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 Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 10:21 pm
Hi. I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with/has ever had shrimp (not "feeder types" for fish) or hermit crabs (the type that are exclusively aquatic, not terrestrial.) or anything else in an aquarium, with species of fish, by themselves, or with other types of aquatic life. Do they (certain types/any) make good tankmates for fish or are they better suited to be in a tank by themselves ? 
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 11:04 pm
Other than a semi-failing attempt at keeping ghost shrimp with my goldfish (eheh.. sweatdrop ), I haven't really had any actual experience with shrimp.
Though I have read up a little on them and they seem to make a nice addition to an aquarium's clean up crew. From what I've read, I would be sure to get an algea-eating type shrimp to mix with small fish, opposed to long-armed species. As you might be able to guess, those little nippers are there for a lot more than just decoration, so they don't mix well with any small aquadic creature. Never know when they'll decide they want a super-fresh meal instead of whatever it is you're feeding them. (;
If your tank isn't planted, I'd suggest adding a little vegetation for the shrimp to hide in. The more vegetation, the happier they are going to be. (Although I don't think that it's absolutely neccessary, it's just very appreciated by the skiddish crustations! xd ) I read somewhere that it's best to keep low-maintenence low-light plants with shrimp if you don't want them dying off sooner than you'd like. They seem to be pretty sensitive to any fertilizers you might need to add for plants that need more pampering. The Amano Shrimp (caridina japonica) would be an exeption, as they have a high tolerance to a number of different conditions.
If you think your fish wont tear it up, algea-eating shrimp really enjoy Java Moss and find it a nice snack. Plants with wide leaves also make for good hiding places, as shrimp will perch on the underside of the leaves.
What sort of fish do you have and what is the size of your tank, if you don't mind me asking? If your tank is planted, what specimens do you have? :D
Just wondering so I can give you better advice, without having to take blind jabs in the dark, hehe.
I hope I can give you better advise as soon as I know a little more about your aquarium! (:
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 7:00 am
After looking at some images, it looks like I was looking at a "coral banded shrimp", or something similar to that type.
I haven't actually started setting up an aquarium yet or decided whether to go with fresh or saltwater . (I will be moving sometime and I wanted to wait on the set-up/purchase until then.)
I planned to either get the coral banded or peppermint shrimp if I go w/ saltwater. And if I have only shrimp my starting tank would be 10 gal or slightly smaller, being taller than it is long if needed. Once I create an established -and larger 10-20 gal tank I'd like to add a few fish.(the 10 gal I have now is currently occupied by land hermit crabs ^^ wink This will be my first saltwater aquarium (possibly freshwater) so, I wanted to start out with something small, yet interesting.
I'm looking into the Amano shrimp that you had mentioned now as far as freshwater shrimp go for an alternative Aquarium type to saltwater. They are less expensive than what I was looking at from what I've seen and look like a good choice.
Thanks for the info!
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 4:34 pm
if you're new, go FW. it's much easier and cheaper and theres a greater room for error. remember to cycle your tank, understock, and carefully research any fish you want (especially in the size department- fish don't normally grow to the size of the tank)
in FW tank, amano, cherry, and ghost shrimp are your best bets. I personally reccomend amano shrimp as they are good at eating algae and unlike plecos and CAEs produce very little waste and will not turn into 2 foot monsters. there are also bamboo or wood shrimp, but they get pretty large (about 4") and need somewhat specialized care to survive so you might want to avoid them. great if you want an oddball, though.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:33 pm
Rena Sanverse After looking at some images, it looks like I was looking at a "coral banded shrimp", or something similar to that type. I haven't actually started setting up an aquarium yet or decided whether to go with fresh or saltwater . (I will be moving sometime and I wanted to wait on the set-up/purchase until then.) I planned to either get the coral banded or peppermint shrimp if I go w/ saltwater. And if I have only shrimp my starting tank would be 10 gal or slightly smaller, being taller than it is long if needed. Once I create an established -and larger 10-20 gal tank I'd like to add a few fish.(the 10 gal I have now is currently occupied by land hermit crabs ^^ wink This will be my first saltwater aquarium (possibly freshwater) so, I wanted to start out with something small, yet interesting. I'm looking into the Amano shrimp that you had mentioned now as far as freshwater shrimp go for an alternative Aquarium type to saltwater. They are less expensive than what I was looking at from what I've seen and look like a good choice. Thanks for the info!
But if you do decide upon a freshwater shrimp tank, one of fishcatch22's suggestions, cherry shrimp, would be really nice in my opinion. Cherry shrimp in a small planted tank sounds just lovely. Cherries stand out real nicely, especially against a bit of green. They would be super in a tank on their own.
If you are going for a tank with shrimp and fish, I definately agree with another thing fishcatch22 said, which is to consider the amano shrimp, for all of the reasons he listed. xd
Whatever type of shrimp you chose, just be sure to have ample hiding spots for those little guys where they can take refuge from anyone who might want a bite of them. The biggest mistake I made with my ghost shrimp was only providing them with two small hiding places in a 30 gallon tank. Give them some plant coverage and objects to hide behind and you'll be doing them a world of good.
