I am by no means an invert expert, but we do keep and have kept a pretty good variety of them so I thought I'd post our observations and a basic intro to each type that we've had. I'll add to these as thoughts strike me or as we get new stuff in. I'll add some pics soon as well. The inverts in the hobby vary greatly, but share a few common needs. I'm limiting this to FW, but IME they share a lot in common with the SW snails and shrimp that we've kept. They do best in an established tank that has been fully cycled for ~ 6 months. Some are hardier than others, but all will succumb to copper in the water. While some folks claim that silicone will leech copper if medications have ever been used in a tank, I've never seen any proof nor do I believe there is any documented proof of it. The limitation of not using copper should not be a problem in a FW tank. Inverts, again in general, are more fragile than fish and can be decimated by some simple mistakes. They also need a source of carbonate hardness in the water in order to shell build. This can be from the water naturally or the addition of a calcium supplement (liquid, cuttle bone, aragonite, etc.). Please research each individual species before adding it to your tank. There are several invert and planted tank sites out there that have excellent information.
Let's start off with snails and the most common and “controversial” of them all, the dreaded pond snail.
Pond snails a.k.a Japanese trapdoor snails- (Lymnaeidae):
These frequently baffle new aquarium owners who one day spot a snail in their tank knowing that they never introduced any snails to the tank. And by knowing, I mean thinking. The truth is that the usual means of introduction is through the addition of plants, substrate, décor, etc. where the eggs of snails remain and it only takes one snail to begin a colonization. Precautions can be taken by soaking plants in some solutions, but generally I never bother. IMO, these pose no worry. They are active cleaners of uneaten food and wastes and their population is easily controlled. The amount of pond snails in a tank is directly proportional to the amount of food and wastes available to them. A reduction of feeding and/or improved cleaning practices can reduce or eliminate them in fairly short order. Reducing their numbers by baiting and removing is also a good practice if you find yourself with an “infestation”. To do this, leave a weighted piece of romaine lettuce or similar in the tank for about 24 hours. Remove with the snails. Repeat and examine your feeding and cleaning habits. I personally love these snails. They act as an “early warning system”. Frequently given advice to “get loaches” usually leads to bigger problems. Loaches are very active, very social animals and even the smaller species that prey on snails (botiine loaches) need a fairly large footprint in an appropriate tank to thrive. For a passive, animal assisted method of removal; consider adding a few assassin snails (see below). Again, the real cure to pond snail over-population is nutrition control. Adding animals to deal with the snails usually fails and quite often has the opposite effect than the one desired.
Assassin Snails- (Clea helena, Anentome helena):
These beautiful snails are actually whelks and are marked by alternating yellow and black stripes around a conical shell. As their name implies, they are snail eaters and while the availability of other food sources and maturity seem to dictate how well they reduce pond snail populations they all seem to relish smaller, baby pond snails. They are primarily carrion feeders and will take to most proteins (snails, shrimp pellets, worms, etc.). They will eat snails other than pond snails so caution should be used if adding them to a tank with small nerites (horned or juvies) or breeding tylomelania snails. They will co-exist fine with adult nerites, tylos, or shrimp and make a great addition to an invert only tank. They do best in a tank with a sandy substrate and will spend most of their time buried in the sand awaiting food with their “snorkel” up. They will breed in aquaria, but they lay single eggs and mature slowly so they do not represent an overpopulation problem.
Ramshorn Snails- (Planorbidae sp.):
These have a flattened spiral shell and are pretty cool snails too. They come in a bunch of colors now from the normal brown to black, blue, red, pink, etc. Like pond snails they often hitch hike in as eggs on plants and will reproduce rapidly in an environment with plenty of nutrition available to them and can become “pests” in tanks with excess uneaten food or detritus. These will eat only the most tender of plants if easier food is not available and are a good inclusion to a planted tank. If you see “Giant”, “Behemoth” or sometimes “Columbian” ramshorns at your LFS, be aware that they are a different snail altogether, get considerably larger, and often eat plants.
Nerite snails- (Neritina):
These are without a doubt the most adaptive snails in the hobby. They can be acclimated from full marine to full FW. They are also the best algae grazing snails for a planted or community tank IMO. They come in a gorgeous myriad of colors and patterns. I would say that of the types we've kept (red-spotted, tiger, zebra, narrow zebra, olive, horned, etc.) that the relatively drab (ugliest of the bunch) olive nerite is the most voracious algae eater. All of them need a covered aquarium since they seem to enjoy a walkabout in the middle of the night. If you do happen to find your nerite snail dry on the floor, don't give up too soon. Place them back in your tank in a very conspicuous place and give them a day or so. They lock up their operculum very tight to maintain internal moisture, a fact which even makes them compatible in tanks with a lot of “snail eaters” as long as they are large enough. Their only downside is the sometimes frequent laying of eggs on the glass of the aquarium. But since their eggs require brackish conditions to hatch out, these can easily be scraped with any algae scraper or Mag-float.
