Shrimp?

[smallfry]

Hello,
I've been thinking of getting a shrimp for my 10g tank....possibly cherry or ghost. I've done some research online, but having trouble finding some answers. Do shrimp eat plants? What do they eat besides algae? Plus for those in New England....any suggestions on a good place to buy these guys? (cheap is good...but I don't want sick shrimp)

If anyone has had experience with shrimp your knowledge is appreciated!

Thank you in advance!!

 

[smallfry]

Oh....and could I keep more than one in the same tank?

 

[TankGirl]

You could have cherry shrimp in your 10 gal, and they will likely spawn if there is enough plant cover. These are very tiny shrimp so you could have quite a few in there, and I'd feed sinking algae wafers occasionally, unless there is plenty of algae. They'll eat regular flake food also. They will not eat your plants.

I have gotten them from AZGardens.com. Don't know if it will cost extra to ship in cold weather, though.

 

[smallfry]

Hi Tankgirl,
Thank you for the great info and the speedy reply....now I'm torn between shrimp and red claw crabs.....

 

[TeutonJon78]

well, if you are torn with shrimp, grab 10 or so ghost shrimp. Won't set you back but a few dollars and you can see if you like them. And as for having disease, I read on some shrimp site that they don't really carry fish diseases.

It's a cheap way to see if you like them (or if they will like your tank). They are really fun to watch, although being clear, sometimes hard to find in the tank. easy to find if they die though, as they turn white.

Plus, you can find them all over the place and not have to spend a ton of money on them. I'd really like those red cherry shrimp, but as my tank won't be up for super long (due to moving around and such) for awhile, not going to spend like $50 on shrimp.

 

[smallfry]

the cherry shrimp cost $50????? 8O

 

[smallfry]

sorry for all the questions, but do ghost shrimp eat algae too? and could I have both shrimp and red claw crab in my tank??? (probably not, huh?)

 

[TeutonJon78]

no...they arne't that much. But they are like 0.5" big, so you are going to want more than 1. The cheapest I've seen them is $4.59 each (www.azgardens.com). My LFS had them for $7.50 each.

So you want 10 shrimp, you're at $50ish dollars, not counting shipping and stuff. There are cheaper shrimp (amanos), which my lfs had for $3. Ghost shrimp for me are like $0.45 each. Don't think they eat so much algae, but they will eat extra food sitting around. Don't think crabs would eat algae though either.

If you are looking for algae eating, probably better off with the better shrimp or Otos/plecos/etc. But if you want to see if you even like having shrimp around, it's easy to try the ghost shrimp.

 

[TeutonJon78]

and by looking at your tank, seems like you have algae eaters already. I'd be surprised if the 4 otos and hte pleco can't keep it clean for algea. The cories might outcompete the shrimp for food at the bottom if they are anything like the cories I have.

 

[smallfry]

Thank you for the great info! It has been helpful!

 

[TankGirl]

Any kind of invert with a "claw" is going to be a carnivore so I would avoid keeping them with fish or shrimp, unless I am confused about what red claw crabs are.

You could easily spend $50 on shrimp, but likely that will include the shipping. They are not that expensive, and IME Amanos are the most expensive shrimp I have seen at the LFS. You might inquire from your LFS if they can order you in some cherry shrimp, and that will save you tons of money. Ghost shrimp won't handle algae but they are nifty and will give you an idea if you like shrimp, as recommended above.

 

[DaPony87]

Smallfry, what part of massachusetts do u live in?

I have amano shrimp and they cost me 75 cents each. They all hang out in my giant bunch of Java Fern and eat the algae that gorws on the slow growing Java fern. A few of them will swim up ot the filter and eat off of that too lol. I wouldnt suggest on getting the crabs. If I can recall, they like to have access to land occasionally. Theyre renowned escape artists and they might attack fish that sleep on the substrate

 

[DaPony87]

sorry i have ghost not amano

 

[Guest]

I like the idea of trying some ghost shrimp first. You can generally find them and they only average a .25$. It's no fun when 4-10$ fancy shrimp start turning up missing, be it hungry tank mates or water conditions they don't like.

 

[benji-star]

ghost shrimp are very cheap i got 15 for a buck fifty

 

[UTcolorchangn]

sorry i have ghost not amano

I was gonna say you got a great deal if they were amanos! I picked up three amanos from my LFS for $4 each. They had ghost shrimp 7 for $1.

 

[Kim Kipper]

Does anybody have a good link for Shrimp ?

What conditions they need, etc

 

[Rxblade123]

Wow I must have it good then, my Ghost Shrimp costs 20 for a dollar. And usually the guy counting them out misses a few.

 

[czcz]

Here, Amanos are $1.99, Cherry are $2.99 (2 for $5), and Ghost are $1/12. Just adding to list.

You could have cherry shrimp in your 10 gal, and they will likely spawn if there is enough plant cover.

TankGirl, please clarify: salt is not needed for successful reproduction of cherry shrimp? Thanks.

 

[smallfry]

Teutonjon,
My otos and pleco were in my 46g....I wanted the shrimp for my 10g. I have however moved the otos into the 10g and hopefully they will clean up the algae.



Thanks everyone for the great suggestions.....I have settled on getting cherry shrimp, but haven't found them yet...will check some LFS this week. (May possibly have a store order them for me)