So.... Shrimp

Silverfish

Does anyone keep shrimp?

I've had my eye on some Red Cherry shrimp or some Crystal Red shrimp.

I got a 25L Fluval Chi today which I'll cycle over the next few weeks, going to get some moss, oak, and other planty stuff.

Not sure about the filter in the chi, but I have an extra filter here for a small tank that should be okay for them.

Limerick Bandit

ya, I have kept a good few shrimp, love the CRS.
I have had this guy for about 3 years now its a filter feeder

Silverfish

Okay, after 3 trips to Seahorse Aquariums, one trip to Aquatic Village, and most of my Saturday night, I've planted and filled the Chi.



Lousy photo but at least I'm some of the way there.

breadandjam

I'm interested in getting some of these myself. As soon as the weather improves and I can move my growing goldfish fry out into the pond. There's a guy on the leinster Fishkeepers forum selling homebred ones on at a good price.

Not sure if I should post the link here but PM me if you want it.

Silverfish

Saw that alright!

Silverfish

Managed to do a fast cycle on this tank using media from the goldfish tanks, have 10 Pseudomugil Rainbows in there at the moment, hopefully able to add shrimp soon.

Cookie_Monster

Shrimp are definitely something I want if I ever get a bigger tank.
The girlfriend hates them, thinks they are creepy looking. I think they're cool, and very interesting to watch. Though I got away with the snails, so you never know...

Silverfish

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Shrimp are definitely something I want if I ever get a bigger tank.
The girlfriend hates them, thinks they are creepy looking. I think they're cool, and very interesting to watch. Though I got away with the snails, so you never know...

Yeah, my boyfriend is a bit dubious about them as well. It's the legs.
Sometimes they can propel themselves out of the tank, he says if that happens I'm on my own.

Cookie_Monster

Silverfish wrote: »

Sometimes they can propel themselves out of the tank, he says if that happens I'm on my own.

:pac::pac::pac:

Silverfish

Bought 5 cherry shrimp this morning, spent all day acclimatising them before putting them in the tank a while ago.

They seem to be getting on fine, they've explored everywhere and seem very active.

One of them was a pregnant female as well, so hopefully more shrimp soon.

breadandjam

Looking forward to see how you get on with these before I take the plunge myself

Silverfish

They're awesome!

I will say to make sure the tank is cycled fully and that you introduce them slowly using the drip method.

And get more than 5, I've to do a headcount every evening to make sure I still have all of them, sometimes you see none of them!
Definitely entertaining to watch.

Thinking of getting some blue pearl shrimp next.

Limerick Bandit

that blue shrimp looks dyed :eek:

Silverfish

I think he's had the FHM treatment, they're normally a paler blue from what I can see.

Mammy shrimp got rid of her eggs today (while I was at work ) and I can't see any shrimplets in the tank, so I'm assuming the fish or else the filter got them.

Oh well, next time.

Limerick Bandit

Silverfish wrote: »

I think he's had the FHM treatment

its dye or photoshop but not natural

Silverfish

Lost one shrimp from the original bunch, he never coloured up and stayed transparent, and died a few days later.

I got 5 more on Saturday so there's now 9 shrimp in there.

Cookie_Monster

I didn't think they were that small...

Looks nice, anything else in that tank, can't really see any in the bigger picture a few posts back?

Silverfish

There's 10 Pseudomugil Rainbows in there as well at the moment, I didn't have anything in the tank in the pic above as it was still cycling.

One of my shrimps is berried (learning the lingo and all now) so I'm going to set up another tank (boyfriend is about to go mad, it'll be the 5th one) for the rainbows if the shrimplets mysteriously disappear.

I have two moss balls, java moss, christmas moss, etc etc in there so hopefully they'll have somewhere to hide.

mcdoogle

Hey Silverfish, looks like a savage tank set up, could you put up a pic of the whole tank as it is now? Also roughly how much for contents etc? I have a 5 gallon tank lying idle here and considering doing something similar....

Silverfish

Cost? :eek:
I'll have to hope himself doesn't happen across this thread!

Rainbows: 20 euro
Shrimp.. about 40 euro?
Heater: about 35 euro
Gravel & soil: 30 euro
Plants and stuff.. 50 euro or so.

So if you're just going with shrimp, might be a bit cheaper, and if you order plants online it'll definitely be cheaper.

mcdoogle

Its only now I realise how small it is, I have a cunning plan which I haven't put into action yet where I'm hoping to build my own tank. The one I'm drawing inspiration from is very similar to yours so I'm very tempted to do it sooner rather than later!

Would the filter used have to be a small low output one or would a small "normal" one be ok? I have a filter and a heater ready to roll if this doesn't matter too much. I'm planning on putting a partition between the filter and heater and the main body of water so disruption can be manipulated... or so I think!

Any experience or ideas in this area?

Silverfish

The thing with assembling your own is the quality of the glass, aquarium glass tends to be thinner and more transparent than regular window glass, judging by my dad's failed aquarium sitting out the back of our house :pac:

Not sure on the filters, I just go with the nearest one for the size of the tank in litres.

mcdoogle

I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully well!

Do the shrimp get much bigger and do they live long?

Silverfish

mcdoogle wrote: »

I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully well!

Do the shrimp get much bigger and do they live long?

They live about 1-2 years and grow to about an inch / half an inch long.

My mammy shrimp is in her 3rd week of pregnancy at least, so hopefully she goes into labour soon.
Bit sad I know, but I'm finding it very exciting, hopefully it beats watching my goldfish splopping eggs all over the tank, that was a wonderful moment :pac:

mcdoogle

Nice one! Take a few pics when they arrive. Whats the ratio of shrimp to litres of water?

Silverfish

About 10 per gallon, I think.

I'll try get some pics, but they had some shrimplets in the shop when I was buying them, and I thought they were bits of dirt floating about!

Silverfish

One shrimplet spotted so far, I still have the same two pregnant females so it seems they're taking their time!

breadandjam

Wow- that's tiny!
I have to get some of these.

Silverfish

Holy crap shrimplosion.

From my starting point of 9 shrimp, I counted 35 in the tank the other day, with 3 pregnant females.

Going from wondering will they ever breed to wondering will they ever stop.

breadandjam

Excellent! They must be fascinating to watch

fungun

so.....getting rid of any????

though last time i got 2 shrimp as a test, they disappeared. Do clown loaches eat them? They are the only fish I have that are anyway large that might have snacked on them