Never let your guard down in a fish store

[KittenFishMom]

"Never let your guard down while in a fish store" I chatted this all the way to the store and as I entered the store, but then something happened... I let my guard down in a fish store.

I am working on rehoming the guppies and keeping the water clean. I test the water every day of every other day. The tanks don’t look that clean to me, and I have recently learned not to over clean a tank, or you get bacteria blooms of foggy cloudy water.

I went to the LFS to drop off 25 female guppies (and I added a group of males so he could show what the offspring would look like. Besides, who is counting?) Three times I have been in the store and seen 2 female flagfish swimming in a tank, Twice I left without them. This last time I let my guard down. I put them in the male guppy tanks and “boy oh boy” were those boys happy to see females, so I moved them to the tank with the smaller female guppies.  They are both relaxing and eating baby brine shrimp. They both have the spot at the back edge of the back (dorsal?) fin. One has nice dark stripy coloring, the other is rather light colored. I am guessing all those male guppies stressed her out a bit. I am hoping her contrast coloring comes back. I did not notice one being lighter than the other in the store. Once my guard was down, I talked myself into 4 cute young peppered corys. I really wanted some help cleaning up after the male guppies. Their tank needing more that the light dusting the 3 large sponge filters were doing.

I then went to a chain store that carries fish to buy some bigger HOBs that were on sale. The sale price was not of the shelf. Very foolish me looked at the tanks after I asked someone to send the fish person over. I left with the HOBs, 10 ghost shrimp, one lonely yoyo loach for my lonely yoyo loach and 12 black kuhli loaches.  They all promised to do a great job cleaning.  (I can’t believe 12, but who is counting?)

I put 5 ghost shrimp in with the male guppies and 5 in the non-guppy tank because those tanks have lots of plants. I put 3 kuhli loaches in each tank and added the yoyo to the nonguppy tank with the lonely yoyo. The yoyos swim around gossiping, telling me they clean while no one is looking. The kuhlis and the shrimp are hard to find. I know that is to be expected. I hope they are doing well. The tanks do look cleaner. I’m going to have to move some of the snails out of the planted tanks before they start eating my plants even more, now that the tanks are looking cleaner.

All the tanks have a male betta patrolling for guppy fry, so I am worried the shrimp might not last very long. Keep your fins crossed for them.

"That's all the news that fits"

 

[Anjum]

Haha you did better (or worse?) than me! I went to my LFS yesterday, just to get frozen food. Of course I had to look through all the tanks of nano tropical fish. They actually had some surprisingly neat things. But I'm skeptical of how well they keep their fish, so I didn't leave with anything. I'll wait until I can get down to ACO again to get live animals. Soon, very soon... 

[meadeam]

I went to a big box yesterday and showed incredible restraint.  They had some fish I wanted, but my quarantine tank isn't running and I don't have a spare cycled sponge filter to throw one together with.  I did receive a big (for me) ACO order yesterday though, so I had some new things to play with.  I'm going to need a lot more fish to put this brine shrimp hatchery to good use.

[lefty o]

ive learned over the years, i dont go to the fish store unless i already know exactly what i want.

[KittenFishMom]

I knew exactly what I want... I wanted to give away fish at one place and buy HOBs at the other place. That was EXACTLY what I wanted. @lefty o Do you think my lack of resolve might explain why your method did not work for me? Because I can tell you, it did not work for me ! 

[TheSwissAquarist]

I don't know why, but it seems I have the same problem as @KittenFishMom , whenever I see a super cool fish (last time it was least killifish) I msut buy them and find a place for them. Those killis lasted about a year until I added a betta to their tank.🤦‍♂️

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/24/2022 at 6:13 PM, KittenFishMom said:

All the tanks have a male betta patrolling for guppy fry, so I am worried the shrimp might not last very long.

I would recommend getting amano shrimp in future when possible, not the ghost shrimp.  They will work on algae and will behave pretty similar but get sightly bigger.  They will help with the tank as opposed to just end up as food. 😞

Locally for me, ghost shrimp are typically on sale, if they are in stock.  Amano's are anywhere from $3-5 per shrimp.  It's worth the price because the life expectancy is vastly different.  I know it's a steep price, but I promise it's worth it.

On 9/25/2022 at 3:27 PM, lefty o said:

ive learned over the years, i dont go to the fish store unless i already know exactly what i want.

