What are recommendations to keep shrimp?

[martinmin]

I added little shrimps a few times, and they disappeared after a while and I guess they died. I bought fishes and shrimps and put them into one little tank for a while before I added them to the big tank. Does fishes eat shrimp? For example, white or black skirt tetra? As for shrimps, I bought cherry shrimp, amano shrimp and ghost shrimp. I like ghost shrimp, because they are super cheap, but they likely die.

More specifically, 

1) Should I keep fish and shrimp separately in two little tank after purchase? 

2) Do shrimp have different water parameter requirements than plants and fishes in the tank?

3) Is it a good idea to buy cheap ghost shrimp? 

My main purpose of using shrimp is:

1) Help clean the tank

2) Help establish ecosystem in the tank

3) Watch and enjoy

 

 

[JettsPapa]

Here is a link to some information about keeping cherry shrimp (and the other colors of the same species).  You might get some help from it.

 

[nabokovfan87]

8 hours ago, martinmin said:

My main purpose of using shrimp is:

1) Help clean the tank

2) Help establish ecosystem in the tank

3) Watch and enjoy

I would suggest just getting amano shrimp.  They are slightly bigger, beautiful in their own way, and most fish don't (or can't) bother them.  The care for them is a lot easier than other shrimp.  You might see them as japan algae shrimp, but they are caridina multidentata.  You can get packs of 5-10 for pretty affordable prices from a place like aquahuna as well and use the coupon available by aquarium co-op.

I cannot recommend them enough.  I love mine. (and my neos)

[nabokovfan87]

8 hours ago, martinmin said:

1) Should I keep fish and shrimp separately in two little tank after purchase? 

It depends on what kind.  For Caridina and Neocaridina species you'd want to establish the colony first.  Get baby shrimp and ensure that you have a good setup for them. For amano shrimp, have a healthy tank, ensure the parameters meet their care requirements and you're often good to go.  The only thing I would avoid is a very hot tank with amano shrimp. If you're trying to keep discus or something, I would probably avoid amano shrimp. 78 or below, perfectly fine.

8 hours ago, martinmin said:

2) Do shrimp have different water parameter requirements than plants and fishes in the tank?

It's very broad, but the short answer is yes.  Shrimp need a minimum GH.  This is something you can test for in your water and it's extremely helpful to have a liquid test kit for GH/KH when you do have shrimp.  Most plants need that GH in the water as well, so it's a win win.  For fish though, ultimately it really depends.  Amanos are compatible with a vast array of fish and can live in a ton of tank setups.

8 hours ago, martinmin said:

3) Is it a good idea to buy cheap ghost shrimp? 

They can be.  I think when I tried em they lasted a few days because I really didn't have a tank optimal for them.  Amanos are probably what most people think of when you say "I would like some shrimp for my tank that are easy".  Neocaridina and Caridina are wonderful species, but best served in their own tank for the most part.  Once the colony is big enough, they can handle fish in the tank provided there is adequate setup for them to hide and escape stress and that you're able to feed them appropriately.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

My recommendations are:

1. If you’re wanting to establish a shrimp colony, it’s much easier to do in a shrimp only tank. 
2. Try to get shrimp locally if you can. I started with 15 Cherry Shrimp that I bought from someone locally and have sold hundreds of shrimp once the colony was established. Having shrimp raised in local water gives you a much better chance from the start. 

[martinmin]

16 minutes ago, AllFishNoBrakes said:

My recommendations are:

1. If you’re wanting to establish a shrimp colony, it’s much easier to do in a shrimp only tank. 
2. Try to get shrimp locally if you can. I started with 15 Cherry Shrimp that I bought from someone locally and have sold hundreds of shrimp once the colony was established. Having shrimp raised in local water gives you a much better chance from the start. 

""I started with 15 Cherry Shrimp that I bought from someone locally and have sold hundreds of shrimp once the colony was established." Does that mean Cherry shrimp can easily reproduce, and you got hundreds from 15 cherry shrimps? 

41 minutes ago, nabokovfan87 said:

It depends on what kind.  For Caridina and Neocaridina species you'd want to establish the colony first.  Get baby shrimp and ensure that you have a good setup for them. For amano shrimp, have a healthy tank, ensure the parameters meet their care requirements and you're often good to go.  The only thing I would avoid is a very hot tank with amano shrimp. If you're trying to keep discus or something, I would probably avoid amano shrimp. 78 or below, perfectly fine.

