[lilyth88]

So since I have moved Gandalf into a 3 gallon, I'm stuck with his old 2.5g. I would love to fill it with live plants and RCS. My question would be, how many RCS can safely go in that tank? Is it possible to put an ADF in there too? What plants are recommended?

 

[lilyth88]

I should clarify, it would only be the shrimp in this tank. And possibly the frog.

 

[Micho]

I would say no to the ADF, one would not be sufficient they're social beings and need to be in a pair or groups, and in order to house a pair and only a pair it's recommended to have 5g and up.

You could do a tank of RCS, they're lovely and breed quite readily in the right conditions, also one of the easier shrimps to care for in the hobby. I would suggest some leafy plants such as Java Fern, they really love that stuff, and moss it's like a security blanket for them. Also get some floating plants too, like Water Wisteria, diffuses lighting and for some reason I've noticed my RCS are more active when it's dark, I think it makes them feel safer.

 

[Bombalurina]

Without the frog, you could easily have 25, but I'd start with fewer since they do breed very easily.

 

[lilyth88]

WOW 25! How many would you recommend starting with since they breed so readily?

 

[Micho]

Depends, I'd started out my 2g with 6, three males and three females. It's pretty easy sexing RCS, females are bigger and redder while males are smaller and paler. Try to also aim for berried females, you can easily see them carrying a little pouch with dots, which are eggs. So I'd suggest you start with just six if you're tight on money, if you aren't you can start with ten or so.

It takes around 30 days for a new batch of RCS to hatch, so every month or so you'll be receiving an early Christmas gift.

 

[Bombalurina]

I started with 5 (2 females, 3 males) and ended up with a colony of more than 30 within 8 months or so.

 

[lilyth88]

So will I eventually be overrun in RCS?!

 

[Bombalurina]

Yep, but you can sell some on for monies, and do trades with other aquarists to vary your bloodlines.

 

[Micho]

Or you could put some in your other tanks and see how they fare. They make great algae eaters, if you have any.

 

[lilyth88]

So at what point would there be too many for the 2.5g to handle? I wasn't planning on filtering it because I despise the filter that comes with that tank, but it will be heavily planted. (At least as heavily planted as I can get in a 2.5g) and I will do regular water changes.