Your fish will eat baby shrimp no doubt if you are wanting rcs. If you get some amanos or filter feeding shrimp you might be good. IME, shrimp dont do a damn thing on algae but the only algae in my tanks is GSA and BBA which are tougher. I would get some off of this site since there are a ton of people selling shrimp all the time.
Shrimp
I'd like to get some shrimp, but I have never had any before. I've never had any kind of aquatic invertebrate before. I've been reading about shrimp on here, but I have some questions. I have a 30 gallon planted tank with an eheim 2217 filter. The only fish in the tank right now are 5 cory cats and two bolivian rams, but eventually I will be getting a school of some kind of tetra and hopefully some hatchet fish. So what kind of shrimp would be best for me? I was thinking red cherry shrimp. But are my fish going to eat all of them? Are they good algae eaters? And if I decide to buy them, is buying them online a good option? My local place only has them rarely.
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+1 to thatYour fish will eat baby shrimp no doubt if you are wanting rcs. If you get some amanos or filter feeding shrimp you might be good. IME, shrimp dont do a damn thing on algae but the only algae in my tanks is GSA and BBA which are tougher. I would get some off of this site since there are a ton of people selling shrimp all the time.
it's best to have a seperate tank for red cherry shrimp which is a good sp to start.
RCS would be a great choice for a starter invert. +1 for not with that fish selection though.
I'd get amanos if I were setting up some shrimp and fish together. They grow bigger to avoid being eaten and they actually do eat algae.
Well, the fish aren't going anywhere and I only have one tank so I guess it's NO to cherry shrimp. So you think Amano's would work? Is it because they can't breed in freshwater and so there will be no edible babies? Can they eat adult cherry shrimp, or just babies? Because if they only ate the babies, that might not be too bad so long as they didn't eat all of them. It would keep the population under control. I do want shrimp that would eat algae. How long do Amano's live?
you could keep them together. but the odds of having the babies survive is low. I had mine with tetras (neon & silver tip) before.
You could do what i did, get a Fish breeder net. And anytime you see a berry shrimp, toss her in there and let her hatch, after she drops her egg, move her back in the tank. and only release shrimp that are decent size back into the tank.
You could do what i did, get a Fish breeder net. And anytime you see a berry shrimp, toss her in there and let her hatch, after she drops her egg, move her back in the tank. and only release shrimp that are decent size back into the tank.
I'd go with amanos. They're larger and I believe they're a little cagier than cherry shrimp. I managed to keep a couple with Firemouths and they never turned into food.
IME, shrimp won't noticeably reduce the amount of algae in a tank. Snails are a much better option for algae control.
IME, shrimp won't noticeably reduce the amount of algae in a tank. Snails are a much better option for algae control.
If its your first shrimp, id go with some ghost shrimp. Amanos wont breed so what you buy is what you get. Ghost shrimp will breed and are still large enough that your fish shouldnt eat them. Theyre way cheaper too.
I'm definitely looking for something that will eat the algae in all the nooks and crannies I can't reach. But I'm kind of scared of snails. How do you keep them from taking over a tank? I accidentally got snails in one of my chilhood aquariums and it was a nightmare, they covered everything.
ghost shrimp won't breed in an aquarium with fish, their eggs hatch as free floating larvae that will very quickly be consumed by fish.
Im not sure this is entirely true. Since there are sooooo many different clear shrimp called ghost I believe there are some that can breed in freshwater and their larvae dont require brackish conditions.ghost shrimp won't breed in an aquarium with fish, their eggs hatch as free floating larvae that will very quickly be consumed by fish.
I had some for 5 years and either they have miracle sauce that shrinks them and grows them and shrinks then again OOORRRRR they will breed in the aquarium. Not buying to magic portion of it. Mine bred several times. Mordalphus is kind of right. The babies are small and fish love them. Without good cover and hiding spots its hard to raise the babies. If you are counting on shrimp for algae, youre asking alot. Ive not noticed any of my 8 different kinds putting a dent in any algae. They do eat it, but its such a small amount its barely noticeable.
Right, I don't think mordalphus said they required brackish. He just said that the larvae don't typically survive the onslaught of fish feeding frenzy. This has been my experience as well. I'd have to put prego ghosts in a breeder basket to get any of the offspring to survive.Im not sure this is entirely true. Since there are sooooo many different clear shrimp called ghost I believe there are some that can breed in freshwater and their larvae dont require brackish conditions.
Correct, some ghosts breed in freshwater, some in brackish. I was referring to the fact that the zoe's cannot dodge fish attacks because they move very slowly. If you have any characins, danios or cichlids you'll find yourself zoe-less in a matter of minutes.
You mentioned you have some rams and also are thinking to get some tetras, these will eat the zoe. If you just had the corydoras some zoe will survive (although my albino cories love ghost shrimp larvae).
The ghost shrimp that require brackish water to breed also require brackish water to flourish, so they generally wont even berry (or survive very long) in fresh water.
Also, if you were thinking to start with ghost shrimp and move to cherry shrimp eventually, I'd just skip that step. The reasons I say this are that ghost shrimp are generally less hardy (they arrive at the LFS at deaths door generally), and once they grow large, they will sometimes become aggressive to anything it can grab. I have 2 full grown ghost shrimp in my community tank that will catch and eat molly fry. I've never put cherry shrimp with them, but if that was your plan, I'd have to say that after seeing such aggression against fish, they probably will have no qualms about tearing apart a cherry shrimp as well. After all, my ghost shrimp are at least twice the size of my biggest cherries.
You mentioned you have some rams and also are thinking to get some tetras, these will eat the zoe. If you just had the corydoras some zoe will survive (although my albino cories love ghost shrimp larvae).
The ghost shrimp that require brackish water to breed also require brackish water to flourish, so they generally wont even berry (or survive very long) in fresh water.
Also, if you were thinking to start with ghost shrimp and move to cherry shrimp eventually, I'd just skip that step. The reasons I say this are that ghost shrimp are generally less hardy (they arrive at the LFS at deaths door generally), and once they grow large, they will sometimes become aggressive to anything it can grab. I have 2 full grown ghost shrimp in my community tank that will catch and eat molly fry. I've never put cherry shrimp with them, but if that was your plan, I'd have to say that after seeing such aggression against fish, they probably will have no qualms about tearing apart a cherry shrimp as well. After all, my ghost shrimp are at least twice the size of my biggest cherries.
I've noticed an agressive trend in some of the larger ghosts I've had. Someone on shrimpnow posted this vid of their Ghosts catching and eating their yellow shrimps alive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG5tpGMzcxI
Cherry shrimp are really hard to beat for a beginner shrimp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG5tpGMzcxI
Cherry shrimp are really hard to beat for a beginner shrimp.
But they definately will not breed (successfully breed, I mean) in a tank with tetras and even adults might not survive in a tank with rams. I'd prefer amanos.Cherry shrimp are really hard to beat for a beginner shrimp.
The rams will avidly eat anything they can cram in their mouths, so I guess I won't be getting shrimp unless I get another aquarium. Would they eat snails?
My rams eat snails, only pond snails though
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