Rabbit Snails- (Tylomelania):
These are really cool live-bearing snails from Lake Sulawesi. There are an amazing assortment of color varieties and different shell types amongst them. They seem to do the best at a pH of about 7.5 and take just about any foods. They will also graze on algae, but do not count on them as cleaners. These snails are back heavy and lumber around the tank. It is so entertaining to watch them drag their shell up the glass. It looks like an invert extreme sport at times!
Ghost, Glass shrimp- (Palaemonetes sp.):
These are commonly found as cheap feeders at your LFS. While many individual species are sold as “Ghost” or “Glass” shrimp, most require slightly brackish water to reproduce. I always advise someone keep these if they (or their tank) are new to shrimp. These are entertaining to watch on their own and equally, albeit not as fun for the shrimp, to watch hunted by angels or other cichlids. If you ever want to watch an angelfish at it's best, watch it hunt some ghost shrimp in a planted tank! They max out at about an inch and a half and have a lot of color variability for a clear shrimp. It seems that in every batch of ghost shrimp there are several with really neat markings and color (I've seen red, blue, purple, and green) spots that look almost “electric”.
Red Cherry, Blue pearl, Snowball, Yellow, etc. shrimp- (Neocaridina heteropoda):
These are great shrimp for folks new to shrimp. These are the most common and popular shrimp for several reasons. They are hardy for shrimp, easy to feed, acclimate to a wide variety of water parameters and reproduce very quickly. It is important to mention that the various color varieties are all the same species and will interbreed yielding a wild type, drab brown (but still quite interesting) shrimp. They will pick on algae and microfauna seemingly non-stop. Females will develop a yellow saddle (ovaries) when sexually mature. They will then carry eggs in their swimmerettes (pleopods) for up to a month. They initially yellow eggs will turn to green in most cases as they approach hatching.
Tiger shrimp- (Caridina Cantonensis var. “tiger”):
I think these are the most hyperactive shrimp we keep. They are always flitting up and down around the glass. They will breed in full FW and reproduce readily in common treated tap water with an absence of predators for the young. Tiger shrimp are constantly out and about and will even climb onto our hands during water changes.
Babaulti shrimp- (Caridina cf. Babaulti):
These come in various color forms from green to black to blue. They are often affixed with really vague made up retail names including “rainbow” shrimp which is usually a mix of various colors forms of the same species shrimp. To add to this, I don't believe that they have been scientifically described yet so they are all “babaulti”. They will breed in full FW and reproduce readily in common treated tap water.
Bee Shrimp, Blue bee, Crystal Red Shrimp, CRS- (Caridina Cantonensis var.):
These are more “advanced” shrimp to keep simply because they generally carry a fairly hefty price tag. CRS grading is also popular in the invert hobby with some grades carrying large price premiums. For more information on CRS grading, check out http://www.planetinverts.com/crystal%20red%20shrimp%20grading%20guide.html. Like most of the other dwarf shrimp, they do fine in soft water of 6.4 – 6.8 pH.
Mandarin, Sunkist shrimp- (Caridina cf. propinqua*):
We frankly don't know a lot about these since we've only had them for a few months so far. They are very cool, very bright orange shrimp that show up wonderfully in planted tanks. We have kept them with neos without a problem, but have not yet witnessed any breeding so I don't know their requirements. They get slightly larger than the typical RCS and are equally as fun to watch, definitely worthy of a place in an invert only or small fish community tank.
* This is our best ID. There is conflicting information on these and our sources have not been able to be definitive nor are we certain.
Amano Shrimp- (Caridina japonica):
These are as good as nerite snails for grazing algae and as entertaining as shrimp to watch! They usually max out about 2”, but we have some approaching 2.75”. It's a blast to watch a large one grab a piece of algae wafer or a shrimp pellet (ironic, huh?) and play keep away by zipping throughout the tank. If your planted tank is shrimp safe, I strongly recommend the addition of a few amanos. These require brackish to full salt water to successfully reproduce.
