Newbie and looking for shrimp advice please!!

[Neon1977]

HI, i wanted to post on here as iv given up on advice from the LFS because its either completely inaccurate or only half right! Anyway i currently have 6 Neon Tetra's in my 25L tank. Its 40cm long, 20cm wide and 40,2cm high. I wont be adding anymore Neon's after speaking to people on the forum as iv been advised it will be overstocked even though the LFS told me i can add 12 Neons in total to my tank! Anyway, i want to get shrimp still for the tank as i was going to anyway and had promised the children after the LFS told me i would be able to add shrimp to the tank as well! Hoping this is still possible? I will eventually in the next couple of months be setting up a shrimp tank in my kitchen so whatever shrimp i get will be getting transferred into there eventually once set up and properly cycled etc! My question is what plants do shrimp like? What environment do their prefer to be in? What type of shrimp and how many would i possibly be able to get for this current tank? Thanks in advance!

 

[Essjay]

I would start with cherry shrimps, the red variety. They are quite hardy and will breed. If you are very sneaky, buy half a dozen but look for at least one that is carrying eggs and ask for that one in particular - you'll pay for 6 but in a week or two have a lot more than 6, although the neons will eat a lot of the babies. A female shrimp carrying eggs has a number of little balls between the swimmerets under the abdomen. It's called being berried because the eggs look just like a cluster of berries.
Shrimps like plants so as said in your other thread, any live plants you can squeeze in will be OK for them.

Your water is slightly harder than mine, and my red cherries are thriving. The main thing is that there is no ammonia or nitrite in the water as shrimps are more sensitive to them than fish, so wait until your tank is fully cycled before getting them, and again when you move them to a new tank.

 

[Neon1977]

I would start with cherry shrimps, the red variety. They are quite hardy and will breed. If you are very sneaky, buy half a dozen but look for at least one that is carrying eggs and ask for that one in particular - you'll pay for 6 but in a week or two have a lot more than 6, although the neons will eat a lot of the babies. A female shrimp carrying eggs has a number of little balls between the swimmerets under the abdomen. It's called being berried because the eggs look just like a cluster of berries.
Shrimps like plants so as said in your other thread, any live plants you can squeeze in will be OK for them.

Your water is slightly harder than mine, and my red cherries are thriving. The main thing is that there is no ammonia or nitrite in the water as shrimps are more sensitive to them than fish, so wait until your tank is fully cycled before getting them, and again when you move them to a new tank.

Fab advice thank you so much!! I will wait for the tank to fully cycle and water to be 0 ammo and 0 nitrite before purchasing any shrimp! I’m hoping for just two more weeks max as the tank has been running for four weeks but at the minute I’m having to do 50% water changes a day to make sure the ammo and nitrite stays at zero so I know the tank isn’t cycled and doing what it should do yet! Even if it takes longer than two more weeks il wait it out cuz I don’t want to put my shrimp in any danger! Thanks again oh and yes I plan on doing a fishless cycle when I set my shrimp tank up in a couple of month! after not being given the right advice from the off, it’s been an a complete whirlwind and will never do a cycle with fish present ever again!! Not only that I don’t want my fish in danger like that anyway!

 

[Ladykelly]

I have shrimp and starting to like them more then fish. I agree start with cherry or any neocardins but only choose 1 colour. Cherry easiest but if you can find bloody Mary (cherry shell red, bloody mary solid red even their flesh) more expensive be blue diamond/saphire are jade. These do well in hard water. Dont get cardina shrimp (I have them) crystal shrimp, pandas, king kongs. They need softer water and are way more frigale. If you can get aquarium plants they do way better. I have java fern, java miss, duck weed (floater) frog bit (floater)

 

[Ladykelly]

 

[Ladykelly]

 

[Ladykelly]

That's a 10 gallon tank. Theres...10 cardina (crystals, black ones unsure if panda, king kong or shadow panda...) and 2 bloody Mary and a jade. Which is hiding.... water soft end of scale because of cardina. Noecardina arent as picky as the cardina family. Hope's this helps.