Should I Have Some Shrimp?

[dingweding]

I would like to buy some shrimp to clean my planted tank. Have a couple of questions, hope expertes here can give some suggestion.

I have endler, guppy, platy,and a male betta in the tank, very heavily planted tank with a lot moss, so a lot fry there.
Is it ok to keep shrimp? i think there are a lot place for them hide in.


Do i need a lid for my tank to keep them from jumping out ? i remembered last time i have shrimp, i found some of them on the floor the following morning.


Many thanks.

 

[toppman]

yh i had the same problem with the jumping out, i dont understand the thrill of doing that but they seem 2 persist

 

[GoldLenny]

What size tank do you have? That would be a big determining factor. I see you've been a member here for a while so I'll presume you have a large enough tank.

You should always have a lid on every tank. Many fish will also jump.. including the Betta. The lid also collects evaporation and it condenses on the lid and it drips back into your tank, meaning less topping off or parameter changes from the evaporation, which allows the water to leave but the salts, minerals, etc., stay in the lower water level raising their percentages.

Bettas are carnivores so you may be giving it a feast but if you have enough hiding places, they may survive. There is also a shrimp cave you can add to your tank to give them a place to hide while molting. It is explained on this page. http/www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/...hrimp_ghost.htm

If you have shrimp in a tank with predators, that could be a reason they are fleeing the tank. I have a 10G plants, shrimp, snails tank and have not had any trouble with any of them fleeing the tank. I have a mesh bag over the intake tube and they could easily climb out of the tank with the strings from the media bag which I have going up on top of the HOB filter... but so far no attempted or known escapes.

 

[dingweding]

Thanks for the suggestion.

My tank is about 60 L.

you mean condenses tray? i really do not like it, i have one on my snail tank. It weaken the light. Because i have overtank luminate, that is why no lid there, the original lid is discarded. Never have fish jumped out, i think unless there are problem in the water, otherwise the fish will not jump.


But for shrimp, when it swims, it like to jump backward, and it is very timid. that is why i am worried.

 

[GoldLenny]

I'm not sure what you mean by condensing tray. I'm talking about the evaporation condensing on the glass/plastic cover on the tank and then dripping back into the water. As the water evaporates, it will either condense on the glass/plastic cover or it will escape into your room air. Some fish like to jump. Some fish will jump when spooked.. either by a tank mate or by someone surprising the fish. Shrimp do not spend a lot of time near the surface but if you have floating plants, they will often be found in there. My Cherry shrimp will get spooked sometimes but I've never seen them even ripple the top of the water.

 

[Invader Xan]

The only reason (in my experience at least) why shrimp would ever jump out of a tank is if they don't like something in the water. Some plant fertillisers, fish meds, water additives and plant pesticides will make your shrimp try to escape. I've heard people say that they can sometimes be bullied into trying to jump out by fish. Leaving the water is practically suicide for a shrimp. They wouldn't do so unless their life was already in danger.

As for what kind of shrimp, amano shrimp are fast enough to avoid most danger, provided they have somewhere to hide. Not sure how well any shrimp would do with a betta though...

 

[dingweding]

do not know where can i got amano, but i know ppl sell cherry shrimp on ebay. are they ok?

 

[GoldLenny]

Cherry shrimp are good lil cleaners in a planted tank. They are small so they would be more likely to be eaten by your fish. They do breed pretty easy with good water parameters so as long as you have a little cave for them to hide out when molting and enough plants, java moss, etc., for them to hide out at other times, they may survive.