to shrimp or not to shrimp

**rookie** · 07-05-2009, 09:23 PM

should i:
get some shrimp to enjoy in my aquarium?

what are the benifits for haveing shrimp?
can i have a few for show without them producing millions in my tank?
what should i know before considering shrimp?

or should i:

go to the chinese buffet and just enjoy my shrimp on a plate?

**korith** · 07-05-2009, 09:36 PM

Depends on many things, what do you plan to keep them in? what fish if any do you have in that tank? Many fish will consider shrimp as food. Not very likely they will overbreed and take over the tank. you'll have to avoid using anything with copper in the tank, such as some fertilizers, snail killing chems, and even foods. too much copper is deadly to invertebrates.

You could always get ghost shrimp for an aquarium, they do ok in tanks in some community tanks with tetra sized fish usually. Shrimp are a great indicator of water quality since they are very sensitive to water conditions. I like keeping some shrimp in every tank, but thats just me. Have 50+ ghost shrimp in a 55g tank, just adds more life to the tank. Great for scavenging excess bits of flake, or even the rare dead fish.

**PUNISHER VETTE** · 07-05-2009, 09:42 PM

all i keep are cherry shrimp now...

**rookie** · 07-05-2009, 09:54 PM

not sure what fish im going to have i know my one angel and a school of congos deffinatly, mabe some rainbows. will put them in a 110g tank if everything goes well planted. it will be my first shot at live plants

**Z Fish Man** · 07-05-2009, 09:56 PM

I've kept some ghost shrimp in my 10g. They are very cheap so if you want to test out how shrimp will do in your tank than you can always give that a try. Ghosts don't reproduce in freshwater tanks (except maybe a few species) so you don't need to worry about them over populating. I don't think overpopulation is a problem with any shrimp type really. My last ghost shrimp is about to die off as they only live about 6 months so I might try out some cherry shrimps if I can find some. They are very entertaining to have in a tank at almost no extra maintenance or cost.

**Halo819** · 07-05-2009, 11:49 PM

Along the same lines of the OP, which shrimp do multiply in a FW tank?
I am considering getting some shrimp for my sons 10 gallon betta tank. If they reproduced heavily then I would have some healthy treats for my oscar tank once in a while. Does that seem to be a reasonable expectation?

**korith** · 07-05-2009, 11:52 PM

Originally Posted by Halo819

Along the same lines of the OP, which shrimp do multiply in a FW tank?
I am considering getting some shrimp for my sons 10 gallon betta tank. If they reproduced heavily then I would have some healthy treats for my oscar tank once in a while. Does that seem to be a reasonable expectation?

Red cherry shrimp would be the easiest I think to keep and breed.