and was getting visibly fatter and meaner.
<He's sounding an awful lot like a "Flying Fox" or
"Chinese Algae Eater" at this
point.... notoriously mean buggars.> Pretty soon
everybody started hanging out somewhere safe from the seriously
deranged Stink and this caused problems, nobody was eating the pea, our
water started to get cloudy and green algae started to grow on our
floating plant. The tetras which previously tested every floating speck
to see if it might be food, stopped doing that and spent their time up
high, avoiding Sink. Blootie stayed at the top of the tank, ready to
run, Stink couldn't eat all the food but he was determined to try.
We finally decided Stink had to go and things are back to normal. Our
water is clear again, nobody is chasing anyone and everyone seems
happy. (We gave Stink to an unsuspecting local fish store, not telling
them he was an insane fish.) <*Laugh!*> I have been
reading the freshwater links (I have actually been reading everything I
can on your site as time allows) and my question has to do with adding
a crustacean of some sort. We really do not want a repeat of the Stink
trials and we really would like to add a shrimp or something. Given our
current happy tank is there anything we could add that would probably
be happy. <Stick with shrimps of the genera Caridina and/or
Neocaridina; these primarily algae-eating lovelies include
"the" algae-eating (aka "Amano") shrimp (Caridina
japonica), cherry shrimp (Neocaridina denticulata), bumblebee shrimp
(Neocaridina sp.), red-fronted or "Rudolph" shrimp (er, I
think a Neocaridina species....), red-tailed tiger shrimp (another
Neocaridina), to name a few that are occasionally available in the
US. Ghost shrimp would be a safe addition, as well (and
cheap, to boot - and commonly available). Filter feeding
shrimp, such as Singapore/bamboo/flower shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis)
are commonly available, and also perfectly safe to add to your tank;
this last would probably be the most "fun", as they are
large, diurnal, and uber-cool. Stay away from
"big-arm" shrimp of the genus Macrobrachium; these are nearly
all carnivores that will prey upon your fish. Same goes for
crabs, they'll eat anything that holds still long enough - and some
things that don't.> I have read about the shrimps in the
freshwater shrimp section <Currently and unfortunately very lacking
in information - I intend to rectify that with an article or two as
soon as I dig up some time, I promise!> but I am still not satisfied
that I won't get it wrong. <One important point - please dose
the tank with iodine if you get shrimp. This is easy and
cheap. Get a bottle of Kent Marine Iodine from your fish
store (geared for saltwater tanks). Ignore the directions on
the bottle completely, as your freshwater shrimp have nowhere *near*
the iodine needs of a saltwater tank - add only one drop of the iodine
once every week (use a pipette or a medicine dropper from the
pharmacy). Doesn't sound like much, but it makes all the
difference in the world.> In addition to adding a shrimp to our ten
gallon, we intend to get another ten gallon aquarium and move the frog
(Pickles) in with two fire newts, for which my oldest boy is saving his
pennies, is this going to work ? <Oh, wow, I have absolutely no
idea.... I'll pass this along to Gage for his input;
hopefully he'll be able to help you on that one better than I
can.> Thank You <You bet! Wishing you and your
critters well, -Sabrina>
Water Needs of FW Shrimp - 03/15/2004 Hello, Thank you for a
wonderful website!! It gave me a lot of good tips and
answers to questions concerning tapwater I had. <Glad to hear it,
and thank you for the kind words.> I have been using P.A.T. by Aqua
Craft, Full Spectrum Multipurpose Water Conditioner for water changes,
now I'm not so sure that that alone is enough. <I must say,
I'm not familiar with these products; I'm assuming we're in
geographically different places?> I had a problem with slimy black
algae last year and the pet store told me that came in our tapwater??
<Uh, not *quite*. The algae didn't "come
in" your tapwater, but was probably there due to the presence of
nutrients that it could feed off.> I live in Northern Washington.
<Ah, bet it's nice and cool, there! It's already
like summer here in sunny silicon valley. I'm
envious.> I purchased 6 algae eating shrimp a day ago (about 1inch
long, transparent) and they seemed quite happy roaming around the tank
and on the glass eating. <Truly wonderful critters. I
recommend dosing the tank with iodine - I use Kent marine iodine, at a
rate of one drop per ten gallons weekly (NOT the marine dose).> This
morning they were all hovering around the top (plastic knob) of the
aquarium heater. The aquarium temperature is 78. Is that to cold for
them? <Not at all, this sounds fine. Out of curiosity, do
the shrimp have sort of a "cloudy" look to
them? Healthy shrimp, even opaquely colored ones, can be
discerned from unhealthy ones by an almost "clear" quality to
their color.> I have a 46gallon tank with 6 cardinals, 6 gold
tetras, 2 Otocinclus. Would it be safe to add 4hatchet fish, or would
that be overcrowding? <Sounds like an excellent addition to your
tank. You have room in your tank, plenty and to
spare. Do please be sure to employ a quarantine tank,
hatchets are notorious for bringing in ich. I'd
recommend getting six or so, though, as they're happier in groups,
like the tetras.> That's a lot of questions...hope you can help
me. <Hope so, too! Everything sounds good, to
me. The only thing to be very concerned of with the shrimps
is metals like copper in the water. Look for that
"clear" quality in your shrimps as a telltale sign of good
health.> Eliza <Wishing you well, -Sabrina>
Water Needs of FW Shrimp - II - 03/21/2004 Sabrina, Thank you
for you quick reply and the tip about adding iodine to keep my shrimp
healthy. <Yes, a very important issue, I'm glad to have been
able to help.> They are doing an amazing job of cleaning the tank!
<Wonderful critters, eh?> They are so opaque that I have trouble
locating all six of them at one time. <Er, do you mean
clear? Or really mean not-see-thru? Basically,
clear = good, cloudy = bad, and both qualities can be observed on
shrimp that are an opaque color (like wood shrimp, cherry shrimp,
etc.). Now that I re-read my previous message, I realize how
er, "unclear" my wording was - sorry about that.> Will
they eat fish food when they run out of algae? <Yes. I
would try to offer them foods high in veggie content, perhaps something
like Ocean Nutrition's frozen "Formula Two", or things
like blanched zucchini, cucumber, etc.> Eliza <Thanks for writing
in, Eliza. Wishing you well, -Sabrina>
Shades of Uwe Werner! Sabrina, hope
you're all recovered... <Yes, much! Thank you. Nothin' a
little Gatorade couldn't fix.> pls take a peek at the
attached pix. This was the FW shrimp I mentioned at IZOO... about
an inch long. <Attractive little beastie.> Any idea as to
species? <But for the reddish cast, I would almost think just
plain ol' C. japonica; my bigger ones in a brightly lit tank
have taken on that nice coppery cast to their backs, quite
different from the small guys - but the red and patterning on the
sides.... no, I think perhaps this is your fellah:
http://www.wirbellose.de/arten.cgi?action=show&artNo=094
("Redbacked dwarf shrimp") Or perhaps this guy:
http://www.wirbellose.de/arten.cgi?action=show&artNo=117
("Red dwarf") I would lean more toward the first of those
two, though. Unfortunately, no species name for either, but
hopefully an idea as to what they are. Very nice. -Sabrina> Bob
F <Do agree with your analysis. Thank you. Bob F> |
|
Shrimp. It's What's For Dinner. -
07/13/2004 Hi, <Hi, Tim, Sabrina here, this evening'!> I
have bought a number of freshwater shrimp (japonica) to help control
hair algae. However, they apparently are being consumed by
someone in the tank. <What leads you to believe
this? Are you missing shrimp, or have you found shells
and/or dead shrimp?> I have a long-standing 30-gallon tank with 10
golden white clouds, 5 green neon tetras, 3 marble hatchets, 3 Kuhli
(sp?) loaches, 1 spotted Cory cat and 1 stick catfish.
