How many shrimp to start a colony?

[wtusa1783]

I’m starting my first shrimp tank in a few weeks and I don’t know how many I should start with. Should I start with 15-20 shrimp that are a lower grade or 10+1 fire red shrimp that are a higher grade? Also, they are imported from Thailand. Is that any different than home bred?

 

[Corycatfishboi]

I’m starting my first shrimp tank in a few weeks and I don’t know how many I should start with. Should I start with 15-20 shrimp that are a lower grade or 10+1 fire red shrimp that are a higher grade? Also, they are imported from Thailand. Is that any different than home bred?

How big is ur tank?

 

[wtusa1783]

How big is ur tank?

15 gallons

 

[Pahal4970]

I would go with 10-20 shrimp, but get a second opinion

 

[Corycatfishboi]

I would go with 10-20 shrimp, but get a second opinion

Ya same and make sure to include lost of wood and plants into ur tank because they really enjoy it.

 

[wtusa1783]

Ya same and make sure to include lost of wood and plants into ur tank because they really enjoy it.

Yep I’ll have a bunch of spider wood, moss, plants, and an Indian almond leaf to graze on

 

[ROFEA]

Where are you? I have ordered online from well known sites and had so-so luck with shrimp health. I think the mailing trip was a bit stressful. I have also found some locally on Craigslist and at lfs that were very hearty.
15 is plenty to start a colony but what is the size of the aquarium?

 

[wtusa1783]

Where are you? I have ordered online from well known sites and had so-so luck with shrimp health. I think the mailing trip was a bit stressful. I have also found some locally on Craigslist and at lfs that were very hearty.
15 is plenty to start a colony but what is the size of the aquarium?

I’m in Louisiana. I was thinking about ordering from eBay. 15 gallons

 

[JettsPapa]

I'd definitely start with 10 high grade instead of 20 lower quality. It will take a little longer to get the population up, but it will be worth it.

 

[wtusa1783]

I'd definitely start with 10 high grade instead of 20 lower quality. It will take a little longer to get the population up, but it will be worth it.

Ok great. Is eBay reliable? I’ll make sure to ask about parameters, where they got them and if they bred them, and more pics to ensure I’m getting a good deal. They also have a doa policy in case they don’t make it.

 

[SnookusFish]

I started with 5 hish grade in a 20 gallon and it only took a few weeks to get loads. Go with the high grade

This is the journey of my shrimp tank from the start
Cherry Shrimp Colony:

 

[wtusa1783]

This is the journey of my shrimp tank from the start
Cherry Shrimp Colony:

Nice!

 

[JettsPapa]

Ok great. Is eBay reliable? I’ll make sure to ask about parameters, where they got them and if they bred them, and more pics to ensure I’m getting a good deal. They also have a doa policy in case they don’t make it.

I'd check the seller's reviews. If they're good I'd go ahead.

Someone here highly recommended a specific seller, but I haven't ordered anything from him (or her).

 

[erbear]

I would recommend high grade! More beautiful to look at and worth the extra $$. Get 10-20 to start. The more you get initially the faster the population will boom.

I've had great success ordering from The Shrimp Farm and would recommend unless you can buy locally. I ordered 10 Grade A Sakura and they sent me 11 mostly fire red as well as 2 painted fire red shrimp. Excellent customer service.

Sounds like you have a good tank for the little guys. When you do get the shrimp and they settle in make sure you feed high quality high protein food 2x per week (also mixed diet on other days) and your females should get berried. Bacter AE is a must have product as well for biofilm growth and tiny food for the baby shrimp.
Good luck!

 

[wtusa1783]

I would recommend high grade! More beautiful to look at and worth the extra $$.

I've had great success ordering from The Shrimp Farm and would recommend unless you can buy locally. I ordered 10 Grade A Sakura and they sent me 11 mostly fire red as well as 2 painted fire red shrimp. Excellent customer service.

Sounds like you have a good tank for the little guys. When you do get the shrimp and they settle in make sure you feed high quality high protein food 2x per week (also mixed diet on other days) and your females should get berried. Bacter AE is a must have product as well for biofilm growth and tiny food for the baby shrimp.
Good luck!

Thanks! Any luck with eBay? Thats where I’m looking. And yes I plan to get bacter ae and fluval shrimp granules. Is hikari crab cuisine a good food? I will also feed them algae wafers and veggies and fruit every once in a while.

 

[erbear]

Thanks! Any luck with eBay? Thats where I’m looking. And yes I plan to get bacter ae and fluval shrimp granules. Is hikari crab cuisine a good food? I will also feed them algae wafers and veggies and fruit every once in a while.

I haven't used eBay but just check reviews.

Shrimp like a variety of foods. I use Hikari Mini Algae wafers (I've heard good things about their other products), Shrimp King and Omega One pellets, Bacter AE, Freeze dried bloodworms (occasionally), and blanched veggies (cucumber, spinach, young dandelion leaves).

 

[wtusa1783]

I haven't used eBay but just check reviews.

Shrimp like a variety of foods. I use Hikari Mini Algae wafers (I've heard good things about their other products), Shrimp King and Omega One pellets, Bacter AE, Freeze dried bloodworms (occasionally), and blanched veggies (cucumber, spinach, young dandelion leaves).

Ok. I’ll definitely make sure it’s legit before ordering from eBay

 

[JettsPapa]

. . . Bacter AE is a must have product as well for biofilm growth and tiny food for the baby shrimp.
Good luck!

I'm afraid I can't agree with the "must have" portion of that. I have a thriving colony and have never used it. I did give the tank some time without shrimp to allow biofilm to develop, and it's heavily planted and has some leaves and rocks so there's a tremendous amount of surface area.

