Time For Some Shrimp

[julielynn47]

Well, the 10 gallon is finally cycled!  Tetra SafeStart is some good stuff.   I hope to be able to put some shrimp in on Wednesday.  I am going with just the inexpensive ghost shrimp to see how it goes.
 
The tank has been set up and running for a pretty while now. It has algae growing in it. I hear they like that so I have not tried to get rid of it.  I have sponge filter on order, but it won't be here for awhile. I have not had any issues with shrimp in my 55 with the HOB filter I have, so I expect I won't have issues in the 10.  I hope not anyway.
 

 

[MarchHare]

Good luck with the 10 Julie.
Looks like it will be a great home for shrimps.
T...

 

[BettaBettas]

looks really good, like the design and layout
is this your first? I try to keep shrimp but they are just snacks for my other fish apparently

 

[Aquarian58]

Yes, good luck julie.
 
I only have two shrimp in my 90 litre tank but I find their mischievous antics fascinating and more interesting to watch than my fish at the moment 

 

 

[cooledwhip]

Nice. I would sell you some of my shrimp like we had talked about a while ago, but when I went on vacation my grandmother killed my colony.
 
There is an aquatic convention coming up in November near me and there will be the first ever shrimp competition. I plan on buying some high quality shrimp there and restarting my colony.

 

[julielynn47]

I love to watch the shrimp. But they disappear pretty quickly in my 55.  Not sure why, they be snacks, but I don't know.  
 
This will be my first shrimp only tank.  I am thinking about a couple of snails as well. But other than that just shrimp.
 
That is too bad about the colony of shrimp. What happened?
 
I am pleased with the layout of the tank.  It looks much better than I ever expected it to look.

 

[Aquarian58]

Not wanting to go off-topic julie, but what are the carrot-top plants?

 

[julielynn47]

Water Wisteria.   This is the most amazing batch I have ever had.  Little parts broke of and grew roots, I planted the little pieces and got all those little plants that are shorter.

 

[Aquarian58]

Thanks julie.
 
They would look good in my tank too

 

[cooledwhip]

I had automatic feeders set up on all my tanks and they were good on food, and my grandmother came over while we were on vacation to check on the house. She wandered up into my room and grabbed a random bag of fish food and started going wild. It wasn't even fish food, it was pleco algae wafers. She put in like half a bag. It also killed all my crptos and lots of my plants.

 

[StevenF]

 
 
I love to watch the shrimp. But they disappear pretty quickly in my 55.  Not sure why, they be snacks, but I don't know.

Fish could be eating them.  If so add more hiding places like mosses in which they can hid in the plants.  Another possibility is that you have excessively soft water.  If it is too soft they will not molt and will eventually die.  Apparently excessively hard water can also cause problems with molting which will also kill them.  You might want to check the GH and KH of your aquarium.

 

[NickAu]

Neocaridina species like red cherries can handle harder water, say up to 7.5 however they need good water conditions no ammonia or nitrite  nitrates Above 20ppm and RCS are susceptible to disease and infertility.

 
Most shrimp prefer softer acidic water pH of about 6.2 to 6.8, gH should be between 4-6 and kH should be between 1-2.
 
Under the right conditions a shrimp colony can quickly out grow a 10 gallon tank unless you have a predator in the tank or cull them on a regular basis.
 
Trust me RCS breed faster than pest snails.

 

[julielynn47]

Okay, so maybe I spoke too fast. No nitrites for over a week and bamm! Tonight they are at .25 I guess I am not ready for shrimp...