# Shrimp!



## Kittles (Feb 8, 2010)

So, I found this incredible little aquatic store in Eugene, OR the other day during one of my trips down, and on top of the store having the most vast selection of anything you'd ever need for any sort of fish set up ever, they had the most incredible selection of shrimp! Every other pet store I'd been in before this one (I forget the name) had only carried ghost shrimp which I think are gross. So I went in looking for cherry shrimp - the only other type of shrimp I've become familiar with via the internet - and was amazed when I came across tanks of:

_blueberry shrimp
cherry shrimp
vampire shrimp
pinokio shrimp
bumblebee shrimp
etc._

My mind was blown. I'd found the holy grail of shrimp. Sadly, I wasn't able to buy any for what I thought was the amazing price of 2 of any kind for 10 dollars. I'd have had to take them on a 6 hour car ride back to Everett and I didn't want to risk killing them all before arriving. I haven't given up on my quest for shrimp, however. I will just have to find something similar, but more local. Seattle must have something, right, because seriously, now that I've discovered them, I must own them. Especially the blueberry. Must own the blueberry. 

Regardless, my fascination has grown and I'm curious to know what types of shrimp, if any, you all are familiar with, which you prefer, and what kinds you may have in your tanks. And lastly, where have you been able to find them?


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## bloo97 (Mar 6, 2010)

Wow! You could start a seafood resteraunt with that many! J/K!! XD


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Haahaa! That's funny.


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## karjean (Feb 4, 2010)

If they are package properly, they should make the trip.


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## 2brown347 (Feb 2, 2010)

What was the place? I'm moving to Eugene next year and would like to know? 

Next time you're in Oregon I'd go to Wetspot, they have a amazing freshwater selection of fish and a lot of shrimp aswell. You can find them on aquabid (they sell a few wild type betta's on there and other fish). Also if online is cool with you there's a member on aquariacentral named MsJinked (I think?) who sells inverts and micro fish at a really good price. I planned on ordering some from her eventually


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## Kittles (Feb 8, 2010)

2brown347 said:


> What was the place? I'm moving to Eugene next year and would like to know?
> 
> Next time you're in Oregon I'd go to Wetspot, they have a amazing freshwater selection of fish and a lot of shrimp aswell. You can find them on aquabid (they sell a few wild type betta's on there and other fish). Also if online is cool with you there's a member on aquariacentral named MsJinked (I think?) who sells inverts and micro fish at a really good price. I planned on ordering some from her eventually


I don't remember the name, but I'll ask my friends who live there and find out. If I can't find any shrimp elsewhere (and closer) I will have to purchase them there on my next trip to Eugene. It's just such a far trip from Everett, WA :< I'll also have to look into the aquabid member.

The place was pretty neat. Right in front of the entrance was a huge koi pond with the largest koi fish I've ever seen. They were nearly a foot and a half long. And the live plant selection was gorgeous. They had 3 tanks full of underwater plants separated by light per gallon requirements. The only thing I was a little bummed to see was their storage of bettas - but I guess that's pretty typical, am I right? Maybe a step up from the cups at a tradition pet store, they were placed in crowded drum vases; some too crowded of moss and grass to allow swimming / access to the surface. I took a picture: http://i40.tinypic.com/29bytd0.jpg 

Overall, though, the store was amazing. It was maybe the size of a smaller petsmart, but dedicated entirely to aquatic needs. And the shrimp! Can't forget the incredible amount and variety of the shrimp! Blueberry :<


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## 2brown347 (Feb 2, 2010)

As far as the portland area goes (which is still a bit of a drive for you) Wetspot is the place. http://www.wetspottropicalfish.com/

The website doesn't do much justice but it may be a easier trip than all the way from Eugene.

This is the aquariacental member I was talking about http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=142 idk what her shipping is but she gets some pretty cool stuff.


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## Mecal (Nov 2, 2009)

Isn't it great finding that stuff?

