Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

So how many Amanos should one add to a tank?

I've heard one for every gallon or two... Can this be right? That's 27 to 55 for a 55 g tank...

I'm thinking about adding 10 to a 200l tank.

 

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

I had 10 amano's at one point in my 120 along with about 50 RCS. Life was fine until my redling barbs reached a certain size and decided shrimp were tasty. The remaining 3 amano's and 10 or so RCS live in my overflow. I don't think shrimp add much of a bio load by themselves.

If you don't have a good on line source, you can buy cherries reasonably priced from the moderator of the shrimp forum at www.plantgeek.net (Jake). I bought 15 from him originally and the packaging was superb. No losses at all during the winter. Not so sure about shipping them in the heat right now though.

Tom

 

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

For cherries, I cant even suggest a stocking max as they are constantly breeding. I started w/ 1 per 2 gallons but now probably have closer to 2 per gallon. Amanos I have 2 in a 20 gallon tank (they got mixed in with some cherries I bought that were labled as rudolph shrimp). 1 per 3 gallons seems like a good place to start.

 

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

Fosteder,

Where are you in NH? There's a pet store in Rutland, VT that has a great stock of shrimps - Amanos, Cherrys and a couple other varieties. If that's too long of a drive I think they ship them also and it should only take a day or so to NH which would help them arrive in good shape. Reasonable prices too. It's called Joe's Pets. I can't find their phone number but the email is "joespets@netzero.com". He also sells on Aquabid. (If you go be forewarned that it is a real "hole in the wall".)

Good luck, Bill

 

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

At http://www.petshrimp.com/ they are selling Red Cherry Shrimp for $1.99 each which is better than anywhere else I've seen. I haven't bought anything there yet so I don't know about the vendor. If you do try them let us know. I'm setting up a 75 gallon - I could use some for it.

-Russ

 

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

I bought some from him and have to give him a thumbs up for service, quality of packaging, and of course the shrimp themselves.

 

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

tom says we should not have algae,so why do we need algae eating fish at all.(just joking tom).red cherry shrimp do like algae,but they are good food for most fish.i have mine by themselves now, but have had them with cory's and juvinile bn pleco's, with no losses.but i have the good sae's and they will eat them,i've watched it happen. you must allso have sponge over filter intake ,as babies are very tiny.when i found that out,i've had a population explosion. i started with thirteen and now have over three hundred.they work best in species tank only.they are very fun to watch.drop in a algae tab and they will flock to and cover like fly's to poop.tank conditions must be kept very clean.amano shrimp are a very good choice when kept with peaceful fish. acclimation seems to be problem with them,buy many to end up with few that live a long time.regards, cornhusker

 

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

I read a very old post by Tom Barr in which he experimented with 100 ghost shrimp as algae eaters. Now they may not be as good as Amanos, but for 10 cents a piece vs. $1.75 - $2.50 for Amanos, aren't there some economics here? Can 10 Ghost shrimp eaqt more algae than 1 Amano shrimp?

Tom, I'd love to hear the results of your experiment re: http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.200201/msg00476.html

 

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

I wish we could get those shrimp here in Australia. The only shrimp available here are glass shrimps which I believe wont even touch algae. I have heard that one lfs did get some wood shrimp in once but they were for personal use only. If it's true are wood shrimp any good for algae.

shake

 

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

Wood shrimp (Atya mollucensis) are filter feeders. I copied the passage below off this website:

HTML:

http://www.azgardens.com/shrimpfactory.php

.

Quoted from Joe Anderson's web page: "The Wood/Singapore shrimp is a filter feeding shrimp and has two pair of specialized webbed, fan-like, appendages instead of claws. They use these to filter algae and microorganisms from the water, effectively acting as a biochemical filtration system!"

They may not eat much algae but they are a cool addition to the planted aquarium. I also have an Atya Gabonensis which is even cooler - crayfish sized with a deep blue coloration.

Bill

 

Re: Ghost Shrimp vs Algae

Any way you could have them shipped? I don't know, just wondering -- if enough people wanted them it might be worthwhile.