Starting a 75G Feeder Shrimp Tank w/ RCS (Crazy?) and Plecos

[ericatdallas]

Okay, so this might be crazy, but I just started a 75G shrimp tank. It was originally going to be in a 20G, then I decided to put it in my 55G, but when I brought them home, I quickly setup the 75G I had laying around for it and decided to use it as a pleco breeding tank.

Whatcha think? Out of my mind? Crazy? Or worse, failed to consider something?

I wanted to do some live feed, so I'm going to culture RCS for Discus feed. I'm also going to modify the 75G to house a container of blackworms that will be isolated. If a few BW escape, I read that the shrimp will tear it apart.

I don't know the number, but a rough count is about 100 shrimp and he gave me a few berried shrimp :) I also have 3-4 shrimp that hitchhiked with some plecos I bought last week (so a fresh injection of new DNA).

I am a little worried because the person I bought it from has snails. I am going to leave the shrimp alone for about a month or two and kill off any snails I find as soon as I can with pliars until they're all gone (crossing fingers). It's a BB tank, so this might be a little easier for me.

I'm going to start out with RCS but maybe once I get a handle on this, get some CRS.

My plan is to make a PVC platform with egg crate as the surface. This will increase the surface area of the tank and put the pleco caves there. So the goal is for the plecos to breed in the higher levels but also to provide more surface for more inhabitants. I'm using egg crate to allow some light to pass through since I have java moss and hornwort that might tumble around.

I will have a pump to change water and I will probably target 10-20% per day.

Another goal is to take the waste water to feed an aquaponics setup. A very small and not very ambitious one to start. I plan to grow maybe 4-6 buttercrisp lettuce plants.

The guy I bought the shrimp from said a 10G can probably comfortably store 500-600 RCS, so I imagine my 75G which has 4x surface area w/ my PVC augmentation should have enough room for thousands (???)

I currently have two sponge filters in there, but I will probably modify a HOB filter (the strainer) with plenty of ceramic noodles and add a few more sponges as the population grows. The plants will help and eventually, so will aquaponics. I'll adjust WC as necessary if it gets too out of hand.

Siphoning gunk is a big concern as well.

[Skip]

its crazy you want to use those shrimp at Feeder :(

just get abunch of GHOST shrimp..

[ericatdallas]

I thought about ghost shrimp but why?

RCS seem easier since they don't have a larval stage. They breed nearly as fast. Their value is just that people are willing to pay more for them, but the resources to breed them are the same as ghost shrimp.

Also, if I get enough of them, I can sell them or trade them w/ people. I can even learn how to 'cherry' pick them for the quality ones and put them in their own tanks and feed the 'ugly' ones to the Discus.

It might be a little crazier to feed discus CRS (I did think of doing this), but I read that CRS are a little harder to breed, the initial cost to start up was higher, and they're a little bigger (harder to eat).

[Skip]

wait are you talking about Red Cherry and Not Crystal Reds?

cherrys.. yea. that should work.. :)

hey. i have lots of FROG BIT and Java Moss.. its really filling up my 8g tank.. !

[TURQ64]

pure crazy..10g won't hold that volume long enuff to feed them live; waaaaay overcrowded, so all the numbers are off....crazy..I've had a vagrant colony of blackworms that fell off a spoon in one of my CRS tanks..they are multiplying, and the shrimp won't screw with them alive...

[ericatdallas]

Gary, how many RCS do you think a 75G will hold (healthy population, not max).

That's kind of a shame... but the plecos will probably eat the blackworms right?

[ericatdallas]

btw, the guy I bought them from I think he had it in a 10G tank. After I got mine, he looked like he still had 10x more in the same tank.

He feeds his shrimp to Discus as well.

Skip, haha, I guess when CRS go for $1-2 each, it would be kind of nuts to feed them to Discus.

[TURQ64]

Shrimp thrive in a balance with their tank; plants,substrate,algae, etc..Hard to imagine in a 75..(if it was 12 or 17 inches tall, maybe) They don't live in much of the water column..Never tried to raise feeders, without a worry as to their conditions..Maybe 1000...chery's are usually .50-1.00, CRS 3.00 to 50.00, depending on grade..

