New Shrimp Tank

[JimTheBetta]

I had recently turned my 5g tank into a shrimp tank, but i hate the way it looks (crappy viewing angles because of its shape). I went tonight and got a 10g tank exactly like the one my betta is in.

I already have 4 ghost shrimp, and down to 1 RCS (first got died in transport from LFS, second got eaten by a cory that was living with them temp.). I want to know how many of each yall think i should get? I plan on getting one or two other species from: http://www.franksaquarium.com/freshwatershrimpfarm.htm when he gets more in stock.

I also would like some other fish to swim around the tank. As much as i love the idea of a pure shrimp tank, i just need something else to take up some space, call me crazy. Im not worried about breeding the shrimp, so a fish that would eat the babies i wouldn't mind, but as i said above, already had a cory eat one RCS and would like not to have a repeat.

Also the tank i bought has the same crap 2x25w incandesant bulbs, i want to do some plants so i was thinking just some java fern/moss and an anubias? Or would the light not handle it?

[korith]

For the ghost shrimps, it's unlikely they will ever breed successfully in the tank. Ghost shrimp go through a larval stage, and are harder to raise. Red cherry shrimp have no planktonic larval stage, basically they are mini versions of adults once they get released from the eggs. I'd get about 10 or so red cherry shrimp. That will ensure you get a good mix of male and females. Their population can grow a fair bit in a few months time, and are easy to maintain.

If you really want to get other shrimp, keep in mind some of them will interbreed. That will cause them to lose some of the colors that were selectively bred out of them. Here is a chart showing which shrimp will interbreed. May want to choose ones that don't.http://www.planetinverts.com/Will%20These%20Shrimp%20Interbreed.html

Any fish that can fit them in their mouths will probably look at the shrimp as food. Also some fish will tear away at them as well. Keep in mind that red cherry shrimp babies are about 2mm long or smaller. That equals fish food:hmm3grin2orange: I do have dwarf rasbora (boraras maculatus) in another tank where I have added red cherry shrimp. The shrimp population grows but not as quickly as my shrimp only tank, so I'm sure there are some losses. If you can provide a lot of ground cover for the shrimp, like bushy plants, and decorations, they should be ok.

The 2 25w bulbs you mentioned should be more than adequate for some plants. If you want you can replace them with fluorescent "plant" bulbs as some stores call them. I just use 2 flourescent daylight bulbs from the dollar store. The plants you mentioned should be fine. I even have an amazon sword plant in my 10g shrimp tank and it's growing really well. As well as water wisteria. Remember not to use any fertilizers or food with copper in them, they interrupt the larval stage of the shrimp, may stall the population from growing.

Oh you can probably also get the red cherry shrimp cheaper in various fish forums. I'm not quite at the point where I can sell my rcs yet, still trying to grow out the population. But you should pm or look at Algenco's thread over in the classifieds section, should be a lot cheaper than frank's aquarium.