How do you keep your shrimp?

[Orion]

Just wondering how other people keep their shrimp. IE: what size tank, tankmates, feeding, water params, all that good stuff.

I've kept my cherry shrimp for a few months now and am exremely happy with them. They are in a 5.5 gallon planted tank with PH @ 8.1, KH-15, GH-20, temp 79F. I dose the water with iodine once a month, and plant ferts every few weeks. They also get an added kick of rift lake trace elements since there water comes from the same storage tubs that I use for my smaller rift lake tanks.

There is somewhere between 12-16 shrimp, hard to count. I do know that I have a much higher number of females than males.

I only feed once a week with Hikari's Crab and Lobster bites, and only about 5 pellets.

So far this has been working really well for me. I have one female that should be releaseing her larvae anyday now, and four more at last feeding count that are carring eggs.

There are no other fish in the tank, and a few MTS.

 

[Shaunna]

I have a ghost shrimp in my 29 gallon community tank. I have had quite a few in the time that it has been set up. One died when my tank crashed a while back and I think the others have been eaten by the ABF because they just seem to disappear. There is currently still one in there though and he is quite large. I am also planning a neat little project that I do not know if it will work or not but will post that at a later date.

edit... forgot to mention.. I do not do anything special in that tank. It isn't planted yet so it doesn't get dosed with ferts or nothing. I also do not add iodine or nothing. It eats leftover flakes from the bottom of the tank. Sometimes I will drop a shrimp pellet down there for him and the cory. He really likes those.

 

[Pure]

I converted my unused sauna into the shrimp/moss/plant room. Set 4 10 gals on the bench. Each one is to house separate species of shrimp. So far only 2 of the tanks are holding shrimp. Red cherrys and blue cherry. The other 2 tanks are housing guppy fry until I get more species of shrimp. PH is around 78. No heaters are needed. I have a dual tube florescent light (80 watts total) sitting on top of the tanks. The room is so small it stays a steady 74 with the light. I feed them every other day with a tiny pinch of ground veggie and spirulina (sp?) flake that we mix and crush ourselves. I dose them ever WC with .05 ML of Iodine and firts. I haven't had any more losses since I switched the water conditioner to Prime.

 

[Lotus]

I have shrimp in a whole bunch of tanks, everything from pH 6.9 to 7.8, temps anywhere from 72F to 84F. I have Amano shrimp in with my dwarf puffers, as well as in a community tank. I have cherries on their own, with small fish and even with larger fish. The angels get an occasional snack of a cherry shrimp, but they still continue to breed in those tanks.

 

[Balloon Fish]

I have cherries and amanos in a 20g long with some otos and snails. The pH is from 6.8-7.2 depending on the co2 and temps are from 70F-78F with no heater. I do 50-70% water changes ever week with no iodine added after the WC cause before when i did add iodine they never carried eggs and after i stopped it was more frequent but it could have been from something else so i try to feed iodine rich foods instead. The tank is also hooked up to a fluval 404 but i have plans on moving the shrimp to the 40g with all sponge filters along with a few other species of shrimp but not sure if i will ever get time to move them :/.

 

[lordroad]

Ghost shrimp

Ghost shrimp are the only kinds readily available for me locally, though one store has started stocking cherries. But no way I'll pay 7 dollars for a little shrimp, especially after my experience with the ghosts... can never get one to live past one or two molts.

Keeping 11 in one of my vases now as keeping them in tanks didn't work out.

Also I'm adding miniscule amounts of Flourish and Flourish trace for the plants after water changes in the hope the added iodine will help with molts.

 

[Orion]

Check around for other people who are breeding shrimp and can sell and ship you some. I got mine very resonably priced from Lotus. Check back with me latter this year cause from the way things are going I'll have plenty to share as well. That much is too much IMO for a shrimp.

 

[Lotus]

I had similar problems with ghost shrimp in my tanks, they never survived. I got some Amano shrimp ($2 each) and have had them for well over 18 months now (they don't breed in FW, so I know it's the same ones). Cherry shrimp have also had a much better track record in my tanks than ghosts, and I now have them breeding like crazy in many tanks (I guestimate I must have more than 200 from the original 10 I bought, and I have sold quite a lot, too).

 

[Balloon Fish]

I haven't had the best of luck with ghost shrimp either. Bought 10 or so in the beggining a good 80% dissapeared so i just fed the rest to the angels. The 80% that dissapeared wasn't in the angel tank but if it was i bet i know where they went.

 

[Masta_Cheef]

I've got 10 in my 10g right now; 4 amanos and 6 cherries (which I also bought from Lotus, very reasonably priced). I do 30-40% wc every - every other week, temp around 76°. I don't dose iodine or plant ferts. pH somewhere around 7.8 - 8.0.

 

[TLH]

I have two Amano.See sig.They're in a 12g,24"x12"x12" heavily planted tank.They survive on the food the fish don't eat (Tetramin Flake,DuplaRin micro,Algae wafers) plus they're always picking away at leaves,rockwork,etc.None of the fish bother them or seem bothered by them.Water parameters are PH7.2,KH4,GH I'm unsure of as my test kit seems to have expired,well either that or it's over 35,if that's possible.Temp is usually 26C

 

[SoleilReine]

I have two Amanos in a 3G with a male betta (pH ~8, temp 80°). They seem to be doing pretty well eating the betta's scraps. I'm thinking about adding a small piece of driftwood and some java fern, but as of yet the tank remains unplanted (just a few fakes).

I also have a bamboo shrimp in my 20G blackwater (pH 6.8, temp 76°). He was doing so-so when it was a lightly planted regular tank, but ever since I added more driftwood and decided to go au natural, he seems to be doing much better. His coloring has changed, he's more active, and he's always eating. The 20G is also inhabited by four black skirt tetras, two neons, and an oto. The way these guys eat cracks me up--I bought my first tank because of them