peacemaker92

Hey everyone.

I found this GREAT deal from this guy who was selling 100 pieces of his Red Cherry Shrimps. I couldn't resist to reserve 15 pieces of these little guys which only cost RM1.20 each (in my local stores they sell them for RM2.50 each!). But have no idea what I'm gonna do with them. haha So I made a plan. I plan to set up a tank just for them. But I'll need advices and suggestions on how to set up a tank just for shrimps because I have no CLUE!

I'll need quick replies because I have to decide whether to buy these lil' guys before this weekend.

Robin4

Hi peacemaker92,

I am in no way an expert but I will give you my opinion.

I have just gotten some Red Cherry Shrimp but have had Ghost shrimp in the past and have read LOTS on keeping shrimp. Red Cherries are the best for beginners, good choice. You want to have a very well planted tank; real plants are the best as they actually grow and are just plain great to have in the tank.

Red Cherries reproduce quite a bit so have a nice size tank as their numbers will grow. They don't need to be fed every day as they are scavengers and pick pick pick at microscopic stuff in your tank. I feed mine just twice a week and use algae tablets/sinking tablets. Also, you can feed them blanched veggies (blanched meaning boiled to make them soft so the shrimp can easily pick at them). Spinach, zucchini, peas...

Good luck & I hope this helps a bit and I'm sure others will chime in to give you more advice!!
Robin

Toddnbecka

If you don't have an established tank ready for them I'd pass on getting 100 for a new setup. You're very likely to lose a significant number of them, maybe even all, before the new tank is established. Shrimp are more sensitive to ammonia, nitrite, etc. than fish are, and even if they don't die immediately once the damage is done they'll die off over a few days or weeks.
All you really need is an air-driven sponge filter to keep the water circulating and provide biological filtration. If you have one from an established tank you can use that's very helpful. Sand (shallow layer) is better than gravel for a substrate because food won't get "lost" where they can't reach it. Fast-growing floating plants like duckweed are helpful for maintaining water quality.
Cherry shrimp do best in hard, alkaline water. A piece of coral or seashell in the tank will help buffer the pH and provide minerals for them to grow their shells.

SWilkins

Ditto what Toddnbecka said. Shrimp can be little buggers when it comes to being picky about water parameters. If you have a tank that is established that you could remove the fish from and put the fish in a tank that is not established you might could do it that way. Oh that probably made absolutely no sense whatsoever. I think I will wait and post after the cold and flu meds have worn off a bit!!! I'll check back on this and see what happens.

peacemaker92

Thanks so much for the replies! I managed to get a 5g tank plastic tank set up, but it'll be a temporary one until I get a bigger tank for them. I'm currently low of cash due to my 55g breaking down on me, so currently restoring that one. But because of my fish addiction, I HAVE to buy the shrimps! I'll be doing the filter media thing just what Todd said. I didn't think of that! haha Thanks Todd! I hope to get the shrimps either this weekend or next week. I'll keep you guys updated!

Toddnbecka

A 5 gallon tank is too small for 100 shrimp. I wouldn't use anything smaller than 10 gallons in any case for the sake of water chemistry stability. If that's all you have to work with for now start with a dozen or so and see how they do.

peacemaker92

I'm not actually getting 100 shrimps if you're mistaken. This guy had 100 shrimps to sell, but I only picked out '15 shrimps'