It's very broad, but the short answer is yes.  Shrimp need a minimum GH.  This is something you can test for in your water and it's extremely helpful to have a liquid test kit for GH/KH when you do have shrimp.  Most plants need that GH in the water as well, so it's a win win.  For fish though, ultimately it really depends.  Amanos are compatible with a vast array of fish and can live in a ton of tank setups.

They can be.  I think when I tried em they lasted a few days because I really didn't have a tank optimal for them.  Amanos are probably what most people think of when you say "I would like some shrimp for my tank that are easy".  Neocaridina and Caridina are wonderful species, but best served in their own tank for the most part.  Once the colony is big enough, they can handle fish in the tank provided there is adequate setup for them to hide and escape stress and that you're able to feed them appropriately.

Is cherry shrimp neocaridino or caridino shrimp? Can amano shrimp reproduce in the tank?

49 minutes ago, nabokovfan87 said:

I would suggest just getting amano shrimp.  They are slightly bigger, beautiful in their own way, and most fish don't (or can't) bother them.  The care for them is a lot easier than other shrimp.  You might see them as japan algae shrimp, but they are caridina multidentata.  You can get packs of 5-10 for pretty affordable prices from a place like aquahuna as well and use the coupon available by aquarium co-op.

I cannot recommend them enough.  I love mine. (and my neos)

The amano shrimp I purchased is very little, much smaller than yours in the picture.

[nabokovfan87]

 

1 hour ago, martinmin said:

The amano shrimp I purchased is very little, much smaller than yours in the picture.

They will definitely grow over time. It takes about a year for them to get to a "large size". In general they get bigger than neocaridina or other dwarf shrimp species.

Amanos tend to live longer as well given good care. Mine are well over 5 years old while neos have a lifespan of about 2 years. (Cannot confirm this as my colony is very new)

1 hour ago, martinmin said:

Is cherry shrimp neocaridino or caridino shrimp? Can amano shrimp reproduce in the tank?

Caridina and neocaridina are different species of dwarf shrimp. An Amano shrimp is categorized under the Caridina genus but it is very different than other Caridina species. Caridina and Neocaridina both can procreate in fresh water. Amano shrimp require brackish water to develop zoes into adults.

The main ones are:

Neocaridina Davidi (Cherry Shrimp, most colors)

Neocaridina Palmara (new, snowball shrimp and a few others)

Caridina Multidentata (Amano shrimp)

Caridina Cantonensis (Bee shrimp)

Caridina Serrata (Tiger Shrimp)

Caridona Babaulti (Zebra Shrimp)

Caridina Dennerli (saluwesi shrimp)

1 hour ago, martinmin said:

Does that mean Cherry shrimp can easily reproduce, and you got hundreds from 15 cherry shrimps? 

Each shrimp has about 15-30 shrimp per spawn.

Edited June 22, 2023 by nabokovfan87
added comment, fix spacing

[martinmin]

2 hours ago, nabokovfan87 said:

I would suggest just getting amano shrimp.  They are slightly bigger, beautiful in their own way, and most fish don't (or can't) bother them.  The care for them is a lot easier than other shrimp.  You might see them as japan algae shrimp, but they are caridina multidentata.  You can get packs of 5-10 for pretty affordable prices from a place like aquahuna as well and use the coupon available by aquarium co-op.

I cannot recommend them enough.  I love mine. (and my neos)

“use the coupon available by aquarium co-op.”： Can you show me how to get co-op coupon? Thanks

[nabokovfan87]

30 minutes ago, martinmin said:

“use the coupon available by aquarium co-op.”： Can you show me how to get co-op coupon? Thanks

On their website it just says "live fish" and it has the code there.

I also highly encourage you to check out the videos on the co-op channel featuring the AH team.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/pages/live-fish

 

[Andy's Fish Den]

5 hours ago, martinmin said:

""I started with 15 Cherry Shrimp that I bought from someone locally and have sold hundreds of shrimp once the colony was established." Does that mean Cherry shrimp can easily reproduce, and you got hundreds from 15 cherry shrimps? 

