Freshwater Shrimp

[sozza]

I was just looking for some information about freshwater shrimp?
I am looking at putting a few in my 57L unheated freshwater tank... I was just wondering if there are any requirements for keeping them ie group numbers, food, plants or wood, anything like that I should know, as I have had absolutely no experience with shrimp at all!!

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[dizzied]

.. depends on which shrimp you're looking to have.

 

[sozza]

I have Zebra Danios and Rosy Barbs, so compatible with them... And like I said, 57L tank, unheated, with an internal sponge power filter.

 

[three-fingers]

Those rosy barbs could be a problem, how many do you have?

Also what type of water does your tank have, soft or hard and the pH?

How long has it been set up, and does it have many hiding places?

Need to know so i can recommend a type of shrimp .

 

[PookPook]

petshrimp.com is an ok site. If you can read German (or even Japanese) there are good sites about pet shrimps of all kinds.

 

[sozza]

Those rosy barbs could be a problem, how many do you have?

Also what type of water does your tank have, soft or hard and the pH?

How long has it been set up, and does it have many hiding places?

Need to know so i can recommend a type of shrimp .

thats fine... happy to answer any questions if it means you can help me!!

i have 4 rosy barbs.
the water is slightly on the hard side i believe, and the pH is generally pretty neutral but if anything on the basic side.
i have had fish in it for 2 months now, and yes there are a few rocks and plenty of plants to hide in, but they are all plastic plants, no live ones... will that be a problem for shrimp?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

where abouts in the world are you? just a little concerned that tanks unheated, if your in the UK your gonna want to get a heater for that tank.

 

[sozza]

where abouts in the world are you? just a little concerned that tanks unheated, if your in the UK your gonna want to get a heater for that tank.

I am in Australia... and at the moment it is Spring and the water temp sits around 20deg celcius.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

where abouts in the world are you? just a little concerned that tanks unheated, if your in the UK your gonna want to get a heater for that tank.

I am in Australia... and at the moment it is Spring and the water temp sits around 20deg celcius.

lucky you! wish i was in oz!

i think 20 is a little cold tbh, that's more sub-tropical range than tropical, you wanna keep the tank consistently at around 24-26oC. Bear in mind as well the temp at night time will drop a bit from what you see in the day.

there's a few other fishkeepers from oz here, see if they have heaters in they're tanks.

 

[sozza]

where abouts in the world are you? just a little concerned that tanks unheated, if your in the UK your gonna want to get a heater for that tank.

I am in Australia... and at the moment it is Spring and the water temp sits around 20deg celcius.

lucky you! wish i was in oz!

i think 20 is a little cold tbh, that's more sub-tropical range than tropical, you wanna keep the tank consistently at around 24-26oC. Bear in mind as well the temp at night time will drop a bit from what you see in the day.

there's a few other fishkeepers from oz here, see if they have heaters in they're tanks.

ok cool... thanks for the info.

i dont seem to have any probs with the rosy barbs or zebra danios at that temperature, but doing some reading it seems shrimp can be a little more sensitive. I may have to invest in a heater!!

 

[three-fingers]

Amano shrimp .

You should get a heater, though you probably wont need one its always better to be safe. Mine survived down to 15 Celsius because the weather suddenly took a bad turn, but i wouldn't recommend that temperature at all.

You should get quite a few of them, they like being together, you will see them more and more Amano shrimp=less algae .

Make sure you buy them as big as possible, because they are usually sold very small.

The barbs could be aggressive towards them, especially since you only have 4, but if you get a good number of the biggest Amano shrimp you can find and provide hiding places(essential for when they shed their skin), you should be OK.

 

[sozza]

Amano shrimp .

You should get a heater, though you probably wont need one its always better to be safe. Mine survived down to 15 Celsius because the weather suddenly took a bad turn, but i wouldn't recommend that temperature at all.

You should get quite a few of them, they like being together, you will see them more and more Amano shrimp=less algae .

Make sure you buy them as big as possible, because they are usually sold very small.

The barbs could be aggressive towards them, especially since you only have 4, but if you get a good number of the biggest Amano shrimp you can find and provide hiding places(essential for when they shed their skin), you should be OK.

cool thanks.
i have ordered a heater as I would rather be safe than sorry!!
and am also looking around to find a cave or something just for a bit of extra protection in my aquarium for them.
then my next issue will be where to get some amanos from... from memory neither of my two local fish stores have them!!

 

[fishdawg]

amano shrimp CAN'T have ANY amona in the water.. just a little will kill them. thats just what i have read and from experiance.. correct me if im wrong plz. . . note: there is no tone in my voice

 

[three-fingers]

Yes, they have no tolerance of ammonia or nitrites, when it comes to nitrates they are just like fish, exept that any quick changes can kill them really easy.

You should acclimitise them for as long as possible, preferably over 5 hours especially if your water is different from where you get them.