That's pretty much all the advice I can give for now! I'd like to give more, but I'm not much good with shrimp haha.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 10:15 am
I would go for the Cherry shrimp or the Ghost (Amano shrimp) for freshwater. Saltwater i would go with a pair of Cleaner shrimp or a single of Coral banded shrimp
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:47 pm
Thanks so much everyone for the advice. I decided on a freshwater tank. I just added 3 fish, 1 shrimp and 1 snail to my previously empty, new tank.
I'll post pictures soon biggrin
I decided on 2 Balloon Mollies, 1 Golden Snail, 1 Amano Shrimp, and 1 Peppered Cory Catfish.
As for the live pant, I decided on an Onion plant. (can't remember it's exact name) It's a nice fit for my 3gal tank.
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:57 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:02 am
Update: Removed Onion plant. i now have more appropriately sized/growing Moneywort and Anubias plants.
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Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 2:28 pm
Your tank is cute! Oh I just love snails. <3
I'd like to see some pics with the new plants too :'D
Ohhh, every time I see snails I just want to go out and buy some! I have to control my buying urges though, I'm running out of room to house my lovelies ):
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 11:31 pm
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:11 pm
i had ghost shrimp in one of my tanks but they managed to jump through the tiniest hole in the surface. Shrimp suicide it was!.
I bought a fiddler crab at petco who proceeded to kill and eat my neon tetras during the night. The petco employee said that crabs don't attack fish. Needless to say I stopped going to petco and now I go to Chinatown to get my fish supplies.
I also had apple snails which helped cleaning the tank a lot but also ate my plants. They were too sensitive to temperature changes and medication.
Finally i went the other day to the store in Chinatown to buy some frogs for my goldfish tank ( i got a 30 gallon tank with 4 goldfish and 2 male guppies)
and he said frogs tend to bite chunks off long finned fish sometimes.
So my advice to you would be to get ghost shrimp as long as there is absolutely no space in the surface for them to jump through. Apple snails are good too as long as you don't have a planted tank.
either way, you must remember most invertebrates will die when exposed to medication and excessive amounts of aquarium salt.
I hope that helped whee
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:03 am
uh, I hate to say this, but bthat tank is prett darn overstocked. all of your fish will get too large for that tank, and I would probably not p0ut any of them in anything less than 10Gs. mollies get pretty big, up to about 4-5", though balloon mollies generally stay aroud 3". they are prolific reproducers, and create more waste than a 3G filter can handle. peppered corys, like al corys, should be in groups of at least four to be happy and truly thrive. they too will get about 2 1/2 inches long at adulthood. your stocking sounds more like something for a 10 gallon tank. imo, you should get rid of them and get a betta. also, make sure to feed the apple snail plenty of green foods. they generally do not eat algae, and will slowly starve if not fed properly.
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:50 pm
fishcatch22 uh, I hate to say this, but bthat tank is prett darn overstocked. all of your fish will get too large for that tank, and I would probably not p0ut any of them in anything less than 10Gs. mollies get pretty big, up to about 4-5", though balloon mollies generally stay aroud 3". they are prolific reproducers, and create more waste than a 3G filter can handle. peppered corys, like al corys, should be in groups of at least four to be happy and truly thrive. they too will get about 2 1/2 inches long at adulthood. your stocking sounds more like something for a 10 gallon tank. imo, you should get rid of them and get a betta. also, make sure to feed the apple snail plenty of green foods. they generally do not eat algae, and will slowly starve if not fed properly. Thank you for the advice. I'm definitely looking into a larger tank now. I intend to purchase a few more peppered cories. (once the water cycles in a new/larger tank of course) I was told at Petsmart that my tank was not overstocked, yet when I when to a fish-only store I saw a tank of mollies that were the size you had mentioned. I had no idea that they grew to 3'' (Petsmart said 2" at most I believe) Also- I'm not sure specifically what you meant by greens, but I put a small leaf of lettuce (being weighed down by shells so it doesn't float to the top of the tank) and my snail immediately went after it. (Quite a few spaces are missing in the lettuce where the snail decided to eat now.)
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:54 pm
Nepomuck i had ghost shrimp in one of my tanks but they managed to jump through the tiniest hole in the surface. Shrimp suicide it was!. I bought a fiddler crab at petco who proceeded to kill and eat my neon tetras during the night. The petco employee said that crabs don't attack fish. Needless to say I stopped going to petco and now I go to Chinatown to get my fish supplies. I also had apple snails which helped cleaning the tank a lot but also ate my plants. They were too sensitive to temperature changes and medication. Finally i went the other day to the store in Chinatown to buy some frogs for my goldfish tank ( i got a 30 gallon tank with 4 goldfish and 2 male guppies) and he said frogs tend to bite chunks off long finned fish sometimes. So my advice to you would be to get ghost shrimp as long as there is absolutely no space in the surface for them to jump through. Apple snails are good too as long as you don't have a planted tank. either way, you must remember most invertebrates will die when exposed to medication and excessive amounts of aquarium salt. I hope that helped whee Petco... ah it seems like with chain pet stores you have to be careful who is give the information to you and double check what they say. (I've learned this the hard way, buying extra water conditioners,etc. that I don't even need at this stage of my tank's development.) I have noticed with my shrimp that when I added liquid plant food it turned a greenish tint, which was cast off through molting. I'll look into an alternative way of feeding my aquatic plants to keep my shrimp safe.
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