There's an aquarium place only a few miles from my house that sells:
Amano, red cherry, blackberry, and crystal red.

Occasionally they switch out the blackberry and crystal red for others, but always have Amano and Red Cherry 

And what color are the Blueberry ones? I ask because at this store, as I just said there were "blackberry" lol. Which were more of a deep purple'y color - and I know the names are interchangeable. So I was wondering if they were the color I described, or a lighter blue?

Anyhow, as mentioned, yes, they should live if bagged properly. 
I've driven mine for 2-3 hours and they were fine.


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## Kittles (Feb 8, 2010)

Mm, they were kind of a periwinkle color. Just a translucent "blueberry", really, so the name seems to be pretty accurate - not sure how it applies to blackberry shrimp, or if they're the same. 

And yes, it is great to find these things. I was in awe. Now only if I could find something similar in a reasonably close area. I did ask if I would be able to bring the shrimp with me on the car ride, and even though they said "probably," I didn't think I'd be able to manage the task of opening the bag every hour to allow fresh air to enter while cruising 80 through traffic alone.


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## AlexXx (Aug 23, 2009)

I have cherry shrimp now, hopefully they start breeding soon. Im going to try Crystal Red Shrimp next. Just make sure you have proper water PH and KH if you start doing shrimp. They need pretty low PH, my tap is very hard so i have to use a PUR Water filter. Lemme know if u get any! sounds cool! I wish i had a store like that!


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## Mecal (Nov 2, 2009)

Kittles said:


> Mm, they were kind of a periwinkle color. Just a translucent "blueberry", really, so the name seems to be pretty accurate - not sure how it applies to blackberry shrimp, or if they're the same.
> 
> And yes, it is great to find these things. I was in awe. Now only if I could find something similar in a reasonably close area. I did ask if I would be able to bring the shrimp with me on the car ride, and even though they said "probably," I didn't think I'd be able to manage the task of opening the bag every hour to allow fresh air to enter while cruising 80 through traffic alone.



hmm, interesting. It's probably the same shrimp, with a slightly different coloration? 

Anyway, you won't have to constantly open the bag.
The store is near my house, but 2 hours from the university. I drove a bit more than 2 hours (including stops and such) with an amano shrimp and cherry shrimp, and they did fine without me opening the bag.

And one time, I bought some ghost shrimp at 11am. I changed the bag to something more suitable at 12noon.
I then left for the university at about 4:30 or so, and didn't get there until 7pm - and they were all alive 

but then again, ghost shrimp cost 33c here, as opposed to 6$ for the cherry. 

So it may be a good idea to not be as haphazard as I was, haha.


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## FuulieQ (Jan 10, 2010)

So, CAN you put in shrimp with a betta?


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## Kittles (Feb 8, 2010)

> So, CAN you put in shrimp with a betta?


Technically, yes, but whether he eats them or not is a different story...


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## FuulieQ (Jan 10, 2010)

Ah.

Well, a shrimp probably wouldn't like Freedy's tank anyway. As hard as I try to keep it clean, he poops a lot. :I And there's no substrate so that it's easier for me to get all that doo out.


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## Mecal (Nov 2, 2009)

I have 1 betta and multiple shrimp in the tank right now.

He doesn't bother the ghost shrimp, but he does seem attracted to the cherry shrimp (probably because he can see them, lol).

he doesn't attack though, just gets in close for a look, then the shrimp jet off, and he follows to see.


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## caleb (Apr 2, 2010)

I had one Amano shrimp I thought Admiral Ackbar would leave him alone cuz in the small 1/2 gallon the shrimp lasted a few days then I moved them both to a 5 gallon and then 2 days later my shrimp molted and Ackbar bit his head off. 
First I found the shell floating around then I saw what was left of ol' shrimpy.
Ackbar is smart he waited till the shrimp molted then attacked he can sense weakness muhahahaha. But I'm going try again and see if he will get used to the shrimp.


