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tamtam

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Educate me!

What is the smallest size you would recommend for a shrimp tank?

I've been stocking a local marine store that is slowly integrating fresh water stuff into their stock and they now have a few shrimp offerings! I've yet to see any shrimp at the LPS so am rather excited and of course want to buy some.

I've been thinking about doing a small shrimp tank for my boys room. How small can I go and how many can I put in. I know nothing about shrimp stocking...

3 they have I am interested in learning about and choosing from are

RCS, amano and "orange" bee shrimp. Looks wise I think the bbe shrimp and RCS will be a real hit with the boys but would like to hear what others have to say with more experience than me with this.

I've also got a 20 tall with a DG, few platy, neons and rasbora would Shrimp be ok in this tank or would something eat them?
 
One thing with RCS is that they will breed and start a colony do I suggest atleast a 5 gallon for them. With amanos, they won't breed and have a low bioload so depending on numbers you could probably do fine with a 2-3 gallon.
 
I would say a 5 gallon for rcs, at least a 5 gallon, preferably more for amanos as they get bigger, and probably 5 gallons for the bee shrimp as well. I don't recommend keeping the bee shrimp with the amanos though as I *think* they would interbreed.
 
tamtam said:
hmm interesting. Would RCS be a target for DG? I'd love to have some in my 20 gallon.

Yes they would. Either that or get stressed to the point that they don't reproduce.

If you've never kept Shrimp before, I'd stay away from the Bees. Caridina species like them generally require more dedication in tank parameters as compared to their Neocaridina counterparts (Red Cherrys).

That being said, you can keep all of these Shrimp together with no fear of interbreeding. Amanos are hard to breed in the aquarium and require brackish conditions.

I have a planted 5.5g with RCS and it's still going strong. Personally I wish it was bigger. If I were you, I'd try to get a 10 or something and have an Amano with RCS.

You could have an Amano in your 20, depending on its size. They get big enough that DGs can't touch them.
 
Yes they would. Either that or get stressed to the point that they don't reproduce.

If you've never kept Shrimp before, I'd stay away from the Bees. Caridina species like them generally require more dedication in tank parameters as compared to their Neocaridina counterparts (Red Cherrys).

That being said, you can keep all of these Shrimp together with no fear of interbreeding. Amanos are hard to breed in the aquarium and require brackish conditions.

I have a planted 5.5g with RCS and it's still going strong. Personally I wish it was bigger. If I were you, I'd try to get a 10 or something and have an Amano with RCS.

You could have an Amano in your 20, depending on its size. They get big enough that DGs can't touch them.

thank you. All good info. Maybe I'll try the Amano in my 20 for starts and try holding out for a bigger tank for the boys room between 5 and 10 gal. I'm not as interested in the bee shrimp, they are almost double the price of the others and the RCS have such a nice look anyways.

What sort of tank set up is good for a shrimp tank? Should I worry about too much filtration/current? What sort of GPH should I aim for for shrimp?
 
tamtam said:
thank you. All good info. Maybe I'll try the Amano in my 20 for starts and try holding out for a bigger tank for the boys room between 5 and 10 gal. I'm not as interested in the bee shrimp, they are almost double the price of the others and the RCS have such a nice look anyways.

What sort of tank set up is good for a shrimp tank? Should I worry about too much filtration/current? What sort of GPH should I aim for for shrimp?

Yeah, some Caridina species can be truly beautiful though.

A good setup for Shrimp is a planted tank. Some assorted Anubis, Crypts, Java Ferns, and most importantly Java Moss will work and all are easy to keep. Moss works the best as it gives them places to hide and feel secure. Throw some of the plants and a small piece of driftwood and you should be good to go!

As for parameters and filtration. RCS are very versatile and will adjust to just about anything as long as there aren't predators in the tank. I run low filtration on my 5.5g tank. I'd say less current would be fine because you wouldn't want the filter to suck up little Shrimplets.
 
Yeah, some Caridina species can be truly beautiful though.

A good setup for Shrimp is a planted tank. Some assorted Anubis, Crypts, Java Ferns, and most importantly Java Moss will work and all are easy to keep. Moss works the best as it gives them places to hide and feel secure. Throw some of the plants and a small piece of driftwood and you should be good to go!

As for parameters and filtration. RCS are very versatile and will adjust to just about anything as long as there aren't predators in the tank. I run low filtration on my 5.5g tank. I'd say less current would be fine because you wouldn't want the filter to suck up little Shrimplets.

Awesome! I know this is probably a really dumb question but what do they eat?

Now the hard part, convincing hubby. :angel:
 
Haha ummmm I feed mine every other day some New Life Spectrum food. I have the tiniest grain size they make because at the moment I only keep small fish.
 
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