how big do Cherry shrimp get???

[Magnum Man]

this kind of piggybacks off my thread a couple days ago, about fish only growing as big as the tank lets them...
I have a good breeding colony of Cherry Shrimp, in a 10 gallon aquarium, with mature shrimp getting in the plus or minus 1 inch size... I added about a half dozen to my Hillstream tank a few weeks ago ( a 55 gallon ) with lots of cover and food... this morning. I just got a glimpse of one that is over an inch and a half long, with very bright red color... I'll try and get a picture of it, when I can, but that begs the question, how large can a Neocaridina shrimp get in a large tank, with highly oxygenated water, and unlimited food supply... obviously larger than they'll grow in a 10 gallon tank, with a sponge filter, and all they want to eat...

 

[emeraldking]

Well, I found out once that those cherry shrimps can become bigger in my outdoor tanks than I was used to in my indoor tanks. Once I thought I got all of my cherry shrimps out of the outdoor tub to protect them from the cold seasons. But somewhere during spring, I found out that there was still a population going on outdoors. So, I didn't got them all out during fall. But I was amazed how big they were. This made me realize that they could withstand a much lower temp than I thought. And they must have been hidden in those plants. A serious number were between 3 - 4cm in size.

 

[MaloK]

Females can go up to 2 inches. But I never seen that, 1.25 is the biggest I have seen, and normally they are around 3/4 to 1 inch.

Unlimited food supply is also a problem, they eat to much grow too fast and die.

it's pretty difficult to have balance when they are in large numbers and something as dumb as removing a clump of algae that uncovers a large patch of food that was inaccessible, and the next day all the shrimps looked overfed. First time I saw that I thought it was WROD because it looks exactly like it, but after a couple weeks, yes weeks, without feeding them, They came back to normal, but some died because of that.

It seems the less interventions they have, the better they are.

 

[Magnum Man]

OK... it's not any bigger than an inch and a half, unless there is another bigger one... this one is solidly an inch and a half, was out and about this morning, but mine haven't gotten this big in the 10 gallon tank

 

[anewbie]

I have a really large one in my 10 gallon - but it is blue and not red if that counts

 

[OMG_FL]

I've never thought of this
I just thought they get around 2cm and that's all
From your experience I can clearly see I was wrong
But like 1.5" is still crazy to me

 

[anewbie]

I've never thought of this
I just thought they get around 2cm and that's all
From your experience I can clearly see I was wrong
But like 1.5" is still crazy to me

1.5 is insane i think for a tiny shrimp though i did see one of my shrimp whack the little cichild in the tank with it in the nose once when it got too close. Those shrimps must hit pretty hard because that was enough to chase the poor fellow away.

 

[Magnum Man]

I have 2 exceptionally large cherrys in my Hillstream tank, bigger than in my breeding tank... both tanks have for comparison, pretty much unlimited grazing... the big ones, were caught from the breeding tank, and were "normal sized" when placed into the Hillstream tank... the biggest differences as far as I can tell, is, the Hillstream tank is a 55 gallon tank, the shrimp breeder tank is a 10 gallon... there is much more flow, and resulting oxygenation in the Hillstream tank, the breeder tank just uses a big sponge filter the Hillstream tank uses 2 large hang on back filters, and 20 inches of bubble waterfalls... I just cleaned the hob filters yesterday, and didn't find any critters living in them... no hob's on the breeder tanks...

so not sure if the extra oxygen level or water movement has anything to do with the larger size??? back in the old days larger tanks grew larger fish, but today, with doing extra water changes, I don't know if that would still be true???

 

[anewbie]

I have 2 exceptionally large cherrys in my Hillstream tank, bigger than in my breeding tank... both tanks have for comparison, pretty much unlimited grazing... the big ones, were caught from the breeding tank, and were "normal sized" when placed into the Hillstream tank... the biggest differences as far as I can tell, is, the Hillstream tank is a 55 gallon tank, the shrimp breeder tank is a 10 gallon... there is much more flow, and resulting oxygenation in the Hillstream tank, the breeder tank just uses a big sponge filter the Hillstream tank uses 2 large hang on back filters, and 20 inches of bubble waterfalls... I just cleaned the hob filters yesterday, and didn't find any critters living in them... no hob's on the breeder tanks...

so not sure if the extra oxygen level or water movement has anything to do with the larger size??? back in the old days larger tanks grew larger fish, but today, with doing extra water changes, I don't know if that would still be true???

Definitely true that larger tanks even with large water changes grow larger fishes. I have one gigantic angelfish who must be close to 11 inches top to bottom of fins. Try that with a wimpy 10.