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## burn84 (Apr 13, 2010)

Hi guys,

I bought 2(one small one big) crystal shrimps and added to my 2.8Gal Betta Tank. 

The moment I put them in, he ate the smaller of the two.

He is chasing around the big one but the big one seems to be able to escape and hide beneath some nook lol

I am thinking of getting maybe 2 more big sized crystal shrimp, let them band together and fend off the evil Betta LOL. Good or bad idea?


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## Kittles (Feb 8, 2010)

Lol, that could work. Or, you could more densely plant your tank or provide some decorative shelter that the betta isn't able to enter. There's a chance your betta will adjust to their presence, but the feuding may never stop.

Some bettas just prefer to be alone.


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

IMO I think an only shrimp tank is the best way to go. Good shrimp get really expensive. Crystal reds that are grade 'A' are 20 dollars each. I would never risk putting them in with a betta.


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## burn84 (Apr 13, 2010)

hey guys,

oooh i just found out that the shrimps i put in my Betta's tank werent crystal shrimp, they were smaller about 70cents each.

My betta ate the other shrimp too......sigh.....maybe i need a ghost shrimp then....

I know they like living alone in a tank but....there's something about shrimps that I like lolz


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## 2brown347 (Feb 2, 2010)

Hadouken441 said:


> IMO I think an only shrimp tank is the best way to go. Good shrimp get really expensive. Crystal reds that are grade 'A' are 20 dollars each. I would never risk putting them in with a betta.


 Not to mention the grade SSS crystal reds which have been reported over $2500


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## burn84 (Apr 13, 2010)

Hi guys, 

just a little update.

I bought two Ghost Shrimps but the stronger one killed the other smaller one off. Lol and i hear they do do this. lol 

Betta is curious about it, but when Betta gets close to it, he waves his two tiny pincers around and the Betta just leaves him alone. 

The Ghost Shrimp retreats into this Barrel decoration I have and when he feels like coming out, he just goes around eating stuff and when he meets the Betta, he just stands his ground, which is pretty cool and Betta just swims away haha.


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## dipsydoodlenoodle (Mar 3, 2010)

I have red cherry shrimp at the moment. 

Bumble-bee shrimp are basically black versions of the crystal red ones.


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## dipsydoodlenoodle (Mar 3, 2010)

burn84 said:


> hi guys,
> 
> 
> betta is curious about it, but when betta gets close to it, he waves his two tiny pincers around and the betta just leaves him alone.


lol!


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## Tinman23 (Apr 3, 2010)

As much as I love having shrimp (especially cherry shrimp) every betta i've had has eaten every last one...and I mean nothing left of any of them...gone. Oh well.


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## burn84 (Apr 13, 2010)

Tinman23 said:


> As much as I love having shrimp (especially cherry shrimp) every betta i've had has eaten every last one...and I mean nothing left of any of them...gone. Oh well.


Yeah thats sad...  Ghost shrimps are the way to go, atleast they can defend themselves against the almighty Betta


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

I envy you Americans. In my area we only have two pet stores the one closest to me has very little fish the second quite a distance away it has variety but no bettas and neither have shrimp which I want. I was however surprised to find a mystery snail there but it was a golden one and I want a blue lol

So I guess I wont be having shrimp in my tank =(


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## Kittles (Feb 8, 2010)

Well I'm almost in the same boat. Almost. Except in my case, your gold snail = my ghost shrimp, and your elusive blue snail = my elusive cherry shrimp. 

I guess we'll both live deprived lives with deprived tanks. :<


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

If anything survives my tank I'll be astonished lol my life will be more deprived than yours if they dont lol


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## burn84 (Apr 13, 2010)

Welsh said:


> I envy you Americans. In my area we only have two pet stores the one closest to me has very little fish the second quite a distance away it has variety but no bettas and neither have shrimp which I want. I was however surprised to find a mystery snail there but it was a golden one and I want a blue lol
> 
> So I guess I wont be having shrimp in my tank =(


Hi ,

I am not in America  I am in Malacca, Malaysia.