 

Yes it is very easy to get hundreds of baby shrimp. I got into the neocaridina shrimp game over 10 years ago when a lot of them were first showing up, I initially bought 10 each of bloody mary, and blue dream shrimp, and later on I pretty much built my entire fish room as it is now with what I made from selling shrimp. Now, fortunately for buyers, but unfortunately for sellers, the prices have come down from what I was selling packs for 7-8 years ago, but it is very easy to produce some to be able to have a good sized colony by only buying 10-12 shrimp to start and then be able to sell some to a LFS or anybody and make a little extra money to buy supplies. 

[martinmin]

Can crystal red shrimp and cherry red shrimp co-exist in the same tank? It seems their requirements are quite different:

Crystal red shrimp: pH around 6.2-6.8, and low to moderate hardness (GH 4-6, KH 0-2).

Cherry red shrimp: pH (6.5-7.5), and hardness (GH 6-8, KH 2-4).

Amano shrimp: pH around 6.5-7.5, (GH) range of 6-12 degrees and a carbonate hardness (KH) range of 2-5 degrees

Ideally, I would want to keep the 3 types in the same tank. 

[nabokovfan87]

44 minutes ago, martinmin said:

Can crystal red shrimp and cherry red shrimp co-exist in the same tank? It seems their requirements are quite different:

People have done it. Yes. Why? No idea. Just to say they did I guess.

The shrimp want different things from all we know. Putting them together, one type won't thrive as much.

Amano and neos do well together. For crystal shrimp you're talking sub 6.0 PH a lot of the time.

This is from Marks Shrimp Tanks on YouTube.

https://aquariumshrimpkeeping.com/can-crystal-red-shrimp-live-in-hard-water/

 

[martinmin]

7 minutes ago, nabokovfan87 said:

People have done it. Yes. Why? No idea. Just to say they did I guess.

The shrimp want different things from all we know. Putting them together, one type won't thrive as much.

Amano and neos do well together. For crystal shrimp you're talking sub 6.0 PH a lot of the time.

This is from Marks Shrimp Tanks on YouTube.

https://aquariumshrimpkeeping.com/can-crystal-red-shrimp-live-in-hard-water/

 

According to this article, Crystal red shrimp do best with a TDS level between 100-200 ppm. But I learnt somewhere that the TDS of planted aquarium is ideally about 250 ppm, which requires for many high light, high co2 plants. Does that mean crystal red shrimp can't live with such good-looking plants? 

[JettsPapa]

2 hours ago, martinmin said:

Can crystal red shrimp and cherry red shrimp co-exist in the same tank? It seems their requirements are quite different: . . . 

Ideally, I would want to keep the 3 types in the same tank. 

I would discourage you from trying that.  It takes an almost obsessive attention to detail to pull it off, and even then neither is likely to do well.  I haven't personally attempted it, but I have corresponded with shrimp keepers with years of experience, and that's the consensus.

Edited June 22, 2023 by JettsPapa

[nabokovfan87]

4 hours ago, martinmin said:

Does that mean crystal red shrimp can't live with such good-looking plants? 

Well the honest answer is that using TDS is a misnomer.

Let's just assume you have a shrimp tank doing great. GH and KH is good. As a result of the KH being good, your PH is stable. As a result of all of that your TDS is "within range". Let's say it's 200. You add fertilizer and then your TDS goes to 230.

TDS just means, there is something in the water. It has zero bearing on what is in the water itself. Cory has a video on this, using just normal water chemicals like dechlorinator and fertilizer and showing how it can change your TDS reading.

Ultimately, I care about GH and KH. I want GH to be double my KH (or around there) and I don't want my KH higher than my GH. I want to have regular fertilizer use and I want to have a scenario where the plants are growing and the shrimp are thriving. My technique is only.to use GH and KH with my setup. TDS comes into play when you are using RO water, buffers, and remineralizers.

Yes. Shrimp do very, very well on a planted tank. Plants in turn also do very, very well with shrimp.

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea has a jar setup that demonstrates exactly what you're asking about. Honestly, it's pretty cool to see the changes over time in that setup. Especially such a short amount of time.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

There are lots of ideal parameters in this hobby, there are tons of exceptions to every rule, and what works for one of us will fail miserably for another. 