[ericatdallas]

Shrimp thrive in a balance with their tank; plants,substrate,algae, etc..Hard to imagine in a 75..(if it was 12 or 17 inches tall, maybe) They don't live in much of the water column..Never tried to raise feeders, without a worry as to their conditions..Maybe 1000...chery's are usually .50-1.00, CRS 3.00 to 50.00, depending on grade..

Yeah, I was assuming if I bred CRS for feeding purpose they would be in the lower grade. I've seen a few local hobbyist sell them for $1-2. Higher in websites and aquabid.

I did some research and found that people say 100 max for a 10G. Since the floor area of a 75G is about 4x, that's about 400, but I'm increasing the area with my PVC "shelf". I do see a ton of shrimp 'playing' in the plants too. However, the 100 number is probably considering bioload as well, and a 75G has 7.5 x the volume which probably is a factor. I'm thinking your 1000 estimate is probably a good number to use for 'healthy' population on a 75G.

Also, I'm thinking the person that sold it to me is not thinking about 500-600 adults, but baby-to-adults (since we were discussing this for shrimp feeder purposes).

Well, worse case scenario is this doesn't work, but I'm not looking to feed my fish exclusively on shrimp either. They're still fun to watch.

[Skip]

hey eric.. may only fill the tank up half way.. or 2/3.. so its not as high :)

[ericatdallas]

hey eric.. may only fill the tank up half way.. or 2/3.. so its not as high :)

I have it filled half way right now .... what's the reason for that though? Do shrimp prefer shallower water?

[Skip]

idk.. i thought turq was bringing up a point about the height of 75g tank.. i would prefer a 20 long over a 20 high..

[TURQ64]

My point there was that they don't use the upper water column much, occasional travel..I have no other point, as I enjoy the hobby; I don't raise bait..no feeder goldfish here,we raise Oranda..You would be better served by a seafood mix. My observations on a few people I have seen try this is a lot of crippled out shrimp, bored and sick Discus, and a lot of tank mess. Discus eventually just look at them as sport, like coyotes and deer... So if a person is o.k. with the mess, then a seafood blend is much better..But then again, the pirana and arro folks might enjoy feeder Discus..dunno, I just raise 'em....

[ericatdallas]

Well, I'm trying to raise a variety of live feed that will provide the nutrients for my aquaponics setup. Since people mentioned the nitrates are too low in a Discus tank, I figured raising plecos (which I enjoy anywy), shrimp, and having a blackworm keeper connected to it would work to supply the nutrients AND allow me to treat my Discus.

I went to the other forums and people mentioned RCS make for good feeders. I guess I'll let everyone know how it goes. I think if the Discus eat shrimp exclusively, it might not be good for them, but occassionally is what I'm aiming for. Maybe every few days. I definitely want to keep them eating dry pellets and BH mix and not get them too spoiled. Once summer hits, I'm going to start a vermicompost. Since it's my first, I'm hesitant to have an indoor one until I know what I'm getting myself into.

I do use SF and BH mix. The discus don't actually enjoy the SF mix very much and I've been working at it for about a year now with different recipes. My BH mix has SF mix in it too.

BH is actually getting harder to find or more expensive around here. One grocery store that used to carry it stopped and the only one I know that is nearby and convenient that still has it charges a lot for it. I thought $11 for two BH last time was kind of expensive.

I'm trying a turkey mix next. I dropped a few pieces of Turkey in and they seemed to peck at it.

[Skip]

BH is actually getting harder to find or more expensive around here. One grocery store that used to carry it stopped and the only one I know that is nearby and convenient that still has it charges a lot for it. I thought $11 for two BH last time was kind of expensive. .

WOW!!

Fiesta Mart has it for $1.00 lb and its been cleaned and sliced! want me to ship you some?! LOL

[ericatdallas]

$1/lb! Geez, at that price it's almost worth having it shipped to me :)

I think someone in another forum mentioned they paid slight short of $3/lb for it. I think that's about what I paid the last time, but can't remember. The ground turkey is on sale right now for $2.79 for 20 oz on base (or about $2.10/lb). Since I don't have to trim it, it's definitely a good deal, but SF costs have gone up :/

My biggest complaint with BH is cleaning it. I wish I had a Fiesta Mart around here to get BH from. The local asian market here is disgusting, so I avoid it, even though they might have some. I went to their meat section and they had tanks of Tilapia with about 2-3 fish floating upside down partially eaten by other fish. That can't be to regulations can it?? They also have a black molly tank in their SF section with snails in it (I think they're being sold as pets, which is kind of weird to me in a grocery store). The lobster tank was a disgrace as well. If they're that sloppy with 'food' on display, it makes me wonder how poorly they handle food I don't see them work on.