Really awesome looking Bettas here cost abt STG1 only hehe really cheap. In Malacca itself there are over 30+ pet stores and most carry Bettas.

Question:

I have 3 Ghost Shrimps at the moment. One is very aggressive, the other two are friends, they sleep in the same corner etc. How can i tell when my shrimps are about to shed their shells? So i can isolate them before they start bullying/killing each other. After they shed, it takes about 24hours right before their shell hardens?

ps: Ghost Shrimps are only abt 3p here  (RM0.20)


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

Rub salt in the wound why dont you, im from the UK and fish are still equally expensive lmao

Im a newbie on this forum so I cant properly answer your question, im not sure if there is a way to tell when they are shedding what I do know is that they arent shedding their shell their shedding their skeleton hense why its called an ecoskeleton but if you leave this in the tank the shrimp will eat it for a source of calcium which is good. When they do shed their ecoskeleton they will hide until their shells harden.


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## s3kshun62 (Apr 15, 2010)

You should be able to transport them safely. I made a move from central Ohio to south Texas in a moving truck which took about 28hours. I was able to keep all 5 of my dwarf puffers, 2 cory cats, and 3 otto's alive the whole trip. I just had them all in little tupperware containers with air holes. I stacked those inside a styrofoam cooler with some of those hot hands personal heating pads and thermometer. Just keep track of the temp, and you should be fine.


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## javi (Apr 8, 2010)

Hey I live in South Texas also. Hi neighbor.


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## Kittles (Feb 8, 2010)

Neighbs. 

Also, that's a pretty intense trip, s3kshun62. 28 hours is ridiculous, but you seemed pretty well prepared. Well done.


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## burn84 (Apr 13, 2010)

On second thoughts,

My ghost shrimps have become huge, larger than the betta and they are starting to fight. The shrimp nipped one of the Tail Lobes, so I took the monster ghost shrimp out n put him in a spare 5gallon tank that I have.

The shrimps have to be a right size huh? cos I bought a small ghost shrimp and my betta murdered it and tried to eat it. The betta had half of the ghost shrimp in his mouth and i managed to take the dead shrimp out before my betta could "FINISH HIM".


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## McAttack (May 13, 2010)

burn84 said:


> Hi ,
> 
> I am not in America  I am in Malacca, Malaysia.
> 
> Really awesome looking Bettas here cost abt STG1 only hehe really cheap. In Malacca itself there are over 30+ pet stores and most carry Bettas.


Asia is awesome for fish! I went to Hong Kong over the holidays and was amazed at the level of fish stores. Beautiful planted aquariums are the norm there, was very impressed!

On shrimp, do you find it's easier to introduce the shrimps BEFORE the fish? I've had a few in my other tank and they were left alone till I went on vacation and they ran out of food for 2 days. The fish ate every single shrimp and realized how tasty they were so any other ones I'd buy would get eaten too. 
I'm thinking of putting some cherries or crystal reds in my 5Gal before I put in the betta. 

Oh, Burn84, for the 24 hours period you were asking about, it kind of depends on your water. If there's enough minerals in the water, it'll harden faster. Same for snails. Soft water isn't as good as hard water basically.


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## bloo97 (Mar 6, 2010)

Wow! All the way from Asia! How Cool!!


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## burn84 (Apr 13, 2010)

bloo97 said:


> Wow! All the way from Asia! How Cool!!



Hahah more salt rubbing:

Yeah, and fish here are so darn cheap  If you have a good eye, you can get a nice veil tail betta for only .......RM1.50 = USD$0.50.

I found some other shrimps around my area that have no pincers: Banana Shrimp, they look reallly really cool and appears harmless. Might buy one and stick it with my Betta and seee how it goes.


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## McAttack (May 13, 2010)

I'm trying cherry red shrimps now, thank god they have lots of plants to hide in! He's chasing them all over in the tightest of spots.


