[Penny]

I needed to take the anacharis out of my bigger betta tank and was not sure what to do with it. So I threw it in an old vase and put it on the windowsill...

I thought it looked nice and I have been wanting a shrimp bowl (or vase) for awhile now after seeing so many awesome ones on here, so I figured I would give it a whirl.

It's a pretty simple setup:
- 1/2 gallon glass vase
- Dechlorinated tap water
- Petco aquarium sand
- Rocks from my yard
- Anacharis
- Java moss
- 6500K CFL bulb in a gooseneck desk lamp
- 2 cherry shrimp

I'm planning on 50% water changes once a week.

I originally had the vase on my windowsill but was reminded that could cause pretty big fluctuations in temperature. I had an extra lamp and CFL bulb on hand so it was easy to set that up. I put them on the island in my kitchen and man, am I just in love with these guys! We have some bar stools at the island (my husband & I eat here), I could sit here and watch them all day long. They are too fun!

I asked the guy at the LFS if he could sex them and he said yes, so I asked for two of the same sex because I don't want them to breed and end up with hundreds lol. (Though, I suppose my bettas would probably enjoy the fry as snacks, worse case scenario...) I am not sure what he got me, I forgot to ask... anybody able to tell?

(Had to adjust the colors a little on this one)

Everyone on this forum has been very inspirational, hope you enjoy!

 

[rikardob]

Looks nice. What watt is your bulb? I only seem to be able to find twenty-plus watt bulbs in 6500k.

This article has great pictures of the "saddles" in female Cherry Shrimp. I don't see any on yours but you'll probably have to take a real close look yourself.

http://www.planetinverts.com/Red Cherry Shrimp.html

The sexing section is near the end.

 

[Newman]

both shrimp look to be male, but its just the last pic kinda shows the shrimp as female a little bit... if the shrimp in the last pic is shown in any other pics above, then everyone is male.

 

[Geniusdudekiran]

I disagree with Newmann (sorry ), the first's a female, the second a male. The first has a saddle, look closely, and the second is clearly a male.

 

[Newman]

there is no way that first one is a female. there is no saddle which has to be either yellow or green. looks empty in there. also it doesn't look like it has a rounded abdomen at the bottom. just the pleopods are being extended in that photo and maybe that makes him appear like a female a bit.

Now the one in the last pic might have a bit of a rounder abdomen, but its hard to tell from the angle. My best guess is that they are both male.

Get some more pics, i want to see who predicted these correctly
Geniusdudekiran you think that the palest one is a female and the other a male.

Of course we may both be wrong and these may wind up as both females because they look like juveniles.

 

[Penny]

It's a 40w bulb(eek), I'll probably only leave it on for a few hours and see how it goes. I probably won't leave it on when no one is home, but there is a big window over the sink and french doors in the kitchen so it should get a lot of indirect sunlight during the day.

Hah, I probably should have specified which is which in the pictures! They look roughly the same, but I haven't really studied them too much, though I'm sure I will now that I know what to look for! I will try to get some more pictures tomorrow for you guys. They are both pretty small, I'm fairly sure they are juveniles, but one is a little bit bigger than the other so I can tell them apart that way (for now).

In this picture, you can see one of the little guys on the rock there, if that helps at all with size reference.

 

[Newman]

try to get a 13W daylight bulb. 40 W is far too much. you can leave the 13 W on for the whole day. thats what i do on my bowl and nothing bad happens (once your plants get going).

 

[Penny]

Any idea where to get those? I checked Lowe's and Wal-mart and that was the lowest watt full daylight I could find. argh

 

[Newman]

you need a CFL bulb, its a spiral type. theyre about 13W and they say they are a 60W equivalent (to the human eye) daylight should be around 5000K
I use 3500K on my bowl right now, but it looks a bit pinker than the cool white glow of the 5000K. still plants grow just as well. just letting you know that whichever one you can find, it will work.

 

[sampster5000]

Very nice! I have a lot of trouble making vases and small containers look nice. The lamp style is really working for it.

 

[Penny]

Thank you, sampster!

Newman, I'm a derp - my bulb is actually 10w. I glanced quickly at the box and saw a big "40" at the top so that's what I assumed it was, oops! 6500K though, will that still be OK?

I am a bit worried about them this morning - they are not moving around nearly as much as they were yesterday. Maybe they are just resting but I checked the water temp first thing this morning and it is 66 (house dropped to 68 overnight), is that too cold for them? I have the light on it now, so hopefully that will warm it up a bit, and I will leave it on longer now that I've realized it's only 10w. But I'm wondering if I should get a mini heater for them? Or is mid-60's really okay (seems to be so, from everything I have read) and I'm just being a worrywart? heh

Not able to get any new pictures yet, like I said they are not moving around, camped out behind one of the rocks right now. I *think* the bigger one might be a female though. It's definitely got a dark spot on its back and seems to have the rounded abdomen. But I will post new pics when I can so you guys can let me know for sure

 

[rikardob]

The light is perfect.

 

[Penny]

Great.

Here are some pictures of the bigger shrimp, think it's a female? One with and one without flash.

The other one is still hiding.

 

[rikardob]

I didn't want to answer your heat question because I'm no expert, but under that pretext I think that is a male and that your tank should be like 10 degrees warmer. They'll live at 65 degrees according to multiple accounts though. Good luck finding a small heater suitable for under 5 gallons of water. I've been ripping my hair out trying to find something for my bowl for a few days now.

 

[sampster5000]

Seems pretty cold but they are very tough. Good luck in the winter though! Lol.

Looks like 2 females in the pictures.

 

[Newman]

the last two pics are the same shrimp? looks female but the leaf is blocking the abdomen lol. juvenile female.

 

[Penny]

Ugh, darn leaf! But yes, that is the same shrimp. Haven't been able to get any decent pictures of the other one yet. They still aren't moving very much :\ I think the LFS has some of those mini pad-type heaters, like for 1 gals, maybe I will give that a try. They may be able to survive without it but I hate seeing them like this after how lively they were yesterday

 

[diwu13]

I just thought of something else that might be an issue. CO2 at night. You have tons of plants in there so there will be huge flucuations in oxygen and CO2 between day and night. Also with those huge fluctuations the pH will also change.

 

[Newman]

that's an issue with most bowls/vases though...depending on how well the plants are established and on the water's buffering capacity, those effects should not be enough to stress shrimp too much. there is the challenge of softwater species like crystal shrimp... But I think its still possible.
Temperature is the other big factor along side pH and oxygen/CO2. i do think water in the 60s is no good. if you want them to thrive get it up to around 70F or more.

 

[Penny]

I have been looking at various mini heaters online today. Still trying to decide. I should probably order something tonight... I have been leaving the light on 24/7 to help keep it warm o_o

Alright, looked around online and think I am going try one of the Hydor mini heaters, underneath the sand. I'm pretty sure my LFS has them (or something very similar), gonna pick one up tomorrow. In the meantime, turning up the thermostat, hope it helps!