<By stick catfish, do you mean a Farlowella/Sturisoma cat, or
something else? I don't see anything in this list that
looks like a shrimp eater, provided that cat is in fact a Farlowella or
Sturisoma....> Any idea who the shrimp eating culprits might be?
<No clue whatsoever. None of the above animals seem like
something I'd think twice about.... I have a large
Sturisoma aureum in with my japonicas, and haven't seen any
problems.... Also, how big are your shrimp? And
are you *positive* they're being eaten?> Thanks, Tim
<Wishing you well, -Sabrina>
Shrimp. It's What's For Dinner. - II -
07/14/2004 Hi, Sabrina, <Hi, Tim! Glad to hear back
from you.> I've bought maybe 18 shrimp over the last six months
- four in the last couple of weeks. I saw 2 yesterday (none now but
they could be hiding in the plants - Amazon Swords).
<They are a good critter at hiding.> Their size is maybe 1/2 to
3/4 inch. <Pretty small, but even still, I don't see
how any of those tankmates could be at fault.> Yes, I've seen
some shells, which I expect are molting, and occasionally I see what
appears to be the meaty portion of a shrimp body on the floor of the
tank. <Some things to consider, here. Do you dose the
tank with iodine? And have you ever, in the life of the
tank/substrate/decor, used ANY medication containing
copper? AquariSol, Cupramine, and CopperSafe are just a
few.> My "stick catfish" is a Farlowella (according to the
pictures). <A very cool fish. I would not
expect this animal to go after shrimp, at all.> Still stumped, but
thanks for your thoughts. Tim <My best guess is that the
shrimp are dying for reasons other than predation - first and foremost,
I'm thinking a lack of iodine. I used to lose a few
ghost shrimp a month before I began using iodine in my shrimp tanks;
now, not only am I not losing any, but everyone's
breeding. I use Kent Marine Concentrated Iodine, marketed
for reef tanks, at a rate of one drop per ten gallons every week - NOT
the marine dose! The other idea I can come up with for your
losses is toxicity of the water; copper naturally comes to mind,
possibly ammonia or nitrite.... Do be testing. I
hope we can get to the bottom of this! Wishing you and your
inverts well, -Sabrina
Furry Shrimp? - 09/10/2004 Hi all, I have a
question for Sabrina, the shrimp-obsessed! <Wayhay, thass
me!> Actually anyone will be just fine :) I have some Japonica
shrimp in my 25G freshwater tank. I have had them for about 4 months.
Well I noticed that on one of them the rear legs (all the small ones)
have what looks like fur, thick, fluffy stuff (for want of a better
word) in between the legs. It's really hard to describe.
<And hard to envision, from the description.... Is this
"fur" on/among the swimmerets/pleopods (the legs used for
swimming, not walking), or on the walking legs?> It goes from the
body of the shrimp down to the end of the legs and its thick! It's
not on the front legs just those small multiple rear ones. <I
don't suppose you could provide a photograph.... ?> It looks
like a thick algae growth or something. <I *have* seen algal
growths on the backs of very large shrimps, like fully grown M.
rosenbergii, when kept in a poorly-cared-for tank, but never, ever seen
C. japonicas with algae on 'em; I doubt that's what it is.>
It's the same color as the shrimp kind of beige-y color.
<I'm supposing what you're seeing is, in fact, a normal
"hair" that grows on the pleopods - not really true
"hair" at all. Strikes me as though I've only seen such
"furriness" on larger japonicas.... I know my two biggest
exhibit this, and all my Atya and Atyopsis shrimp are so furry on their
undersides they make puppies look bald.> Anyone have any idea what
this could be? <Though admittedly, I don't know what the
hair is called off the top of my head (ouch, bad pun), I do believe
this is absolutely normal.... A pic would help immensely.> All my
water param.s are good, NH3, NO2 zero, NO3 about 5ppm. My other fish
and shrimp are fine. <Sounds good.> I'm really mystified. I
was hoping it was eggs but I found a picture of what a shrimp with eggs
looks like and they ain't eggs! <You'll know eggs when you
see 'em. But unless you're keeping your japonicas in brackish
water, no eggs from them will survive; the larvae would require quite a
bit of salt in the water to make it to adulthood. If you are interested
in breeding, though, there are a lot of species that will do so
successfully in a freshwater tank like yours!> Thank you for your
help and time as always. <And thank you for your interest and kind
words!> Maggie <Wishing you and your inverts well,
-Sabrina>
Little Eaters of Algae Hi! <Hello!> I have an Eclipse 6
aquarium. I have had it for 6 weeks....it is finally done
cycling....no ammonia an no more nitrites.
<Wonderful.> I have 4 platies and 1 Cory catfish. Is
it okay to purchase an algae eater....can you recommend something
small? <I can, indeed. But you'll find
I'm extremely biased, here - getting into my favorite subject,
an' all.... Your best bet all the way around is to look
for freshwater algae eating shrimps. These pleasant little
creatures come in pint-sized packages packing a punch to pulverize your
putrid algae problem - uh, sorry 'bout that.... Do try
to find cherry shrimp or bumblebee shrimp, as these seem to stay the
smallest and are avid attackers of algae. You could easily
keep half a dozen of either of these kind in your tank. If
you can't find those, next in line are 'the' algae shrimp,
or Amano shrimp, the well-known Caridina japonica. These get
significantly larger, so you'd probably only want two or three in
your tank. If you're lucky, you might find
'rainbow' shrimp in as contaminants with the
Amanos. These have a slightly more prominent 'hump'
in their back, though not much, and they have a few stripes running
perpendicular to the stripe down their back (the Amanos lack these
stripes, and the stripe running down their back is much
narrower). They also become neat colors as they age,
blue-green or red-brown, and they stay smaller than the Amanos, too,
though not as small as cherry shrimp or bumblebee
shrimp. And, failing shrimps altogether, you'd probably
be safe to get a single Otocinclus catfish. These tiny
little guys do a number on algae, but aren't nearly as fun as
shrimp (uh, in my obsessed mind, that is).> I don't have much
algae yet. <Good!! Though you might have to
feed your new algae-eating-critter on other veggie matter, too.> I
don't want to purchase a larger algae eater because of the size of
the tank. And the algae eater has to get along with catfish
and platies. Is the catfish good enough???
<Corys don't eat algae much to speak of (they also like to be in
groups of three or more, but in a small 6g tank, that's virtually
impossible). Whether you choose an Otocinclus or any of the
abovementioned shrimps, you'll be absolutely fine, in terms of
compatibility.> Also, with a tank this size.....should I
do a water change about every 3 weeks....like a 25% water change?
