Cleaning crew

[elleseajay]

Hey all,

I have my aquarium for a little while now, and almost 2 weeks ago I added its first inhabitants; 3 alpine newts! To try and create a self sustaining circle of life, I did my research and looked for a cleaning crew. I ended up with the following advice: neritina's for cleaning the glass and looked at cherry shrimp for general clean up. I was hestitant about the shrimp as I've been warned the newts might eat them. But I've seen multiple people online claiming they are succesfully housing newts with shrimp.

My friend has a cherry tank, of which she gifted me a good bunch of them, and added a piece of java mos for them to hide in/under. The first 2 days I would see them every now and then and after that; not a single shrimp spotted. Ok. They are shy creatures, benefit of the doubt for my newts. They may just be hiding. Then my friend suggested: 'you could add amano shrimp, they are bigger and less likely to be eaten'. Okay, makes sense. I looked at them at the pet store and yeah, they are bigger. Maybe even the size of a newt's head. Ok we'll see if we add 5 how things go. Same thing happend; first 2 days I see them every now and then, but the last few days; nothing.

I don't want to stress them out by going over this again and again, it's important there's a stable balance. With or without shrimp.


It seems to me that no matter the shrimp, my newts will love to snack on them. I'm looking for people with experience and tips and tricks?
I am new to newts and am trying my best so please be nice.

Thanks!

 

[Niels D]

I'm keeping different kinds of Neocaridina shrimp (incl. cherry shrimp) in most of my tanks. A lot of newts aren't fast enough or simply not very interested. Alas some species (or some individual animals) will eat them. Snails can be eaten as well. Some newts will suck them right out of their shell. Paramesotriton especially feasts on snails once they're not fed worms every other day in my experience.

My favourite snails aren't neritina snails. I'm keeping ramshorn (Palnorbidae), bladder (Physidae) and pond (Lymnaeidae) snails. They're perfectly suited for an unheated aquarium. Yes snails and shrimps defecate, but they break down dead plant material and newt feces further down, so micro organisms have an easier task.

 

[minorhero]

Its possible your newts ate your shrimp. Its also possible they are hiding.

Amano shrimp eventually grown quite big, 2 inches long or there about. The full grown size is much less likely to be eaten but only occasionally show up in fish stores. Good luck.

 

[elleseajay]

yeah I now have amano's (5) a group of neocardinia's (started with +_25) and a trio of neritina's. The shrimp are shy and don't show too often, but they've been out more and more. Like i didnt see the neocardinia's for a few days and was certain they were all gone when I suddenly noticed there were a few of them just out and about I just didn't notice them. They also seem to be more afraid of me than the newt's sometimes, whenever I approach the tank I can see them scuttle away.

I am positive the newt's ate a few of the neocardinia's, but i've seen at least 10 different individuals since I made this post. My conclusion (based on internet and what I now experienced) is that they prefer hiding in the java mos whenever the newt's are most active. When the newts are chilling they like to come out and do their thing.

I'll look into the snails you mentioned, Niels, are those snails also reproducing in regular water? Although I've heard that newts could also eat the baby snails, I've been scared into potential snail investations.

Edit: I know I'm new to this all and I might be too impatient for it all to settle. I just really wanna do good for my beloved newts (and other tank inhabitants).

 

[Niels D]

These snails will reproduce in fresh water. They can cause a snail infestation, but this is not a problem in my opinion, because they don't eat living plant material or eggs. They remove hydra as well. Don't overfeed and the population won't explode. If you find that you've got too many snails, leave a piece of rinsed cucumber with a little weight (like a little pastry fork) on the bottom of your tank for one night and remove it with all the attached snails the next morning. You can repeat this if desired.

I just noticed that you're Dutch as well. Be sure to check the FB group of the "Salamandervereniging". If you're a member of the association, there's a meeting (living room gathering) next Saturday.