Mexican Dwarf Orange crayfish, CPO, etc.- (Cambarellus Patzcaurensis sp. Orange):
These are really neat critters! While most crays do not belong in a tank with fish, these have such small claws that they pose no risk to anything but the smallest fry and they top out at about 1.5”. Their behavior in the tank is quite a lot like most of the dwarf shrimp. The biggest difference I've seen is that they will actively hunt their young so a
For which FW shrimp can interbreed, please check out http://www.theshrimpfarm.com/articles/dwarf-shrimp-compatibility-chart.php.
This is a first swipe. I am totally open to and welcome all constructive advice or questions. Mods, please move this if needed. I wasn't sure where to put it. Maybe we need an invert forum.
Let's start off with snails and the most common and “controversial” of them all, the dreaded pond snail.
Pond snails a.k.a Japanese trapdoor snails- (Lymnaeidae):
These frequently baffle new aquarium owners who one day spot a snail in their tank knowing that they never introduced any snails to the tank. And by knowing, I mean thinking. The truth is that the usual means of introduction is through the addition of plants, substrate, décor, etc. where the eggs of snails remain and it only takes one snail to begin a colonization. Precautions can be taken by soaking plants in some solutions, but generally I never bother. IMO, these pose no worry. They are active cleaners of uneaten food and wastes and their population is easily controlled. The amount of pond snails in a tank is directly proportional to the amount of food and wastes available to them. A reduction of feeding and/or improved cleaning practices can reduce or eliminate them in fairly short order. Reducing their numbers by baiting and removing is also a good practice if you find yourself with an “infestation”. To do this, leave a weighted piece of romaine lettuce or similar in the tank for about 24 hours. Remove with the snails. Repeat and examine your feeding and cleaning habits. I personally love these snails. They act as an “early warning system”. Frequently given advice to “get loaches” usually leads to bigger problems. Loaches are very active, very social animals and even the smaller species that prey on snails (botiine loaches) need a fairly large footprint in an appropriate tank to thrive. For a passive, animal assisted method of removal; consider adding a few assassin snails (see below). Again, the real cure to pond snail over-population is nutrition control. Adding animals to deal with the snails usually fails and quite often has the opposite effect than the one desired.
Assassin Snails- (Clea helena, Anentome helena):
These beautiful snails are actually whelks and are marked by alternating yellow and black stripes around a conical shell. As their name implies, they are snail eaters and while the availability of other food sources and maturity seem to dictate how well they reduce pond snail populations they all seem to relish smaller, baby pond snails. They are primarily carrion feeders and will take to most proteins (snails, shrimp pellets, worms, etc.). They will eat snails other than pond snails so caution should be used if adding them to a tank with small nerites (horned or juvies) or breeding tylomelania snails. They will co-exist fine with adult nerites, tylos, or shrimp and make a great addition to an invert only tank. They do best in a tank with a sandy substrate and will spend most of their time buried in the sand awaiting food with their “snorkel” up. They will breed in aquaria, but they lay single eggs and mature slowly so they do not represent an overpopulation problem.
Ramshorn Snails- (Planorbidae sp.):
These have a flattened spiral shell and are pretty cool snails too. They come in a bunch of colors now from the normal brown to black, blue, red, pink, etc. Like pond snails they often hitch hike in as eggs on plants and will reproduce rapidly in an environment with plenty of nutrition available to them and can become “pests” in tanks with excess uneaten food or detritus. These will eat only the most tender of plants if easier food is not available and are a good inclusion to a planted tank. If you see “Giant”, “Behemoth” or sometimes “Columbian” ramshorns at your LFS, be aware that they are a different snail altogether, get considerably larger, and often eat plants.
Nerite snails- (Neritina):
These are without a doubt the most adaptive snails in the hobby. They can be acclimated from full marine to full FW. They are also the best algae grazing snails for a planted or community tank IMO. They come in a gorgeous myriad of colors and patterns. I would say that of the types we've kept (red-spotted, tiger, zebra, narrow zebra, olive, horned, etc.) that the relatively drab (ugliest of the bunch) olive nerite is the most voracious algae eater. All of them need a covered aquarium since they seem to enjoy a walkabout in the middle of the night. If you do happen to find your nerite snail dry on the floor, don't give up too soon. Place them back in your tank in a very conspicuous place and give them a day or so. They lock up their operculum very tight to maintain internal moisture, a fact which even makes them compatible in tanks with a lot of “snail eaters” as long as they are large enough. Their only downside is the sometimes frequent laying of eggs on the glass of the aquarium. But since their eggs require brackish conditions to hatch out, these can easily be scraped with any algae scraper or Mag-float.