<Well, I'd do water changes closer to every week, but only on
the order of 10-15%. Less water, more often is usually the
best bet. Thanks! <Any time! -Sabrina, the
shrimp-obsessed>
Re: frog and fish compatibility, now
Shrimp Sel. 7/11/09
Neale, are there any types that you would recommend that are easy to
feed and maintain?
<Cherry Shrimps (Neocaridina heteropoda) are outstanding, being
colourful, active and willing to breed under aquarium conditions.
They're especially easy to sex, and starter colony of, say, four of
the big red females and two of the semi-transparent and rather smaller
males will quickly multiply in numbers. While some baby shrimps will be
eaten, with luck, you'll soon have dozens, and you can either
unwanted ones or give them away to other aquarists. Other Neocaridina
are available in all sorts of colours: orange, yellow, blue, green and
more! The smaller shrimps such as Bumblebee and Crystal Red Shrimps
tend to be too small to do well with community fish except the very
smallest types (such as Neons) while the bigger shrimps like long-arm
shrimps (Macrobrachium spp.) can be (often are) predatory and
territorial. Amano and other algae shrimps (Caridina spp.) are good
community residents, but they don't breed in captivity because they
produce planktonic larvae that need to develop in brackish or salt
water. Crayfish generally aren't a good idea, but the small Orange
Dwarf Crayfish from Mexico, Cambarellus patzcuarensis, is a very good
species that works well with non-aggressive tankmates. Like shrimps,
it's vulnerable during the moulting phase, but unlike shrimps, is
very sensitive to Iodine deficiency, so use a (marine aquarium) Iodine
supplement at about half dose for best results. Gets to about 5 cm in
length, so more like a robust shrimp than a traditional crayfish.
German aquarium manufacturer Sera produce a very readable booklet on
feeding and keeping crustaceans; download it here:
http://www.sera.de/index.php?id=701&L=1
Might give you some ideas! I have a windowsill tank devoted entirely to
shrimps and snails, and although a bit different to what people usually
think about, a "freshwater reef tank" of this sort can be a
lovely
challenge for the bored aquarist. In this case, there's just some
plants, a heater and a small filter; lighting is plain sunlight, and
the plants and algae grow wonderfully! Cheers,
Neale.>
Cherry Shrimp, guppy comp.
9/27/08 I was just wondering, would my guppies eat red cherry
shrimp? <No; have mixed Limia (closely related to Poecilia) with
Cherry shrimps and ended up with lots of babies of both.> Are red
cherry shrimp good cleaners? <Excellent; though as ever, it's
YOUR job to keep the tank clean. Do this my minimising what goes in
(i.e., don't overfeed) and maximising what comes out (i.e., via
water changes). Both Guppies and Cherry shrimps are primarily
algivores, so do provide them with a diet rich in greens.> Does
their exoskeleton shed a lot and does it make a big mess? <Yes they
shed their exoskeleton, but the shrimps eat them to recycle the
calcium. So usually not a problem.> thanks! -Sarah <Cheers,
Neale.>
Re: Cherry Shrimp 9/28/08 Hello Crew,
In addition to my other e-mail, I was wondering if the red cherry
shrimp would eat my baby guppies. all of the babies are between 2-4
months old. _thanks _Sarah_ <Sarah, please do read my e-mails
thoroughly: as stated, both baby guppies and baby shrimps will coexist
with parents of either species. You might lose or two, but not enough
to matter. Cheers, Neale.>
Cherry Shrimp Compatibility, w/
Corydoras 8/20/08 Hello, <Amanda> I hope
whichever of the crewmembers that gets this is having a good day. <I
hope we all are> I have a quick question. I am pretty sure I already
know the answer, but I read over the facts (both shrimp and Corydoras)
and just wanted some confirmation either way. I have the opportunity to
purchase some cherry shrimp (they aren't very common here). I am
very interested in getting some but only if I can house them safely.
The only tank I have which is suitable to their needs at the moment is
populated by 10 Corydoras (five C. aeneus and five C. sterbai). My gut
feeling is that the Corydoras might try to eat the cherry shrimp (on
the Corydoras section on WWM it is stated "Corydoras et al. are
more carnivorous than omnivores... eating mainly insect larvae, worms,
and crustaceans in the wild." If this is the case I will not get
them, but if you feel housing them together will be safe I'll pick
them up. Thank you Amanda <If this tank is large enough (let's
say 29 or more gallons), and there is sufficient habitat (rocks,
plants, wood...) these shrimp and Callichthyids should be fine
together. Bob Fenner>
Cherry shrimp with crystal red
striping? 2/16/08 Hi guys! You've helped
me in the past and was hoping you could help me now. I have a
genetic variation that has popped up in my cherry shrimp breeding
colony. I have had these shrimp for two years and have no crystal
red shrimp. A few weeks ago I noticed a female that I thought had a
white stripe due to molting. I got a good look at her last night.
This is sure enough what she looks like. I am thinking of giving
her her own 5 gallon and a few fellas and see if this mutation pops
up more frequently. Any thoughts or comments? Take care, Mary.
<Does looks like Neocaridina sp. "Red Crystal" as
opposed to Neocaridina denticulata sinensis "Red", but
since the latter is an artificial form, it's entirely possible
that genetic throwbacks might turn up occasionally. In any case, if
you like the shrimp, and are 100% sure that it isn't a specimen
of Neocaridina sp. "Red Crystal" that got in somehow, by
all means see if you can 'fix' the mutation through further
captive breeding. Cheers, Neale.> |
Nice. RMF
|
Neocaridina heteropoda compatibility
11/28/2007 Hello, I would like to keep some cherry fire
shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda) in my 55 gallon planted tank and
was wondering if they would be ok with my blue rams. I have also
heard of people keeping a dwarf puffer (Tetraodon travancorius)
with red cherry shrimp (Neocaridina denticulata sinensis)
successfully and was wondering if this was possible, and if so
would they be safe with the cherry fire shrimp. thanks CJ
<Greetings. The short answer is no and maybe. Rams require
very soft, very acidic, and very warm water. Neocaridina
heteropoda is a subtropical species that needs around neutral to
slightly alkaline, moderately hard water to do well. In very
acidic water these shrimps have problems developing their
exoskeletons. So basically there's no overlap between what
Mikrogeophagus ramirezi wants to survive any length of time
(28-30 degrees C, below 5 degrees general hardness, pH 5.5-6.0)
and what the shrimps need (18-20 C, ~10 degrees dH, pH 6-8). As
for mixing shrimps with Dwarf Puffers. Some have managed it. Some
have seen their shrimps turn into sushi. It's not like
Puffers don't eat little red shrimps, and certainly any baby
shrimps will be dinner. But if you want to give it a go,
that's a gamble only you can decide on. I personally
wouldn't. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: compatibility, FW shrimp
11/28/07 thank you, I don't plan on keeping puffers and
shrimp anytime soon so no worries there. But are there any shrimp
you would suggest to keep with tetras and rams for algae control
(no ghost shrimp please, bad experience with them eating all of
my fish). <Greetings. If Ghost Shrimp were eating fish then
either [a] they weren't Ghost Shrimp; or [b] the fish were
dead anyway. Ghost Shrimp -- if we're talking Palaeomonetes
spp. -- are opportunists. Mixed with tetras, Corydoras, and the
like they are utterly harmless. But it is entirely possible you
were sold Macrobrachium sp. instead. Juvenile Macrobrachium can
be easily mistaken for other, more harmless shrimp species. While
Macrobrachium are essentially scavengers that feed on carrion,
algae, and organic detritus some species can and will eat small
fish given the chance. This underlines a common problem in the
hobby: retailers using common names instead of Latin names, and
hobbyists not pressuring them do to otherwise. In any event,
there really aren't any shrimps that will do well in the hot,
soft, acidic water Mikrogeophagus ramirezi wants. If you visit a
blackwater river or swamp you will immediately notice the lack of
molluscs and crustaceans. Neither group do well in such
environments because of the absence of calcium salts in the water
that they need for skeleton construction. Instead you find
insects and other animals less dependent on calcium for their
growth. You could of course increase the pH to around 7 and
maintain a moderate level of hardness and a middling temperature,
but your Mikrogeophagus ramirezi probably won't do well, and
will likely die from something like Hole-in-the-Head before too
long. I'd strongly recommend you just enjoy them for what
they are. If you *must* try a shrimp, then go with either the
Amano shrimp (Caridina multidentata) or the Cherry Shrimp
(Neocaridina denticulata sinensis), both of which seem to be more
adaptable than anything else on the market. I've kept
Neocaridina denticulata sinensis in neutral, moderately soft
water with Cardinal tetras and they've done quite well,
breeding happily and growing quickly. But I doubt they would do
well in strongly acidic water, and all shrimps do best in
moderately hard, neutral to slightly basic conditions at
temperatures similar to those experienced by that species in the
wild. Cheers, Neale.>
|
What can I add? Betta...