[DerekFF]

A 10g tank will NOT house 5-600 shrimp. 300 is MAX before theres no more places left for them to go. And i would petition to have you banned from our forums for life should you decide to do this with CRS:p. RCS are fine, cheap, everyone and their mom has them and breed like rabbits. I think youll have an issue trying to get the mulm off the bottom and not suck out hundreds of babies in the process. I know when i do a good poo suction in my 10g tanks i usually spend around 10-15minutes sifting through just a 5g bucket and usually pull out 20-30 babies that i sucked up. So i cant imagine a 75g tank with (yeah could be a few thousand) shrimp. People have been trying to come up with live food breeding ideas and really the easiest is guppies. Fast, cheap, dont live on the bottom like shrimp so cleaning tanks is WAAAAAAYY easier. And some LFS's might buy them back just the same as RCS.

[ericatdallas]

This is a Discus site... I didn't dare ask this question on the Shrimp Forums :P

CRS probably won't make sense as feeders though because I could probably sell them at least cheap enough to buy better food :)

I might try to buy some from the same guy and put them in a 20G just because I do like the way they look.

I'm not too worried about sucking some out if they do breed that fast. From the shrimp forums, it looks like people have gravel and just ignore it and let it buildup for the plants. I did come up with some ways to increase the area in the tank though. My other issue is the plecos I just stuck in there too...

[DerekFF]

You will be surprised at how many you will suck out (quite a financial and feeder loss) what about the plecos? What's wrong with them being in there?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[ericatdallas]

Plecos are pooping machines.

[DerekFF]

scoop them out!!!

[ericatdallas]

I might.. I think I have a new idea for my setup :) I'm going to move the plecos to a dedicated 55G breeding tank, I'm going to treat the shrimp tank as a sump (a second 40-55G tank) with lots of moss and fast growing plants. I'll be able to siphon the poop from the pleco tank, the top tank can serve as a secondary shrimp holding tank if some get pulled up, and the shrimp tank will serve as a filter and nitrate sink. I'll partition the bottom 55G tank and put some bio-media.

To increase surface area and filtration, I'm going to try to get enough java moss to make a wall to cover on three sides. This will provide places for shrimp to hide/live. I'll change out the light to 2-3 T5 lamps I have. I'm currently running one T8 bulb.

This requires me to find a 55G tank on CL now :P <sigh> I now have two 75G, one 55G, one 20G, and I have a 90G on it's way. I'm talking to a guy about buying a 55G and another 75G from him. That's 7 tanks... this hobby is getting out of control. Fortunately the 55 and 75G w/ stand might come in the form of a trade.

I'm actually kind of growing impatient. I'm glad I started out with almost 100 shrimp. I do see some shrimplets swimming around and it looks like my smaller shrimp got bigger too.

I checked nitrates last night. Still at zero even though I haven't done a WC. Java Moss and duckweed are growing like mad. I think the java mass has increased by 33-50% in the last week. The hornwort isn't doing as well, so I might add a little of potassium and magnesium tonight after a small WC tonight.

[LizStreithorst]

I know nothing about CRS but I sure am a fan of live foods. I bet that if the Discus only attacked the shrimp for sport, Angels would decimate them. If nothing else, this sounds like a fun experiment. The shrimp in the sump sounds cool. I want to know how it goes.

[ericatdallas]

Liz, the guy I bought the RCS (versus the $$$ CRS) uses them as food for Discus. He says his fish love it.

Shrimp was my way of getting live food but also having something very nice to look at. I am thinking of doing red wigglers, but I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it during the winter. I don't want it in the house until I know how to properly keep them (for smell reasons and cleaning reasons).

I did some research on why RCS may not be healthy as a standalone food source though. They're like brine shrimp in nutritional value and are missing HUFA (highly unsaturated fatty acids). This is true of all crustaceans apparently.

To get around that, you just have to 1) feed them healthy food before feeding discus AND 2) not use it as a primary food source.

I bet a combination of fatty worms and lean shrimp would be a good balance of live food for growing fish and a good way to condition them for spawning. The shrimp was also an idea to offer a little supplementary income on the side to subsidize my discus addiction.

