# anyone on? Shrimp q's!



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Okay, I'm heading to a store today and wondering if I should get a few shrimp? What kind is good for a beginner? I've had ghost shrimp before but I couldn't see them and I obvioiusly didn't take good care of them. 
I'm picking up a new adjustable heater today, so I'll have a heated 1gal free for either shrimp or another betta. I just would like to know more, and if I should get them today- my sister has been texting me info on them all day and I think I might get some as companions  Thanks!


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

If you are going to make a shrimp only tank...get Red cherry shrimp (_RCS_) easy to care for and reproduce pretty fast.....Get 2-3 females to every male...easy to tell sex difference too....Females are usually larger and redder/deeper in color with a saddle and males are smaller and pale in color....They do really well with live plants too...java moss is great for the shrimpletts to hide and feed in and the plants help to keep nitrate in check.
RCS are not known to eat their young like ghost shrimp so that is a plus....
They eat anything-I feed mine an algae wafer piece once or twice a week

The Neocaridina heteropoda-they come in several different color morphs other than red too...I have both the red and yellow-but they come in white, blue and green and maybe even more.....


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Thanks  I wasn't going to get ghost shrimp :/ I'm sure they're cool for enthusiasts but I'm not into them TBH. 
I will take a look around today for KK. What is the minimum space requiremtns? And can they live with my betta if they're big enough? What problems can come of that?


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

RCS are much smaller in size than the ghost shrimp and some Bettas can really do a number on them and so it can be risky to add RCS with a Betta in a really small tank-less than 10gal, however, I have successfully kept a few RCS in 1gal NPT's with male Bettas but on the same note...I have a harder time keeping RCS in 20gal with females....these ladies seem to hunt them down with gusto...lol....it can vary with any Betta in the tolerance of them...regardless of plants and hiding place-they will get the tiny shrimpletts-Bettas like to swallow their food whole, however, they will rip an adult in pieces to eat too....I was just watching few of my young Bettas playing tug-O-war with a RCS...not sure if it was already dead or they killed it since RCS are rather short lived to start..2-3 years range on longevity...

I keep shrimp only tanks to stock my other tanks with-since they don't eat their young you can get pretty fast reproduction....In 1gal unfiltered with live plants I would start with 2-3 females and 1-2 males and within no times you will have lots of shrimp

You don't want to use HOB type filtration in small tanks since the baby shrimp can get sucked into the filter and some will not survive the trip through the impeller-however, some do too...I always check mine by dumping the water in a container and fish out any survivors

If you have lots of live plants you don't need a filter-if you do use a filter in a small tank a sponge filter is best...


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Hm, interesting! Thanks! -here come moar q's-
Lakitu is not interested in scavenging the tank unless I feed bloodworms. He is practically always looking for attention, I spend a lot of time at my desk (where he resides) so he's showing off a lot  My KK is the medium one but holds more than 2 gals (I know this bc I filled it using my 1g to guess the gallon capacity) and has a a large floor (for shrimpies) I have driftwood, IAL's and moss balls currently but with the trip today I'm picking up low maintenance plants as per the plant sticky here. I'm thinking if I pick up a couple shrimpies then I can trial them with Lakitu but if he does mercilessly murder them then I'll put them in a 1g? A taller than wider 1g would be enough space for them?


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

The store I was going to get cherry shrimp from are out until Thrs. SO, how are ghost shrimp? Can they live with cherry shrimp?


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I wouldn't recommend mixing ghost and RCS-because the ghost may kill not just the baby RCS but the sub-adults and adults...not always a problem-but ghost shrimp can be fairly aggressive...they eat their own babies after all......


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## Molinious (Jan 12, 2012)

On similar lines to OFL i have RCS and they live very happily with all of my community fish, even the Male and female Betas ignore them. Iv sat and watched Misery (male betta) sitting on the substrate with shrimp surrounding him and not even pay any attention. What i will say is just watching the RCS is entertaining enough even the young


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Well, I had myself worked up so much tonight I picked up 4 ghost shrimp. The lady was new and never caught shrimp before, so I hope they lives! Anyway, when I decide to get cherry shrimp I'll put the ghosties in a heated 1g  
I got all kinds of new things to re-design Lakitu's tank! Got a 25 watt adjustable heater and black gravel, live plants.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

How many shrimp can live in a 1 gallon and do you have to have live plants? Just out of curiosity. I hope I'm not hijacking the thread since I am asking questions about shrimp. lol


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

Not sure about how many you can have in a gallon, I'm sure 3 would be a safe number. No you don't need live plants, at least not for ghosties. I know petsmart keeps them in a fairly bare tank with just a plastic plant. 

I plan on picking up an amano since they are supposed to be good for nibbling on algae. Do they need any food supplements? My boys don't miss ANY.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

I heard you should just drop down shrimp pellets (not algae pellets) and they can supplement with that. But feel free to take over the thread :< Mine perished probably due to an ammonia spike when one died at the mishandling by the employee. I'd go with a larger floor surface area rather than tall. I seen them swim but they like to crawl around. I'd put no more than 4 in a 1 g.


