[GSAS-Member] Cherry Shrimp

["Susan Welenofsky" <welenofsky@comcast.net>]

My cherry shrimp tank has been going for three years. Since I moved it to my
new place October 1st, it hasn't even had an air pump. It has four Rocket
Killies and a couple Otos for fish. I've done some regular water changes and
throw flakes in every day for the animals. I have no idea what the nitrate
level or any other levels are. Sometimes I remember to put plant fertilizer
in. The light is on a timer. I'm not sure what the secret is to this tank,
but it grows plants really well and the shrimp do great in it. If I have a
plant that I'm having a hard time growing, I just put it in there. The only
thing that's failed at is the Mariselea sp. I got from Luis Navarro. I think
my substrate just wasn't right for it; it's that black lava rock sand. If it
had the Amano clay stuff I'm sure it would have taken off, but I only have a
1/3 bag of that left. 

 

I think the secret to keeping shrimp is just to have a lot of plants they
can pick at and hide in, especially when they're with eggs. Overflow filters
aren't the best for shrimp tanks. Canisters are okay, that's when I noticed
my shrimp started breeding, as there were young inside it whenever I cleaned
it out. I used my bathtub to find the babies and threw them back in a tank.
Seashells and iodine for their shells may also be important. Your snails can
be an indicator of the calcium level. And of course fish are major
predators, but if you have thick enough plants, even the shrimp can survive
and reproduce. 

 

If the shrimp are jumping out of your tank it's either bad water or fish
chasing them. If they die and look like they've been cooked, that's also bad
water. 

 

Susan

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