which shrimp?

[rmiller]

Upon setting up my most recent tank, I have decided I want shrimp. Have looked at several sites that sell shrimp to de used which type I want. There are several that I really love, but the prices are outrageous! If I were to invest in some of them, I would need to breed them to justify the cost. Of all the fish shops that I visit, rarely do I see anything other than ghost shrimp. So I figure I could possibly strike a deal with a couple of the locally owned shops. I love the rack that jacko chronicled a while back. I doubt I could invest that much, but is like to get maybe 4-6 types of shrimp to breed. I like the harliquins, the crystal red and blacks, the pearl blues, and the green ones I've seen (can't remember the name of them) I would love to have several color varieties.

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to start this project? Obviously I need a rack and tanks, which shouldn't be an issue. I know that I will have to wait until I move to start so i have plenty of time to plan.

[rmiller]

So far I'm hoping to get cardinals and harlequins. Probably some blue pearls and black crystals as well. Does anyone have experience with these types?

[korith]

I would get some red cherry shrimp to start off. They are the easiest ones to take care of and to breed. Once you are able to keep a colony of those going, you could get other types of shrimp. Some shrimp will interbreed with other types, so you have to keep them in separate tanks. Some shrimp may have different names based on things like their color but they could be the same type, have to be careful of interbreeding them and ending up getting wild type.
Shrimp are very sensitive to water conditions, so it's best to start with something relatively easy then work up to the harder type of shrimp. Some will breed only in brackish water, some will go thru a larval stage others will pop out of the eggs as miniature versions of the adults, some require certain pH and other water conditions.

Red cherry shrimp are probably the most popular, most fish clubs probably have at least one person that keeps them, should be easy to find. You can try plantedtank.net as well, they sell for about $1 each, can usually find 20 for $20 shipped. Blue pearl shrimp by the way will interbreed with them, they would have to be kept in separate tank, I think they sell for a bit more than the red cherry shrimp, easy to care for and breed.

Stay away from the crystals and such till you get more experience at keeping shrimp alive, else it ends up being a costly learning curve. I made that mistake a few times with the different shrimp I have.

[Goes to 11!]

+1

Yep, All the various color forms of Neocaridina heteropoda can and will interbreed but they do not breed true lol. You end up with the natural brownish color.

[wijnands]

Yeah, start with red cherries. Stronger than the fancier varieties. If you can get those in a good breeding population I'd say your ready for something more complicated.

Of course there's plenty of people who go right to the fancier shrimp. In which case I say, clear water! No heavy metals!

[PhillipOrigami]

http://plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=184517
^read all of this

Start with cherries. Then go to perhaps color variations of neocardinas. Which if they go with themselves (Yellow X Yellow to say) I believe they will breed true to say(Yellow x yellow = yellow). Then you can muck with cardina sp. (Crystal Red, Crystal black.) Then you can go with those 500 dollar taiwan bee shrimp. lol

[rmiller]

Wow Phillip, great info, thanks for the link. So it looks like ill be ordering Tvs first, them venture to the blue pearls. I plan to keep each type of shrimp in seperate tanks. I wouodnt want to inter breed them, unless I'm trying to get a new color strain.