I would say that my goal with a shrimp tank is to see them thriving, avoidance of suffering - both the animals and my mental health, and if I breed enough to sell to my local shop then I’m right pleased with that. I’ve done Orange Sakura, Golden Backs, Blue Dreams, and Green Jades. Presently I’ve got a 40 g tub with green jades and a 60 g with 2 vampires, 3 bamboos (you only see them in 1 corner with a powerhead something to think about with them), 5 amanos, 30+ Orange Sakura, green neons and Pygmy corys. I just set this up and counted 2 dozen berries females Last night so I’m stoked. My next shrimp Project is a Sulawesi Cardinal tank. I have a 40 g breeder that @tolstoy21and I talk about me using to setup a Caridina tank but well life hasn’t led me there yet but it may some day. 

Setup

#1- I would say that a neocaridina setup is usually a good setup for amanos, bamboo and vampire shrimp but not for crystals. I think crystals, tigers and bee shrimp are best kept on their own. It’s my opinion and my reasoning is that almost always in those neo/Caridina setups one group is thriving and the other is surviving. My goal is thriving and so far I’ve done well with these rules.

#2- start with a plan, season the tank for as long as you have patience for, and then reap the benefits of that patience - shrimp of most sorts live on biofilm. The more of it you establish the happier they’ll be and the better long term success of the colony. Seasoning a tank - loads of strategies for this. I’ve done it a couple ways - A. Setup with the shrimp in mind - the babies need hides as do the mothers when they’re ready to drop their eggs they don’t want to do it out in the open. Rock piles, wood and rocks that are layered and create caves, overhangs, crevasses and other hides are great. Moss and subwassertang are really hugely beneficial for shrimp - so much surface area, deep hides and it just feels safe to them. Also the sponge filters many of us use for shrimp they’re a source of food, hides for baby’s and aeration oxygenation helps yields in small aquaria is my opinion - in a pond or outdoor tub it’s a different story. Substrate - I base this on the water I’m using - if it’s remineralized RO your substrate doesn’t matter as much but I’d keep it inert. If your water is PNW soft pH 6 you’ll need to consider a substrate with an addition like crushed coral to buffer you to neutral if you’re keeping Neocaridina. If you’ve got 6.5 to 8.5 I’d not worry about substrate, get something cheap and inert and do what you want. 9 or > I’d say a buffering substrate for Caridina or planted substrate would help get you down to high 7s low 8s and you’d have better success. 

Plants - you mentioned the ideal tds for plants and in general the non-bee shrimp accept a Wide range of parameters and you can have any plants you want. The Caridina setups there are some plants that don’t like lower pH but I’ve seen loads of high tech co2 setups with Caridina so not too big of an issue 

B. I’ve used 1. Bacter AE following their recommendations on the packaging for setting up the tank. That colony did just ok. in general, you’ll find a lot of people who hate it, others who think it has its uses and others who adore it. 2. Ghost feeding with fish food, spirulina algae, Repashy and letting the tank go through a full Cycle, then all the stages of algae’s from diatom-green spot- hair algae and slime algae’s and everything in between and then clean what you have to but don’t touch as much as possible. 3. Caridina people use all sort of preparations and methods, Lubao pouches were one that was hot for awhile and lately I’ve seen them using chunks of sweet potato as the starches attract bacteria, the skins have yeast and other orgs and when there’s a big clump of white biofilm along with algae they then pull the potato and go from there. 4. Get some fish, feed the heck out of them, let them season the tank, care and live them, maybe get livebearers or something that if you raise them for 3 months they’ll be worth some bucks and then you sell them back to the LFS?. 3 months later move the fish out and put the shrimp in. 

C How long to season? Once again how long you got. I’ve usually tried for 8-12 weeks. I’ve heard people Do Shorter or longer. 

Enjoy your shrimp. I’ve killed a lot Shrimp. I had a flex 15 and I swear I could never keep shrimp In that tank - skittles, bloody Mary’s. Then I tore it down, moved it and restarted it. I kept guppies and Platys in there. Then moved them after 3-6 months and threw in a group of golden backs and boom! Shrimp! Shrimplets! It can be done! Have fun!
 

[martinmin]

9 hours ago, nabokovfan87 said:

Well the honest answer is that using TDS is a misnomer.

Let's just assume you have a shrimp tank doing great. GH and KH is good. As a result of the KH being good, your PH is stable. As a result of all of that your TDS is "within range". Let's say it's 200. You add fertilizer and then your TDS goes to 230.

