Hello From France

[Jazzycat]

Hello everyone

Just wanted to introduce myself and say hello! I have lived in France for 2 years and have just got my aquarium set up. I had to leave my old 4ft tank in the UK because of space (or lack of) and have only now plucked up the courage to start again. It takes courage as I don't speak perfect french, and especially not technical fish french!

I have now a 52 Litre freshwater tropical community tank, containing 2 dalmatian mollys (with about 40 fry), 1 female guppy, 1 RTBS, 1 leopard cory, 1 pleco and 3 little shrimp. It's planted with elodea crispa and has bogwood, resin coral stones and a stone cave. The mollys were bought first, about a month ago, as water maturers, and have since bred (!) The guppy is for my daughter, and the others are there because I have always kept them as part of my community tanks. I intend getting a pair of honey gouramis for breeding and to keep the fry numbers at bay. I am also now thinking as my hobby has been resurrected I will need a bigger tank soon...

I prefer the exotic and unusual, but will wait for more space. I have been looking into getting a dwarf puffer, but have decided against it as I have read so much conflicting advice on whether they are suitable for communities.

I also have a question on shrimps. I have never kept them before, I don't even know which type they are, one has red bands around the abdomen and the other two are slightly green banded with yellow tails. All are no bigger than 1 inch. We very rarely see them, I presume they are great hiders, there are lots of places and the gravel is fine, do they burrow? Where is the most likely place for them to hide? Eg: Plants or in caves etc.

I have read many threads so far, and this looks like being a very useful place. Thank you in advance to all that take the time to read this

 

[murphyk32]

welcome

 

[Mr Bliss]

Welcome to TFF! It's a great forum, the best one I've found on the internet both in terms of quality information and atmosphere.

The shrimp sound like some Neocaridina species, the most common of which is the Red Cherry Shrimp. Do a google image search for "Neocaridina" and you'll probably be able to identify them. They'll be less shy if you get more of them, as they prefer to be in groups. They can also breed succesfully in the aquarium.

How big is the red tailed black shark? It'll grow too big for that tank in time, and may get very aggressive as it grows older. It'll also most likely eat your shrimps eventually; Neocaridina shrimp are part of its diet in nature, and they might be hiding because they know they're in danger of ending up on the menu.

 

[rhostog]

Hi - welcome! Must be a bit of a challenge talking aquariums in French!
There's some good pictures of shrimp on planetinverts .com - you might be able to identify yours there? I don't know much about them, just started finding out as my daughter wants to keep some.

 

[Shrimper]

Welcome to the forum

I can answer a few of your shrimp question but have no idea which species they actually are without a photo

The don't burrow but will probably be hiding in the plants and other decor.

 

[Spishkey]

*Waves*


Hello from Belgium!!! i know what you mean about finding it hard to talk 'fishy' when you barely speak the language! i find it hard here too but get by with hand movements and pointing to things in books! it all helps!
the guys in my lfs are so use to me now, when i walk in they hand me a net so i can choose my own fish!!!!

 

[chesterscot]

to tff
regards scot

 

[Jazzycat]

Welcome to TFF! It's a great forum, the best one I've found on the internet both in terms of quality information and atmosphere.

The shrimp sound like some Neocaridina species, the most common of which is the Red Cherry Shrimp. Do a google image search for "Neocaridina" and you'll probably be able to identify them. They'll be less shy if you get more of them, as they prefer to be in groups. They can also breed succesfully in the aquarium.

How big is the red tailed black shark? It'll grow too big for that tank in time, and may get very aggressive as it grows older. It'll also most likely eat your shrimps eventually; Neocaridina shrimp are part of its diet in nature, and they might be hiding because they know they're in danger of ending up on the menu.

I checked out pictures of the Red Cherry shrimps, and they are definitely not them, they have only a few bands of colour and the background is seethrough/grey colour. One has red bands and the other two have greeny/brown bands and yellow tails. I searched a lot of pictures and none match up. I will have to return to the fish shop and ask!

At the moment the shark is an adolescent of about 1.5 inches, he is amazingly placid right now, and know he will get more cantankerous. I've had quite a few of these, the oldest was 19 years old and 6 inches when he died. It is my experience they grow only enough to suit their tank, but I'm hoping to get a bigger set up in the next year anyway.

