Shrimp tank?

[Psylk87]

I have been thinking of using a small 5 gallon tank to make into a shrimp tank. I would have it all live planted and no fish just shrimp.

How many shrimp could I fit in? I was hoping to have mroe than one variety of shrimp what do you guys recommend?

Also would 5 gallons be okay or should I try to go for 10 gallons? I want it to be a relatively small tank.

Thanks guys!

[blu the betta]

i recommened ghost shrimp they are about 50 cents at petco

[aemaki09]

5 gallons is great.

20 Red Cherry Shrimp would have your stocking level at 84% in a 5 gallon tank.
You could easily get 25.

BUT

you want to leave room in there for when they breed and have babies, so I'd say a good starter number would be like 10

Also shrimp are so small and have such a low bioload that 5 gallons would be perfect. But a 10 gallon would work if you wanted to add more shrimp than 20 to start

[Bluewind]

Shrimp have a very low bioload and most say 5-6 Cherry or Ghost Shrimp per gallon is fine. However, do not mix the 2 in such a small space as they have been documented harming each other (usually Ghost attacking Cherry). Ghost Shrimp go anywhere from 2-4/$1 so a very cheap option. Cherrys can be bought online in bulk to get the best deals and they have a lower mortality rate than Ghosts because they are bred as pets, not feeders.

What are the dimentions of the tank at the water level so I can calculate the gallons exactly?
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[Psylk87]

Oh wow so could I maybe go smaller and still have a decent liitle shrimp tank? Lke 3-4 gallon rectangle tank?

The tank I have now is actually a 5.5 gallon So it is 16 X 8 X 10.

If I could feasibly go smaller that would be cool. I didnt know I couldnt mic species of shrimp so smaller would work for me.

Also any recs on plants that shrimp do best with? I am leaning towards Cherry shrimp just for the fact they have more color, but I realy love those white and red ones too.

[Aside]

I'd recommend cherries over ghost shrimp because from what I've heard cherries will breed like mad and you can get a nice population going. Baby ghost shrimp are apparently very hard to feed and therefore keep alive.

Also cherries are smaller, less aggressive, and have a smaller bio load. With a cycled filter and live plants and small water changes you could probably keep close to or more than 100 in that small tank. You could start with like 20 and they should breed and start a nice little colony.

The red and white ones are crystal red shrimp and they are much more finicky than cherries. You can also get yellow cherries if you want, they might be a little harder to find though.

[Psylk87]

Could you keep yello and red cherries together? Or would that be a bad idea? My LFS can normally special order for me so I might be able to get my hands on them.

Also is 3 gallons feasible or am I better of just going for the 5.5 gallon?

[Bluewind]

Bigger is ALWAYS better. Not just from a gallon standpoint, but a space standpoint as well. You want the to have room to move around right?

Sand is a good substrate. Most like Marimo Balls. Mine grazed on my Aponogeton and Anubias. Water Sprite is also eatible and easy to grow. Others have sighted Java Fern and Java Moss.
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[Aside]

3 should work fine so long as you plant it pretty heavily and keep on top of water quality. Really the only reason to go for five over three I think is you can get a more stable cycle and shrimp are very sensitive to ammonia.

You can definitely keep them together. They are the same kind of shrimp. The only problem is they will interbreed and you will end up with meddled colors down the line. But if you don't care about that they will coexist peacefully you just won't have very pretty offspring.

In terms of plants I think more is better. Shrimp love to hide. I think they are particularly fond of moss it holds all sorts of goodies for them to snack on.

[Silverfang]

Actually you don't want to keep red and yellow together, at least if you are talking about neocardinia species. They will inbreed and give you ugly brownish offspring. That's my biggest peeve about keeping shrimp. If you want to have the nice colourful ones you see in the store, you have to keep each colour separate!

To start off with cherries, I'd suggest six, 4 females, two males. With proper conditions all four will be waddling with eggs in their bellies soon enough!

Sexing cherries is fairly simple. Females are larger, brighter, and have a rounded underbelly. Sometimes they are even carrying eggs. If you see that, choose that one. Males are smaller, slightly duller, and have a flat underbelly.

http://www.planetinverts.com/shrimp_reproduction.html

This site has loads of information on shrimp, from reproduction, basic needs, to what can be kept together. Even on shipping. They also have great photos for helping sex shrimp.

Assuming you go with a filter, either set up a sponge filter, or get a pre filter sponge to put over the intake, or you -will- loose your shrimp into the filter.

While this thread started as being about bettas and shrimp, there is still lots of great info about shrimp themselves! http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=119766