It was also fun to watch my daughter jsut stare at the shrimp tank. She likes the fish tank, but something about a hundred tiny shrimp swimming around got her attention. She was as fixated if not more so than when we turn on her favorite TV. I much rather her have an interest in fish than TV.

I have so many projects going on and half-finished right now. The biggest hurdle right now is figuring out how to cut holes in my aquariums (never done it before) and getting the java moss to grow out enough to cover an aquarium. I am planning to pull some out and put them in a highly fertilized solution in clear bottles and stick them on a window sill. I tore my moss ball up and spread it throughout the tank and noticed that helped them grow faster.

[ericatdallas]

btw, my discus don't like my SF mix, but the shrimp seem to love it. So now I don't have to toss it! :)

Hopefully the highly nutritions SF mix I made will lead to some fat healthy shrimp for my discus to eat.

[LizStreithorst]

Well that's why we feed a varied diet...So the Discus get everything they need.

Do the Red Wigglers. Keep them in your fish house during the winter. If you have fear, PM me and I'll tell you how to do it.

I think that your daughter is cool. How old is she? If she becomes interested have her help you with WC or other tank maintence. If she has fun in the fish house you will have someone to enjoy it with and she will learn.

Talk about projects...I have a fish room that is almost finished and then I ran out of money. So close, but so far...


Liz, the guy I bought the RCS (versus the $$$ CRS) uses them as food for Discus. He says his fish love it.

Shrimp was my way of getting live food but also having something very nice to look at. I am thinking of doing red wigglers, but I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it during the winter. I don't want it in the house until I know how to properly keep them (for smell reasons and cleaning reasons).

I did some research on why RCS may not be healthy as a standalone food source though. They're like brine shrimp in nutritional value and are missing HUFA (highly unsaturated fatty acids). This is true of all crustaceans apparently.

To get around that, you just have to 1) feed them healthy food before feeding discus AND 2) not use it as a primary food source.

I bet a combination of fatty worms and lean shrimp would be a good balance of live food for growing fish and a good way to condition them for spawning. The shrimp was also an idea to offer a little supplementary income on the side to subsidize my discus addiction.

It was also fun to watch my daughter jsut stare at the shrimp tank. She likes the fish tank, but something about a hundred tiny shrimp swimming around got her attention. She was as fixated if not more so than when we turn on her favorite TV. I much rather her have an interest in fish than TV.

I have so many projects going on and half-finished right now. The biggest hurdle right now is figuring out how to cut holes in my aquariums (never done it before) and getting the java moss to grow out enough to cover an aquarium. I am planning to pull some out and put them in a highly fertilized solution in clear bottles and stick them on a window sill. I tore my moss ball up and spread it throughout the tank and noticed that helped them grow faster.

[ericatdallas]

She's only two. She is however very good at emptying buckets ... on the floor. I'm so proud of her technique at feeding the carpet with flake food too. She does a nice thin even spread :P

I am looking forward to encouraging this hobby though. We're going to buy her a small aquarium for her bedroom, maybe 10-30 gallon aquarium and probably stock it with a couple of fish.

Yeah, money is a major reasn that's slowing me down. I am trying to do everything on the cheap, which is why it takes so much longer. IF I had the funds to buy everything I needed and off-the-shelf, this project would probably cost 5-10 times more than it does now and take 1/3 the time to do it (versus building everything, scrounging parts, and scouring craigslist). Not to say it's not a little fun too :)

[LizStreithorst]

She's two. Be content with her prefering the shimp tank to the TV. That's a good sign. Don't push it.

I know, the money part of the hobby sucks the big one.

Keep me informed as to how it goes with the shrimp project.

[DerekFF]

So are you going to drill the top tank or sidebox overflow it to use the sump?

[ericatdallas]

I just bought a 90G today on Craigslist that's predrilled. It has a central box overflow... It used to be reef so now I have to find the time to scrub out the sides and water test it. I really would like a wrought iron stand that holds two tanks though....

I'm probably going to drill all my tanks on the top though. I haven't quite figured it out yet how to best do this ... I might get a wrought iron stand, put the 90G on top and the 75G on bottom.

