Chameleon Shrimp

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Moshi&IndianasMum

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I have a Chameleon Shrimp in a 20 litre Tank which is about 5 US Gallons. His name is Shrimpy, not original I know but I didn't pick it LOL. Anyway I have a couple of questions....

I currently feed him Catfish Pellet food, is there anything else that they like to eat?

I'm interested in getting him some tank mates and would like to stick to Shrimps can anyone tell me which breed of Shrimp are compatiable and how many my tank could accomodate?

Thanks, Gem
 
You can feed algae tablets. Im not sure about other shrimp mates because the chameleon shrimp is a predatory shrimp.
 
best in a species tank, not really safe to have mates. they are often very predatory.
 
Hmmm... I agree. Sadly, I don't think there are any tankmates whose safety could be guaranteed. At least, none that wouldn't try to eat your shrimp anyway.

On the plus side, macrobrachium shrimp like chameleons are wonderful little animals. Take good care of him, and he should be such an entertaining pet you won't really need any tankmates for him!

They're largely scavengers and opportunist hunters in nature, so they'll eat all sorts. Pieces of prawn and some types of fish from the supermarket always make a nice treat (avoid any oily fish like salmon though -- it's a breeding ground for bad bacteria, and it gets your filter all greasy). Little bits of cucumber or other vegetables can make a good supplement. If you can get hold of them, occasionally feeding live bloodworms might go down quite nicely too. :)

Though bear in mind, some shrimp are fussier than others about what they eat, so if he doesn't eat food you give him after a few hours, it's best to try and remove it.
 
Hmmm... I agree. Sadly, I don't think there are any tankmates whose safety could be guaranteed. At least, none that wouldn't try to eat your shrimp anyway.

On the plus side, macrobrachium shrimp like chameleons are wonderful little animals. Take good care of him, and he should be such an entertaining pet you won't really need any tankmates for him!

They're largely scavengers and opportunist hunters in nature, so they'll eat all sorts. Pieces of prawn and some types of fish from the supermarket always make a nice treat (avoid any oily fish like salmon though -- it's a breeding ground for bad bacteria, and it gets your filter all greasy). Little bits of cucumber or other vegetables can make a good supplement. If you can get hold of them, occasionally feeding live bloodworms might go down quite nicely too. :)

Though bear in mind, some shrimp are fussier than others about what they eat, so if he doesn't eat food you give him after a few hours, it's best to try and remove it.

Thanks for that. Do you think adding a couple more Chameleon Shrimp would be a good idea or is he better off as a lone Shrimp? I have a Cherax Quad in another tank on his own and he doesn't seem to mind although I have toyed with getting him a tank mate too.
 
Thanks for that. Do you think adding a couple more Chameleon Shrimp would be a good idea or is he better off as a lone Shrimp? I have a Cherax Quad in another tank on his own and he doesn't seem to mind although I have toyed with getting him a tank mate too.

Quads are a problamatic creature to keep in a community, mine polished off two wood shrimp almost as soon as she went in. though that was the first and last thing she killed in the tank.

if the tank is over 40 gallons you may be ok to keep two, though i would reccomend two of one sex not a pair.

there is a thread somewhere i wrote outlining the factors you need to considder when thinking of a Cray in a community. give it a read, if you still are interseted i will help all you like. just remember, even the best layed plans can fall apart. not every Cray thinks and acts alike.

lol found it.
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...162&hl=cray
 
As for getting more shrimp, I'm afraid I don't know enough about how how territorial chameleons are... They grow to about 6cm, so provided they're not too aggressive, you could possibly keep one or two more in there. Even small macros often like their own territory though, so keep this in mind. :)
 
Shrimpy died today :-( :-( :-(

RIP Shrimpy

03_jpg.jpg


I can't believe how upset I am he was only a shrimp anyone would think my cat had died :blush:
 
yep sadly this is the case all too often. and there is often very little people can do to avoid this. inverts are a strange lot. unexplained deaths seem to be the norm, don't get me wrong, not all inverts that you buy will curl their toes up soon after purchase, even the very experienced have this happen. i guess we really don't know that much about these critters, well in comparison to fish anyway.

chin up, and keep going. if you keep a healthy tank, you will find that things will work out. i will agree though, when they die, it is surprisingly upsetting.
 

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