8/30/07Hello, I recently bought a 1.5 Gallon tank
for my betta fish. I have not yet placed my fish in this tank because i
read on a website that you should put in the less aggressive fish
first. What I was wondering was what type(s) of fish would be suitable
for this environment? Some of the fish that I would be interested in
putting in the tank are: Cherry Shrimp <Maybe> Mollies
<Nah> African Dwarf Frog <Maybe> Flying Fox Tetras <Nah
and nah> Julii Cory catfish <Need more room, stable env.> Will
any of these fish work out with my betta? <Please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/betcompfaqs.htm the linked
files above, and re the Compatibility, Systems of the life you list,
are considering... on WWM. Bob Fenner>
Re: What can I add? Betta
comp. �� 08/31/07 thank you so much for your help i
really am thankful! I think i might go with the cherry shrimp but i
haven't decided yet! But thanks again <Welcome!
BobF>
Re: What can I add? Shrimp w/ Betta 9/6/07 Hi again! I
was wondering if any other kinds of shrimp can be put with my Betta
fish such as: Amano Algae Eating Shrimp Tiger Algae Eating Shrimp
Rudolph Red-Nosed Shrimp Bumble Bee Shrimp White Spotted Pearl Shrimp
Blue Buddha Shrimp I don't know I might just stick with my first
idea, the cherry shrimp, but I haven't decided yet <Mmm, do wish
I knew more right off-hand and had my in-print references with me... am
on the road... I would look for info. on the net re which of these
species stays smaller, likes warm, semi-acidic water (like Bettas)...
and eats readily the sorts of foods Siamese Fighters do. Bob
Fenner>
Re: What can I add? With a Betta 9/7/07
thanks anyway I think ill just stick with the cherry shrimp <A good
choice> I don't think my fish is aggressive because i put a
picture of the cherry shrimp up to the tank and he flared up for like
one sec then was perfectly fine with the picture. What do u think?
<Interesting> Is that a good test to see if he is aggressive?
<I do think you have something here. BobF>
RC Shrimp Article
7/30/07 Dear Bob & WWM Crew, I have written before and you have
always been very helpful on my questions regarding my FOWLR tank. The
reason I am writing now is because I had my first article published in
TFH magazine (September issue) regarding Red Cherry Shrimp and their
care. If Bob or anyone else gets a chance to read it, I would greatly
appreciate your opinions as I respect your opinions greatly. Thank you
very much. Paul <Hello Paul. My three copies of TFH arrived this
morning, and even before I read my own article ("Mission
Impossible") I read your article on cherry shrimp. I really
enjoyed it. I bought a couple of these shrimps about a month ago for a
tank with some cardinal tetras, and there are now at least four 10
mm-long juveniles scampering about the Java moss. So being able to read
up on their biology and husbandry was very timely. Anyway, for what
it's worth, I thought the article well written, insightful, and
nicely illustrated. Freshwater invertebrates are somewhat overlooked in
the hobby for reasons unclear to me. I hope you'll be writing some
more articles for TFH and elsewhere! Cheers,
Neale.>
Advice on new additions please!!
Shrimp sys., much more... 6/10/07 Hi Crew! <Hello!>
I've been trawling your site all morning and can't seem to find
any info on my new tank mates I purchased yesterday! <Oh
dear.><<Heeeeee! RMF>> Normally I wouldn't buy
something without researching it first but these guys were
irresistible! <Uh-oh.> My tank is 100lt, recently cycled
(upgraded from a 60lt) Ph 6.4-6.5, GH between 6 and 7, KH 0, ammonia
and nitrites 0 and nitrates about 15. The temp is usually 24C but its
hot here at the moment so has creeped up to 26C! <Water conditions
sound very good a nice variety of soft water tropical fish. Increasing
the turbulence (i.e., bubbles or splashing) at the top of the tank can
help add a little more oxygen to the water in warm weather, but 26C
isn't too high for most species.> In the tank are 4 Leopard
Danios, 5 Corys and 3 Japonica shrimp. I also have 4 Pearl and 4 Yellow
Kerri Danios in QT. <All interesting and worthy inmates. Shrimp tend
not to do universally well in soft/acid water, so try to make sure the
pH doesn't drop below 6.5.> So, on to the new additions!
Yesterday I bought 2 shrimp labeled 'Chameleon Shrimp' and have
so far narrowed that down to either Macrobrachium eriocheirum or
Macrobrachium lammeri but the only info I found was that they need
harder, alkali water! :o( <Macrobrachium spp are among the WORST
additions to aquaria. They vary in size from fairly small things not
much bigger than your Amano shrimps through to giants around 30 cm
long. Ever eating freshwater tiger prawns? Those are Macrobrachium.
Very widely cultivated in fresh and brackish water pools across Asia
and increasingly elsewhere. Now, the deal with Macrobrachium is that
they are omnivores and HIGHLY territorial. The "omnivore" bit
means that while they will happily eat catfish pellets and the like,
they will also catch small fish. The "territorial" bit is a
warning: once they take charge of a burrow or cave, they demand to be
left alone. Males of the species fight with one another. I've seen
the big ones coexist with robust Central American cichlids, and some
folks have the smaller species in community tanks, but still, they are
not really 100% safe aquarium denizens. So watch them carefully.> I
have some crushed oyster shell, would this help? <Potentially.
