Fresh water shrimp

[matherfish]

Several years ago a friend traded me some fresh water cherry shrimp for some pond plants. The shrimp were colorful and entertaining, but they were srt of just an after thought. I kept them for about two years but they died one winter when it got really cold in the greenhouse. I did not get them again unil a few weeks ago.
I found I had another friend who raises them so I asked her to sell me some, and some blue shrimp and some orange ones. I put each variety in a ten gallon tank and started studying upon them. They are very interesting little creatures, and if everything meets their needs and consistency, I should be able to raise them and keep them. Lots to learn about them, however. Pictured is the orange variety.

[two_wheeled]

Cool! What are their water requirements? How big can they get?
I've often wondered why these couldn't live in my pond filters. Probably not possible, just a thought.

[matherfish]

They require temps between 78 and 82 but I think those are still flexible, and a moderate ph. They are not real difficult to raise, don't think but I am just learning more. They eat algae, so you can give them green water, or let algae grow on the side of the tank. They are peace loving, but are a food source for many bigger fish. They are live bearers, with the female carrying the eggs in her belly. The females get to about 1.25 inches and the males get to about .5 to .75 inches. They carry fertilized eggs before hatching for about 30 days. Their life span is about 1.5 years. They like plants but I have bare bottom aquariums so I have anacharis in with them.
Here are some of my velvet blue dream shrimp..

[two_wheeled]

I think these are pretty cool.

[matherfish]

Babies are not much bigger than a newborn guppy. Here are pics of some blue babies and a cherry baby. They are so tiny they are hard to see. In the pic of the cherry baby you have to look really close. That is a grown cherry shrimp in the lower right hand corner. The baby is just in front of it to the right. Not much longer than the space between the adult shrimp’s eyes. You have to look carefully to see it.

[matherfish]

I am not sure, but I think I may have found some baby shrimp that are even smaller than the earlier ones I posted. In the pic of the red shrimp, there is a vertical adult with a tan sub adult horizontal under it but to the left in front of the sub adult is a tiny baby. In the pic of the blue shrimp there is a tiny baby just to the right of the adult's tail

[matherfish]

The little guys love the “hash” flakes!

[two_wheeled]

Every time I see these, I think I should have a million of them in my filter barrels!

[matherfish]

If you have them in your filter barrels they should be reproducing, unless they get too cold.

[One Poet's Garden]

Every time I see these, I think I should have a million of them in my filter barrels!

Has anyone tried Ghost Shrimp - the kind they sell as feeders in pet stores - for this purpose?

[matherfish]

I have not tried raising ghost shrimp but i have bought some as feeders. They should work as cleaners, but lack of color does not make them a good decorative animal in the aquarium. IMHO.

[matherfish]

I don't have a lot of orange shrimp because they were young when i got them, but they should be producing babes soon. I only have of these now, I think, but hope to have more soon. Trying to buy some more.

[matherfish]

Not sure if this orange shrimp is "berried" or not (carrying babies) but I'm hoping so.

[matherfish]

The blue dream shrimp have multiplied over the past 3 months as have the cherry shrimp. I hope they keep on. I now have over a hundred of each variety. This pic, though not a very good one, shows how the have multiplied.

[matherfish]

Blue dream are definitely multiplying! 😄👏

[matherfish]

With the red cherry shrimp you can actually watch the eggs under her body being moved around. Unfortunately, I cannot post the video here.

[Paulzie67]

Has anyone tried Ghost Shrimp - the kind they sell as feeders in pet stores - for this purpose?

I added a dozen in my tub that I have my water lilies in. There's also Water Chestnuts and horsetail so I have not seen them since adding them, but would hope they're doing ok

The blue dream shrimp have multiplied over the past 3 months as have the cherry shrimp. I hope they keep on. I now have over a hundred of each variety. This pic, though not a very good one, shows how the have multiplied.

Those are Really Cool! Awesome Color!
Although, All of them are great! Good luck with them! I hope they all make it through this winter!

[icu2]

With the red cherry shrimp you can actually watch the eggs under her body being moved around. Unfortunately, I cannot post the video here.

https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showt...ideo-in-a-Post

Or if you email it to me I can upload it to the Koiphen YT channel...
forum@koiphen.com

[two_wheeled]

I keep a heated quarantine tank outside with mosquito fish and yoyo loaches in it. The tank is normally used to keep my large plecostomus alive over the winter.
The loaches were an experiment to see if they would eat my snails. The experiment worked, and the qt tank is now free of snails! Unfortunately I also learned that 1) loaches will never survive in my pond because it will get too cold and 2) loaches won't breed in captivity, so I have no hope to ever breed more of them. Bummer. They're really neat fish and super fun to watch.

Anyway, I wonder if freshwater shrimp would multiply in my qt tank, or if the loaches or pleco or mosquito fish would eat them all.

[matherfish]

Mosquito fish and the pleco won't eat them. Not sure about the loaches. If they don't eat the mosquito fish they probably won't eat the shrimp, although they and the mosquito fish may eat the very small babies. Shrimp are very fast and hide so they still may not be able to eat many babies if there are any born.