TDS just means, there is something in the water. It has zero bearing on what is in the water itself. Cory has a video on this, using just normal water chemicals like dechlorinator and fertilizer and showing how it can change your TDS reading.

Ultimately, I care about GH and KH. I want GH to be double my KH (or around there) and I don't want my KH higher than my GH. I want to have regular fertilizer use and I want to have a scenario where the plants are growing and the shrimp are thriving. My technique is only.to use GH and KH with my setup. TDS comes into play when you are using RO water, buffers, and remineralizers.

Yes. Shrimp do very, very well on a planted tank. Plants in turn also do very, very well with shrimp.

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea has a jar setup that demonstrates exactly what you're asking about. Honestly, it's pretty cool to see the changes over time in that setup. Especially such a short amount of time.

I use both TDS and test strip for monitoring water. I found that TDS is correlated with kg/gh in my tank, and sometimes I just test TDS without looking at GH/KH specifically. 

2 hours ago, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

There are lots of ideal parameters in this hobby, there are tons of exceptions to every rule, and what works for one of us will fail miserably for another. 

I would say that my goal with a shrimp tank is to see them thriving, avoidance of suffering - both the animals and my mental health, and if I breed enough to sell to my local shop then I’m right pleased with that. I’ve done Orange Sakura, Golden Backs, Blue Dreams, and Green Jades. Presently I’ve got a 40 g tub with green jades and a 60 g with 2 vampires, 3 bamboos (you only see them in 1 corner with a powerhead something to think about with them), 5 amanos, 30+ Orange Sakura, green neons and Pygmy corys. I just set this up and counted 2 dozen berries females Last night so I’m stoked. My next shrimp Project is a Sulawesi Cardinal tank. I have a 40 g breeder that @tolstoy21and I talk about me using to setup a Caridina tank but well life hasn’t led me there yet but it may some day. 

Setup

#1- I would say that a neocaridina setup is usually a good setup for amanos, bamboo and vampire shrimp but not for crystals. I think crystals, tigers and bee shrimp are best kept on their own. It’s my opinion and my reasoning is that almost always in those neo/Caridina setups one group is thriving and the other is surviving. My goal is thriving and so far I’ve done well with these rules.

#2- start with a plan, season the tank for as long as you have patience for, and then reap the benefits of that patience - shrimp of most sorts live on biofilm. The more of it you establish the happier they’ll be and the better long term success of the colony. Seasoning a tank - loads of strategies for this. I’ve done it a couple ways - A. Setup with the shrimp in mind - the babies need hides as do the mothers when they’re ready to drop their eggs they don’t want to do it out in the open. Rock piles, wood and rocks that are layered and create caves, overhangs, crevasses and other hides are great. Moss and subwassertang are really hugely beneficial for shrimp - so much surface area, deep hides and it just feels safe to them. Also the sponge filters many of us use for shrimp they’re a source of food, hides for baby’s and aeration oxygenation helps yields in small aquaria is my opinion - in a pond or outdoor tub it’s a different story. Substrate - I base this on the water I’m using - if it’s remineralized RO your substrate doesn’t matter as much but I’d keep it inert. If your water is PNW soft pH 6 you’ll need to consider a substrate with an addition like crushed coral to buffer you to neutral if you’re keeping Neocaridina. If you’ve got 6.5 to 8.5 I’d not worry about substrate, get something cheap and inert and do what you want. 9 or > I’d say a buffering substrate for Caridina or planted substrate would help get you down to high 7s low 8s and you’d have better success. 

Plants - you mentioned the ideal tds for plants and in general the non-bee shrimp accept a Wide range of parameters and you can have any plants you want. The Caridina setups there are some plants that don’t like lower pH but I’ve seen loads of high tech co2 setups with Caridina so not too big of an issue 

B. I’ve used 1. Bacter AE following their recommendations on the packaging for setting up the tank. That colony did just ok. in general, you’ll find a lot of people who hate it, others who think it has its uses and others who adore it. 2. Ghost feeding with fish food, spirulina algae, Repashy and letting the tank go through a full Cycle, then all the stages of algae’s from diatom-green spot- hair algae and slime algae’s and everything in between and then clean what you have to but don’t touch as much as possible. 3. Caridina people use all sort of preparations and methods, Lubao pouches were one that was hot for awhile and lately I’ve seen them using chunks of sweet potato as the starches attract bacteria, the skins have yeast and other orgs and when there’s a big clump of white biofilm along with algae they then pull the potato and go from there. 4. Get some fish, feed the heck out of them, let them season the tank, care and live them, maybe get livebearers or something that if you raise them for 3 months they’ll be worth some bucks and then you sell them back to the LFS?. 3 months later move the fish out and put the shrimp in. 

