Fishless Stocking?

[ddavis1979]

You can always get a few of those big Bamboo Shrimp (Flower Shrimp)
They are large and passive.
http://www.eliteinverts.com/bamboo-shrimp/
http://www.eliteinverts.com/flower-shrimp-1/


There are also a number of freshwater crabs that are small and colorful. But you also have to make sure to have some surface above the water level, crabs need that. Also more specialized care is needed for crab but can be very rewarding.
http://www.eliteinverts.com/buy-live...rabs-for-sale/


I see "triops" for sale on Ebay all the time, but it reeks of scam.

[clichepithet]

You can always get a few of those big Bamboo Shrimp (Flower Shrimp)
They are large and passive.
http://www.eliteinverts.com/bamboo-shrimp/
http://www.eliteinverts.com/flower-shrimp-1/

There are also a number of freshwater crabs that are small and colorful. But you also have to make sure to have some surface above the water level, crabs need that. Also more specialized care is needed for crab but can be very rewarding.
http://www.eliteinverts.com/buy-live...rabs-for-sale/


I see "triops" for sale on Ebay all the time, but it reeks of scam.

The bamboo shrimp are beautiful, a LFS has some on occasion. I've been thinking of trying to put some in a future Betta tank (and if he's too cranky to share the space, they can go in one of the other tanks).

The crabs are pretty neat too! I hadn't thought of those (mostly because I wasn't aware of how many were not pure marine-saltwaters. Thank you, I'll look further into those.

As for triops, The Hub thinks those are about as cool as it gets. They are in consideration , although they look like they might be semi-aggressive (at least especially to one another), most of the YouTube videos of them they're always all over one another, doesn't look like hugging. Also rather short lived.

What about dwarf orange crayfish? (CPOs)

Cute, same temperament as their larger crayfish cousins though?

How about an otter? Oh wait, tank is too small!

Crayfish came to mind, too...

Dam, I was going to suggest an Otter too.

You've pretty much covered the bases tbh.

I'd suggest 2 different types of shrimp that won't interbreed, maybe 3 if you can get a non interbreeding mix.

Maybe something like CRS, Bumblebees and Amanos?

It's ages since I looked into it so I can't remember what can breed with what.

Is interbreeding really that big of a deal, if it's in a closed system/I'm not selling? Or does it create problems akin to inbreeding? Don't most of them need brackish waters to be successful? Guess I ought do some more specific reading on it.

This is a good chart to consult if you plan multiple shrimp species:

http://aquarium-shops.com/wp-content...-chart-JPG.jpg (it's big!)

Thank you! An excellent resource.

As for otters, those sound like a lot of fun. What sort of otter would you suggest? Asian small clawed look to get about 2-3 feet, so one could go in a 40gal with room to spare, right?

[chrisfraser05]

the main issue is that the shrimp have been selectively bred out for coulor and size/shape etc over generations.

You are buying lovely reds, blues etc etc but if they mix you will soon find that a couple of generations (months) you will have them returning to browns and other less spectacular colours and even the size of the shrimp may increase.

You do still get this (abeit not quite so fast) even with one type of shrimp left to its own devices.

Proper breeders remove the brightest and strongest coloured shrimp and use them for breeding, they then just use the remaining ones as food.
Means you are retaining the colours etc.

If you don't mind a load of dirty brown river shrimp by all means mix and match. Just don't expect spectacular nice hybrids, it doesn't happen that way.

[clichepithet]

the main issue is that the shrimp have been selectively bred out for coulor and size/shape etc over generations.

You are buying lovely reds, blues etc etc but if they mix you will soon find that a couple of generations (months) you will have them returning to browns and other less spectacular colours and even the size of the shrimp may increase.

You do still get this (abeit not quite so fast) even with one type of shrimp left to its own devices.

Proper breeders remove the brightest and strongest coloured shrimp and use them for breeding, they then just use the remaining ones as food.
Means you are retaining the colours etc.

If you don't mind a load of dirty brown river shrimp by all means mix and match. Just don't expect spectacular nice hybrids, it doesn't happen that way.

Ah, that makes perfect sense. :D But I dunno, a load of big, brown river shrimp might not be too bad... they are pretty tasty. ;)

But since I don't think I could boil my own babies, I'll make use of that chart.