Shrimps with Axolotls

Hi there,

As you know I have two tanks, both with an axolotl in and both with Moss Balls in.

I'm liking the expansion of their mini ecosystems and I've read that cherry shrimp like to keep tanks clean, and certainly enjoy cleaning and trimming Moss balls so I'm suspecting they'd make a welcome addition to my tanks.

What I'd like to know is, are all shrimps safe for adding to an Axolotl tank, i.e.

• Will they nibble at gills?
• When / Should they be eaten will their exoskeletons cause digestion issues for the Axolotl?
• What Shrimps can be used (please specify if there are any bad ones, are dancing Shrimp OK)?
• What is the largest sized shrimp an axolotl can eat?

I know Ted loves rearing Shrimps, and i think the added movement, colour and life in the tank would be great but would won't do anything to put the little fellas at risk, especially my tiny 5" Barney.

Any feedback would be great.

Mate shrimps are nigh on perfect for an axie tank, go for cherrys or amano shrimp as the others can get pretty pricey! Those shrimp are dwarf shrimp so only grow an inch or 2 max so no worries there and they make a nice healthy snack! They wont harm your axie and thier shell is no problem (its pretty soft) Go for it!

I wouldnt bother with bumblebee shrimp or crystal reds coz they cost a bomb (very expensive axo-snacks)!

Dont chose an armoured shrimp as they grow to 6in, any other freshwater dwarf shrimp will be fine just some are hardier than others!

Oooh and when you see shrimp for cheap called river shrimp they are actually salt water shrimps so are no good!

Go for cherry shrimp as they are easiest to breed (no wiggly wormy larval stage just mini shrimps!)

Im trying to find some of our native freshwater shrimp things but man those things are elusive cant find em anywhere even tho everyone tells me they are everywhere!

Heres one of my amanos who stole one of gomez's mealworms...

ted22 said:

Im trying to find some of our native freshwater shrimp things but man those things are elusive cant find em anywhere even tho everyone tells me they are everywhere!

Click to expand...

If you mean scuds, I've got gaziliions of the things! Incredibly ugly , look a bit like very big fleas. I've been breeding them for over a year and could probably get some to you if you wanted. Where 'bouts in London are you?

OK cool, cherry shrimp it is them.

Could I breed them in a plastic container style box or would I need filtration etc?

How many do I need to start and what is the rate of breeding?

I breed mine in a 20L tank, I'm sure a big tupperware container would be fine too. I also use a home made air powered sponge filter in there, I suppose you could do without one but you would need to be mindful of water quality and do water changes more frequently.

Plants are good too, also pile up some pebbles to create small caves as 'hides' for shrimp and baby shrimp.
Also RCS prefer tropical temperatures for breeding in, but they seem to happily survive and breed at 16 C -18 C.

Thanks for the advice man.

Well sounds like a plan.

I have a really rigid 10L tub which would be perfect, and as i said in another thread I was thinking about having some moss balls in the windowsill to aid growth, provided I give em enough cover (some nice volcanic rock) they could enjoy the warm water from the windowsill and cohabitate with my developing moss balls.

I'm happy to do decent water changes as that has become a part of my life with the axies anyway.

Perhaps I'll buy a few later (see they sell for very little) and set up a practice box....

dazkeirle said:

Perhaps I'll buy a few later (see they sell for very little) and set up a practice box....

Click to expand...

Sounds like you have a plan!

This is very interesting

Think I'll get some shrimp for my axie tanks. Do the axies seem interested in the shrimp, constantly, or are they not bothered?

Also, Ed, I see you feed yours mealworms? I have some for my bearded dragon, thought that the chitin would make it difficult for them to digest?

May get a dozen and put them in my tanks, see how they go

OK local shop has them £2.10 each, is that good for RCS?

How many should I buy as a base for breeding? would 3 or 4 be ok?

That´s expensive.
Try contacting comeone who already keeps them because they are bound to eventually have an excess.
It´s best to start with at least 10 or so, so that you have a decent number of both sexes.

Have you seen this thread?:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...mp-slaters-woodlice-etc/64695-got-shrimp.html

morphyrichards said:

If you mean scuds, I've got gaziliions of the things! Incredibly ugly , look a bit like very big fleas. I've been breeding them for over a year and could probably get some to you if you wanted. Where 'bouts in London are you?

Click to expand...

Yes Scuds are what im after and yes they are hideous haha! I dont actually live in london more brighton way, west sussex but its not far if you are able to post them down somehow id happily pay you for them and postage of course! I just cant find them in any local rivers/streams/ponds and the cherry shrimp cost me a fortune so thought scuds would be a good alternative im guessing they breed easily seeing as you have so many just after as many sustainable food sources as I can get! Tips on breeding them would be helpful too!

Daz in theory cherries should be having babys every month (they are the guppy of the shrimp world) but I dont seem to be having much luck with them maybe I just cant see the babies? Ive read stories about getting 10 of them (males and females of course) and within 3-6months theres over a hundred! I got 14 2 died within a day, all the others survived but have gone missing! Im guessing they are just hiding, shame coz id love to be able to see them!

Cherrys are £3.50 a pop where I am, hence why im after some less glamorus scuds! Quite tempted to just go in and offer them a fixed price for the lot maybe Id get a better deal! tis a shame those river shrimp are saltys coz they were 10 for £1!

Skunk said:

This is very interesting

Also, Ed, I see you feed yours mealworms? I have some for my bearded dragon, thought that the chitin would make it difficult for them to digest?

May get a dozen and put them in my tanks, see how they go

Click to expand...

I only feed the meal worms very occasionally like a 3 or 4 mealies in a 2month period (they are not great for axies, ur right about the chitin I just try and feed as much variety as possible) they have to be gutloaded to the max to be of any serious nutritional value so not really worth buying but as you have a beardy dragon and have some anyway axies will happily eat them (just crush those heads first)!