Rabbit Snails- (Tylomelania):
These are really cool live-bearing snails from Lake Sulawesi. There are an amazing assortment of color varieties and different shell types amongst them. They seem to do the best at a pH of about 7.5 and take just about any foods. They will also graze on algae, but do not count on them as cleaners. These snails are back heavy and lumber around the tank. It is so entertaining to watch them drag their shell up the glass. It looks like an invert extreme sport at times!
Ghost, Glass shrimp- (Palaemonetes sp.):
These are commonly found as cheap feeders at your LFS. While many individual species are sold as “Ghost” or “Glass” shrimp, most require slightly brackish water to reproduce. I always advise someone keep these if they (or their tank) are new to shrimp. These are entertaining to watch on their own and equally, albeit not as fun for the shrimp, to watch hunted by angels or other cichlids. If you ever want to watch an angelfish at it's best, watch it hunt some ghost shrimp in a planted tank! They max out at about an inch and a half and have a lot of color variability for a clear shrimp. It seems that in every batch of ghost shrimp there are several with really neat markings and color (I've seen red, blue, purple, and green) spots that look almost “electric”.
Red Cherry, Blue pearl, Snowball, Yellow, etc. shrimp- (Neocaridina heteropoda):
These are great shrimp for folks new to shrimp. These are the most common and popular shrimp for several reasons. They are hardy for shrimp, easy to feed, acclimate to a wide variety of water parameters and reproduce very quickly. It is important to mention that the various color varieties are all the same species and will interbreed yielding a wild type, drab brown (but still quite interesting) shrimp. They will pick on algae and microfauna seemingly non-stop. Females will develop a yellow saddle (ovaries) when sexually mature. They will then carry eggs in their swimmerettes (pleopods) for up to a month. They initially yellow eggs will turn to green in most cases as they approach hatching.
Tiger shrimp- (Caridina Cantonensis var. “tiger”):
I think these are the most hyperactive shrimp we keep. They are always flitting up and down around the glass. They will breed in full FW and reproduce readily in common treated tap water with an absence of predators for the young. Tiger shrimp are constantly out and about and will even climb onto our hands during water changes.
Babaulti shrimp- (Caridina cf. Babaulti):
These come in various color forms from green to black to blue. They are often affixed with really vague made up retail names including “rainbow” shrimp which is usually a mix of various colors forms of the same species shrimp. To add to this, I don't believe that they have been scientifically described yet so they are all “babaulti”. They will breed in full FW and reproduce readily in common treated tap water.
Bee Shrimp, Blue bee, Crystal Red Shrimp, CRS- (Caridina Cantonensis var.):
These are more “advanced” shrimp to keep simply because they generally carry a fairly hefty price tag. CRS grading is also popular in the invert hobby with some grades carrying large price premiums. For more information on CRS grading, check out http://www.planetinverts.com/crystal%20red%20shrimp%20grading%20guide.html. Like most of the other dwarf shrimp, they do fine in soft water of 6.4 – 6.8 pH.
Mandarin, Sunkist shrimp- (Caridina cf. propinqua*):
We frankly don't know a lot about these since we've only had them for a few months so far. They are very cool, very bright orange shrimp that show up wonderfully in planted tanks. We have kept them with neos without a problem, but have not yet witnessed any breeding so I don't know their requirements. They get slightly larger than the typical RCS and are equally as fun to watch, definitely worthy of a place in an invert only or small fish community tank.
* This is our best ID. There is conflicting information on these and our sources have not been able to be definitive nor are we certain.
Amano Shrimp- (Caridina japonica):
These are as good as nerite snails for grazing algae and as entertaining as shrimp to watch! They usually max out about 2”, but we have some approaching 2.75”. It's a blast to watch a large one grab a piece of algae wafer or a shrimp pellet (ironic, huh?) and play keep away by zipping throughout the tank. If your planted tank is shrimp safe, I strongly recommend the addition of a few amanos. These require brackish to full salt water to successfully reproduce.
Mexican Dwarf Orange crayfish, CPO, etc.- (Cambarellus Patzcaurensis sp. Orange):
These are really neat critters! While most crays do not belong in a tank with fish, these have such small claws that they pose no risk to anything but the smallest fry and they top out at about 1.5”. Their behavior in the tank is quite a lot like most of the dwarf shrimp. The biggest difference I've seen is that they will actively hunt their young so a
For which FW shrimp can interbreed, please check out http://www.theshrimpfarm.com/articles/dwarf-shrimp-compatibility-chart.php.
This is a first swipe. I am totally open to and welcome all constructive advice or questions. Mods, please move this if needed. I wasn't sure where to put it. Maybe we need an invert forum.
