Shrimp

[paudie22]

my brother has got 2 shrimp (id say there albino as there very pale) and i wouldnt mind getting a few myself. i was wondering what their lifespan is, if they breed or not, how they cope with other fish, what they eat and minimum tank size.
my stocking at the minute is 5 mollies 2 danios 3 otos and bout 25 fry

 

[darknirvana217]

Some pictures would help, or better description on the species.

 

[Shrimper]

A photo would definatly help, from the description i would guess they are either Anamo shrimp or snowball shrimp.

Anamo shrimp need brackish water for the babies to survive (the adults are fine in freshwater). Snowball shrimp can breed in freshwater.

Adult shrimp will be fine with the fish you have, babies would only survive if they have lots of hiding places.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

Shrimp are very easy to care for. Here's a few things you need to know about keeping them that I've learned.

Ph can be at any level fish can survive in, but some species prefer different levels.
Nitrate needs to be low. Shrimp are more sensitive to nitrate than fish. Try to keep it below 30ppm.
They can not be kept with fish that will eat them or bother them. Your fish are fine.
Shrimp will live from 2-3 years. They need a tank of at least 1g.
If you have ever used copper in the tank you can not keep shrimp unfortunately.
They can be sucked into the filter, so cover the intake.
Depending on the species, shrimp can and will reproduce in freshwater. The common species that will not are Amano, wood/bamboo, and ghost shrimp. Most fish and sometimes the shrimp themselves will eat the shrimp though.
A good shrimp to start with are Red cherry shrimp and Ghost shrimp. They are all easy, but some of the other varieties can be more sensitive.
You can find more info in planetinverts.com

 

[paudie22]

Shrimp are very easy to care for. Here's a few things you need to know about keeping them that I've learned.

Ph can be at any level fish can survive in, but some species prefer different levels.
Nitrate needs to be low. Shrimp are more sensitive to nitrate than fish. Try to keep it below 30ppm.
They can not be kept with fish that will eat them or bother them. Your fish are fine.
Shrimp will live from 2-3 years. They need a tank of at least 1g.
If you have ever used copper in the tank you can not keep shrimp unfortunately.
They can be sucked into the filter, so cover the intake.
Depending on the species, shrimp can and will reproduce in freshwater. The common species that will not are Amano, wood/bamboo, and ghost shrimp. Most fish and sometimes the shrimp themselves will eat the shrimp though.
A good shrimp to start with are Red cherry shrimp and Ghost shrimp. They are all easy, but some of the other varieties can be more sensitive.
You can find more info in planetinverts.com

thats all very helpful thanks. to other two i wasnt asking for an id i was just talking about them. are there any differences between males and females

 

[TylerFerretLord]

Females are usually larger and in some species more colorful. You'll also sometimes see them with eggs attached to their back legs, this is referred to as being 'berried'.

 

[Shrimper]

Getting an ID for the shrimp would still be helpful to tell you more about the ones your brother has. There are lots of species of shrimp available which can be quite different. For example a Snowball shrimp grows to about 3/4cm, will eat algae and other waste fish food and would prefer the water the be kept below 26C but African Filter shrimp will grow to 15cm and will feed by filtering microscopic organisms and algae from the water and would prefer the water to be kept above 26C. The other main type of shrimp are Macrobrachium species and depending on species these can grow to 10cm+ have long arms. Macro shrimp will probably go for the other fish in the tank and can be quite aggressive.


Getting back to your question on sexing shrimp: Anamo shrimp are really easy to sex, the females have a row of dashes along their body while the males have a row of dots, Cherry shrimp females are a darker red than the males, but other shrimp you have to look at the body size/shape or even the shape of the antennae. The easiest way when the are older is only the females will carry eggs.