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#1
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Ghost Shrimp
Anybody got Ghost Shrimp in their tank? Are they good for general clean up
or don't even bother? |
#2
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Ghost Shrimp
Hi, Leigh. My LFS finally got some ghosts in and I was considering getting
some. I've never had shrimp before. I'm using snails, ottos, plecos, and escaped feeder guppies for algae control now. What do you think? Are ghosts a worthy addition, or redundant? How many would you put in a 75 gallon? kush "You can't have everything - where would you put it?" LeighMo wrote in message ... Anybody got Ghost Shrimp in their tank? Are they good for general clean up or don't even bother? They are very good for general cleanup, and unlike Dinky, I had no trouble keeping large clown loaches with them. The loaches left them alone. Ghost shrimp can be predatory, so they aren't suited for a fry tank. Generally, they won't bother healthy adult fish (even small ones, like neon tetras). If it's an algae-eater you want, Amano shrimp are better, but ghost shrimp are good all-around scavengers, eating algae, fish food, dead fish, baby snails, etc. They breed in the tank quite readily (and the babies are awfully cute, with their big eyes). They do need a little iodine in the water. (Just a drop of Kent Marine Iodine with each water change is enough.) And if your tank is cycling, hold off. Shrimp are very sensitive to nitrite. Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
#3
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Ghost Shrimp
I'm reporting back on adding ghost shrimp to my 75-gallon tank with Angels.
The Challenge: to get six ghost shrimp past the angels guarding the top of the tank and into the shrubbery at the bottom. The Plan: Blitz the angels with targets: 1) buy TWENTY ghost shrimp instead of six, 2) overfeed with frozen brine shrimp at the instant the ghosts were being released, and 3) add three new angels at the same time. Results: All twenty ghosts escaped (so far). The Buenos Aries tetras are hunting them through the shrubberies, but it seems to be just for sport and no actual killings have been perpetrated (that I know of). The angels are sulking. They know I pulled a fast one but they haven't quite worked out what it was yet. kush "You can't have everything - where would you put it?" LeighMo wrote in message ... Hi, Leigh. My LFS finally got some ghosts in and I was considering getting some. I've never had shrimp before. I'm using snails, ottos, plecos, and escaped feeder guppies for algae control now. What do you think? Are ghosts a worthy addition, or redundant? How many would you put in a 75 gallon? You don't *need* ghost shrimp in your tank, but they are interesting critters to keep. Ghost shrimp are good to start with if you've never kept shrimp before, because they are cheap and hardy. They are general scavengers, rather than algae-eaters. (They eat some algae, but not as much as Amano shrimp.) They should be kept with fish around their own size, since they can catch and eat fish that are a lot smaller than they are, and will be eaten by fish that are a lot larger. As for how many...I would recommend five or six. Getting more than that is a waste of money, because they breed readily in the tank. You'll soon have plenty of shrimp, without having to buy them. :-) Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
#4
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Ghost Shrimp
Results: All twenty ghosts escaped (so far). The Buenos Aries tetras are
hunting them through the shrubberies, but it seems to be just for sport and no actual killings have been perpetrated (that I know of). I like this idea. If you could get this "shrubbery" deep enough that the shrimp could create a self-sustaining colony and not worry about a few angel-related deaths, that would be awesome. Why is my strategy for breeding always to add as many of an organism as possible and hope they breed? -Cesium --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.422 / Virus Database: 237 - Release Date: 11/20/2002 |
#5
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Ghost Shrimp
One side of my tank is planted as a "refuge." I've got Ludwigia repens and
Hygrophila polysperma which are pruned down tight at about 6" - 8" with Sagittaria subulata as a "back wall" and little 4" ozelot swords planted as a "hedge" in front. In theory, any small fish which can escape into the "refuge" should be safe from the bigger fish. In practice, the Buenos Aries tetras go torpedoing through the plantings like, well, like little 3" torpedoes. kush Cesium wrote in message ... Results: All twenty ghosts escaped (so far). The Buenos Aries tetras are hunting them through the shrubberies, but it seems to be just for sport and no actual killings have been perpetrated (that I know of). I like this idea. If you could get this "shrubbery" deep enough that the shrimp could create a self-sustaining colony and not worry about a few angel-related deaths, that would be awesome. Why is my strategy for breeding always to add as many of an organism as possible and hope they breed? -Cesium --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.422 / Virus Database: 237 - Release Date: 11/20/2002 |
#6
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Ghost Shrimp
Aye!
