Considering adding some shrimp

[mrramsey]

I would like to eventually add a few shrimp to my freshwater aquarium. I think they would be a nice visual interest. Now, not knowing anything about them I don't want to rush out and get any and hope for the best.

I have a planted 55g tank with tetras. No bottom dwellers yet. Are there any shrimps out there that would fit this set up?

Obviously they scavenge but what supplemental foods to they need?

Thanks for any help on this!

[~firefly~]

What sort of tetras do you have?

I'd look at amano shrimp as they are a bit bigger than cherry shrimp so may fair better with the odd investigative nip from an inquisitive tetra.

[mrramsey]

They are listed in my signature

Are there any 'school' size requirements?

7 Black Skirt | 8 Zebra Danios | 7 Serpae Tetras |7 Red Eye Tetras

[~firefly~]

Ahhh ok. You have some of the larger, more aggressive tetras out there. I would prefer someone with more experience to say whether amano shrimp would stand up to them. You'd probably be ok with bamboo shrimp. I would say definitely no to any of the smaller shrimp like cherries.

They are social so in a 55gal you could stick 20 in without any issues I think. Half of them will disappear into the undergrowth anyway. Do make sure you have some moss in there...it's almost a necessity for shrimp happiness.

[mrramsey]

Ah Moss... good to know. I have some xmas moss coming soon.

I will not be adding any shrimp for several months yet but I do like the look of them in the tank. I have seen some bamboo shrimp at petco in the past and they were quite large - 1.5" or so. Anything smaller I would definitely be concerned with the fish.

20 might be alot.... I was thinking 5-10.

What kind of bio-load do they have? Though I don't think it will be a problem for me.

[~firefly~]

As far as I am aware the bioload is very small with shrimp.

I have 25 cherrys/rilis in a 30 litre cube and it looks empty at a glance. They are much smaller though, granted.