Shrimp?

[rooroo]

Since I'm mouring the loss of my neon dottyback, I thought it would be nice to introduce some critters that I couldn't keep before due to him. Maybe as a way to fill the void. (Ok, I'm not THAT upset that he croaked)

 

So I'm thinking of adding some shrimp. What kind are recommended, and what do I need to know about them to keep them sucessfully?

 

I've read that all shrimp are sensitive to rapid changes in pH and salinity, which I don't have in my tank. I'm careful to match salinity, pH, and temp with water changes. And I know that I need to give them several hours of drip when acclimating. Any other things I need to know?

 

Ooh, another exciting thing... I found out that my mom is giving me a RR tank to replace my non-RR tank for my birthday! Don't know if she got a new sump too, but I can have my husband give that to me and help me plumb everything up. New weekend project!

[Charlie97L]

Since I'm mouring the loss of my neon dottyback, I thought it would be nice to introduce some critters that I couldn't keep before due to him. Maybe as a way to fill the void. (Ok, I'm not THAT upset that he croaked)

 

So I'm thinking of adding some shrimp. What kind are recommended, and what do I need to know about them to keep them sucessfully?

 

I've read that all shrimp are sensitive to rapid changes in pH and salinity, which I don't have in my tank. I'm careful to match salinity, pH, and temp with water changes. And I know that I need to give them several hours of drip when acclimating. Any other things I need to know?

 

Ooh, another exciting thing... I found out that my mom is giving me a RR tank to replace my non-RR tank for my birthday! Don't know if she got a new sump too, but I can have my husband give that to me and help me plumb everything up. New weekend project!

 

sounds like you have it under control!!

 

watch any shrimp or inverts when you change over your tank. that usually involves a lot of stress.

 

i would advise against a coral banded. they are great in reef tanks with larger fish, but smaller fish are too much of a temptation for them.

 

i like fire shrimp and cleaners. what size is your tank? if you have ~55g or higher, you could get 2 cleaners. i wouldn't do mix species (ie. 1 cleaner and 1 fire) in anything less than a 125. you can, but they may both hide a lot if you do.

 

research, as a lot of shrimp aren't totally reef safe. there's one called the camel, that many LFS's sometimes accidentally sell as peppermints, or just label reef safe, when they are not.

Edited December 6, 2006 by Charlie97L

[dhoch]

THere are many types of "reef compatable" shrimp...

 

Skunk Cleaners (red with white stripe down back) - easy to keep friendly, and will clean you and fish

Flame/Fire Shrimp (striking bright red with some white dots)... easy to keep, but will hide most of the time

Coral Banded Shrimp (red and white striped, somtimes gold variations)...Can be aggressive towards other shrimp/small fish

Peperiment Shrimp (not as colorful as the otheres mentioned... pale pink/clear) will eat apstasia (soemtimes)

 

Harelquin (sp?) Shrimp - eats only starfish

Pistol shrimp - do best with goby pairs.

 

Dave

 

PS How big is the new RR tank?

[rooroo]

I'm not getting anything new until I do the change over and have everything settled. The changeover should be this weekend or next. I was thinking about a pair of cleaners as they sound pretty amusing, but wasn't sure a pair would be ok. I got a few peppermint shrimp awhile back but as soon as I put them in the tank the dottyback eyed them up and started picking at them. They didn't last long. That was my first and last instance of adding something to my tank without doing the research.

 

The new tank is the same size, 65 gallon. I'm just excited about it being RR and the lower chance of floods. Never had a flood with the HOB overflows but I am always parinoid about it.

 

Thanks for the suggestions!