How may Shrimp

[HooKooDooKu]

I'm currently cycling one of those Eclipse Corner 5 tanks that I plan to stock with a Betta and some Amano Shrimp.

The question is how may shrimp should I place in a 5 gallon tank?

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

General rule of thumb for shrimp placement is 2 per every gallon, but since you have a betta, planning on having a betta, I suggest having 5 and then the betta.

 

[bs6749]

General rule of thumb for shrimp placement is 2 per every gallon, but since you have a betta, planning on having a betta, I suggest having 5 and then the betta.

I don't know where you got that number but you can get away with MANY more than that. People that breed shrimp often keep hundreds of them in a 10g tank. Personally I've kept about 300 RCS in a 10g tank with ease. That's 30 per gallon. In a 5 g tank you could get away with 30 or so easily IMO. Shrimp have a very small impact on the bioload and you can have many more of them than you'd think you'd be able to keep.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Well I know you can keep way more then I said, it's just with other fish, a betta, a smaller number would be better. I got that number from plantgeek btw.

I know you've told me you can keep tons of fish in small aquariums, I just thought since it's a kind of small tank, and he is already going to have a betta in such. You wouldn't want a bunch of 1in shrimp.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

I don't know where you got that number but you can get away with MANY more than that. People that breed shrimp often keep hundreds of them in a 10g tank. Personally I've kept about 300 RCS in a 10g tank with ease. That's 30 per gallon. In a 5 g tank you could get away with 30 or so easily IMO. Shrimp have a very small impact on the bioload and you can have many more of them than you'd think you'd be able to keep.

I'm not trying to create a harvest for lunch. I just want a reasonable amount that will look good is such a small tank. Having 150 shrimp in a 5 gallon HEAVILY planted tank is going to look like crap.

A gallon of water is defined as 231 cubic inches. Since the Eclipse holds about 5 gallons and is about 14 inches high, that means it has a floor space of about 82 square inches (actually, it's going to be less than 80 square inches because the tank has a larger cross section at the top than it does at the bottom). Given that these critters grow to about 2", that means they need 4 square inches just to turn around. So a grand total of 20 would create the effect of wall-to-wall shrimp carpet.

So from an athstetics stand point, I don't think anything more than about 3 ( maybe 5 max) is going to look pleasing... unless you're trying to grow lunch.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

That's why I said 8-10 would be fine

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Thanks for the suggestions.

When I get my 5 shrimp, I'll likely just put 3 in the 5 gallon and the other two add to the ghost shrimp sharing a 10 gallon with a pair of gold fish (common and a rosie) at home. So far, the gold fish has been small enough and the shrimp big enough that he hasn't attempted to snack on them. But then again, he's growing fast.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Yeah I would deff. watch out for those goldfish, they would love a little shrimp snack

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Yeah I would deff. watch out for those goldfish, they would love a little shrimp snack

Yea, I knew it was a risk when I put them in there. But right now, the golde's mouth is smaller than the shrimp, so he leaves them alone ( plus I got a couple of the larger one at the LFS, so they were a bit on the bigger size to begin with).

Of course the Goldfish is growing QUICK. We only got him around Thanksgiving, and at that time, he had a lot of ammonia burns on his fins and along his forehead. He just grew out of the last of those burns this week.

 

[bs6749]

Amanos like to eat algae and therefore more often than not you'll see them on plants, if you see them at all, which is one reason I suggest at least 10-12...because you won't see all of them all of the time. Having more of them gives you more opportunity to enjoy them, especially in a heavily planted tank.