TROPICAL SHRIMPS - ALGAE EATERS AND FILTER FEEDERS

[mctravish107]

Help! There's algae on my driftwood and I tried scrubbing it but it won't come off. Any suggestions?

[pondguru]

You could boil it in a big pan or pour boiling water over it.

[mctravish107]

@pondguru For how long? Cause I only boiled mine for 30mins

[pondguru]

Just enough to kill it should be fine - a short exposure. It should scrub off alot easier then.

[Gritzaable]

my shrimp keeps attacking my fish that swims pass! i've only got him today will this stop because he has grabbed hold of one of the smaller fish but it got away. is he meaning harm or what?

[pondguru]

Sounds like it may be a long arm shrimp. Some will have a go at fish but usually the fish are too large for them to wrestle, although some long arm shrimp get large enough to eat small fish.

If you've got some caridina Sp. shrimp (dwarf algae eating types) they won't have the armour to capture a fish but they may still swim up and have a go at them on rare occasions.

[Gritzaable]

@pondguru yes it is the arms are pretty long, and its around 10cm long and the width of a pencil. if u can picture that it jumps up and started to attack my small neon tetra's, btw i bough 6 glass catfish the other day and it does not seem to be feeding, im feeding them dried bloodworms and tropical fish flakes but i never see them come up and eat it, what is another food i can try to get thm to eat it or do they eat wihout me knowing?

[pondguru]

That doesn't sound like a normal algae eating shrimp, man. More likely from the Macropodus family, which get much larger than Caridina and can tackle small fish.

I find the glass catfish need a flow in the tank, plants to hide in and do prefer soft, frozen or live food as opposed to prepared dry foods.

[Gritzaable]

@pondguru okay thanks for all your help, and yes the shrimp is very much bigger than the cardinals, it has killed 2 already :/ so i might have to take him back.

[caruether]

amano shrimp eat tons of algae, cherry shrimp eat algae and leftover fish food but flower shrimp are pure filter feeders they have rather specialized needs when it comes to feeding, they are also sensitive to varying kh and gh levels and tolerate little ammonia

[pondguru]

Thats pretty much it in a nutshell. Yup.

[spotify95]

I noticed that you had a betta in there, Does it work? Keeping a betta with shrimps i mean? I bought a betta and the store owner said that it should be OK to keep it with my other fish. 3 days later: 4 of my tetras floating belly up and my ancistrus laying on the bottom with a chunk missing from its back. One feisty bugger.

[pondguru]

Are you sure you got a betta and not a piranha, man. lol. They don't have teeth. Bettas are normally fine to keep with tetras (except nippy tetra Sp.) and srimps.

I would aoid keeping them with male fancy guppy as they can have a go at their tails.

[spotify95]

Haha! Yeah, it's a black and blue betta. I can send you a video of it. It's a really small tank, about 10 litres(2-3 gallons I guess). Could his aggressive behaviour relate to the size of the tank? I'm just trying to take every precaution since he has killed fish for about 180 swedish crowns ( 25 USD ). And I am not in the mood of buying him that expensive food.

I know, it's quite risky keeping a betta with any weil-finned fish.

How is the shrimps algae eating skills compared to a pleco?

[pondguru]

The tank size is probably the reason the betta has freaked out with its tank mates.

Shrimps will eat algae from plants without damaging them and will clea up gravel too, which plecs have difficulty with.

[spotify95]

Ok, I'm scouting for a bigger tank so he will just have to wait then.

Sounds lovely, but what about their ''waste production''?

How do you think they'll interact? I should probably start out with one shrimp to see how he reacts. I'll send you a video of the tank :)

[pondguru]

Shrimps and snails don't count toward stocking density as they are primarily cleaners. Obviously if you piled hundreds of snails and shrimps in it would do the tank no favours, but a sensible level of cleaners will complement the tank.

[spotify95]

Ok, good.

[spotify95]

Of course. What species is recommended?

[pondguru]

Any of the dwarf caridina species are great algae eaters but if you're worried about them being eaten by fsh, I would go for amano shrimps as they get much bigger (to about 5cm)

[spotify95]

Ok.

Thanks a lot for all the advice and your time, Cheers!

[1989jimbob]

what is the lifespan of one of these??? im probably leaving the country next year and i dont want to leave the family maintaining my tank....

[pondguru]

Between 2-3 years I think.

[Ettio137]

Beaut betta

[MrBobbyblue52]

ya tnx

[MrBobbyblue52]

are they very good at eating algae cuz i dont know if i want to by them what do you feed them

[pondguru]

They are only called algae eating shrimp. They actually eat human flesh do don't put your hands in the tank.

No, not really. They are good at eating algae - especially from plants, gravel and ornaments which often get ignored by plecs.

[MrBobbyblue52]

are they very good at eating algae cuz i dont know if i want to by them

[MriBackup]

Holy heck, I've only got clear shrimp. Where can I buy all those cool ones?!

[pondguru]

In the U.S.? I have no idea. There doesn't seem to be the choice of tropical species in the US which is strange considering the size of the country and the population.

[MriBackup]

@pondguru yea, i thats why i cought them in the lake. pet stores here dont sell cool stuff.

[Theodosia2839]

@MriBackup Look online for your local aquarium shop, they have all kinds of species!

[willz87child]

1. how big do these guys grow (suitable for a 25L tank?)

2. what do they feed on? are algae wafers ok?

3. are they good community fish?

[pondguru]

Most of the dwarf species only grow to about 1 1/4" and feed on just about anything that goes in the tank. They will live in with most fish but avoid fish that may eat them.

[willz87child]

@pondguru nice, cheers mate i trust then theye ok with a cory, gouramis, dannios and harlequins then? do they eat fish poo as well? i hear the UK prawns shrimps etc live near outlet pipes from the sewers

[pondguru]

I'm not sure about UK prawns living near sewer pipes, but the dwarf shrimps we have should be OK with the species mentioned.

[TrickyDicky89]

is that camera in the water if so is it water proof and were did you get it

[pondguru]

Its not in the water, man. Later in the video I go from tank to tank. It is clear as our tank glass is very clean.

[TrickyDicky89]

@pondguru

[xllx1978xllx]

omfg how big can those get really??

[pondguru]

If they are the caradina species, which most dwarf shrimps are, they only get about 1 1/4" (32mm) max.

[blownable]

those are natural bettas, arent they?

[pondguru]

The one in the first tank was just the common fighter - nothing special. I prefer crowntails, super delta or half moon fighters, although the half moons can be well expensive for good specimens.