setting up a shrimp tank

[FishFriend11]

eBay has red cherry shrimp for sale too. Most are 10 for $30 or so. Pick one closest to you.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

What is everyone's opinion of the hardiest shrimp that can be found in most local fish stores? I ask because I am thinking about doing a shrimp tank.

I guess Cherry or Malayan shrimps are hardy. They cost less than USD 0.70 each at my place.
Fire Red are nicer. Probably you can get Fire Red shrimps though they might be less hardy than Cherry and Malayan shrimps.
I can get less than $1-$2 each for Fire red shrimps at my place.
Don't keep Caridina which is more difficult to keep.

Usually, the difficulty is at the beginning stage, due to the water difference between the shrimp farm and your tap water.
I suspect mainly it's due to the GH differences.
Make sure you do a slow acclimatization when you first receive the shrimps from the shops.

But once they breed in you tank, the next generation of shrimps will be used to your water and they will become very hardy.
I gave some tips of shrimps keeping here (my theory):

SHRIMP, and the Ring of Death!

My Shrimp are in good shape and very active, Cherry Shrimp. But a few at the moment have the ring of death. From what I've read, it's believed to be from to many or to large of water changes, (shrimp hate change)! So okay, I'll do less changes. My question is......... Does the ring of death mean...

www.fishforums.net

Cherry Shrimp cost anywhere from $2-$5 each.

That's costly.

would it be alright to start with a smaller group then 10? haha I'm not sure what normal prices are for RCS but any at my LFS cost $6 per shrimp. And I will be heavily planting the tank as well

Start with bigger group so that they will breed.
Once they breed, you will never run out of shrimps in your tank.

I guess I have a few hundreds now.
I started with 20-40 shrimps.

Start with at least 10-20 or more.
But very importantly, ensure that your tank is stable with a lot of algae.
If you can let your tank stabilize for 2 months with plenty of algae, you will high success in shrimps keeping.
What is your water GH in ppm?

 

[Lajos_Detari]

so do i need to have heavy planted to keep them or no (shrimp )
also i think its worth it for the shrimp being very expensive cos they can reproduce so fast

You don't really need plants.
But plants and driftwoods are good as they provide more surface areas for the biofilms and algae to grow.
Biofilms and algae are their common food especially for the shrimplets that cannot compete with the adults for the pellets food.

Avoid rocks as you may accidentally kill them during tank maintenance.(personal preferences)
Some rocks will increase your GH making it unsuitable for your shrimps.

How to increase shrimplets survival rate? - Shrimp and Snail Breeder

Keep your water parameters in the proper range and make sure shrimplets have access to an abundant amount of food. Balance the feeding with powdered food.

aquariumbreeder.com

 

[PheonixKingZ]

That's costly.

Things cost a lot here in the US!

 

[Sgooosh]

You don't really need plants.
But plants and driftwoods are good as they provide more surface areas for the biofilms and algae to grow.
Biofilms and algae are their common food especially for the shrimplets that cannot compete with the adults for the pellets food.

Avoid rocks as you may accidentally kill them during tank maintenance.(personal preferences)
Some rocks will increase your GH making it unsuitable for your shrimps.

How to increase shrimplets survival rate? - Shrimp and Snail Breeder

Keep your water parameters in the proper range and make sure shrimplets have access to an abundant amount of food. Balance the feeding with powdered food.

aquariumbreeder.com

yeah, just got a new light, people say it make plants grow a lot, hope it works

 

[Lajos_Detari]

yeah, just got a new light, people say it make plants grow a lot, hope it works

Good, the light will cause the algae to grow.
Get some Java moss for the shrimplets to hide.