I'd suggest placing some in a filter media bag and then placing it
in the filter. Adding crushed oyster shell to the substrate works
fairly well for a while, but eventually gets covered in algae and
bacteria and its buffering capacity drops off. Better to put the stuff
in the filter where you can clean/replace every couple of months. This
said, you're aiming for neutral pH and moderate hardness, otherwise
your other fish won't be so happy, so don't go bananas. Add a
small amount, wait a week, measure the pH and hardness, and then adjust
up or down as required.> They have claws, are they a threat to my
japonicas/Corys? <Potentially, yes. Macrobrachium will take smaller
fish if the opportunity presents itself. The problem won't be so
much while you're feeding normally, but when you go away for your
vacation and the fish are left alone for a week or two, a hungry shrimp
might turn its attention to any small fish...> The current
inhabitants are all present so far! What do I need to feed the new
guys? <Macrobrachium spp are all omnivores. So a mix of vegetable
and animal foods. I'd be using algae (such as Plec pellets), Sushi
Nori, bloodworms, shelled mussels, etc. Calcium-rich foods are
important, for shell production. For that, you want to be using some
shell-on foods periodically. Krill would be ideal for small specimens,
or unshelled prawns for larger ones.> Managed to hand feed the one I
could find a cichlid stick but that wouldn't be much of a balanced
diet! <Cichlid pellets not a bad start. But variety is important.
Like crayfish, Macrobrachium basically eat anything organic, and in the
wild to some extent are sifting mud for general detritus. So they
aren't fussy. This is why they are a popular fish-farming species:
they can be reared on what is basically refuse (like tilapia, chicken,
and pigs, really).> Plus I cant find the small one to feed it
anyway! How do I sex them and will they fight each other? <Males
will certainly fight. Males generally tolerate females, assuming they
aren't fighting over space. But there's no guarantees here.>
I also bought 2 fish called 'Chinese Butterfly Suckers',
they've already cleaned the algae from the QT tank! <Oh dear...
these are likely Beaufortia kweichowensis. Certainly a member of the
Hillstream Loach family, Homalopteridae. Among the least reliable
aquarium fish in the hobby. Few survive any length of time. They live
in relatively cool, highly oxygenated, spotlessly clean mountain and
forest streams. In the wild they eat almost nothing but
"aufwuchs" -- the mix of green algae and tiny animals they
scrape from rocks. In the aquaria, they need algae, whether
"real" or supplied via things like Sushi Nori or algae
wafers. Vegetarian flake food smeared onto rocks might be worth trying,
too. Small animal foods such as bloodworms should also be provided. The
problems most aquarists have with them are these: [a] water quality;
[b] getting enough food into them; and [c] too-warm an aquarium.
They're essentially subtropical, and ideally want to be maintained
at the cooler end of the spectrum, around 20C being about right.>
They are the cutest fish ever and look like tiny black Plecos with
white spots all over you can see their little hearts beating, stuck
onto the glass! <Yes, they are lovely. But specialist fish.> I
think they might be river fish, but my filter kicks out a strong
current so hopefully that will suit them... what else do I need to know
about them? <Well, I think I've covered the basics. Just keep
thinking about what these fish are -- they live in streams with shallow
water, lots of green algae, very high oxygen levels, and tonnes of
water movement.> Will they be okay in my tank? <I wouldn't be
the house on it. Your water chemistry and quality are actually very
good for these fishes. BUT, your problems will be keeping them cool
enough (or at least bumping up the oxygen level to compensate) and
ensuring there is thorough water flow throughout the aquarium,
especially at the bottom where these fish "hang out". You
also need to ensure they have enough to eat. So, you have your work cut
out for you. That said, in a tank specially set up for them alongside
species from similar conditions (such as danios and White Cloud
Mountain minnows) they are not actually delicate fish and some people
have had great success with them. But they aren't "easy
fish".> What should I feed them when they have eaten all the
algae? <More algae. Plus a certain amount of animal protein. I'd
be going 60% algae, 40% bloodworms and the like.> Sorry for the huge
email but I felt so bad about buying them without knowing how to care
for them!! :o( Any help would be much appreciated! <To be fair,
hillstream loaches aren't actually featured in that many aquarium
books. But investing in something like Baensch's Aquarium Atlas
(which does include a number of them) is one of wisest things any
aquarist can do. Good aquarium atlases pay for themselves over and over
again by letting you identify fishes when you're shopping, so you
can decide there and then whether to buy what you've found.>
Thanks! Ruth. <Good luck, Neale>
Apistos and Shrimp 5/21/07
Hello, I was wondering if it would be ok to keep Apistogramma and
Caridina serrata together. I have plenty of room for them and they
would be going into a planted aquarium. I'm just worried that the
apistos would eat the shrimp. Thank you, CJ < Apistogramma
cacatuoides have a pretty good sized mouth. If the shrimp will not fit
in their mouths then they will probably leave them alone until the
shrimp moult. When the shrimp moult their skin is very soft and leaves
them vulnerable to be eaten by fish. If there are plenty of places for
them to hide they will be fine.-Chuck>
FW, shrimp hlth... maint., Dracaena plants...
non-aquatic 4/22/07 Dear crew, First I would like to
thank you for all the information you provide. Thanks to you I have a
flourishing tank full of shrimp and fish. Unfortunately I also have a
flourishing problem. I currently have a 55 gallon freshwater tank that
is cycling with 2 Cory catfish about an inch long, 2 glassfish, 3 ninja
shrimp, and 1 bamboo shrimp that recently molted. <Mmm, a
necessary/compelled comment: Not a good idea to cycle a system with
such livestock present... the shrimp likely molted out of stress more
than all else> I also recently added lucky bamboo <Hmm? The
Dracaena? Not really aquatic...> and java moss. The problem started
when one of the Hikari tropical sinking wafers that I feed my catfish
fell into the java moss where my catfish could not eat it, before long
it had white stalks growing out of it, <The catfish or the
wafer?> the same thing happened to one of my ninja shrimps body
after it died. <Mmm, yes... likely "mycetes"... mostly
fungal decomposer colonies> I also noticed some white specks on the
aquarium glass and when I tried to scrape them off they didn't come
off. <Use a single-edged razorblade if this is a glass tank> Is
this just a side affect of the tank cycling and if not should I be
worried? <Mmm, maybe so...> All my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate
are where they are supposed to be. I apologize if you have
already answered this question but I could not find it on your website.
Thanks, Tuscan <Mmm... the usual water changes,
monitoring should do it here... Bob Fenner>
Amano Shrimp... soon to be everywhere
4/16/07 Hi Bob, On 2/15/07 I had emailed you about a missing Amano
shrimp in my 30 gallon octagon tank. Well it was the baby so
he/she always stays pretty hidden. But three days ago I
noticed that one of my amino shrimp is LOADED with eggs. If
it's not my sun corals giving me babies... or pupfish doing same...
now it's my amano shrimp. I'm thrilled and well
nervous, too. The thought of ... how many eggs does a female
shrimp carry at once? <Small shrimp species... hundreds> ...
being hatched in my tank is somewhat alarming in terms of pollution.