[DerekFF]

The bottom tank doesn't need to be drilled, just the top tank for overflow. The overflow can drain into any tank down below

[ericatdallas]

The bottom tank doesn't need to be drilled, just the top tank for overflow. The overflow can drain into any tank down below

I know. I said I was drilling on my tanks that are on top.

[DerekFF]

Oh i see. Well good luck, id be pretty scared to drill on 55's lol

[ericatdallas]

Why would you worry about 55G?

[DerekFF]

because if the glass cracks.....thats some money down the drain where as 20g tanks are a lot cheaper and on sale can be as cheap as $20 brand new, or less for used ones. 55's are just big, and cost more so it would hurt my pocket book more than anything. But to some people money doesnt matter, and if thats you then DRILL THAT GLASS BABY!!!

[ericatdallas]

I worry about it, but they're pretty cheap used. I have an extra 55g coming to me that I don't need... so I'll practice on the 20G. If that goes well, then I'll drill the 55G and if that goes well, I'll drill my 75G :)

[ericatdallas]

Today was a day of deals for me... I bought a 40L aquarium with two titanium 200W heaters and a MJ1200 for $30 --- all used. The guy was moving :)

So I'm going to send my shrimp to the 40L once I get it cycled. The other nice thing about this 40L is that it's setup as a sump with baffles. So I can use it for my saltwater tank when I set it up (not until I move back to Florida). In the mean time, I can still use it as my freshwater refugium. Not sure how baffles work, but it looks like I can put media in between that will also slow the shrimp from getting to the pump area, then put the pump there back to the top tank. At the very least, I can use it as a filter just for the shrimp tank and it'll free up my 75G for something else.

The shrimp and java moss are thriving though. Since I started up the tank, I think my java moss has tripled. I lost my hornwort because I didn't know flourish excel would kill them. I was dosing the tank slightly to accelerate plant growth. It's fine, I only wanted the java moss. I've since added frogbit though too.

I see tiny shrimp and berried females everywhere. The frobit brought in microworms and copepods (I think cyclops) though.

I'll probably setup a shrimp trap and slowly migrate the shrimp over to the new tank while it cycles. So in the mean time, at least for the next few weeks, I'll probably maintain a 75G and a 33G shrimp tank :)

[ericatdallas]

Can't do it... I fed a shrimp to the discus and I felt so guilty. Looks like I'm going to have a crazy amount of shrimp...

Yes, I realize it's silly. But I think once it hits 'pet' status, the idea of it being feed is so difficult. I mean, feeding brine shrimp by the thousands doesn't bother me, but feeding these guys, raising them to larger size, and then watching them spawn then throwing them to their deaths just seems wrong.

I reserve the right to change my mind later, but for now...

[Skip]

What kind of shrimp do u have and whrn are u shipping.. lol

[ericatdallas]

What kind of shrimp do u have and whrn are u shipping.. lol

Haha, I actually might try selling them soon. I ran some numbers and I'm not sure it's worth it yet, especially during the winter when you risk higher losses and it needs heat packs (which eat into profit). Selling locally at the clubs work, but I don't like dealing with people. I have blue pearls now as well but the numbers won't be high enough for a few months and plan to get some crystals in a week or so. :)

Discus and Shrimp hobby is getting ridiculous.

This whole hobby is ridiculous.

I now have...

(1) 90 gallon tank (empty but I plan to have it as my discus growout tank)
(2) 75 gallon tanks (discus/temporarily RCS while moving)
(1) 55 gallon tank (plecos/BPS w/ maybe CBS)
(1) 40 gallon tank (shrimp/RCS w/ CRS)
(1) 20 gallon tank (empty but future shrimp home w/ maybe some green or yellow shrimp)
(2) 10 gallon tanks (future pleco/shrimp/possibly blackworm home)

... all this is a little over a year's time since I got back into the hobby. In the past, at any time, I only had 3 tanks going. I guess you know how that goes skip :) I might turn the 20G into a 'test' saltwater tank using my DIY mix.

No more tanks or livestock in my future unless people trade with me for mine or until I can get some excess equipment out.

<sigh>

My java moss is growing crazy too. Not sure it's suppose to grow that fast (according to what I've read). I also found a possible 'secret' recipe in my research to increase growth, but I haven't tested it yet. Since I bought the shrimp, I'm pretty sure it's quadrupled if not quintupled in mass.

