Cherry Shrimp

[Rediahs]

The questions are in bold!

Okay, I bought some cherry shrimp from a pet store around here. I got 5 of them - I would have gotten more but they were more expensive than I would have liked.

I have a few questions. I bought them to go with my bettas, but they are still a bit small - I was told they'd get bigger, maybe to 1 inch? I think they are 3/4 of an inch right now so hopefully they'll get big enough that they won't just be a betta snack. Right now they are in a bucket by themselves.

I bought some veggie fish food tablets for them, was told that's what they should eat. There is nothing else in the tank except for some java moss. I snapped a tablet into a quarter, but it's still very large and they aren't eating it very quickly. So is it okay if I just leave a quarter of a tablet in there, or should I remove it? I know regular fish food dirties the water, but will this stuff be okay? I think it's some sort of algae tablet. And I don't mind if this thing gets overrun with algae either - the more shrimp food the better. It's breaking down into little granules and it's kind of in a clump at the bottom right now.

I'm hoping they'll breed and have baby shrimp. Anything I can do to have them more likely to have babies and have them survive?

Thanks...

 

[iSnail]

I would remove any uneaten food just in case it fouls the water. My shrimps spend a lot of time combing through the java moss, not sure if they are actually eating the moss or looking for other things amongst the moss. They also enjoy frozen bloodworms. I pick out the tiny ones for them. They should be fed a varied diet, both protein and veg/algae.

 

[Rediahs]

Uhh...

This morning 2 of them I am pretty sure are dead, 2 of them MIGHT be dead and might be alive, and only one I can confidently say is alive.

Even the live one is very slow.

Are they intolerant to salt? I did add a bit of salt to their water... I changed their water today and gave them fresh water though.

 

[iSnail]

Sorry to hear about your shrimps. They are freshwater shrimps but a little aquarium salt should be ok. However, they are very sensitive to nitrites, ammonia and heavy metals especially copper. Be careful with medications and food that contain copper. Make sure you dechlorinate your newly added water as well. Sometimes they die due to not being able to recover from the stress of being transferred to new environment.

 

[starrynightxxi]

cherry shrimp are expensive because they are notoriously difficult to transport so this may well be what happened to yours

 

[moray]

Most shrimps require well oxygenated water, do you have a powerhead or filter in the bucket with them? also what temp is the bucket of water at?

 

[Rediahs]

Nobody told me that they need well oxygenated water... the fish store didn't tell me and none of the pages I read told me that. Boy it's hard to find info about shrimp. I just heard that lots of people keep them with their betta, so I assumed they didn't need filtered water.

Thanks. I will see about getting a filter, and will not buy any more shrimp until I have that.

 

[Rafael Dilone]

Well I myself bought a cherry shrimp a few weeks ago. I did a bit of research before I bought him to insure his health. They are very interesting to watch at night when they are active. I have my cherry shrimp in my 10 gallon fry tank and he seems not to bother my fry. I feed my shrimp some Hikari Micro Pellets which has algae, vitamins, and animal matter. I also think you should feed them Hikari Tropical Crab Cuisine. They just love it. But I feed my cherry shrimp the Hikari Tropical Crab Cuisine at night when he is active. If I feed him that during the day when he is usually hiding under the sponge filter the fry eat it. Also if you plan to breed them I suggest to buy at least six. It is also true about how expensive they are. They sell them at my local pet store for $5.00 each. But since I buy there so often my local pet store gave it to me for $3.50. I am planning to add 3 more cherry shrimps to my fry tank. I will post some websites below to show you of foods you can feed the cherry shrimps.

http/www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...274&N=2004+6130
Hikari Micro Pellets

Ingredients
White Fish Meal, Shrimp Meal, Wheat flour, Soybean Meal, Rice Bran, Spirulina, Brewer's Dried Yeast, Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, D-Activated Animal Sterol, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Choline Chloride, Inositol, Calcium Iodate, Manganese Sulfate, Magnesium Carbonate.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein min. 42.0%
Crude Fat min. 4.0%
Crude Fiber max. 3.0%
Moisture max. 10.0%
Ash max. 12.0% [/color]

http/www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...265&N=2004+6135
Hikari Tropical Crab Cuisine

Ingredients
White Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Rice Bran, Soybean Meal Corn Gluten Meal, Brewers Dried Yeast, Protease, Salt, Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Vitamin K3, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Niacine, Pantothenic Acid, Pyridoxine, Vitamin B12, Biotin, Inositol, Choline Chloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Calcium Iodate, Manganese Sulfate, Magnesium Carbonate.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein min. 31.0%
Crude Fat min. 4.0%
Crude Fiber max. 3.0%
Moisture max. 10.0%
Ash max. 9.0%


http/www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...368&N=2004+6100

Seaweed Salad

Ingredients
100% Natural Dried Seaweed.

Directions for Use:
Attach to vegetable clip and feed. Remove after 6 hours if uneaten.

Guaranteed Analysis
Protein min. 35.0%
Fat min. 0.0%
Fiber max. 16.0%
Moisture max. 5.0%

I also notice you said you had a betta. I think this food will be good for it. It great
http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...=1&N=2004&Nty=1
Betta Bio-Gold

Ingredients
White Fish Meal, Shrimp Meal, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Wheat Flour, Alpha Starch, Brewers Dried Yeast, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Choline Chloride, Inositol, Calcium Iodate, Manganese Sulfate, Magnesium Carbonate, Protease, Lysine, Methionine, Fish Oil, Carotene.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein min. 38.0% Moisture max. 10.0%
Crude Fat min. 4.0% Ash max. 12.0%
Crude Fiber max. 1.0% Phosphorus min. 0.9%