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Choosing shrimp

idris

Member
Joined
3 Jan 2011
Messages
816
Location
Herts
My experience of shrimp so far has just been Amanaos and, aside from them being quite shy, I don't seem to have problems with them. Now I'd like to add some more shrimp, preferably smaller and more colourful.

Having done some reading and this is some of what I think I've learned:
- Shrimp need hard-ish water, and mine is pretty hard, so that's ok.
- CRS seem to need a lower pH than I've got (I've seen that 6.8 is best - I have about 7.4 to 7.6) though Cherrys should be ok.
- Cherrys breed easily and in large numbers, but shrimplets can easily become food for fish like my Dwarf Gouramis, or get sucked into filters. I'm not sure if this is a major problem if they are really prolific breeders.
- CRS are the most demanding (though I can't really firure out why) and Cherrys are least demanding.
-CRS get more expensive as the get whiter, but conversly become tougher and less inbread
Are these all correct?

How do other shrimp, Bee, Harlequin, Tiger, Blue Pearl etc fit in to the dificulty spectrum?

And on a side note, I really like the idea of some Thai Micro Crabs, but there seems to be very little info about on them. How easy are they to keep and are they compatible with fish like Ottos?
 
CRS and Bee shrimp are similar shrimp and can cross breed. Their requirement are fairly similar as well. Both prefer softer water. the gH value should be around 3-5 with a ph around 6.5. Having said that, the temperature is the most important parameter in shrimp keeping. Some shrimp tolerate higher temperature and some shrimp don't. Generally speaking 23-25 is a good range of temperature to keep shrimp in.

Tiger shrimp is needs slightly harder water but the rest are the same. Cherry shrimp are hardier because of the diverse genetic background they came from. CRs on the other hand came from the 3 red bee shrimp variant that was initially found in a breeder tank in japan. you can work the maths out that way. lol.

The is only big difference in sulawesi shrimp compared to other shrimp. These need high pH, relatively higher temperature and also hard hard hard water.
 
I've been doing similar research but the other way round - looking for fish that work OK with shrimp for my new tank ;) Dwarf Gourami's apparently hassle and eat fully grown dwarf shrimp so make sure you have plenty of cover for any you get. If you've not looked at it, check out Planet Inverts as it contains lots of information. Generally the sulawesi shrimp need the harder water and the rest need softer :) That site also contains a compatibility chart so see what will breed with what!
 
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