[Skip]

Eric... Java Moss grows crazy!! it did in my tank..
i am thinking about getting another shrimp tank.. i would something that is not too tall.. but deep.. i was looking at some tanks from glasscages.com

they had some about less then 12" tall..

[ericatdallas]

Wow, Skip! That's what I was just looking at last night! On glass cages too, but I've read mixed reviews about them. LOL, we think alike. They also have 8-10" tall tanks that are usually used for corals I think...

Although I was looking at acrylic at Lowes. Since 12" tall tanks need a minimum 1/4" glass, I was thinking making my own 9-10" tank should be no problem using the .220-.250 inch acrylic sheets they have at lowes. I was thinking maybe making a 3L x 3W x 1H using acrylic.

What kind of shrim are you planning to get? I'm picking up my CRS this weekend, lower grade. I decided I am going to have two tanks with two species each. The RCS tank will have CRS and the BPS will have either CBS or OEBTs. After that, I think I'm done. I want to get some yellow shrimp, but that's just too much to deal with right now. I do want to get some naja grass though and something that will eat the duckweed but not shrimp... :/

My Java moss is looking whitish after I moved them. I have moss from the old tank and when I moved those it was very green compared to the ones in new tank. From a search, it looks like it's either rhizoids, algae, or lack of ferts.

I do have 2-3x the light that I did on the other tank. The frogbit had an instant change in the new tank, it must be the extra light. The other light was a 40W T12, 3500K (<shrug> came with the tank). The new is dual T5HO 54W with two 10000K bulbs.

So this morning I ended up dosing with seachem excel, KSO4, KNO3, and MgSO4. I also overfed the shrimp to add some phosphates in there. We'll see how it goes, but that should cover all my bases.

[Skip]

yes. i agree.. my frogbit does very well under the compact light on my shrimp/ebi nano tank.. BUT when i moved to my 40 breeder.. under whate ever light i had.. it did not do so well, most cuz it was only bulb covering 18" depth.. i guess..

i have a 37g 27" x 17 x 17" acrylic.. maybe i can use that :)

[ericatdallas]

So what kind of shrimp next??? :)

Skip, do you want to trade shrimp in the spring or summer? I have shrimp from two different cultures, but I want to add some more to increase genetic diversity and also to practice shipping shrimp. I know most people don't care and it shouldn't matter too much, but I want to get some variation in them.

Also, if you get something different in your other tank, it could be a cheap way for us to get some more species.

[Skip]

i was thinking the same thing.. i wanted to add to my group for same reason.. i have cherry reds and crystal reds..

i was looking for some BEE/Black crystals also... and maybe something i can add that won't crossbreed..

for sure, i have a couple of 20's.. i could use.. but i thinking 20 long is better then 20 h.. what do you thinK?

[Ike]

Have either of you considered OEBT orange eye blue tiger shrimp? They are neat and won't interbreed with cherrys or crystals. :)

[Skip]

cherrys and crystals dont' interbreed.. they are two different species...

what is an OEBT?

eric!! PETCO>. have 15g KIT: light, filter for $40!

http://petco.shoplocal.com/petco/default.aspx?action=browsepagedetail&flashbrowse=y&storeid=2490153&pagenumber=7&listingid=-2081935659&ref=%2fpetco%2fdefault.aspx%3faction%3dbrowsepagef lash%26storeid%3d2490153%26pagenumber%3d7%26promot ioncode%3DPetCo-111125M

[ericatdallas]

i was thinking the same thing.. i wanted to add to my group for same reason.. i have cherry reds and crystal reds..

i was looking for some BEE/Black crystals also... and maybe something i can add that won't crossbreed..

for sure, i have a couple of 20's.. i could use.. but i thinking 20 long is better then 20 h.. what do you thinK?

I think 20L is better... more surface for them... although I am adding egg crate to give them something to rest on.


Have either of you considered OEBT orange eye blue tiger shrimp? They are neat and won't interbreed with cherrys or crystals. :)

Yup, I mentioned that already in previous post ;) Orange-Eyed Blue Tiger Shrimp. I almost bought some, but I might wait on them. Shrimp are getting out of hand already :P



cherrys and crystals dont' interbreed.. they are two different species...

what is an OEBT?

eric!! PETCO>. have 15g KIT: light, filter for $40!

http://petco.shoplocal.com/petco/default.aspx?action=browsepagedetail&flashbrowse=y&storeid=2490153&pagenumber=7&listingid=-2081935659&ref=%2fpetco%2fdefault.aspx%3faction%3dbrowsepagef lash%26storeid%3d2490153%26pagenumber%3d7%26promot ioncode%3DPetCo-111125M


That's a good Deal skip, but I ahve no Petco near me :(

[Skip]

they ship free over $49..