There is totally a scavenger hunt thread for the forum 🙂

[drewzero1]

On 9/25/2022 at 5:27 PM, lefty o said:

ive learned over the years, i dont go to the fish store unless i already know exactly what i want.

There's a fish store on my way to work and another one that's pretty close to the way home. It's a daily struggle not to stop in to one or the other... just for a peek... 😜

Honestly though I'm so anxious I even research my impulse purchases. Can't say I regret any fish I've bought in recent memory, though at the same time I do regret a few I didn't buy when I had the chance.

[Jess]

On 9/25/2022 at 1:42 PM, Anjum said:

Haha you did better (or worse?) than me! I went to my LFS yesterday, just to get frozen food. Of course I had to look through all the tanks of nano tropical fish. They actually had some surprisingly neat things. But I'm skeptical of how well they keep their fish, so I didn't leave with anything. I'll wait until I can get down to ACO again to get live animals. Soon, very soon... 

Haha - I did this yesterday, too!  Bought 3 frozen foods and managed to walk out without other fish or plants.  It helps if you have someplace to go after that for a few hours...that means if I see any fish I want, I have to think about them for 24 hrs and that helps me decide if I REALLY need them (LOL).

I bought frozen daphnia, brine, and some kind of mixed freshwater food (spirulina brine, bloodworms, and two other types).  Watched my vaillant gouramis pick out the bloodworms and leave the rest of it, and then this morning I watched my crossband chocolate gouramis spit out the frozen daphnia in utter defiance.  My fish are like spoiled children, apparently.

[Huckleberry]

My wife went to our LFS to pick me up some sand for my new 20's. She comes home and asked me to run up to the fish store with my truck. To my shock she bought a 46 gallon bow front with stand and a filter because she fell in love with the puffers.  The tank is now set up but she hasn't grabbed the fish yet. In the future, If I need anything for my aquariums I'm just going to go myself. 

[Bev C]

I never go to the LFS without a list if i do not have a list it is trouble for me ,,, i usually call to see if they have e fish i want  since i have to travel a ways to get there 

[TOtrees]

Agree with @nabokovfan87about Amanos over ghosts. Ghost shrimp are the feeder goldfish of the shrimp world. Not hating, just judging. 

[KittenFishMom]

@nabokovfan87 and @TOtrees Please tell me the pros and cons of ghost shrimp vs Amanos shrimp vs other types of shrimp.  I got the ghost shrimp to help clean up my over stocked tanks. Hopeful The LFS can keep taking more guppies and the over stocking problem will go away.  I can get ghost shrimp for $0.39 each. the Amano shrimp are $5.99 each. The assorted fancy shrimp are $4.99.

[TOtrees]

I'm happy to give my opinion, but it's more of an "in my limited experience" response. I've kept amanos and ghosts, and prefer the amanos. They are said to live 2-3 years, but I think that's low (curious if others agree). Amanos and ghosts are both omnivores, but I think amanos lean way more towards the vegetable and detritus, while ghosts lean more towards protein (meat). Ghosts will catch and eat (small) tank mates if they can, but I've never seen an amano show even the tiniest hint of predatory behavior. 

Amanos are simply better at cleaning up the things that we consider need cleaning up in our tanks. Algae and detritus, bits of plant matter, etc. 

You asked about amanos, ghosts and other types of shimps. I find that cherry shrimp are very similar to amanos, just smaller. So it takes a much greater number to do the same job. 

Rachel O'Leary has a great vid on youtube on amanos from a number of years back here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG2cQI_TA5o

Hope this helps.

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/27/2022 at 8:07 AM, KittenFishMom said:

@nabokovfan87 and @TOtrees Please tell me the pros and cons of ghost shrimp vs Amanos shrimp vs other types of shrimp.  I got the ghost shrimp to help clean up my over stocked tanks.

So Ghost shrimp are feeder shrimp for fish that require shrimp in their diet. It's raised and sold as a food product, essentially.  Kids often see them as their first shrimp and they generally live weeks, not years.  While they do feed on shrimp stuff, they generally don't eat algae as much as other shrimp.  They can be pretty delicate, similar to the way otocinclus are considered a "delicate" fish with their care.