C How long to season? Once again how long you got. I’ve usually tried for 8-12 weeks. I’ve heard people Do Shorter or longer. 

Enjoy your shrimp. I’ve killed a lot Shrimp. I had a flex 15 and I swear I could never keep shrimp In that tank - skittles, bloody Mary’s. Then I tore it down, moved it and restarted it. I kept guppies and Platys in there. Then moved them after 3-6 months and threw in a group of golden backs and boom! Shrimp! Shrimplets! It can be done! Have fun!
 

This could be part of a textbook on keeping shrimp in fish tank. Great materials and hope I can raising shrimps too in my tank.

[Lennie]

On 6/21/2023 at 10:27 PM, martinmin said:

I added little shrimps a few times, and they disappeared after a while and I guess they died. I bought fishes and shrimps and put them into one little tank for a while before I added them to the big tank. Does fishes eat shrimp? For example, white or black skirt tetra? As for shrimps, I bought cherry shrimp, amano shrimp and ghost shrimp. I like ghost shrimp, because they are super cheap, but they likely die.

More specifically, 

1) Should I keep fish and shrimp separately in two little tank after purchase? 

2) Do shrimp have different water parameter requirements than plants and fishes in the tank?

3) Is it a good idea to buy cheap ghost shrimp? 

My main purpose of using shrimp is:

1) Help clean the tank

2) Help establish ecosystem in the tank

3) Watch and enjoy

 

 

I have been keeping all colors of neocaridinas; blues, bloodymaries, yellow fires, green jelly, black roses, orange sakuras.. so I can try to help based on my experience.

I would not keep ghost shrimp with others myself as they are mainly carnivores to my knowledge.

here are my answers;

1) Ideally, yes. Shrimp are naturally food to fish. So basically if given a chance they will indeed snack on them. Especially babies. Lots of plant cover, hiding tubes, driftwood, rocks, hiding spots all increase the chance of survival. Shrimp are fragile during molting times as well, so hiding spots surely help them. However, keeping small mouth fish usually helps better for better shrimp survival. Anything aggressive or has a big mouth better be avoided in general.

but know that all fish will snack on shrimp at least the babies. It is about having a healthy colony going on with increased survival rate if you wanna keep fish and shrimp together

 

2) that basically depends on what fish and shrimp you want. If you want caridinas, they usually like low ph and 0 kh. Meanwhile if you wanna keep livebearers, they want hard water, high ph and kh. So yes in this scenario they are conflicting for sure. Neocaridinas are usually more flexible in terms of parameter ranges. 

3) if you wanna keep them in a community tank with stuff they cant cause damage to sure. But again, I would not keep them with small fish, fry or other shrimp tanks myself.

 

Best way is letting shrimp colony going on for some period and adding fish later on. Meanwhile, while they have their population rising, also plants grow a lot offering them a good environment and hiding points for the future. Meanwhile, if I started with shrimp in a cycled tank, I would also keep snails in order to keep the cycle going on for potential fish addition in the future. Otherwise, shrimp bioload is so low. Some people keep ancistrus with shrimp as well, which would also help cycle going on. Also both ancistrus and snail poops are good for shrimp imo.

Edited June 23, 2023 by Lennie

[martinmin]

4 hours ago, Lennie said:

I have been keeping all colors of neocaridinas; blues, bloodymaries, yellow fires, green jelly, black roses, orange sakuras.. so I can try to help based on my experience.

I would not keep ghost shrimp with others myself as they are mainly carnivores to my knowledge.

here are my answers;

1) Ideally, yes. Shrimp are naturally food to fish. So basically if given a chance they will indeed snack on them. Especially babies. Lots of plant cover, hiding tubes, driftwood, rocks, hiding spots all increase the chance of survival. Shrimp are fragile during molting times as well, so hiding spots surely help them. However, keeping small mouth fish usually helps better for better shrimp survival. Anything aggressive or has a big mouth better be avoided in general.

but know that all fish will snack on shrimp at least the babies. It is about having a healthy colony going on with increased survival rate if you wanna keep fish and shrimp together

 

2) that basically depends on what fish and shrimp you want. If you want caridinas, they usually like low ph and 0 kh. Meanwhile if you wanna keep livebearers, they want hard water, high ph and kh. So yes in this scenario they are conflicting for sure. Neocaridinas are usually more flexible in terms of parameter ranges. 

