Shrimp gumbo!

[JohnHuff]

I've wanted to post about my shrimp for a long time so I'm glad we've now got a new subforum for them! Since I'm pretty busy today, I'm just going to post a little at a time and add to it.

I've always felt that my tanks look and work better with a diverse population of water pets, so one of the earliest ones we looked at was shrimp.

Pros are that they look good, scavenge and can be found at most/all pet stores.

The first ones we ever got were ghost shrimp. They're about an inch long, hard to see, but very cheap, under $1 mostly. The best thing about them is that they scavenge and so can be counted on to clean up your tank.

Cons: They are hard to see, hide about 50% of the time, and are easy to die. We've bought about a dozen and I don't think any are alive any more. We had them in the main tank first, then we got the larger Amano shrimp and I think the Amano's killed them all because we couldn't see the ghosts after that. Then we bought 3 for the small tank. One survived for a long time, and then we bought 2 more to keep him company but all disappeared after that. Maybe they killed each other. Anyway, we don't have any more ghost shrimp in either tank.

I think they're good for beginners but are hard to keep. Later I will post about my other shrimp.

 

[JohnHuff]

So the 2nd type of shrimp we got were a couple of amano shrimp from Petco. These were a lot bigger, about 2 inches long vs. 1 inch for ghost shrimp. I think they killed off the ghost shrimp. They are quite hardy. I think of both of them are still alive, I'm not sure since I can't tell them apart, but one might be dead, since I'm only seeing them one at a time, but he could be hiding. I think they do a fair job of cleaning the tank. The big tank doesn't have any snail eggs and I think that might be due to the amanos.

Much later on, we saw some small amano shrimp at a LFS and got them for the small tank. i didn't know they came that small since the ones I had seen were always 2". These were 1". After putting them in, I can only see one of them, so one may be dead or they might be just very good at hiding. These hide about 80% of the time in the small tank and I rarely see them there.

So, these are more hardy than the small ghost shrimp and I think do a good job of cleaning. But both types tend to hide quite a bit. One more shrimp to go.

 

[Mmathis]

Better watch what you say! In my part of the world, folks eats dem dar shrimp in de gumbo!

 

[JohnHuff]

The last shrimp I want to introduce are cherry shrimp, though based on the pictures, my LFS might have sold me Singapore Flower shrimp instead:

I bought 3-4 and they're only about an inch long. They're nice looking and fairly active. But not very hardy. Of the ones I bought, 1 died pretty quickly, 1-2 survived a few months and I think the last one died with the last water change because I haven't seen him since then.

But it's hard to say since these guys typically hide. So far, of the three types of shrimp I've bought, Amana, ghost and Cherry, I think they're all dead. Based on my experience, I think the best way to keep shrimp is to keep them in a tank to themselves.

 

[j.w]

Cool looking shrimp John and how much do they earn for advertising that web site :biggrinangelA:

 

[JohnHuff]

Cool looking shrimp John and how much do they earn for advertising that web site :biggrinangelA:

I find that it's a pretty good website for fish info. But I haven't bought any fish online though. It just seems so strange to be shipping fish though the mail. Though I know in the old days, people did mail their children by post.

 

[HARO]

In a box, or just write the address on their foreheads? :biggrin:
John

 

[addy1]

In a box, or just write the address on their foreheads? :biggrin:
John

or hang a tag on their leg

 

[DrCase]

The last shrimp I want to introduce are cherry shrimp, though based on the pictures, my LFS might have sold me Singapore Flower shrimp instead:

Sir John we cant have advertisers crawling all over this forum
lol

 

[JohnHuff]

In a box, or just write the address on their foreheads? :biggrin:
John

Well, believe it or not, I wasn't joking (for once). It's a pretty well known story, here's a link:

http://postalmuseumblog.si.edu/2013/02/very-special-deliveries.html

 

[HARO]

Damn, the things you can learn on this site! And I thought you were pulling our collective leg, John.
John, 2

 

[j.w]

Wow wonder if I could mail myself to Hawaii right about now......................stamps are only about 40 some cents now :biggrinangelA:

 

[addy1]

Put a big stamp on your forehead, go to the post office, see what they do jw! (make sure you make that last phone call on the way to the room with the white walls)

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I think your right about shrimp being better off in their own tank. At the very least they need lot's of places to hid if there are fish in the tank.

I buy ghost shirmp and put them in my 5 gallon betta tanks. They are fun to watch while they last but I buy them as more of a treat for my bettas than to keep as pets

 

[JohnHuff]

I think your right about shrimp being better off in their own tank. At the very least they need lot's of places to hid if there are fish in the tank.

I buy ghost shirmp and put them in my 5 gallon betta tanks. They are fun to watch while they last but I buy them as more of a treat for my bettas than to keep as pets

I have a vision of you giving a

as your betta stands over the ghost shrimp...