Shrimp recreation?

[cjj]

I know this sounds really stupid but is there anything I can put in my tank for.... recreation or w/e. Alls they do is walk around trying to eat sand.

[somewhatshocked]

Just keep plants, moss, floaters and such in your tank. That's plenty.

They're not trying to eat sand - they're actually eating biofilm and detritus.

[rrastro]

if you propagate moss with plastic mesh it floats like a little raft on the surface. Then the shrimp will swim back and forth from the raft to the bottom of the tank.

[AoxomoxoA]

Water changes a couple degrees cooler than the tank itself will sometimes instigate "recreation".

[rrastro]

Hiding places may provide recreation opportunities for shrimp.
They need to hold their secret shrimp meetings somewhere, after all.
Just don't ask me how to do the secret handshake. It's complicated.

[Rainer]

Mine like to play strip poker after a water change.

[acitydweller]

add more plants and floaters

[shrimpnmoss]

Originally Posted by Rainer

Mine like to play strip poker after a water change.

haha

[pejerrey]

I'm surprised I haven't seem a tank with a hamster wheel for their shrimp yet.

[Knotyoureality]

The more complex the environment, the more varied activity--though there's only so much shrimp will do: eat, breed, molt, poop, repeat. Two basic principles will encourage varied behaviors...

1) Don't over feed. An over fed shrimp is a lethargic shrimp with no reason to get off its tail and hunt out naturally occuring foods.
2) provide a rich environment with open and sheltered areas, a variety of plant types, caves or other hiding places, hardscaping, and floating plants or surfaces to explore.

[Fdsh5]

Mine are amused by anything new that goes in the tank. Trying swapping moss between tanks. The second it hits the water, they are all over it picking through it.

[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

I don't think invertebrates have the brain capability to understand "fun."

[rrastro]

Originally Posted by pejerrey

I'm surprised I haven't seem a tank with a hamster wheel for their shrimp yet.

I like it! Put it in the outflow from a filter, tie some moss on, and watch it spin...

[Aquasapien69]

Originally Posted by AoxomoxoA

Water changes a couple degrees cooler than the tank itself will sometimes instigate "recreation".

LOL Good one! That's the best kind of "recreation"!

[Overgrowth]

I put a shrimp TV in my tank a week ago. They haven't moved an inch since.