Shrimps with Axolotls

You will get many hundreds in a 2 foot or 3 foot tank. They swarm over the food...another way to see if they are happy.

They are in a temporary tank while I sort out my snail issue in their proper home. no really worthy of an overall photo. I'm a noobie really too.

You don't need anything expensive....a decent clump of java moss (which is a cheap plant anyway) and the heater (for Sydney climate) and sponge filter. Anything else is a bonus - other plants, driftwood, a small chunk of coral can supposedly help buffer the pH and keep it up a bit but, having said that, I've not noticed a major difference on my pH. Currently my guys can't even enjoy the java moss as it is now its turn for the copper treatment. And especially no other fish that will snack on them. And I transfer a few periodically into the axies and a number have survived so far in the cold water and with the axies.

From what you've said, you are on the right track.

My plants all look dodgy at the moment because I had them sitting in a freezing bucket outside through winter dosed in copper to get rid of the snails. The java fern survived that process the best. I like anubias a lot but it died back to the rhizome. Hopefully it will recover in the next 6 months.

Cheers
Dave
 
Not sure on the how often they breed - once every few months once they are mature I think it is. They normally get anywhere from 5 to 20 eggs. Some seem to carry so many. I beleive they dump a few along the way if they die or something like that. Around 10-15 I'd say is normal without counting them.
 
Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place but I am not really sure where else to put it, I know afew of you guys were talking about red cherry shrimp the other day, they seemed like a good idea to me so I decided I would set up a tank and get afew

I have had a tank set up for over a week, with plenty of stones and 2 moss balls for them to do whatever they do with, I received them in the post today (I bought them from ebay) and checked on the internet on how to put them in the tank, it said to get them out of the packaging, into a tub and add 5% of the tank water every 2 minutes, I did this and eventually emptied them into the tank - they seemed fine exploring and wizzing around, went to play football and just got back to find some of them laying on the side at the bottom of the tank (I think they may be dead) and some more sitting just below the water surface, they are still alive because I put my finger in to see if they would move, but they don't look to healthy!

I am not sure if this is normal behaviour, I was expecting the odd loss but I don't want to loose them all, does anyone have any experience or advice to offer?

I have a big 5ft tank with my axolotl in it, I could put them in there but the filter is bigger and might suck them in or stress them out.

My plan originally was to get afew cherry shrimp in a seperate tank, breed afew of them and then put some in with my axolotl to clean the tank up a bit, add a bit of variety and maybe the odd snack!

If anyone has any advice it would be great!
 
Hi Daz

Here is a picture of my sponge filter (attached). The shrimp do tend to like to hang on it. There are heaps on this pic taken last night. That is why I'm a fan of the sponge filters as I reckon the advice I read about them somewhere on the web was dead right.

Mroli - have you read my various posts on this thread? What is your water chemistry, temperature, set-up, etc? I found that some of my shrimp did what you described when I first got them too. RCS flick hard and lock out when they are stressed. I can only assume it must be a chemistry or temperature difference or just plain stress from the move and human handling. If you post more details then I might be able to think of something more useful to say. Keep the chemistry good and do regular water changes. Have some java moss and plants. That is really it.
 

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lol David, jesus you win already :)

That is an insane amount of shrimp on a small sponge filter and without a doubt I'll be using one, both in the final set up and possibly even in this one (if I can fit it in lol).

From now on I shall call you "Shrimp Guy".

I found this sponge filter: A23 Sponge -Live Cherry Crystal Red Shrimp Aquarium NEW on eBay (end time 03-Nov-10 13:01:55 GMT) It looks perfect for my larger tank as has twice the surface area. Probably what I'll go for as is the same price as the singles in my LFS.

I'm sure given how porous and large the rock is within that naturally I'll have enough surface areas for a cycled tank without a filter in this little box, but when in large a filter will make life a lot easier, I'm considering just putting one in there now without the airline to get it cycled for a few months time.

I think my issue with air pumps is that I've only had loud cheap ones. Reading good reviews on Teratec air pumps, and so I'm sure will be no issue and would be better to have a nice sponge filter and a silent air pump than a modified power filter.

I suppose it's the same as cannister filters, there are loud poor quality ones and there are great silent ones, simply because of the design.


