Very interesting .
Do you have Cherry Shrimp?
- Thread starter Fishmanic
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OP
OP
I would think that on gravel, most food would fall through the spaces
OP
OP
My 5 gallon is a shrimp only tank.
Shrimps have "hands" to pick up food with. Unless the gravel is big so there are big deep gaps, shrimps should be able to retrieve food, no problem.
Or use a small dish/plate and put the food on that.
Or use a small dish/plate and put the food on that.
I have about 15 Armano shrimp in my African tank ( a 45 gallon ) and have tried some specialty shrimp foods and they’ll go to those until I feed the fish… I feed pretty heavily Ultra Fresh micro pellets, because there are so many tetras in there, some smaller, as well as a group of King Tiger pleco’s , and Coolie loaches in the rocks… substrate is black, micro pellets are cream colored, and so, easy to see on the bottom… micro pellets are supposed to be slowly sinking, so the Tetras get a lot, but they sink faster that the Tetras are eat, so they have to pick off the bottom, with the shrimp and rest of the bottom feeders…. The system works very well
My Cherry shrimp are in a 10 gallon with a pair of Platy’s, and they came in tiny, 1/2 inch and smaller… I can only see 2 or 3 , in the bases of some Java ferns… th tank is not as mature, but I’m thinking about buying another bag of the same 1 inch polished river rock, like what is in my other tank, as the Armano’s can work the rock so well, and the black color lets me see the food easily… the very coarse substrate will give the fry a place to hide… ideally I’d like to duplicate the success I’m having in he other tank, with a shrimp that will reproduce in the aquarium…
My little cherries are very red…. Is that seen typical with the colonies you guys have??? I’m expecting to have to order a few small groups, until I get the tank the way I want, and enough of a colony established
My Cherry shrimp are in a 10 gallon with a pair of Platy’s, and they came in tiny, 1/2 inch and smaller… I can only see 2 or 3 , in the bases of some Java ferns… th tank is not as mature, but I’m thinking about buying another bag of the same 1 inch polished river rock, like what is in my other tank, as the Armano’s can work the rock so well, and the black color lets me see the food easily… the very coarse substrate will give the fry a place to hide… ideally I’d like to duplicate the success I’m having in he other tank, with a shrimp that will reproduce in the aquarium…
My little cherries are very red…. Is that seen typical with the colonies you guys have??? I’m expecting to have to order a few small groups, until I get the tank the way I want, and enough of a colony established
Cherry shrimps come in several grades from red-ish to bright bright red. They all have names. So just 'red cherry shrimps' are likely to be the least red. 'Fire red' are brighter red and 'bloody mary' are redder still. And as you'd expect, the redder they are, the more they cost. And females tend to be redder than males.
Once you have an established breeding colony, it is sensible to add new stock from a different supplier every few years, hopefully from a different line, to widen the gene pool as much as possible. When I get new ones, I try to get a berried female as that will soon give me a lot of shrimps for the price of one. But I realise I'm lucky as several shops near me sell shrimps. A few years ago I also swapped shrimps with another shrimp keeper so we both had 'new blood'.
Once you have an established breeding colony, it is sensible to add new stock from a different supplier every few years, hopefully from a different line, to widen the gene pool as much as possible. When I get new ones, I try to get a berried female as that will soon give me a lot of shrimps for the price of one. But I realise I'm lucky as several shops near me sell shrimps. A few years ago I also swapped shrimps with another shrimp keeper so we both had 'new blood'.
OP
OP
for now, I took a plastic food cap about 3 inches wide and 3/4 inch high and filled it with pool filter sand. I had some shrimp pellets so I crushed up two of them and laid on the sand...filled cap with water, waited a few minutes for pellets to sink, and then put on the bottom of the tank half buried in the gravel. I've had two "customers'" already. I have 5 cherry shrimp and 4 amanos in the tank. So far, this method is working.
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All good advice so far.
Neos are easy to keep, they don't need special "shrimp food", any fish food you have on hand will suffice...just don't overfeed...as mentioned earlier, in a well established tank, they'll scavenge on the natural biofilm and infusoria that develops.
IME, blanched veggies are just as well liked as commercial fish food...all of my tanks have Neos in them, and blanched veggies are offered at least once a week.
MOST importantly, get an Indian Almond leaf or two in the tank...Neos thrive on the biofilm and the degradation of these leaves...they are a proven benefit (for fish, as well) in any FW tank....see below
Neos are easy to keep, they don't need special "shrimp food", any fish food you have on hand will suffice...just don't overfeed...as mentioned earlier, in a well established tank, they'll scavenge on the natural biofilm and infusoria that develops.
IME, blanched veggies are just as well liked as commercial fish food...all of my tanks have Neos in them, and blanched veggies are offered at least once a week.
MOST importantly, get an Indian Almond leaf or two in the tank...Neos thrive on the biofilm and the degradation of these leaves...they are a proven benefit (for fish, as well) in any FW tank....see below
Indian Almond Leaves and Alder Cones in a Shrimp Tank - Shrimp and Snail Breeder
Many advanced shrimp keepers use these leaves in their tanks because of their outstanding qualities and properties. Even more, these leaves have also been used for years by tropical fish keepers as well
aquariumbreeder.com
OP
OP
I did put in a cut up India Almond a few days ago. The tank is over 4 years old with lots of algae. It probalby has lots of biofilm in the tank.
OP
OP
My shrimp tank.
Closely following- likely our next addition
OP
OP
Just be sure you research compatibly if you will have any fish in the tank.