 

[erbear]

I'm afraid I can't agree with the "must have" portion of that. I have a thriving colony and have never used it. I did give the tank some time without shrimp to allow biofilm to develop, and it's heavily planted and has some leaves and rocks so there's a tremendous amount of surface area.

That's fair. More of a recommendation. Biofilm will develop regardless of Bacter AE. It's more a supplement to help biofilm growth. It also supplies the tank with tiny stuff for baby shrimp to eat throughout the tank since they are not very mobile. Cheers

 

[barbiespoodle]

Just to throw in my 2 cents worth and it might not even be worth that much, lol.

I started my red cherry shrimp tank one day when I saw some at the lfs, thought they were cute bought 5, and threw them in my then, 20 gallon live bearer grow out tank. At that time it was just a whim, got to admit, they are cute.

Fast forward and the live bearer fry got big enough to be moved to the big tank and I ended up totally in love with the shrimp. The tank already had potted plants, but since I decided I wanted it to be a total shrimp tank, I redid it all, not a easy thing, you already are a step ahead of me in that respect, you know you want a shrimp tank so are setting up for one from square one, which I also did when I set up my new blue tank.

After I got the tank set, I bought, on ebay, 10 high quality reds. I read reviews before I decide on a vendor and there are lots of vendors, spent a lot of time sorting through them all before I decided on one. All the shrimp arrived healthy and active. I added them to the tank which now only had 5 red cherries, 5 amano's, two rescued ghost shrimp and one deformed guppy that I call Egor.

Fast forward again, those first 15 rcs are now over 100 if not getting close to 200. I'm on my 4th or 5th generation. And I'm starting to get some browns, that is to be expected with the luck I've had. But those browns are so few it's hard to even find them, most are still a beautiful dark red. So yes, start with the higher quality, you'll be happy you did in the long run.

I would also suggest you not import. Mostly because of the time it takes for an import to reach you. Also breeders in your country are more likely to raise their shrimp in the same conditions you do. I'm in the U.S.A and the two times I bought shrimp on e bay, each time from different breeders, both from U.S.A. breeders, the most they spent in the mail was 3 days and those had to travel 3/4ths of the way across the country. Plus coming from the U.S.A., the breeders knew the weather conditions and packs for it, my 10 reds came in the middle of winter and the breeder threw in heat packs at no additional cost, again all arrived healthy and active.

Again, just my 2 cents worth.

 

[wtusa1783]

Just to throw in my 2 cents worth and it might not even be worth that much, lol.

I started my red cherry shrimp tank one day when I saw some at the lfs, thought they were cute bought 5, and threw them in my then, 20 gallon live bearer grow out tank. At that time it was just a whim, got to admit, they are cute.

Fast forward and the live bearer fry got big enough to be moved to the big tank and I ended up totally in love with the shrimp. The tank already had potted plants, but since I decided I wanted it to be a total shrimp tank, I redid it all, not a easy thing, you already are a step ahead of me in that respect, you know you want a shrimp tank so are setting up for one from square one, which I also did when I set up my new blue tank.

After I got the tank set, I bought, on ebay, 10 high quality reds. I read reviews before I decide on a vendor and there are lots of vendors, spent a lot of time sorting through them all before I decided on one. All the shrimp arrived healthy and active. I added them to the tank which now only had 5 red cherries, 5 amano's, two rescued ghost shrimp and one deformed guppy that I call Egor.

Fast forward again, those first 15 rcs are now over 100 if not getting close to 200. I'm on my 4th or 5th generation. And I'm starting to get some browns, that is to be expected with the luck I've had. But those browns are so few it's hard to even find them, most are still a beautiful dark red. So yes, start with the higher quality, you'll be happy you did in the long run.

I would also suggest you not import. Mostly because of the time it takes for an import to reach you. Also breeders in your country are more likely to raise their shrimp in the same conditions you do. I'm in the U.S.A and the two times I bought shrimp on e bay, each time from different breeders, both from U.S.A. breeders, the most they spent in the mail was 3 days and those had to travel 3/4ths of the way across the country. Plus coming from the U.S.A., the breeders knew the weather conditions and packs for it, my 10 reds came in the middle of winter and the breeder threw in heat packs at no additional cost, again all arrived healthy and active.

Again, just my 2 cents worth.

Thank you. So get home bred USA fire red shrimp from eBay but make sure it’s a good deal. How did you insure that you got good shrimp and they were good quality?

 

[barbiespoodle]

Remember, I'm just giving my experience, there is always a risk getting living things on e bay.

Maybe I just got lucky, but I did research each seller, checked feedback, how long the seller has been breeding and how much info they gave about the shrimp. Both times I went with sellers who actually took the time to list their tank prams because to me that meant they care enough about the shrimp to make sure the buyer knows what they are getting into, and the breeder that list shipping restrictions such as weather conditions, again, showing they actually care about their shrimp.

I looked back on my purchases to get the names of the breeders. The breeder I got the reds from does not have any shrimp listed at this time. But the breeder I got the blues from, twshrimp does have several listing, including some reds. I've only had the shrimp I got from them a few weeks, but they came from California all the way to Ohio, they were so well packed it took me forever to get them unpacked, all were healthy and active and all were exactly as the pics on e bay, a beautiful dark blue. And after just a few weeks, I've just seen my first berried females, 2 of them. Not saying to go with this breeder, again, just telling my experience with them.

Of course check out other sources. I didn't have many options as far as shrimp in my area and this is the way I had to go, you might be able to find breeders of good quality shrimp local to you.

And again, go with a higher grade, so worth it.

Just a few pics of my reds, you can see even the babies have a nice red color and that gets darker as they grow.