<Mmm, most likely to be eaten... if not reared elsewhere>
Refresher, 6 danio, 4 neon tetras, 1 kuhli loach and 3 Cory... but in
quarantine for 3 weeks now I have 4 cardinal tetras and 2
kuhli loach which I will be adding to this tank in the next couple
days. It's not like I have a large tank with a large
fish load which can consume most of the small shrimp. I also
imagine with all the hiding places I set up for my kuhli loach, they
also serve well for the shrimp and I may have an abundance of small
shrimp in this tank... and the three I have now do leave quite a bit of
detritus. I know some may get sucked up in the
filter. Should I just move my fish from 5 gallon quarantine
into the 30 gallon and try to catch the shrimp w/her eggs and move her
into the 5 gallon quarantine tank? <If you'd like... My fave
piece on their breeding/rearing: http://www.jayscustomcomputers.com/wilma/Articles/page1.html>
I'm just not sure what to expect. Also, how many
days/weeks does it take for the eggs to hatch. <About a week> I
don't think it's been more than a week since I've noticed
her with the eggs. Because they're so messy I decided
not to get any more shrimp but have decided to get 1 or 2 SAEs...
<Good choice> I guess my shrimp have other
ideas. Also, they are slowly devouring my sword
plants. What are my options to feed them... <The fish
meal and Spirulina based wafers, pellets... and Spectrum brand...>
they're doing a great job of keeping the algae off of everything in
my tank. Thanks again, Debra P. <Bob Fenner>
Cleaner Shrimp Question, FW 3/28/07 Hi
Crew, I've written two or three times previously
regarding my 150 gal planted tank. It used to house 2 large
pond fish, then I realized I just couldn't keep up with their
messiness. Last summer I gave away the pond fish and added
tropical fish and plants. The tank is stocked with a
red-tailed shark, 7 gold barbs, 9 SAEs, 6 Otocinclus and 11 kuhli
loaches. About a month ago I added 3 algae eating shrimp,
one pretty good sized and 2 smaller. Since they immediately
went into hiding I almost forgot they were in there. Till
about a week ago. I've tried hard not to overfeed the
fish so once a day I give them Hikari micropellets and I toss in one
sinking wafer. Once or twice a week I supplement their diet
with frozen brine shrimp or blood worms. Anyway, last week
after I tossed in the wafer, the larger of the shrimp
scurried out of hiding and snatched it away. <Heee. Typical>
He/she scurried back into hiding leaving the loaches searching for the
wafer. I thought it was pretty funny and threw in another
wafer for the loaches. The same thing has happened every
feeding since. As soon as I throw in the wafer the shrimp
appears and makes off with it. However, I started
wondering if that was defeating the whole purpose of having
algae-eating shrimp. Would it be better to stop feeding
wafers and just feed more micropellets, or just let the shrimp have the
wafers? <Mmm, I would keep proffering the wafers... these shrimp are
not really "cleaner uppers" in captive systems> I used to
break up the wafers but then the barbs would grab the pieces and the
loaches were left searching for the wafer. I know this
is kind of a silly problem, but I'd like to make the best decision
possible. Thanks a lot, Kerry <Perhaps a wafer
placed at both ends of the system at the same time... will grant all a
bit? "Just one thin little wafer..." This last for Graham and
his Monty Python fix! Bob Fenner>
Freshwater Amano Shrimp - Hiding or?
2/15/07 <Oh man! I wish Sabrina were here... She is absolutely
passionate re FW shrimp...> I have a 30 gallon octagon freshwater
tank with 5 neon tetra, 6 zebra danio, 1 gold danio, 2 Julie Cory, 1
peppered Cory and one striped Kuhli loach. When I asked the LFS what I
should add to help with the algae problem he recommended Amano shrimp.
<Neat choice> I asked for 3 (a baby got scooped up in there with
them) so I ended up with 4. Purchased Friday
2/9. I acclimated them slowly just like I would for
saltwater shrimp <Good> and then put them in the
tank. The baby I found dead the next day, and two are
MIA. The first day they were all out on the driftwood
picking off the algae. The 2nd day is when I found the small
shrimp dead and it turned a reddish color. Since Saturday
I've been searching for the shrimp. <This species and most all
other FW shrimp are reclusive, retiring> At fish feed time one
shrimp comes out and then poof he's gone. At night
I've only seen one shrimp (using a flashlight to look for those
glowing eyes). Tuesday morning afraid that I might have some
dead shrimp rotting I went in and removed the rocks and all but one
piece of driftwood. Again I only saw one shrimp. no bodies,
no shells, nothing in the filter. Tank is covered and
nothing on the floor. I'm at a loss. Can they
hide that well? <Mmm, yes> Any of the above animals possible
culprits? <Of the fishes you list, doubtful> The shrimp are not
small. about the same size as my largest danios. about an inch and a
quarter. In the beginning I did see one of the danios kind
of nip at that one shrimp in passing, it scooted off and the danio went
about its business. I read that iodine should be added, but
I've been using Amquel in tap water for water changes and I know my
Salifert test kit will not give a reading because of the Amquel and
I'm afraid to add iodine without testing. <Mmm... an occasional
(let's say with the interval of water changes) dosing at a low
level (a few drops of a stock solution period)... is a good idea...
this material is very transient... won't overdose... much the same
as iodated salts for human consumption> Which water
conditioner/dechlorinator should I use instead of Amquel so that I can
test for iodine? <I would likely not actually test...>
Tank parameters as follows (testing done Wednesday night):
0 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 Phosphate 7.2 pH As this is a tall tank
I have two thermometers one on the substrate and one near the
top. The heater is placed closer to the
bottom. Bottom temp is usually around 76°, top temp
usually around 79°. <Interesting... this is a surprisingly large
difference. Do me a favor and "switch" thermometers and see
if they register this difference still> I have Amazon swords and
java ferns all of which I constantly have to wipe algae off the leaves,
two pieces of driftwood, 3 large rocks. So there are plenty
of hiding places. Again, thank you so much for your advice/comments.
Regards, Debra P. <I would not be overly concerned re
the consequences or possible loss of the Amanos... And I do encourage
you to consider adding SAE's here for algal control. Please do take
a read re: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/saes.htm
Bob Fenner>
FW Shrimp
<beh.> questions!... and cycling comments. 2/4/07
Hello to whomever will inherit this email! <Audrey> Six days ago,
we put two Amano and four Cherry shrimp in our 10 gal. aquarium. They
were all over the place for about a day, then apparently they found
very good hiding places. We haven't seen three of the Cherry since.