Hi - welcome! Must be a bit of a challenge talking aquariums in French!
There's some good pictures of shrimp on planetinverts .com - you might be able to identify yours there? I don't know much about them, just started finding out as my daughter wants to keep some.

Thanks for this useful site! My shrimp don't seem to be on there though!

Welcome to the forum

I can answer a few of your shrimp question but have no idea which species they actually are without a photo

The don't burrow but will probably be hiding in the plants and other decor.

Thanks, I will try and get a photo, I have discovered the hiding place of one of them, so I'll just lie in wait....

*Waves*


Hello from Belgium!!! i know what you mean about finding it hard to talk 'fishy' when you barely speak the language! i find it hard here too but get by with hand movements and pointing to things in books! it all helps!
the guys in my lfs are so use to me now, when i walk in they hand me a net so i can choose my own fish!!!!

LOL!! Waving and pointing does work very well....


Thanks to all who welcomed me. I will try and get some photos up and hopefully we can identify those pesky little crevettes!

 

[Spishkey]

do the shrimps look like any of these?

http/www.kapaza.be/Dieren_en_toebehoren/...d_garnalen.html
http/www.kapaza.be/Dieren_en_toebehoren/...en_Bijtjes.html
http/www.kapaza.be/Dieren_en_toebehoren/...urgarnalen.html

 

[Jazzycat]

do the shrimps look like any of these?

[URL="http/www.kapaza.be/Dieren_en_toebehoren/...d_garnalen.html"]http/www.kapaza.be/Dieren_en_toebehoren/...d_garnalen.html[/URL]
[URL="http/www.kapaza.be/Dieren_en_toebehoren/...en_Bijtjes.html"]http/www.kapaza.be/Dieren_en_toebehoren/...en_Bijtjes.html[/URL]
[URL="http/www.kapaza.be/Dieren_en_toebehoren/...urgarnalen.html"]http/www.kapaza.be/Dieren_en_toebehoren/...urgarnalen.html[/URL]

Well, Nigel looks a little like the Crystal Red ones, he is quite small so the red appears in smaller quantities on his body. The other two, Kevin and Debra are llike the Crystal Reds but with greeny/brown bands and a yellowy tail. Could they be the same breed but throw backs to their natural colour?

 

[Shrimper]

Probably not, the natural colour of the Crystal Red Shrimp is black and white, they are known as Bee shrimps or Crystal Black Shrimp

I've not heard of Bee shrimp coming in green but they could be Bumblebee Shrimp, which look similar to Bees but are brownish black

 

[Jazzycat]

Probably not, the natural colour of the Crystal Red Shrimp is black and white, they are known as Bee shrimps or Crystal Black Shrimp

I've not heard of Bee shrimp coming in green but they could be Bumblebee Shrimp, which look similar to Bees but are brownish black

Thanks Shrimper. I've looked at photos of the Bee shrimps, and have to say, they don't resemble mine. I'm going back to the shop on wednesday, so hopefully they should be able to tell me which type they are.

Also, this afternoon I noticed what looks like a pile of miniature bones outside the entrance to their coral cave. Could this be an exo-skeleton? How many times do they shed and how long does it take in general? Do they need special nutrients before/during/after this phase?

 

[Shrimper]

Sounds like it might be the shedding.

I've never seen a shrimp shedding it skin in person but i have seen a video on youtube of a shrimp shedding and it is over in seconds, the shell breaks behind the head and they jump out backwards. They shed less as they get older, but i seems to be about once a month while they are young.

I've never given them anything special but would leave the shedding in the tank as they sometimes like to eat it. The only thing they do need is somewhere to hide from the fish while their skin hardens like plants and other decor but it sounds like you have that covered,

 

[waterdrop]

Welcome to TFF!

If you're in Paris we shall all have to stop in and see the tanks when we vacation!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jazzycat]

Quite far from Paris waterdrop, but they do have lovely aquariums there We're further south and west, wine country - Pays de la Loire - come and look at some grapes instead!


Shrimper - I went back to the shop today, I was told they are all japonica variaties. However, I have searched Amano - same type I believe - and have found no pictures that match. I am sure they are Crystal red and Bee shrimp. Maybe I'll never know, it's proving hard to get a photo, the minute one pops its little head out it gets startled by a philandering corydora!


Talking of Corydoras, I added 2 more, so the total is 3. They are very happy and the original loner I had was ecstatic to have company, they keep draping themselves over each other, looking like some roman orgy-goers.