I'm off to score some!! my val's are so dense that neither my clowns, panda's or baby pl*co's won't move through them! their babies can feed my juvenile discus "LeighMo" wrote in message ... The Challenge: to get six ghost shrimp past the angels guarding the top of the tank and into the shrubbery at the bottom. Yikes! I didn't realize you were keeping angelfish. But some of the ghosts might survive, given enough hiding places. I've heard of people buying ghost shrimp to feed predatory fish like oscars, only to have some survive in the tank, and learn to evade the predators. You may end up with a continuous source of live food for your angelfish. Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
#7
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Ghost Shrimp
FWIW this months TFH is on Freshwater Inverts; there's a decent article on breeding red "crystal" shrimp by Oliver Lucanus. -- Richard Sexton | Mercedes Parts: http://parts.mbz.org http://www.mbz.org Mailing lists: http://lists.mbz.org W108, W126 Mercedes Classifieds: http://ads.mbz.org |
#8
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shrimp
I have not investigated shrimp because I have heard/read that they can
be quite fragile, especially in regards to temperature. This house is not centrally cooled, nor do we have air conditioning for where the tanks are located so during the summer temperatures raise to low 90s for weeks at a time (the fish amazingly do fine as long as it is only 2-3 weeks, and don't mind high 80 degree weather during the length of the summer). I'd be worried the the amano shrimp or other varities of shrimp could not take this kind of abuse as why I have strayed away from shrimp as algae eaters. My local fish store that I respect highly always carries amano shrimp in large quantities if I ever had the temptation, but until the time there is AC for the house I think I won't risk the lives of a $3.25 shrimp or any shrimp. They also carry wood shrimp and the occasional odd-ball shrimp, but I havene't seen the red shrimp in that picture stocked before (very attractive, btw). tose (LeighMo) wrote in message ... The SAE's ignored the hair algae. The Ottos ignored the hair algae. Have you tried shrimp? IME, shrimp are good with filamentous algae. And it doesn't have to be Amano shrimp. There are a lot of shrimp that eat algae, many of which are very interesting and attractive. Like this: http://www.franksaquarium.com/cherryredshrimp.htm Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
#9
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shrimp
Shrimp don't ever seem to mind that I have no heater at all. I've kept
them this way for many years now. I have warmer summer temps, cooler winter etc. Once adjusted and eating fish food and fattened up, these shrimp are actually agressive. They ate some 1 inch long wimpy bait minnows I put in after they had established themselves. They are quite hardy if you maintain good plant health=good shrimp health. They are very good at eating most all attached algae species. They are not good for old BBA, green spot, Staghorn or Green water. Pretty much everything else is attacked. If you ask the LFS for lots of 50 or 100, I get them here for and elsewhere for 68$ per 100. The red cherry and the crystal reds especially are hot and will hopefully come down in price later, since they are breedable, much more so than the Amano's, they should drop in price. They are smaller also. Bumble bee shrimp are also very nice. A pack of shrimp is really a good thing to have, they are the best algae eater I've seen but folks often add one or two to a 20 gallon tank and then complain they do not do anything. Add 15-20 of them and they will. The number can be increased or decreased to suit almost any sized tank. SAE's cannot do that, they get too big and get lazy. Regards, Tom Barr Regards, Tom Barr |
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