3) if you wanna keep them in a community tank with stuff they cant cause damage to sure. But again, I would not keep them with small fish, fry or other shrimp tanks myself.

 

Best way is letting shrimp colony going on for some period and adding fish later on. Meanwhile, while they have their population rising, also plants grow a lot offering them a good environment and hiding points for the future. Meanwhile, if I started with shrimp in a cycled tank, I would also keep snails in order to keep the cycle going on for potential fish addition in the future. Otherwise, shrimp bioload is so low. Some people keep ancistrus with shrimp as well, which would also help cycle going on. Also both ancistrus and snail poops are good for shrimp imo.

"they usually like low ph and 0 kh": for 0 KH, how would plants grow? 

[Lennie]

48 minutes ago, martinmin said:

"they usually like low ph and 0 kh": for 0 KH, how would plants grow? 

Plants don't need kh. Kh shows carbonates and bicarbonates in the water. Plants usually just tolerate it.

"KH has no innate value to most plants (some plants can use carbonates as a Carbon source and will grow better in higher KH water when deprived of other carbon sources, but this it is very energy intensive for the plant to extract carbon from carbonates rather than CO2). It's sole purpose if any, is as a buffer to prevent tank water from getting overly acidic. "

https://www.2hraquarist.com/en-mk/blogs/ph-kh-gh-tds/kh-explained

[martinmin]

1 hour ago, Lennie said:

Plants don't need kh. Kh shows carbonates and bicarbonates in the water. Plants usually just tolerate it.

"KH has no innate value to most plants (some plants can use carbonates as a Carbon source and will grow better in higher KH water when deprived of other carbon sources, but this it is very energy intensive for the plant to extract carbon from carbonates rather than CO2). It's sole purpose if any, is as a buffer to prevent tank water from getting overly acidic. "

https://www.2hraquarist.com/en-mk/blogs/ph-kh-gh-tds/kh-explained

Oh, that is good to know. I thought it's best to keep GH=2×kh, so I have been raising both GH and kh after water change by adding chemical solutions. So probably just raising GH after each water change?

[Lennie]

7 minutes ago, martinmin said:

Oh, that is good to know. I thought it's best to keep GH=2×kh, so I have been raising both GH and kh after water change by adding chemical solutions. So probably just raising GH after each water change?

If you want caridinas, then you should follow their specific needs and not a general rule I believe. Caridinas in general do not tolerate well.

 

for normal tanks you can dose like that. Kh keeps the ph stable.  Caridinas need active substrate and substrate controls the ph and keeps it at desired level. Having kh in such tank would prevent soil to do its job.

[jasper5150]

On 6/21/2023 at 9:38 PM, martinmin said:

""I started with 15 Cherry Shrimp that I bought from someone locally and have sold hundreds of shrimp once the colony was established." Does that mean Cherry shrimp can easily reproduce, and you got hundreds from 15 cherry shrimps? 

Is cherry shrimp neocaridino or caridino shrimp? Can amano shrimp reproduce in the tank?

The amano shrimp I purchased is very little, much smaller than yours in the picture.

Cherry shrimp are probably the strongest of the neocardinia shrimp. In a well established tank they can reproduce like rabbits! I too, started with 10 in my 20 gallon and have been able to sell at least a couple hundred since August last year. 
Amanos need brackish water to reproduce. They start small but can get enormous! Here is a photo of one of mine next to a fully grown cherry shrimp. 

[martinmin]

8 minutes ago, jasper5150 said:

Cherry shrimp are probably the strongest of the neocardinia shrimp. In a well established tank they can reproduce like rabbits! I too, started with 10 in my 20 gallon and have been able to sell at least a couple hundred since August last year. 
Amanos need brackish water to reproduce. They start small but can get enormous! Here is a photo of one of mine next to a fully grown cherry shrimp. 

That looks good. What is brackish water?

[jasper5150]

Basically saltwater. When the eggs get fertilized they swim to saltwater to hatch them. The shrimplets grow up there and them move into freshwater.