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## Myrtaceae (Dec 17, 2011)

Shimp have a pretty small bioload but I've never kept them in anything less than a 2 gal, and that was for QT. I know others have had successful shrimp only tanks at 2.5 gallons, but I'd be wary about putting them in with a fish in anything that small-- my bettas have killed them in both 5 and 10 gallon tanks, poor guys. Only time I succesfully kept a betta with shrimp was in a 29 gal community where the betta rarely went to the bottom. 

If you want to see the really cool behavior, you need at least 8-10, I think. Otherwise they mostly just stick to themselves and hide more. They will start to interact with each other if you have enough, and it's fun to watch them chase each other around for food, etc. 

I've had really good luck letting them clean up the bottom & supplementing with sinking algae wafers & occasionally blanched veggies. They go nuts for cucumbers and spinach but pretty much ignored peas and cabbage. The blanched veggies thing is pretty new to me, I've only been doing that the past couple of weeks in my crab tank so I'm still experimenting with it. Algae wafers have been an old stand-by though.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

If I get a large KK, it is... *looks up KK size thread*... 3.3g. Would I even need a filter? I am fine with doing weekly water changes. And is about 76 degree water fine. I would like to change the heater in my 2.5, maybe 5g too, to the elite heater. I would use the KK as a quarantine for testing the heater btw. Then get the RCS.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

I've caught my ghosties nibbling on broccoli stalk, at least when the snails let them have a chance. They also love eating what the girls eat. No problem snacking on brine shrimp or sucking back blood worm bits (it's funny to see one trying to eat a piece of bloodworm that is as large as it is!).

I'm excited, going to pick up one amano tomorrow, and see what else they have


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

You can easily have as many as ten shrimp per gallon, but I would start with half that and just let them breed, in the case of cherries. Has anyone here had success breeding amanos? I'm trying crystal reds at the moment.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I think amano shrimp are really hard to breed as the larvae need to be kept in saltwater before they transition back to fresh. Not sure whether the adults need brackish conditions to actually breed or not.


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## Brian10962001 (Nov 1, 2011)

I've kept ghost shrimp before and just gave them another run. I have them in 75 degree water with anacharis which I understand is around the top of their range (not tropical). They seem to be doing just fine in my NPT, I drop a bit of extra de chlor in there every day, but the tank is stuffed full of anacharis, wisteria, crypts and until recently dwarf sag (one of the worst plants I've ever dealt with, it grew out of control then melted). They need some calcium in their water, and some say they need a drop of iodine per 10/gal. I haven't added iodine but I fed them some Gammarus shrimp to cover some of these needs. Aside from that they keep their section of the tank clear of algae and pick the substrate all day for fallen flakes and pellets. I have 3 guppies as tank mates at the moment so hopefully everything stays stable


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

I know with my ghosties, I can usually see them bobbing about as they like eating or exploring. But this amano... he hides. Wondering if this is normal. Or if it's just the light that he's hiding from. Haven't seen him in over 12 hours, but no signs of a dead body, and PK isn't uh.. bloated. And if he ate ALL of an inch long fish I'd think he would be.

Mis placed paranoia?


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

OK, found him after, or her? She was nomming on the debris on the moss ball. 24+ hours and he's still alive, and pigging out on cabomba debris. PK has nipped a few times, but shrimp are FAST.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

Well, the amano didn't make it, and PK got to nibble on an expensive snack. Some bettas aren't meant to live with shrimp.

Hoping Champagne does better with shrimp company.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

Anyone know how long preggo ghost shrimp take to have their babies? I got two preggos, along with three others, but yeah I just want to know.

Do they eat their young? I heard someone say that.


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## TharBePirates (Aug 15, 2010)

Bombalurina said:


> You can easily have as many as ten shrimp per gallon, but I would start with half that and just let them breed, in the case of cherries. Has anyone here had success breeding amanos? I'm trying crystal reds at the moment.


Amanos are extremely hard to raise. The breeding part is easy, but the eggs must hatch in salt water. The babies aren't shrimpets when they hatch, but larva. As the weeks progress you have to slowly decrease the salinity of the water as they grow, until they are juvie amanos in freshwater. If you convert them too fast, they pretty much die immediately. 



> Well, the amano didn't make it, and PK got to nibble on an expensive snack. Some bettas aren't meant to live with shrimp.


Sorry to here about your amano :/ . Normally once they're full grown they're pretty betta-proof (I had a female amano once as big as my plakat.. she was actually _agressive__ to him_ so I traded her in).

Best bets with shrimp are either species separate tanks (I like 5 gals with moss, branches, IAL and sponge filters) or tons of hiding spots in a tank with fish. Shrimp friendly fish in my experience are cories, pitbull plecos, threadfin rainbows (they have extremely small mouths), and pure endlers. I've heard micro rasboras like chillis can be o-k too. Everyone else will most likely view your shrimp as a food source.

Oh, and if you want your shrimp to breed like crazy? Earthworm flake and sprulina. That stuff is like candy to them. I've had tigers steal the earthworm flake from fish. I feed other things but those two are by far the favorites (for my shrimp and my fish actually).


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