Catching Cherry Shrimp?

[Crazymidwesterner]

So I just got a group of about 20 cherry shrimp and from what I hear I will have more shortly is there an easy way to catch the small ones besides netting? I plan on giving some to fellow hobbyists. I know someone said its easy to catch snails by putting a peice of lettuce in a small jar, any similiar ways to catch shrimp. Maybe an algae wafer is a jar Thanks in advance.

One more question. What impact on bio load do shrimp and snails have? I was just curious as I have MTS snails and cherry shrimp and want to know does the standard 1" per gallon rule count for inverts as well?

 

[vidiots]

I don't know of any easy way to catch them without a net, so I too am interested in the replies.

I do know a couple of things though, and one is the inch per gallon thing doesn't really work for guestimating bioload, mass per gallon would be much better measure because more mass = more waste. For instance lets say a 2" fish weighs 10grams, and a 1" fish weighs 2.5grams. The 2" fish will produce 4 times as much waste as the 1" fish.

I'm not suggesting you throw your fish on a scale, but it's weight can be roughly estimated by the space it takes up. Fish density is close to water density otherwise they would sink or float every time they stopped moving. Water weighs roughly 1.00 grams per cubic centimeter.

An adult neon tetra is roughly guestimated 2.5cm long by 1 cm tall by 0.5 cm wide which equals 1.25 cubic centimeters and should weigh roughly 1.25grams. An adult female swordtail is roughly 6.5cm long by 2cm tall by 1cm wide which equals 13 cubic centimeters and should weigh roughly 13grams.

The other thing is that small snails and shrimp are much less of a bioload on a tank than fish are.

Keep in mind non of the above takes into account other things like frequency of & amounts of feeding, behavior of the fish or even its ability to turn around which also need to be taken into account when stocking or estimating bioload.

 

[Crazymidwesterner]

Thanks for the reply. I only have small fish in the tank and thats all intend to keep. Plus the inverts of course. I currently have about 23 tetras, 9 ottos, 1 bulldog pleco, 5 Amano shrimp, and about 20 cherries. Plus a few MTS. I have a 75 gallon tank. I change at least 50% of the water 1 to 2 times a week. I think I'm pretty good with my stock level right now and don't plan on adding anymore. I prefer my tank to look a little on the bare side as far as fish go. I didn't think shrimp and snails contributed too much but I had to ask. I've heard of people having lots of cherries in ten galon tanks so I thought I was safe.

 

[airriick]

If i'm reading this right, you're trying to catch shrimp..

There are so called things as "Shrimp traps"

I found this on google :
DIY Shrimp Trap - a set on Flickr

People use gatorade bottles because they fit perfectly when you flip it over, after you make that, place a piece of food inside to help get their attention?

Caution : Some people say that shrimps will die from being claustrophobic. x.X So depending on how many you wanna catch.. Use two? Gluck.

 

[kcharley]

I recently shutdown one shrimp tank that had 50+ shrimplets in it.

What worked well for me was to siphon them into a two and a half gallon bucket with 1/2" id tubing. I would then pour the water back into the tank through a net. It would be easier if you have someone to hold the net but I just laid it across the top of the tank. Then I would just carry the net over to their new tank and release them. Water parameters were pretty much the same and there were so many I didn't try to bag and acclimitize them. I think they all survived but there are so many I could have a lost a few and would never know.

They are tougher than I expected. Unknowingly I had one out of water for 15+ minutes. I thought he was dead until I picked him up. The second my finger hit the water in the new tank, he was gone.

HTH.

Greg

 

[SuperColey1]

I just whip the net quickly. They ar emuch easier to catch than any fish I have ever had. Success with every sweep IME.

AC

 

[ghostsword]

Hi.. I use a empty 500ml coke bottle, place a algae wafer inside and drop it on the tank, in less than 3 hours it is full of shrimp, they even queue to get inside.