[Ike]

Orange Eye Blue Tiger shrimp. I meant, the OEBT's won't interbreed,if you're looking for a new shrimp that won't interbreed with what you already have.

[ericatdallas]

they ship free over $49..

Hmm... I might consider it. I just picked up two 10G tanks with filters for $27 here locally though, but I would prefer 15G over 10G.

Now where to put it....

[Skip]

Orange Eye Blue Tiger shrimp. I meant, the OEBT's won't interbreed,if you're looking for a new shrimp that won't interbreed with what you already have.

aren't these the same type as crystals red? Caridina cantonensis

i would need to put them with Neocaridina/red cherry or something smilar.. OR just their own tanks :)

[ericatdallas]

Skip, I thought so too but wasn't sure... I did know they didn't breed true, although I think the 'blonde' tiger shrimp look pretty cool too.

[ericatdallas]

I wonder if it'll be hard to tell the shrimp apart? Won't CRS and RCS look similar in juvenile stage?

[Skip]

I wonder if it'll be hard to tell the shrimp apart? Won't CRS and RCS look similar in juvenile stage?

i don't think so.. the CRS.. are like small adults with coloring.. cherry are pale and get red as they older..

[rowdaddy]

Ready to ship those badboys yet?

[ericatdallas]

lol, I've been shipping them, but I am <gasp> sold out at the moment believe it or not. I've sold six packages so far totally over 100 shrimp in the last week. You can find some good deals on eBay and Aquabid. I think there are people selling them on other forums as well. Those are all hit or miss.

I don't think I'll ever sell anything to anyone on this forum unless it's local pickup. Too much stress to worry about live shipments for a hobby and I like to come here to relax (w/ the occassional flame or admonishment due to misunderstanding or disagreements).

[rowdaddy]

: (

[ericatdallas]

Even less shrimp now...I lost like a hundred adult RCS in the last week or two if not more and an uncountably large number of tiny shrimplets :(

I had a massive die-off in my 40G. The tank got disgusting with a lot of dead shrimp, so I ended up starting a second 10G tank and 'cherry - picked' the best females. Completely cleaned out the 40G and any shrimp that wasn't cooperative in allowing me to catch them quickly (except for large females) went down the drain or obliterated through the rotors of my pump and started the tank with about 5 mature females and a handfull of 'cooperative' shrimp. I am going to take this opportunity to introduce new shrimp stock/DNA to my tank too and I'll keep the 10G as backup :(

[Skip]

how do you sex them.. LOL

[ericatdallas]

RCS? It's pretty easy... For sure if they have a saddle on eggs they're female :) Other than that, if you look at their tails it's a little harder but you can still tell. I'm probably not the best person to describe it, but the shape/tail do look different between a male and a female.

CRS, I don't know and I'm not able to...

[ericatdallas]

pure crazy..10g won't hold that volume long enuff to feed them live; waaaaay overcrowded, so all the numbers are off....crazy..I've had a vagrant colony of blackworms that fell off a spoon in one of my CRS tanks..they are multiplying, and the shrimp won't screw with them alive...


Gary, how many RCS do you think a 75G will hold (healthy population, not max).

That's kind of a shame... but the plecos will probably eat the blackworms right?

Just in case anyone is curious, my CBS love blackworms. I don't know about BPS or RCS yet, but I saw the CBS wrestle around with one and carry it off and it looked like it was eating it. The worm escaped at one point, the CBS was eating something (probably a segment or two), and then went after the worm again. I stopped watching and at the end of the night, the worms were gone (I put about 6-10 worms of various sizes into a tank of about 50 shrimp). I had BPS in there, but didn't see them eat any.

I did not see if my BNP eat any. I just sold my L129s, I'm sure they would have eaten them, but my BNPs had no interest at least while I was watching :(

[mshen11]

so shrimps and black worms dont mix? the worms seem awfully big for an adult shrimp. so most likely the worm loses?