Amano shrimp get a lot larger in comparison, live longer, ~5+ years I believe.  They will eat algae, generally all kinds, given that they aren't being fed foods daily.  Amano shrimp are generally used for algae control.  They also do not populate a tank because they require brackish water and special care to breed out.

Neocaridina / Caridina shrimp are the "fancy shrimp" and have very specific care requirements.  Amano shrimp are a species of Caridina shrimp (Caridina multidentata) and we do have a few varieties of "amano shrimp" with some from australia now making their way into shops unknowingly.  Betweeen the Neo / Caridina species one of them prefers one set of water parameters while the other prefers the opposite water parameters (hard vs. soft water).

Generally you'd decide on which to keep based on your own water parameters.  Generally they aren't used for algae control, they do jump in population in a tank because they can breed in freshwater.

[KittenFishMom]

@nabokovfan87  I am looking for help with the bits of uneaten fish food and "used fish food" in my tanks because of the over stocking because of the guppy population explosion. With luck the LSF will have taken most of the guppies in the next month or 2. I don't have an algae problem to speak of, so I am thinking that maybe the ghost shrimp might be what I need right now. Once the guppies are gone, I may be looking into keeping a higher quality shrimp as a pet, but right now I am just looking for creatures to help to trying to keep the tanks as healthy as I can. I would buy scuds if I found them locally, I don't trust the ones in the lake for the tropical tanks, although they were great for the native tanks when I was keeping them.

I am getting burned out on water changes and might give away the rest of the fish and take a break for a few months, while I slowly do a build on my 55 tank. We have too much going on now in our lives right now.  I'm hope to empty the 3.5 tanks of guppies and keep the non-guppies, which would populate 1 or made 2 10 gallon tanks without over crowding.

[drewzero1]

There are two very similar species commonly sold as ghost shrimp. The one you want is from the genus Palaemonetes, a primarily carnivorous scavenger that in my experience will leave fish alone. The more sinister variety is of the genus Macrobrachium, which has long arms with little pincers and will catch and eat small fish. Aquarium Breeder has a page with descriptions and pictures of both species.

I had my ghost shrimp for about 6 months. Their lifespan is reported to be about a year in total, and with them being my first shrimp, I quarantined them for a month before adding them to my tank. (I don't recommend going that long for something with such a short lifespan.) I didn't notice a huge difference in algae or uneaten food after adding them, but they sure were fun to watch. If my current cherry shrimp experiment fails, I might have to try them again. Sure can't go wrong for the price.

I let my guard down in a fish store today, but only a little... I nearly bought a crab but walked out with a snail instead. I didn't even mean to go in there in the first place!

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/27/2022 at 8:12 PM, KittenFishMom said:

I am looking for help with the bits of uneaten fish food and "used fish food" in my tanks because of the over stocking because of the guppy population explosion. With luck the LSF will have taken most of the guppies in the next month or 2. I don't have an algae problem to speak of, so I am thinking that maybe the ghost shrimp might be what I need right now.

Amanos will definitely do that as well! They eat anything all other shrimp eat, but are just specifically going to live longer. They also get larger, so will spend time grazing more often.

There isn't any issue with the shrimp you have. I simply meant to say, next time you're at the shop.... I highly recommend getting amanos instead 🙂

They can be in the same tank and do the same things, just a slightly better purchase universally.

[drewzero1]

On 9/27/2022 at 11:15 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Amanos will definitely do that as well! They eat anything all other shrimp eat, but are just specifically going to live longer. They also get larger, so will spend time grazing more often.

There isn't any issue with the shrimp you have. I simply meant to say, next time you're at the shop.... I highly recommend getting amanos instead 🙂

They can be in the same tank and do the same things, just a slightly better purchase universally.

I have one amano, I was worried about the fish picking on it but it holds its own pretty well. You can always see it at feeding time making off with flakes or pellets that the fish didn't get to. I had two more but they passed soon after I bought them, so it ended up being a bit more of an investment than I was hoping.

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/28/2022 at 8:53 AM, drewzero1 said:

I had two more but they passed soon after I bought them, so it ended up being a bit more of an investment than I was hoping.

Definitely do very slow acclimation for them.   I am sorry for the losses you've encountered.  I have had a few of my own due to parameter swings I was struggling with.  I hope the next ones do better for you.  Aquahuna sells them as well as a few other places if you don't have a local shop.