The fourth made its home with the Amano. I'll remove the rocks
tomorrow when I clean the tank and see if I can find the three missing
Cherry :-) <... Cleaning? Removing the rocks? I would not thoroughly
clean such a system, nor remove the rocks> In any case, that's
not my question. The two Amano had been hiding for a few days. But two
days ago they moved out of their hiding place to the back of the
aquarium. We thought it was a little weird, since that corner is more
open than their usual hiding spot. Then, this morning, I found a molt
(I was thinking their colour had been off, I guess this is likely the
explanation). Then, an hour later, a second molt! Do shrimp usually
molt the same day? <Can> I know from reading WWM that triggers
can be water changes or adding iodine, but I didn't do any of
those. Do you think that the fact that I started giving them sinking
wafers (36 hours before the molt) might have been a trigger? <Could
have, yes> (Hikari small sinking wafers, almost the same ingredients
than the flakes we give the fish). Or did the move into the aquarium
trigger this? <Much more likely, yes> I'm just curious... The
two of them were, at least this morning, much more colourful and active
since the molt. They've started moving about the tank again. I
haven't been home so I haven't checked on them since. Now the
colour is off on the one visible Cherry, and I'm wondering if
it's not getting ready to molt too. I will get iodine next time I
go to the very neat saltwater fish place in town (I love looking at
their tanks, especially the inverts...). They don't carry it at
freshwater fish stores. One more shrimp question. I saw in some FAQ
that Sabrina was saying something about C. Japonica not breeding in
full fresh water but other species of shrimp doing so. But she never
said which species, and there's not a whole lot of freshwater
shrimp info on WWM (I think I read all of it, and didn't find an
answer to this question, even using the search box). So, which species
of shrimp breed well in FW, besides Ghost shrimp? <Most all the
commonly available species...> Ah, and one comment, for those who
still doubt the usefulness of cycling BEFORE you put in fish. We had
set up and planted our 10 g. aquarium on the very last days of December
- no fish, some Pigmy Chain Swords, a bunch of Bacopa, two small
Anubias Nana. rocks, branch, gravel and bio-balls in the filter. After
a week, there was about .5 ammonia already, but I felt thing
weren't moving along fast enough, so I plopped half a frozen shrimp
in there, and watched it turn into hairy stuff, then gooey stuff...
(can't get Bio-Spira in Canada). A week and a half later, after the
expected ammonia and nitrite spikes, everything leveled off. It cycled
in less than three weeks total. I'm amazed. I really couldn't
believe it. Maybe some useful bacteria came along on the plants (???).
<Undoubtedly, yes> And, with the live plants in there, even
nitrates were 0. So, we put in some fish, two Mollies, as well as six
small shrimps. Two days later, still nothing detectable - and those
fish are pooping machines. It works! (I expect nitrates to go up in
short order though, I don't have nearly enough plants to keep up
with the amount of waste the fish will produce). While, in our 5g.
unfiltered quarantine (but with a bubble wand - we had to get a new
heater and will eventually get a filter for it, but we can't afford
to buy everything at the same time, and the heater was more pressing),
which holds two Mollies that we got at a less reputable place and were
waiting before introducing into the 10g, we have to do a 60% water
change every day to keep the ammonia below 0.5... (I have no idea how
people can keep goldfish in gallon bowls for months given the levels of
ammonia we get on a 5 gal. with 2 Mollies.) <Yes...> I'm now
fully convinced: bacteria are a good thing, and waiting for the cycle
to complete before adding fish is DEFINITELY worth it. <Agreed>
And almost all this knowledge came from you guys. I do have some books,
but I just keep re-reading the same info in the books, and it's not
nearly as detailed as what I read here. And there are no "useful
tips" in the books, just general rules. You're great :-)
Thanks, Audrey <Thank you for sharing. Bob
Fenner>
Stem Plants, Roots, Shrimp, Iodine, and
Fertilizers - 06/01/2006 Dear Crew, <Hi, Shawn!> I have a
couple of questions, but I first want to thank you for the great
resource you have created for all of us amateur hobbyists.
<Your kind words are greatly appreciated.> I've spent more
hours reading articles and FAQs on your website than I can
count. <Heh, me too!> With that said, there is one
thing I can't figure out. <.... lots of things I
can't figure out....> I've got a relatively new 55 gallon
tank that is heavily planted. It's been going for about
a month now, and is doing great as far as I can tell. The
tank as a Fluorite base, 4 full-spectrum fluorescent light
tubes. I use supplemented/buffered R/O water to do my water
changes, and my water levels all seem good. I also inject
CO2, with consistent levels of about 26ppm. On to my
question.... Many of my stem plants (actually all of them)
have grown long white roots from every part of the stem, nearly to the
top of the plant. <This is normal for some plants, like
Egeria, Elodea/Anacharis, Limnophilia, Cabomba....> Many of these
white roots are easily 10 inches long and they are quickly taking over
my tank. <Today, the tank.... tomorrow, the
world!! If they're terribly annoying, I'd trim them
back; otherwise, let 'em have their fun.> Is this
normal? <For some stem plants, yes. What
species are you keeping that are taking over?> I was hoping that
they would just go away as the main roots settled better in the
substrate. <Some stem plants will settle down and do as
you state, some will just keep up with those shiny white roots.>
Okay, two other simple questions. <No
more! Oh, okay, just kidding.> I am using "Flourish
- Comprehensive Plant Supplement" to supplement my R/O water
(along with Baking Soda to raise the kH) on a weekly
basis. Is that sufficient? <As long as your
KH, GH, and pH are steady, this is fine.> I am also planning on
adding various shrimp to the tank (red cherry & Amano to start
with) <Excellent! May I suggest "zebra" or
"tiger" shrimp? The alpha male of a colony will be
a STUNNING blue with brown-black stripes and red tail and
rostrum. http://www.wirbellose.de/arten.cgi?action=show&artNo=156
> and read that they need iodine to thrive. <Yes.>
My Flourish supplement contains 0.0001% iodine in it, but that
doesn't seem like enough. Do you think I should get a
separate iodine additive? <I would. I'm still using
Kent marine iodine at a rate of ONE DROP per ten gallons weekly (NOT
the marine dose), but most any marine iodine supplement could be used
in similarly small quantities.> Thanks for everything you've
done. <And thank you, again, for your kind words and
encouragement.> Shawn <Wishing you well, -Sabrina>
Betta Compatibility, Cherry Shrimp - 05/20/2006 Hey WWM crew,
you guys have a pretty awesome FAQ going here. <Thanks for the kind
words!> I went through the Betta compatibility FAQ and searched
online but I did not really find an answer to my question so I was
hoping you guys could help me out. I currently have an
eclipse 12 (12 gallon, 150 gph, bio-wheel) that has a relatively dense
group of plastic plants around the back and sides with a cave and 2
ornamental decorations with some holes in it. The tank is cycled and
currently houses 6 harlequin rasboras and a Betta. They get along fine
and for the most part seem to ignore each other. The Betta seems to
enjoy going around the tank and occupies all levels of the tank. My
rasboras tend to stick to the middle to upper levels so I was thinking
of getting something to occupy the bottom of the tank.
<Sounds great.> I know Cory cats tend to get along well with
Bettas. However, I think a group of 3 Cory cats might be pushing my
tank to the limits <Mm, you'd probably be okay with a few of one
of the smaller species.> so I was thinking of maybe housing some
cherry shrimp instead with the Betta and rasboras. <Cherry shrimp
are great.> I know cherry shrimp live about 2 years long but I'm
worried that my Betta might try to eat them for food. <It's
possible. I have a particularly aggressive female Betta that
has killed shrimp much larger than cherries. I think most
Bettas would be fine with them, though.> However, they are about an
inch long <Surprising. They rarely get this
large. It might be a different species that you're
looking at; maybe C./N. sp. "zeylanica", which can look
similar but gets larger.> so I was hoping that the Betta would leave
them alone after a while. <You could try getting just
one or two shrimp at first and see how the Betta responds.> What do
you think, should I add a group of 3 Cory cats to the tank or add like
6 or 7 cherry shrimp to the tank? <I, personally, would
try the shrimp. I think this would be better for the tank in
terms of bioload, also the shrimp will eat algae, also shrimp are a lot
of fun to watch. Start with just a couple to see how the
Betta reacts to them, and if there are no problems, get the rest.>
Thanks for all your help. -Xiaosong <Glad to be of
service. -Sabrina>
Re: Betta Compatibility, Cherry Shrimp -
05/21/2006 Hey Sabrina, <Hi, Xiaosong! Incidentally,
you have a beautiful name.> Thanks for your help! <And thank you
for giving me the opportunity to help!> You were right about the
size of the shrimp; they are more like 3/4th of an inch. So I had a
quick follow up question. Once I get the shrimp, do you think it would
be better to pull the Betta out of the tank for a day or two to let the
shrimp get acclimated to the tank or should I just put the shrimp in
with the Betta right away? <I'd get just a couple to start with,
and go ahead and put them in. That'll give you the best
idea of how the Betta is going to respond to them, I think.> When I
first introduced the Betta to the tank with the rasboras, I put the
Betta in the tank in a breeding net on the side for a day but I
didn't think it made a difference in the end with the rasboras.
