Bio-load Of Invertebrates In The Freshwater Aquarium

[TylerFerretLord]

Well, my stocking plans for my 100 gallon involve a few amano and bamboo shrimp, some non-hermaphroditic snails, and a few mussels.

How much of a bio-load do they each represent? I wasn't sure how to figure them out in my stocking list(like how 1 inch of fish is 1 gallon of water used in stocking), or if they actually could be counted as negative bio-load because they clean the tank.

Please answer me. ^^

PS:

I heard loached bother inverts. Would weather loached do this? Any other common fish to avoid?

 

[three-fingers]

Yep weather loaches, and indeed pretty much all loaches are experts at eating snails. Pretty much any big fish can tackle a snail, this includes goldfish, various catfish and lots of cichlids. Keep with smallish fish and you should be ok, some bigger fish can be ok, like silver dollars for example. Best just to ask about whatever fish your thinking of .

Mussels are a bad idea if your thinking of swan mussels though. It's common to see lfs' sell these and even keep them in filter systems, but in reality they are coldwater and need either a large pond or a specialised set up. edit: Nevermind, just noticed your in the US, and I don't think they have them there .

There are some 'tropical' and 'subtropical' alternative mussels and clams though, as long as you realise they will need specialised target feeding (same as bamboo shrimp, but this can be more difficult since they bury and move around) to avoid a long death through hunger . You should find out what species your buying and do a little research about what temperatures it lives in nature before buying.

Indeed, snails and shrimp contribute to the bioload just as fish would - the 1" per gallon rule is really no less accurate to use with them than it is to use with fish (which is still pretty inaccurate). In the case of your filter feeding animals, you should take into account that target feeding still leaves some food entering into the water column - food too small for snails and scavengers to eat. This food will also contribute to the bioload as it turns into ammonia.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

Thank you, I will revise my list now so I can include shrimp.

Do the loached bother the shrimp too? You only said they would eat snails.

 

[poopsydrew]

Bamboo shrimp do not need to be target fed nor do they move around a bunch. They just sit and filter water all day. Thats all they do all day, never once seen them bury. If they are searching for food on the bottom all you have to do is drop an algae wafer and this will dissolve more food in the water. They are an extremely easy if not a little pricey shrimp to care for.

Drew

 

[three-fingers]

Bamboo shrimp do not need to be target fed nor do they move around a bunch. They just sit and filter water all day. Thats all they do all day, never once seen them bury. If they are searching for food on the bottom all you have to do is drop an algae wafer and this will dissolve more food in the water. They are an extremely easy if not a little pricey shrimp to care for.

Drew

I meant the mussels/clams dig, not the bamboo shrimp .
I disagree, they should never be found trying to eat food from the bottom - if you witness this your tank really isn't mature/large enough for filter feeding shrimp. You can keep them in a brand new tank, but considerably more frequent feeding will be required to stop them searching for food in this manner.
Putting an algae wafer in for them isn't as good target feeding, the shrimp gets less food and the water gets dirtier . It's only really an option in a set up where you have additional biological filteration just to account for it.

Interesting you note they are pricey, that doesn't seem to be the case if you shop around though - in most of my lfs they go for £3-£4, but in bigger more commercial places like garden centres I've seen the at £8. .

 

[TylerFerretLord]

Bamboo shrimp do not need to be target fed nor do they move around a bunch. They just sit and filter water all day. Thats all they do all day, never once seen them bury. If they are searching for food on the bottom all you have to do is drop an algae wafer and this will dissolve more food in the water. They are an extremely easy if not a little pricey shrimp to care for.
Drew

I was wondering why mine hadn't starved to death yet. I would put in a wafer daily for my plecs and the other fish would tak e a few chunks out before it hit the bottom. Could I just crumble a bit of one and then drop it over him for him?

Bamboo shrimp do not need to be target fed nor do they move around a bunch. They just sit and filter water all day. Thats all they do all day, never once seen them bury. If they are searching for food on the bottom all you have to do is drop an algae wafer and this will dissolve more food in the water. They are an extremely easy if not a little pricey shrimp to care for.

Drew

I meant the mussels/clams dig, not the bamboo shrimp .
I disagree, they should never be found trying to eat food from the bottom - if you witness this your tank really isn't mature/large enough for filter feeding shrimp. You can keep them in a brand new tank, but considerably more frequent feeding will be required to stop them searching for food in this manner.
Putting an algae wafer in for them isn't as good target feeding, the shrimp gets less food and the water gets dirtier . It's only really an option in a set up where you have additional biological filteration just to account for it.

Interesting you note they are pricey, that doesn't seem to be the case if you shop around though - in most of my lfs they go for £3-£4, but in bigger more commercial places like garden centres I've seen the at £8. .

My shrimp runs his fans over a large rock in my tank. Is that the same as picking stuff up? The rock has some algae growth, too.

Mine was 5$.

 

[poopsydrew]

Bamboo shrimp do not need to be target fed nor do they move around a bunch. They just sit and filter water all day. Thats all they do all day, never once seen them bury. If they are searching for food on the bottom all you have to do is drop an algae wafer and this will dissolve more food in the water. They are an extremely easy if not a little pricey shrimp to care for.

Drew

I meant the mussels/clams dig, not the bamboo shrimp .
I disagree, they should never be found trying to eat food from the bottom - if you witness this your tank really isn't mature/large enough for filter feeding shrimp. You can keep them in a brand new tank, but considerably more frequent feeding will be required to stop them searching for food in this manner.
Putting an algae wafer in for them isn't as good target feeding, the shrimp gets less food and the water gets dirtier . It's only really an option in a set up where you have additional biological filteration just to account for it.

Interesting you note they are pricey, that doesn't seem to be the case if you shop around though - in most of my lfs they go for £3-£4, but in bigger more commercial places like garden centres I've seen the at £8. .

I apologize, I thought you meant the bamboo shrimp. I agree with you that they should never be searching the bottom for food, but it seems the algae wafer dissolves into the water column thus giving them food to filter. Either way, I do agree with you as well about having a mature tank making it easier for them to feed. As for price, I paid 8 US dollars for mine and being broke and in college, thats pricey for me, that coulda been beer money

 

[three-fingers]

No problem .
Mine cost £2.75 with my discount at the store, and that's like $5.50. Not exactly cheap compared to tetras, but compared to some similar sized things like plecs (ever seen a 2" plec for £30/$60? ).

My shrimp runs his fans over a large rock in my tank. Is that the same as picking stuff up? The rock has some algae growth, too.

Afraid so, its pretty bad for the bristles in their fans, I've seen ones in pretty bad shape from doing that in lfs, after a while they cant catch enough food in them and slowly starve to death .

 

[TylerFerretLord]

I started adding crumbled wafers to the tank at feeding time, and he stopped rubbing. He likes to sit on the bridge and do it.