What shrimp?

[*Sian*]

I don't know if this is in the right place, but here we go lol (It's gonna be looooonnnggg!)

I've wanted some shrimp for ages, but I don't know which one(s) would be right for my tanks (if any). I have done some searching but it hasn't helped much lol.

The 3 tanks I'd like some in if possible are my goldfish tank, newt tank and tropical community tank.

I know there are ones you can put in trop comms but I don't know about the others. I also don't know if the fish I'm having will effect what shrimp I can have.

I had a disaster a few weeks back and lost a load of my fishies, I'm not re-stocking for a while yet but I know what I'll be having. (I still have some of these in there, the tetras and corys)
- pygmy puffers
- serpae tetras
- black phantom tetras
- bronze and spotted cory dorus
and then 2 hoplosternums until they get too big.

I might add some other tetras in but I don't know which. I know the rep puffers have but I've had pygmy puffers before and they were fine, it was my water params that killed them. (Another reason why I'm waiting to re-stock, I'm getting a new tank so will be able to sort the water out better). If the new ones don't work out when I get them I can take them back anyway.

Are there any shrimp I could have in there? The filter will be one in the lid if that makes a difference.

The goldfish tank.. well there's only 2 in there at the moment. 2 normal goldies. I might be buying a new black moor but I don't know yet. The filter is an internal, I will be changing it to another brand (eheim aquaball) but it's still an internal.

And then the newts.. well I don't know what they'll be like with something else in their tank. They're fine with the mts but they're not really appetizing for a newt, not mine anyway lol. Their filter is also an internal (They already have an eheim aquaball).
The newts are about 5 and 6 inches in size.

So there we go.. I hope I've made some sense and I hope someone can help! Yup I'm looking at you shrimp keepers lol.

If there's none suitable then that's fine. Is there any snails I could get instead? lol. I'm still hoping to get at least one apple snail at some point!

[thedragonlord]

no shrimp can go with the puffers full stop even if they are dwarf/pygmy, except for maybe an asian or african filter shrimp, but they are renown for starveing to death over the year

same as above for goldfish and the newts

can you show me a pic of the hoplo... or are they the cat fish?
www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=14

as you could probably keep normal shrimp in that tank if u didnt have the puffers (will either kill other fish or not get enough food) and the hoplos

[*Sian*]

Yep that's the hoplos. They aren't actually a definite as they've been pretty rare around here and I don't know if the shop that had them last time will have them again.

More puffers are a definite though. Never mind, I thought it might be a no, but you never know for sure unless you ask lol

Was hoping for a yes with the others though.
So there's no big shrimp that could go in with the newts? Or aren't there big shrimp? Sorry don't know much about the sizes of them.

I'll have to stick with mts for something different then lol

Were you talking about the puffers when you said they would either kill the other fish or not get enough food? I didn't have that problem with my last ones.

Sorry if I'm sounding like a dumbass, too sleepy

[thedragonlord]

the only big shrimp are

Atyopsis moluccensis

and

Atya gabonensis

which are the filter shrimp

and they are pretty huge

most algae eaters stay under 2 inch with the amano being pretty much the largest freshwater algae eating shrimp

thats the thing with all puffers, you could get some that are fine, but u add some more and the tank becomes a free for all, like the dwarf uff tank at the shop i work part time in has a 8x12x18" tank and that couldnt hold more than the 4 puffers as they killed each other

[*Sian*]

Well it is a big tank, they wouldn't try harming the newts would they? Or would they only do something if the newts tried harming them?

Do you know if those two are hard or easy to look after? Are they ok on their own? Sorry, more questions

3 or 4 puffers is all I'll be getting (depends what the deal at the lfs is, sometimes it's 3 for something other times it's 4).
4 was what I had last time and they were all fine, but yeah I know the next lot might be sods to put it mildly lol. I've had tetras like that before, first ones were fine, next lot were mean gits.
If they don't work out then I can take them back. I hope I wont have to.

If I do though, and I don't get the hoplos, what shrimp would you recommend to a newbie? They don't have to be "pretty" although I wouldn't mind lol.

Thanks for the info so far

[SnailTrail]

Shrimp do best in shrimp only planted tanks but can be kept with peaceful species of fish. Even fish like corydoras would eat any shrimplets though.
Another problem with keeping fish and shrimp together is shrimp can't tolerate most fish meds. Plant ferts are also an issue.


What type of shrimp you want depends on your water....some species like a PH of over 7 and some prefer under 7.

Check out the shrimp variety page on www.petshrimp.com it tells you what water parameters each need and which will interbreed.

If you don't get the shrimp eating fish a good beginner shrimp are amanos and cherry shrimp.
Keep the nitrate below 5 if you can.

[*Sian*]

Well I wouldn't be wanting to breed any really, so the shrimplets wouldn't be a problem.

I don't have much use for meds really 'cause whenever I've had ill fish I've only ever lost one or two and they've died before the meds even had a chance to work!!
Plant food I sometimes use, very rarely though 'cause I forget about it.
Can they tolerate salt?

Our nitrates are high from the tap.
Gah, I knew I forgot something I've probably made you both reply for nothing now lol. The nitrates are about 20-50 I think, can't remember. It's high though.

The Ph is 7 in one or some, 7.5 in the other(s). I've forgotten which though, I think it's 7.5 in the comm, 7 in the others.

I'll have a look through that site anyway, thanks.
We are hoping to get one of them nitrate reducer things, I've forgotten the name of it now (I'm forgetting everything today ) the ones that attach to your tap or you can run it in the tank from a filter.

[thedragonlord]

tbh nitrates up to 30 wont hurt any marine creatures let alone freshwater creatures so i'd say shrimp would be fine up to the 30ppm and probably above

do you mean the nitrazorb?

[*Sian*]

We tried that one before. Still have it somewhere lol. I keep meaning to try it in my tanks!

Nitragon, that's it. Or it's like it.
www.fishathome.co.uk/resinfilters_nitragon.htm

Lfs said there was one you can use on the tap or in the tank.

[thedragonlord]

i think i know the one u mean, ill find out its name on tuesday

[*Sian*]

Thanks ;D
My lfs said they can get one in for us, we just want to look around first and find out if there's a cheaper one.

I need to test the water again to be sure about the nitrates, I remember it's high just not the exact number lol.

[thedragonlord]

are you using test strips or a liquid test?

[*Sian*]

I have both. I'm not a fan of the strips though and I've only used them once lol. The reading was nothing like the liquid test. I haven't tried them again since though.

[thedragonlord]

ok, cause i know how in accurate the strips really are to

[SnailTrail]

Freshwater shrimp don't like salt.

Perhaps amano shrimp would be able to tolerate the higher nitrate level than the dwarf species of shrimp.....i've kept 3 amanos for almost 2 years now and they seen a lot hardier than the other species.