<Sounds like a plan, then!> Thanks! <Any time.> Xiaosong
<Wishing you well, -Sabrina>
More FW
crustacean stocking - 04/20/2006 Hello WWM Crew!! <Hello,
Don!!> I've been reading (and enjoying) the copious information
on your website and I'm very grateful that there are people such as
yourselves that take the time to further (and better) the aquarium
keeping hobby. <Thank you very, very much for these kind
words.> Now that I've gotten the accolades out of the way, on to
the questions. First off, Hi! I'm
Don! <Hi! I'm Sabrina!> My partner,
Richard and I, are in the process of losing our freshwater, planted
aquarium-keeping virginity. <Oooooh, exciting!>
So.... we have a 37 gallon, bow-front, acrylic tank that currently
houses: 6 fancy guppies 6 Rasbora tetras 6 Penguin tetras 10 Neon
Tetras 6 freshwater clams (I suppose they're there, I've never
seen them!) <These actually fare very, very poorly in
aquariums.... They need copious amounts of free-floating
algae and other micro foods to stay alive.... if they're
not gone now, they will be soon, I'm afraid. I heartily
advise against getting these again.> 2 Flower Shrimp (one passed)
<Sorry to hear this! Shrimp are my fave....> 3 (I
think, but I've only seen 2 as of late) Cherry Shrimp <The
third's probably in there somewhere.> 3 Japonica shrimp 6
Otocinclus catfish (they've been miracle workers when it comes to
clearing out all algae growth in our tank!!) and various snails (I
believe there are 3 Ramshorns, 3 black mystery and 6 zebra) we have 2
medium sized pieces of natural driftwood, adorned with java moss (that
has yet to take root but has been tied/anchored with peat moss) and
many many live plants. <So far, so good, aside from that
shrimp....> Our water has a pH of 7.6 out of the tap, and in the
last few days we have had a measurable ammonia concentration of approx.
.25 ppm. <Disconcerting, but not
"deadly" as yet.... do please try to bring this to
zero.> Nitrates and Nitrites remain at 0.
<Yikes! Still cycling??> Herein lies the
issue. I've learned from reading on this site about the
cycling process that one should endure when setting up a
new system. We have not followed those guidelines,
unfortunately, and are now likely experiencing the fallout from such
rash behavior. <Yup. But you're
learning.... and I'm very happy for that.> Needless
to say, we have overstocked our tank (a sign of our eagerness to house
and grow live aquaria) <Mm, I wouldn't say
you're overstocked, but stocked too much too quickly.> and after
becoming attached to our inhabitants, are doing our best to ensure
their ongoing well-being. So here's where I need a
little guidance in the process. Since the damage is pretty
much done and we've overstocked our new, un-cycled tank, what
measures are required to keep the aquaria we're
currently housing, relatively healthy and un-dead, for lack
of better terminology. From what I've read on this
wonderful site, water changes are pretty much par for the course and
we're doing those (approx. 5 gallons a day, sometimes twice a day
depending on the ammonia concentration) to keep our inhabitants as
happy and healthy (not to mention un-dead) as possible.
<Perfect.> We have also used Marineland Bio-Spira (last weekend)
and are currently using Fritz-zyme Turbo 700 to hasten the cycling
process and as a stop gag measure to stave off any further loss of
life. <Perfect again.> We had a blue crawfish (Procambarus sp.)
<Yeeeeeee-ikes! Not with the shrimp, please, nor with any
slow-moving or bottom-dwelling fish - they'll all become
snacks.> and one of our japnionca shrimp recently pass on (not sure
if this was due to the un-cycled-ness of our tank or the trauma
suffered during shipping). <I hate to say it, but be glad for the
lack of the Cray. Crays are GREAT, but really ought to be
with critters that they can't or won't hurt. The
shrimp and otos are not in this category.> So I suppose my formal
question is: Should we be doing as many/as frequent water
changes as we are doing, in lieu of the cycling process not being
completed, even though we've used the previously
mentioned products (Bio-Spira/Fritz-Zyme Turbo Start)? <I would,
yes.> I guess I could/should make that a little
clearer... Are we doing more harm than good by changing the
water so often, or should we allow the ammonia to build to a level,
just shy of tolerable for our tank inhabitants in order to
promote bacterial growth, or should we continue with the water changes
to keep the ammonia concentration at a less-than-lethal level for our
overly stocked tank? <Though it will prolong the cycling
process, keep up with the water changes.... The cycle will
establish, it'll just take a little longer.> Other issues
we're grappling with are whether or not the 3" fluorite
substrate has a negative affect on our invertebrate aquaria (after-all
we did lose 2, I've read about copper being adverse to their
livelihood and I'm not sure if fluorite is detrimental to their
well-being) <If it helps any, I've used fluorite in plenty of
shrimp-containing tanks with no apparent negative results. I
would not be concerned here. In all honesty, freshwater
shrimp are not always cared for properly at stores and wholesalers;
these animals may have been doomed prior to purchase. When
you buy shrimps and crays, you should look for a certain quality of
"clarity".... Hard to describe, but once
you've seen/recognized what I mean, you'll
understand. "Cloudy" shrimp should be
avoided. This "clear" vs. "cloudy" can
be seen even in totally colored shrimp, like wood/fan/Singapore
shrimp.... again, it's tough to explain.> and does iodine (added
as a supplement to aide our invertebrates) have any affect on the fish
we're keeping? <Nope, not a problem at all - and of
vital importance to the inverts.> We do plan on getting another blue
crayfish (Procambarus sp.) to replace our recently deceased <I
recommend strongly against this.> and we'd like to add a few
more fish (probably compatible tetras or another species you'd
recommend that's compatible with the above mentioned, currently
housed aquaria and more shrimp (they're too cute to
resist)). <I bet you'd really delight in the antics
of a handful of small Corydoras cats, or if you fear outbreaks of
undesirable snails, a few Botia striata....> Thanks in advance for
your informative response <Glad to be of service!> and sincere
thanks for providing a forum for all of the unlearned yet eager novices
(such as myself) new to the 'trade'. <And again, thank you
VERY much for these kind words.> Don Anderson <All the best to
you, Richard, and your new tank! -Sabrina
Fullhart>
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