Red Cherry Shrimp Question

[libertybelle]

I currently have rcs in a 5 gallon shrimp-only tank.

I also have a vase with some bamboo in water, which has built up some algae. While I could certainly just clean it off, I wonder if I could put a couple shrimp in there and let them enjoy the feast. It would probably be good for the plant to get its roots cleaned out as well! Do you think a couple of cherry shrimp would be OK in such a small volume (like half a gallon, probably a bit less) for a day or two to let them eat it up. (I've already tried just moving the plant temporarily to the tank to get cleaned off. They went crazy over it, but little pieces of root made a mess all over the tank and it was a pain to clean up)

I suspect they would do fine since I am not adding any food to the system and could keep it out of the sun so the temperature would be the same as the room. I always use fish tank water in the vase anyway.

Has anyone tried that or think they wouldn't be OK in there for a short period of time?

 

[jetajockey]

You could try it, I do know of some people who keep them in small containers. I have tried to keep some in a small vase-like container myself and they did fine for a while but eventually died. I would be concerned about the level of oxygenation in the water.

 

[libertybelle]

Thanks, that is what I thought, but it's good to know someone has tried it and they were OK for a while. Since I only intend it to be temporary while they clean off plant roots, hopefully oxygenation won't be a problem.

 

[jetajockey]

You could always add an air bubbler temporarily for good measure.

 

[libertybelle]

Yup, good idea. I think I do have a little bubbler around here somewhere.

 

[MABJ]

Look up the Walstad Method. You might consider making a small 1g Walstad tank with one or two RCS. It doesn't need a bubbler, nor does it really need MUCH care, but it is a difficult and interesting balance.

 

[libertybelle]

Thanks, that is a neat concept but I have no desire to set up another tank! Just wanted to know if I could use my little shrimp to make those plant roots healthier, and give the shrimp a natural snack while I'm at it.

I did creep on your Fluval Spec thread to see your pictures though. It's very nice! I don't think I could go with a smaller volume than the 5 that I am using!

I don't know if it was the volume, me getting the hang of it, or some of the shrimp just being old, but in past few months most of the adults kicked the proverbial bucket. Fortunately they were thoughtful enough to leave a couple of batches of babies with me before departing. I still have more than I started with, and they are almost mature now!

 

[MABJ]

Thanks, that is a neat concept but I have no desire to set up another tank! Just wanted to know if I could use my little shrimp to make those plant roots healthier, and give the shrimp a natural snack while I'm at it.

I did creep on your Fluval Spec thread to see your pictures though. It's very nice! I don't think I could go with a smaller volume than the 5 that I am using!

I don't know if it was the volume, me getting the hang of it, or some of the shrimp just being old, but in past few months most of the adults kicked the proverbial bucket. Fortunately they were thoughtful enough to leave a couple of batches of babies with me before departing. I still have more than I started with, and they are almost mature now!

Shrimp only live about two years. And unless you purchase them at a young age, you can't really tell what age they are when you receive them.

I wasnt suggesting a new tank so much as your current 1g being converted. But I can understand not wanting to mess with a good thing. Im sure it is pretty.

Allow me to next suggest putting 2 or 3 ramshorn snails into your bamboo tank. They won't need an air stone, in my opinion, and they'll devour your algae.

Thanks for your compliment . It is relatively easy to do smaller tanks. And I think they're perfect for the mobile college student lol.

 

[libertybelle]

Ah, but I don't have a one gallon tank. The bamboo is in a vase with less than half a gallon. Hence the concern over oxygenation. I haven't made the dive into snails yet, not exactly my aesthetic... though I've toyed with the idea of a freshwater nerite with the shrimp, and it won't reproduce (a big plus for me).

I think I'll wait until my group of young red cherry's start reproducing again (they're finally starting to color up and look mature!), and then try a couple of them as planned. The root system in the bamboo is very developed with tiny roots intertwining everywhere, red cherrys are pretty much the perfect size to climb around inside them. When I try to clean them up, even just to pull out any old dying roots, it causes damage.

