Want Some Crystal Red Shrimp

[DaveyG]

Hey there

I am relatively new to fish keeping. I now have a 200 Litre tropical tank with some guppies, mollies, platies and neons (and a couple of barbs).

I saw in my LFS today some Crystal Red Shrimp and fell in love with them. They were 3 for £15. Is that a good price? Does anyone know where else I can get them from?

Also, is there anything else I need to consider before getting them? Any fish that would eat them or anything like that? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[youngfisher]

IMO I would get some cheaper shrimp first, leave it a couple of weeks and see if they survive

 

[saltynay]

Get a 4 amano and see how they survive as CRS are very sensitive due to excessive inbreeding. Amano adults can live in freshwater but the juvies cannot so you won't become overrun with them like you might with RCS. Price sounds good if they are grade A but I doubt it at that price in a store.

 

[DaveyG]

youngfisher - is it likely that they won't survive then?

saltynay - what's a 4 amano?

I doubt they are grade A but I loved the look of them! Just much brighter than a lot of other shrimp I've seen!

 

[milkton]

i would get somethin like red cherry or amano shrimp before i start raising shrimp that needs more effort. ex. red crystal shrimp.

im pretty sure the barbs will nip at the shrimp unless the shrimp has excellent hiding places and the barbs are in a school.

 

[youngfisher]

Theres alway a possibility they will not survive, if you have used copper for treatment or someone before you that owned the tank unless it was brand new etc.

You could have a fish that doesn't like them and rips them to shreds, so my advice is to get 5-6 cheaper shrimp (like nay said the anamo shrimp) and see if they survive, if they do theres not a problem with you having crystal shrimp in there IMO. but do give it a couple of weeks testing the shrimp to see if they survive.

Just trying to save you money

 

[chesterscot]

hi if i where you id start off with cherry shrimp or amano their cheaper easy to get hold of (lots of ppl on here sell them and will post)
and then you can get a feel for keeping shrimp
regards scot

 

[DaveyG]

Thanks for all the posts guys - I won't get CRS just yet.

Youngfisher - You mentioned carbon? Is that an issue? My filter has had a carbon pack in it before...does that mean I can't keep shrimp?

 

[chesterscot]

you can keep shrimp with a carbon filter well i do lol
scot

 

[saltynay]

Copper kills shrimp. Fresh carbon removes chemicals/elements from the water. Therefore running activated carbon in your tank will get rid of any copper lingering in the tank. Many treatments contain copper so its something you need to look out for. The carbon has to be relatively new e.g. 1-2 weeks as all the carbon will react essentially just giving you biological filtration for the filter bacteria.

Run some activated carbon in your filter for a week, buy a colony of amano shrimp 4-6 and see how they get on for 2-3 weeks, then think about getting some different species in. It will take you a month before you get your CRS but it will ensure they are less likely to be dead upon introduction.

 

[DaveyG]

Sorry I'm going to show my ignorance / inexperience now!

I have a Fluval 205 external filter, which came with a carbon pouch which I ran for about a week and then removed. I think (and I'll need to double check this) that I do not have a carbon pouch anymore and the tank has been up and running for about 2 months with only the BioMax media (and some other media from an existing tank).

What's the implications of this? I will get some cherry shrimp but won't if they are likely to die...

Should I buy another carbon pouch and run it for a week or 2? I've done 90% water change since running it the first time!

 

[saltynay]

Cherries are particularly hardy and relatively cheap so don't need much prep work. I would by a few say 5 cherries from your LFS let them live for a week or two if you have no deaths then make a larger order from someone like drewry (on the classified section of the forums) to get them for cheap. You could wait for natural growth cherries breed like rabbits if uninhibited.