I have been keeping cherry shrimp in a 5.5 gallon aquarium going on two years now. I was also keeping scuds in the tank which I’ve almost got eliminated now, but they were preventing my population from growing, eating newly molted adults as well as new soft little babies. Now that I’ve been hunting down scuds since November, I am seeing a lot of babies again.
On average I’d say it took about 2 months before I saw new berried females in either of my two shrimp tanks.
How many can you keep in a 5 gallon tank? I’d say 75 to 100, and at that number it would be hard to count them anyhow, right? <grin> They have a small bioload. I’ve got 10 tigers in a 3 gallon now and 2 females in that tank are berried, due to see shrimplets in the aquarium any day now. I first saw them with eggs at the end of December.
I have only inert small gravel substrate in my shrimp tanks, although half the bottom on my neo tank is bare. I have never used sand substrate, nor have I ever kept a dirted tank. I figured both would be more trouble than I’d like, as I like to keep things as simple and as fool-proof as possible. I like to get my gravel vac down in the gravel to clean a tank and I like sticking my turkey baster down in nooks and crannies too. I don’t need to suck up sand or dirt and get stuff floating all around in my nice and clear water.
What do I feed them? Well, when shrimp stomach contents are studied they are mainly full of biofilm, detritus and algae. None of that stuff will you need to buy for them if you keep them in a mature aquarium. Of course, when you clean the tank you may need to drop a little food in as you may have removed some of their available food. If you have some berried females and your tank is only a few months old, you might want to add a little Bacter AE (it is a powder, use the amount that is the size of grain of rice) to help get a little biofilm started for the coming shrimplets. Your shrimp would have to go without any food whatsoever for 2 weeks to begin to show any signs of not doing well. Overfeeding shrimp is one of the top reasons new shrimp keepers lose shrimp. You can drop an appropriately sized piece of shrimp food into your tank once every two or three days. That should be plenty. For example, Hikari Crab Cuisine - maybe one piece for your 6 shrimp to share. One might take it and run off with it, but will eventually leave it and the next shrimp will pick it up. Think of the food you drop into the tank as SUPPLEMENTAL food. All you ever need to do is supplement their food.
Your 5 gallon tank should suit your purposes just fine for growing your shrimp colony. It is good to know that you have another aquarium just in case, but I believe you will not have any problem getting new homes for any unwanted shrimp locally. I know there are many groups on social media where hobbyists can trade with other hobbyists for plants, fish, shrimp, etc. My local fish store had no problem taking 60+ cories from me when I had a baby explosion. I also had sword plants shooting off babies left and right, and another LSF was happy to take those off my hands for store credit too.
Have fun with your shrimp!
On average I’d say it took about 2 months before I saw new berried females in either of my two shrimp tanks.
How many can you keep in a 5 gallon tank? I’d say 75 to 100, and at that number it would be hard to count them anyhow, right? <grin> They have a small bioload. I’ve got 10 tigers in a 3 gallon now and 2 females in that tank are berried, due to see shrimplets in the aquarium any day now. I first saw them with eggs at the end of December.
I have only inert small gravel substrate in my shrimp tanks, although half the bottom on my neo tank is bare. I have never used sand substrate, nor have I ever kept a dirted tank. I figured both would be more trouble than I’d like, as I like to keep things as simple and as fool-proof as possible. I like to get my gravel vac down in the gravel to clean a tank and I like sticking my turkey baster down in nooks and crannies too. I don’t need to suck up sand or dirt and get stuff floating all around in my nice and clear water.
What do I feed them? Well, when shrimp stomach contents are studied they are mainly full of biofilm, detritus and algae. None of that stuff will you need to buy for them if you keep them in a mature aquarium. Of course, when you clean the tank you may need to drop a little food in as you may have removed some of their available food. If you have some berried females and your tank is only a few months old, you might want to add a little Bacter AE (it is a powder, use the amount that is the size of grain of rice) to help get a little biofilm started for the coming shrimplets. Your shrimp would have to go without any food whatsoever for 2 weeks to begin to show any signs of not doing well. Overfeeding shrimp is one of the top reasons new shrimp keepers lose shrimp. You can drop an appropriately sized piece of shrimp food into your tank once every two or three days. That should be plenty. For example, Hikari Crab Cuisine - maybe one piece for your 6 shrimp to share. One might take it and run off with it, but will eventually leave it and the next shrimp will pick it up. Think of the food you drop into the tank as SUPPLEMENTAL food. All you ever need to do is supplement their food.
Your 5 gallon tank should suit your purposes just fine for growing your shrimp colony. It is good to know that you have another aquarium just in case, but I believe you will not have any problem getting new homes for any unwanted shrimp locally. I know there are many groups on social media where hobbyists can trade with other hobbyists for plants, fish, shrimp, etc. My local fish store had no problem taking 60+ cories from me when I had a baby explosion. I also had sword plants shooting off babies left and right, and another LSF was happy to take those off my hands for store credit too.
Have fun with your shrimp!
Do you have Cherry Shrimp?
Yes, I do...! So simple can a reply be...
I add a lot of botanicals to my tank. I put the leaf litter up front and I drop the food down inside of a straw, using that straw to guide where I want the food to fall……right on top of the leaf pile. I do usually cut the leaf up into an inch or two square as those indian almond leaves are so huge and I only have a 9 inch square tank. Some people get a little glass dish of sorts to drop their shrimp food into. It helps them see what is leftover so they don’t let uneaten food sit in their tank and foul the water.
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