How many shrimp in 5.5 gallon?

[joseph.otto]

I was thinking about getting a 5.5 gallon and making it a shrimp tank. I would cycle the tank first and all that, but I was just wondering how many ghost shrimp I could in put in there? I have heard anywhere from 1 to 10 shrimp per gallon so I really have no idea.

[toddnbecka]

Shrimp have a very small bioload, but ghost shrimp is a generic name for whatever gets scooped up when they're collected. There are hundreds of species, and occasionally juvie prawns get netted as well. Cherry shrimp would probably be a better bet in the long run, they will reproduce in an aquarium.

[Strider199]

Plus 1 to toddnbecka shrimp info and advice.

A 5.5gallon with 10 cherry shrimp to start, will be easy to care for and there is room to expand the colony as they breed. Just make sure there is some moss (java works good and is cheap), in the tank and dont forget to have a sponge type pre-filter on the filter if your using a HOB, so the little ones dont get sucked into the filter.

Shrimp do demand a stable cycled tank so make sure to take your time with the set-up before adding any.

Hint; Shrimp are expensive at a LFS but if you check round your area you may find a private breeder who will cut that cost by 75%.

[SueD]

+1 on the cost for RCS. My LFS (which I love for most everything else) will sell RCS for I think around $3.50 each or so. I got mine through AquaBid and paid somewhere around $10 for a dozen, shipping included. Ended up with a couple of extras, too. All were in great shape when received and bred like crazy. You will often get very small ones this way as well as they apparently ship better. Don't feel dismayed - they do very, very well.

[joseph.otto]

Well I said ghost (glass) shrimp because the local petsmart sells them for 36 cent each and no other types are sold. I could get a ton for cheap. I keep looking on aquabid for the cherries but no good deals like you said have come up yet.

[pjaldave]

I started with 5 in my 5.5G, not i don't know how many they are as there's more than 30 in there.

As everyone said, cherries are the way to go. and they have near to none bio-load so you should be good on that area.

[newtoshrimps]

Glad you asked this question... I was curious about the number too.
I started a 5.5 gallon tank with cherry shrimp recently... Babies born about a week ago.

[Algenco]

I kept cherries in a 10g with lots of plants/moss, at times there were 5-600 in there

[Shidohari]

algenco did you ever have to remove any of them with that many in there?