Thats a shame Ted.

Well I'm tempted to have a play with shrimps, I often watch the dancing shrimp when im in the aquarium, maybe I'll get one of those funky nan cubes for my office and use it for shrimps lol.

Who knows, I'll have a gander on the weekend at the £2.1o ones. at the end of the day even if they are £1 on the bay I still gotta pay postage.

I'll go for £10, stick em in a tub with moss balls and rocks and see what happens.

When I got enough I'll start feeding em to the axies.

ted22 said:

I only feed the meal worms very occasionally like a 3 or 4 mealies in a 2month period (they are not great for axies, ur right about the chitin I just try and feed as much variety as possible) they have to be gutloaded to the max to be of any serious nutritional value so not really worth buying but as you have a beardy dragon and have some anyway axies will happily eat them (just crush those heads first)!

Click to expand...

Eep! Didn't bother crushing their heads, just checked about 4 in, they are the smallest possible, so maybe should be ok? Why do you crush the head, anyway? I never do for my beardy.

Hmm!

Skunk said:

Eep! Didn't bother crushing their heads, just checked about 4 in, they are the smallest possible, so maybe should be ok? Why do you crush the head, anyway? I never do for my beardy.

Hmm!

Click to expand...

Beardys can handle them coz they chew their food so its pretty dead when it goes down, axies swallow food whole so the mealworm may survive and munch its way out of your axie! Although everyone says you must crush or chop their heads off ive never seen any proof or even read or heard of this actually happening, better being safe than sorry tho!

Daz I got the 35ltr one of these arc tanks for my guppy fry (itll be perfect for shrimp!), very stylish tank easy to maintain comes with everything you need! also gone way down in price coz the new model came out so might wanna grab one while they are still available!

Charterhouse Aquatics: Arcadia Arc Tank 20L Aquarium kit

Charterhouse Aquatics: Arcadia Arc Tank 35L Aquarium kit

Eugh great o.o, well, maybe they drowned and are dead now? I do hope so, poor little buggers, but I don't want an Alien-esque death

ted22 said:

Daz in theory cherries should be having babys every month (they are the guppy of the shrimp world) but I dont seem to be having much luck with them maybe I just cant see the babies? Ive read stories about getting 10 of them (males and females of course) and within 3-6months theres over a hundred! I got 14 2 died within a day, all the others survived but have gone missing! Im guessing they are just hiding, shame coz id love to be able to see them!

Click to expand...

Strange that your shrimps are breeding so slowly, what temperature have you got your tank at and what do you feed them? Also how long have you been keeping them for?

Mine get fed fish flakes but I also feed them with these special shrimp food pellets I bought from this site uk shrimp

I also feed em the occasional bit of raw carrot, the odd grape here and there as well.

hey you guys, lots of updates from me.

I said in this thread I'd run a practice tub, to see what happens, and as a man of my word that's exactly what I've done.

I'm using a 10l tub (a very handy box I have) and I filled it with some sand from Fred's tank (for the bact) some aquarium water, some moss balls and an aquarium rock I had.

Sure it's not the best cycled tank, but it's gotta be better than fresh.

I bought 4 RCS - yeah they cost £2.10 each, which was steep, but i got to pick em up and no shipping so should suffice for this experiment.

I have 2 males and 2 females.

The tub is in the windowsill of my office and it's pretty cool. While not glass and totally transparent i can still kind of see through the purple sides at the shrimp inside and it;s only temporary.

I know I'll need to mindful of water quality, but we'll see. I don;t plan to go overboard of the living quarters of these guys for now. Just warmth, food, and plenty of guitar.

(sorry about the floating sand scum, i topped it up with some new sand and forgot to rinse, doh! will be skimming it for weeks now.)

Hopefully these 2 couples will get their freak on and over the coming months give me a swarming mass of shrimp ready for the 60l, we will see i guess.

Ghost shrimp. They're too quick for Axolotl's to catch, they eat leftover food and cleans the bottom of the tank, and they're the coolest looking shrimp available for dirt cheap.

Good luck with your shrimp dude they're wicked little critters! I got 12 more as most of the ones i previously got mysteriously dissapered, im now keeping em in my guppy fry tank as there would be more food available for them because I overfeed that tank, also stocked it up with a load of elodea cuttings that are already growing like mad since I got it a few days ago. Heres the shrimp set up hopefully I have more luck with this lot of shrimp in this tank as its smaller and should be easier to monitor things. This pic was taken a few days back the elodea has grown a couple of inches since.

Over the next few weeks the elodea should start taking over the tank so i will then remove all the plastic ones, There will be plenty of hiding places for little shrimpys once the elodea grows and as im feeding the fry crushed flakes and micro food there should be plenty of food lying about for the baby shrimp. Cant wait for them to multiply so I can start spreading them about all the tanks! Tis a shame they are not as big as my amano shrimp, Gomez would have to eat quite a few of these little guys to call it a meal but hopefully soon I shall have enough!

Just one thing, they say that the males are not as colourful as females and sometimes transparant but I have found it completely opposite with this new batch the females are larger, have a more rounded back bit (cant remember what its called) and the saddle thing but they are alot more transparant and nowhere near as deep red as the little males from the same batch, I got so confused about it all in the shop so decided to get double what i wanted just to guarrantee a mix of sexes haha!

Good luck with the shrimp!

edit: Has anyone even had any experience with breeding amano shrimp, id like to give it a go (as they seem bigger than cherries and I have a male and a female) but im reading so much contrasting information about it all (especially regarding the brackish water thing for the larvae) My female has occasionally had eggs but nothing ever happend I just wish i knew what to do lol!