Like I said, I have placed the roots into the cherry tank before, for cleaning, and they were all over it. In fact I thought it was going to be a permanent fixture because they didn't want to come out even when I picked it up and started swishing it around in the water. I'm pretty sure the plant's health improved as well. But I really dont want to clean up the mess of root particles it left last time, again.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

That's what I would do to some of my plants from other tanks that had algae problems
Just place them with the rcs or malawa tanks for a few days & they'd be algae free in no time haha

 

[MABJ]

Ah, but I don't have a one gallon tank. The bamboo is in a vase with less than half a gallon. Hence the concern over oxygenation. I haven't made the dive into snails yet, not exactly my aesthetic... though I've toyed with the idea of a freshwater nerite with the shrimp, and it won't reproduce (a big plus for me).

I think I'll wait until my group of young red cherry's start reproducing again (they're finally starting to color up and look mature!), and then try a couple of them as planned. The root system in the bamboo is very developed with tiny roots intertwining everywhere, red cherrys are pretty much the perfect size to climb around inside them. When I try to clean them up, even just to pull out any old dying roots, it causes damage.

Like I said, I have placed the roots into the cherry tank before, for cleaning, and they were all over it. In fact I thought it was going to be a permanent fixture because they didn't want to come out even when I picked it up and started swishing it around in the water. I'm pretty sure the plant's health improved as well. But I really dont want to clean up the mess of root particles it left last time, again.

Oh I understand the size now .

That's so interesting about the bamboo. Would you be willing to post pictures of it? The one thing I would recommend is replicating the water completely. And only leaving them in there for a few days. Also, just for your populations sake, I'd just go with 2 males.

A note about snails. They are not evil like everybody thinks . they simply reproduce to help you. If you are accidentally overfeeding, they will reproduce enough to compensate for taking care of the tank. Feed an appropriate amount for the whole tank, and you'll only see a few of them.

I personally love my snails. I wouldn't have an aquarium without them anymore.

But if they creep you out, I can't blame you lol. They're a different, possibly acquired, taste.

I love their little mouths and the little tiny eyes and the colorful shells.

I despise pond snails tho :/ lol.

 

[libertybelle]

It's so tall now, I'll soon have to split it. I got this stem a couple of years ago. It was probably a quarter of that height with no roots and 3 tiny leaves. I almost killed it by putting gravel in the vase, it crushed the roots and the water wasn't easily changed and got stagnant. It's really taken off since I've started just adding water from the fish tank! Anyway you can't see the roots very well but they are down in a big clump at the bottom. As you can see, we're not talking about massive amounts of algae, just a few sections and the roots are coated with a little bit of it by now. That's why letting cherry shrimp pick their way through is so ideal! Because there is not that much, I have no doubt a couple of (poor under-rated male) shrimp could have everything algae free in hours.

My only experience with snails was some pond snails that came in with a plant. I actually left the original snail in when I saw it, before I realized that one could turn into many very quickly. At first I thought they were kind of cute, but then I decided that seeing a few everytime I looked in the tank was kind of gross. Obsessive compulsive removal of the adults (my tetras were happy once I got over the ick factor of crushing them so they could be fish snacks) combined with a beta more than happy to gobble up some of the small ones on his own, seems to have gotten rid of them. I haven't seen one in months. Or perhaps I just stopped overfeeding. But I am not sad to be rid of them.

Maybe if I found some pretty, non-crazy-reproducing ones I could be convinced.

 

[MABJ]

Well the bamboo is beautiful. I like the way it is done.

On snails, yes. Pond snails are nasty.

I like Ramshorns a lot. Mystery snails are pretty too.

 

[Austin.b]

I know you don't want to use ramshorn snails, but I though I might just add in that ramshorn snails come in a variety of beautiful colors, from blue, red, and pink I believe. I also think they might come in yellow, but I'm not too sure on that lol I also love ramshorns, they offer so much.

 

[MABJ]

I know you don't want to use ramshorn snails, but I though I might just add in that ramshorn snails come in a variety of beautiful colors, from blue, red, and pink I believe. I also think they might come in yellow, but I'm not too sure on that lol I also love ramshorns, they offer so much.

Shrimp lovers tend to think alike once they've tried out everything. Lol.