Shrimp types for smaller tanks

[VioletEmber]

I have two 10g tanks and one 20g. I recently got my first ghost shrimp and now I am so fascinated with them! My LFS only has ghost shrimp and bamboo shrimp. My guess is that the bamboo shrimp is way too big for my 10 gallons and maybe even my 20. ( another local store has some better selection though...) So I'm just wondering what types of shrimp I could get for all three tanks and in what quantity. All three tanks are in various stages of being planted and my goal is to have them all completely planted as quickly as I can... I don't want to get too many shrimp and have them starve if there isn't enough food for them, but it seems like I've read of folks have a LOT of ghost shrimp in their tanks. So what are some good guidelines for types and quantitity? Thanks!

[RedFlame]

Ten gallons is typically the minimum for shrimp tanks primarily becuase they are easier to maintain water parameters. I have 7 tanks, 1 25 gallon red cherry tank, 1 20 gallon long fire red, 1 10 gallon yellow shrimp tank, 1 10 gallon blue pearl tank the rest are cycling for upcoming shrimp.

The number that you can keep per tank varies from forum to forum and article to article, from experience I only keep about 100 per ten gallons but there are those that will say that is too much and others that will say that you can have a lot more.

I don't have any bamboo shrimp so I can't speak about those ones. Just keep in mind that you won't be able to breed the ghost shrimp as the shrimplets need brackish water.

I would say go with red cherry shrimp, they aren't too expensive and they are great for beginners and will breed heavily. I kind of started the other way around but my current red cherry tank started with 25 juvenile shrimp two months ago, two have already had about 20+ shrimplets and there are currently 9 berried females so I will soon have about 90+ which you can either sell, give away or use as feeders for your other aquatic pets.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. Feel free to send me a pm if you have any questions, I'm happy to help in any way I can.

[VioletEmber]

Thanks for all the info, sounds like you speak from experience with shrimp! I am definitely interested in the RCS -- I'll see if my LFS Can order some for me. So they will breed in freshwater? I'm not actually aiming for breeding, so I am ok with it not happening, but I thought they would be like the other shrimp and need brackish water for the shrimplets... Cool!

[cheeky_monkey]

I've only ever kept Red Cherry Shrimp but I would recommend them to anyone. They're such fascinating little critters and their red colour makes them stand out among the moss and plants for easy spotting. They've got great little personalitites and are so active!

[toddnbecka]

Shrimp don't need a lot of food, and will happily eat dead/decaying plant leaves along with whatever else you feed them. There are quite a number of small species that would be fine in a 10 gallon tank, some are easy to breed, some aren't. As far as numbers, I've had several hundred cherry shrimp (mostly small/young ones) in a planted 10 gallon w/out any problems. Their bioload is minimal, main thing is not to keep them with most fish if you don't want them to get eaten.

[animalzrok2]

i would recommend either rcs, blue pearl shrimp, yellow shrimp or snowball shrimp.