Immaculate Conshrimption?

885 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by cjstl, May 19, 2014

cjstl

Discussion Starter · May 14, 2014

I was feeding the fish in my 29G tonight when I saw something red in my moss. How in the world did it get there? This tank has been set up for about three months and there have never been shrimp in it. I haven't added any plants either. The only thing I can think of is that I feed my pearl gouramis duckweed from some of my other tanks from time to time, but there is no duckweed in my RCS tank - just giant duckweed that I don't move around. Weird!

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sewoeno

· #2 · May 14, 2014

HAHA! maybe he flew?!

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cjstl

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 14, 2014 (Edited by Moderator)

Or he's a ninja. Used that smoke powder to vanish from his old tank and appear in the new!

He's definitely good at hiding. I spend a good 20 - 30 minutes a day staring into that tank watching the fish and examining the plants, and this is the first time I've seen him. Making me rethink whether I could breed them in that community tank.

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Subtletanks91

· #4 · May 14, 2014

Maybe he was a hitch hiker from the moss??

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Lucubration

· #5 · May 14, 2014

Subtletanks91 said:
Maybe he was a hitch hiker from the moss??

That sounds possible. I once had an itty bitty baby cherry shrimp hitchhike through the mail with some subwassertang I bought from another user.

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Soothing Shrimp

· #6 · May 14, 2014

Have you used the same net between both tanks?

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cjstl

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 14, 2014

Didn't come from the moss. The moss has been in the tank since the beginning and was moved from a 10G that had shrimp at one time, but hadn't had any living in at least 6 - 7 months.

The net is more likely, although I can't remember a time when I would have taken it directly from one tank to another. One more possibility is that I bought cherries and pearl gouramis at the same time. I put the gouramis in the tank after acclimating them, but the shrimp stayed in their bag for 24 hours before being moved to a bucket and ultimately to their 10G. They were in separate bags, obviously, but maybe he somehow managed to hitch a ride in the pearl gourami bag, avoided getting eaten, and got netted out at the same time as one of the fish.

Whatever the case, it's pretty cool to look into a tank and see a little red shrimp that shouldn't be there

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cjstl

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 19, 2014

He's still hanging out. Seems pretty happy. I just added a pair of peacock gudgeons though, and the female is constantly harassing the ramshorn snails. I'll have to keep an eye out to make sure she doesn't bother the shrimp.

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Subtletanks91

· #9 · May 19, 2014

It's very possible there was a shrimp in the net they used at the fish store when they got the shrimp then the guaramis, otherwise I think the moss. Even tho nothing was living there for 6-7 months that about how old the shrimp looks. Still young but big enough to be viable. Either way good luck! I love gudgeons there besutiful

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thelub

· #10 · May 19, 2014

I opened one of my canister filters the other day and found 2 shrimp happily swimming around. They are surprisingly resilient little creatures

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garfieldnfish

· #11 · May 19, 2014

Are you using the same hose for both tanks when you do water changes? He could have been sucked up by accident in the shrimp tank, remained in the hose and escaped when you put the hose into the 29 gal. I would catch him and add him to the shrimp tank. It is only a matter of time before he gets eaten where he is now.

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cjstl

Discussion Starter · #12 · May 19, 2014

Yes, I do use the same hose between tanks. Believe it or not, however, I haven't done a WC on the 29G since I set it up. Even though I have it well-stocked and feed quite a bit, I've not yet had any issues with water quality (although I ran out of test strips and ordered the liquid test kits). I seeded with water from another tank (shrimpless tank), added the plants, and let it cycle for a couple of weeks, and started adding fish. Three months later and the water is still perfect. I'm knocking on wood, but there hasn't been a single death (other than one of the original guppy fry that I added after week 1). Must be the combo of plants and lots of filtration.

I thought about moving him to the RCS tank, but I have been battling strange deaths in that tank, so he may be safer where he is. I actually considered moving my remaining RCS in with him and taking the chance with all those fish. Contrary to what subtletanks said, I'd put the age of this shrimp at about 6 weeks. I think he has just grown super-fast because of all the extra food in the community tank. The other juvies that hatched in the bag at the same time I bought the pearl gouramis are only a fraction that size. Of course, they spent a few weeks in a bucket before ending up in the shrimp tank.

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