# What size tank do you need for a few shrimp?



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Say like maybe 3 shrimp. How big of a tank would you need?


----------



## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

Shrimp prefer a mature cycled tank.
In my opinion anything less than 5 gallons is to hard to keep stable.


----------



## PocketAce (Oct 15, 2015)

I've kept several different species of shrimp and so long as you are monitoring your water quality, a tank that's in the process of cycling is not an issue. I've never tried to keep them in a tank with plastic plants so I'm not sure how they deal long term with 100% water changes. 

How big depends on the species of shrimp. A filter feeding shrimp like a Bamboo shrimp needs a big heavily planted tank with a decent current in order to get enough to eat, say 15 or more gallons. 

Cherries and Amanos are good to stock as many as 10 per gallon though I always played it safe and went with no more than 5. Three shrimp is a pretty small number if you're going to be keeping only shrimp, especially if they're on the smaller side. To really enjoy your tank, I'd say 10-12 would be fun in a 2.5 gallon tank but it is true that keeping a tank that size stable would be hard. I'd say 5 gallons and then you can stuff it with shrimp if you like.


----------



## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> I'd say 10-12 would be fun in a 2.5 gallon


In no time those 10-12 will become 40-50 given the right conditions. I started with 20 Red Cherry Shrimp in a 15 gal I now have so many despite my Bettas best efforts to eat them that I use them as live food for my Firemouth Cichlids, Sorry if this offends anybody.

At last count I have some 70 Shrimp in a 15 gal tank with a betta ( they were the ones I could see )


----------



## PocketAce (Oct 15, 2015)

NickAu said:


> In no time those 10-12 will become 40-50 given the right conditions. I started with 20 Red Cherry Shrimp in a 15 gal I now have so many despite my Bettas best efforts to eat them that I use them as live food for my Firemouth Cichlids, Sorry if this offends anybody.
> 
> At last count I have some 70 Shrimp in a 15 gal tank with a betta ( they were the ones I could see )


Cherries are a great study in population growth lol. But so long as you choose something other than cherries or Chrystals even, growth is pretty manageable. Amano's are great if you don't want to have any newborns taking over. Or if you want to manage a cherry population throw in a couple of Amano's to start. They keep them from breeding ultra prolifically (bc they're Food bullies).


----------



## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> Cherries are a great study in population growth lol. But so long as you choose something other than cherries or Chrystals


If my crystal black shrimp, breed as well as my Red Cherry Shrimp I will so happy and be breeding them in my 6 foot 100 gallon tank. These suckers cost 70 bucks each, and I am getting 6 for a 5 gallon cube. Even at 5 or 10 bucks each I will still make a few bucks on them. Where I live RCS cost as much as $3.99 each.

http://shrimplovers.com.au/product/crystal-black-shrimp-sss-grade


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Question do you guys know if ghost shrimp help get rid of algae? I'm asking cause I did a full tank clean on my guppy tank which had both green and brown algae in it and a few days later added shrimp (the trip near petsmart was unplanned) and ever since then the only algae in there is on the plants and gravel but in my other tank with no shrimp theres a bunch of brown algae. I cleaned it a few days before I did the other one and even the walls of the tank have algae now. Another full tank clean on the algae filled one is coming up soon after my females are given rest from unexpected birth of guppy fry (do not know who the mother is) and then that tank will become the guppy fry tank since it seems theres gonna be new guppy fry every month.


----------



## Warhawk (Feb 23, 2014)

3 Shrimp would do fine in a 5 gallon tank. But like has already been staid 5 gallon is hard to keep stable. I have three 5 gallon tanks all empty because I can't find a way to keep them stable. I would suggest a 10 gallon for shrimp and depending on what shrimp you get they might breed for you. Plus you could put a few small fish in there also.

On the Ghost shrimp eating algae yes they will eat some but don't expect them to keep the tank clean. I have found they mostly eat missed fish food and don't go after the algae unless they are hungry. On the algae topic I have found ones it starts its hard to keep it from coming back. You best treatment for algae is more water changes and/or cut the light to the tank down.


----------



## PocketAce (Oct 15, 2015)

Warhawk said:


> 3 Shrimp would do fine in a 5 gallon tank. But like has already been staid 5 gallon is hard to keep stable. I have three 5 gallon tanks all empty because I can't find a way to keep them stable.


Are your planted? I thought that a five would be hard to stabilize and it's more work than a 10 certainly but my planted tanks have never had a problem. Endlers are a good choice for 5 gallons as they wont overload the tank too readily.


----------



## Warhawk (Feb 23, 2014)

PocketAce said:


> Are your planted? I thought that a five would be hard to stabilize and it's more work than a 10 certainly but my planted tanks have never had a problem. Endlers are a good choice for 5 gallons as they wont overload the tank too readily.



I don't normally do live plants in my smaller tanks. Most of the time I do fake plants but I have added some java fern some times. I have though about running my 5 gallons for breeding tanks for my Betta but I don't know yet if I will.


----------



## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

I have a 5 gallon and the only live plant I have in there is a marimo moss ball. Its got my 3 ghost shrimp, my betta Liberty and 3 male guppies. My ghost shrimp have survived for 2 months so far. I was ust asking what size because I wanted to give my brothers girlfriend my ghost shrimp..


----------