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## McAttack (May 13, 2010)

Alright, so the cherry shrimp experiment isn't going so well. I found a dead shrimp two days ago, thought it was the heat wave. So I took it out, counted the shrimps and could only find about 3-4 (originally had 8-9) but there's lots of hiding places. This morning, i find another shrimp, with his back ripped off in the middle of the tank. Ah great. Well i'll jump in the shower, then clean that up and feed the fish before I head to work. Get out of the shower, and the shrimp is gone. He's been attacking the shrimps at night when they're most active. And, there are very small ones, which I thought wouldn't survive, but he's gone after the large ones. 

When they're gone i'll look for another friend. Maybe an octo. A large snail worries me cause of all the plants I have in there.


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## McAttack (May 13, 2010)

I meant oto, not octopus.


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## burn84 (Apr 13, 2010)

McAttack said:


> I meant oto, not octopus.


Try some corydoras if your tank is big enough, my Betta sleeps with my Sterbai Cory. cool to watch too.


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## McAttack (May 13, 2010)

i thought of moving one of my corys over, but it's only a 5g tank. Probably just look for a cool large snail.


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

well here's all I know about shrimp (because I crave them too... gotta wait to see if I can set up my first tank and get a betta in it first though)

This site has almost everything you'll ever want to know about freshwater aquarium shrimp! <3 I LOVE this site!!! http://www.planetinverts.com/shrimp_species.html

Here is a site that sells all kinds of shrimp: http://www.fancyshrimps.com/

your best bet is to find a breeder though. =]

I'd love to own a bunch of cardinal/crystal/cherry shrimp, yellow shrimp, blue tiger shrimp (of a medium, light, and dark hue), and a few ghost shrimp! I'm all about variety! =]


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## Allenbetta (Jun 1, 2010)

You guys did know that Betta would eat shrimp,right?? In fact,my very own first Veil Betta was being fed with "live" shrimp. Yeah,I am cruel on shrimp,but.....Betta likes the taste and growing well. So,realistically,the shrimp for Betta is :food

Oh,one side note,cherry red shrimps were start breeding from Taiwan,yup,that's place I am from. Shrimp required cold,clean and high-oxygenic environ. It's not very easy keep them by the amateur providing you got appropriate equipment.


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## McAttack (May 13, 2010)

Allenbetta said:


> You guys did know that Betta would eat shrimp,right?? In fact,my very own first Veil Betta was being fed with "live" shrimp. Yeah,I am cruel on shrimp,but.....Betta likes the taste and growing well. So,realistically,the shrimp for Betta is :food
> 
> Oh,one side note,cherry red shrimps were start breeding from Taiwan,yup,that's place I am from. Shrimp required cold,clean and high-oxygenic environ. It's not very easy keep them by the amateur providing you got appropriate equipment.


Well, in my case it was a bit of an experiment. i've seen some people use shrimps with bettas, and i've had shrimps in my community tank for a couple of months before the other fish clued in that they were really tasty.


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## bettaman900 (May 31, 2010)

I like brine shrimp but i don`t have any.


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## Mecal (Nov 2, 2009)

Allenbetta said:


> You guys did know that Betta would eat shrimp,right??



not all the time. Plenty of us here have bettas and shrimp and they get a long fine.


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## Allenbetta (Jun 1, 2010)

Well,as I have seen. Betta just chasing around and ate the shrimp when it got hungry. Technically,Betta is carnivorous species,it would eat any small fish that swimming around it.


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## Allenbetta (Jun 1, 2010)

And Betta hates cold,high-oxygenic tank which contrarily with shrimp,therefore,they two are not good companion,IMHO.


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## windfire (May 25, 2010)

iv done extensive research and where the cherries i have are concerned, water parameters are very similar to bettas. i have 6 young ones in with my betta, they just over 1cm long and growing. i havnt had a problem yet.

oh and i love the blueberry shrimp!!!


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