Anyhow to continue with my little experiment:

Observations

Daily nitrites rise up to between .5 and 1ppm.

Water temperature got a little high at almost 30 degrees.

All shrimp are happy and grasing, males are doing a lot of swimming which I hope means pheromones and perhaps breeding soon?

They appear to have enjoyed the little bits of boiled carrot added.

Conclusions

Thermometer and filter thermostat are not in sync, filter thermostat is broken and so to maintain 26.5 I need to set it at 24 degrees.

Daily water changes of 10-15% are required to keep nitrites down to 0.

Lots of fingers crossed that this test batch survive on, regardless of the conditions they are in (although doing my best here).
 
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Water temp was 18 this morning, checked for ammonia before I put them in the tank yesterday and it was at 0, I have a sponge filter, and I am waiting for a few more plants to turn up today when I get home from work hopefully!

I was wondering if the move had stressed them out, going through the post and getting a new home etc must be pretty stressful! I am hoping the ones I can account for a just hiding in the stones or something
 
mroli123 said:
Water temp was 18 this morning, checked for ammonia before I put them in the tank yesterday and it was at 0, I have a sponge filter, and I am waiting for a few more plants to turn up today when I get home from work hopefully!

I was wondering if the move had stressed them out, going through the post and getting a new home etc must be pretty stressful! I am hoping the ones I can account for a just hiding in the stones or something
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From what is generally recommended on shrimping forums and hear 18 is a very low temp for these critters, they appear to prefer 70 - 80 c and so up to about 27 degrees c.

This may have something to do with it?
 
I'm sure I read somewhere that it was ok, probably not ideal as they come from warmer parts and tend to breed better in warmer waters but I might be wrong! I would imagine that they would have to be able to cope with these temps to mix it with axolotls?
 
yeah you got it, it should be ok but not ideal.

You gotta remember when people mix em with Axies, the goal is usually for them to become food, the Shrimp's well being is not really considered. They are also not expected to last long.

Also I image they were kept at a much higher temp prior to you getting them, which could have shocked them.

From what I read they certainly won't breed at those temperatures.

Again, I'm a relative noob to all this as well.
 
Ok well I don't have a heater for them, I have a light which I use for brine shrimp 'making' which I could put on the tank, not going to make too much difference I imagine but the light is meant to make more algae for them I heard

I have never had a tropical or warm water tank so never had a heater, can you get ones you just pop in the side of the tank?
 
exactly that matey, they are very cheap and attach to the side of the tank with suction cups.

Certainly no modifications required, and they come with a (questionable accuracy) thermostat.

Hell I'm using one in a plastic 10l storage container.
 
Ok I will look on ebay tonight for one, cheers for the info!

Do you think if I put a light on them tonight it would stress them out? If it changes the water temp it might be more of a shock of the system to go from warm to cold back to warmer again? Should I just wait for the heater to arrive?
 
Yo Daz,
Load the tank up with hardy plants, they absorb all the nitrates and grow really fast from it try the elodea i keep bangin on about, just load the tank up with it, its cheap stuff you can plant it or just keep it floating it does well either way! They will suck up your nitrates so water changes can remain minimal not disturbing baby shrimp, if you have enough plants and moss you wont even need to cycle or have a filter the plants do it all for you, something along these lines should just take care of itself and the shrimp should love it, youve already started em a moss wall so your half way there!
cherrymar2005.JPG

Theres loads of shrimp in there if you can spot them, id love to know how many more there are hiding amongst all those plants!

Just ur moss wall (when it grows a bit, hows that going by the way?) and let elodea take over the tank (CHEEEAAP!) and i wouldnt think nitrates would be much of a problem. When they move into the elite60 they should just multiply and multiply!
 
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ted22 said:
and let elodea take over the tank (!
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LOL you must have turbo powered green fingers if that little bit of elodea you got with your scuds has grown into that massive tank load of plants in your pic in just a couple of weeks.
How are the scuds doing by the way have you ever seen sight of them again in your axie tank?
 
mroli123 said:
just got back to find some of them laying on the side at the bottom of the tank (I think they may be dead) and some more sitting just below the water surface, they are still alive because I put my finger in to see if they would move, but they don't look to healthy!!
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That's certainly not normal behaviour. To me it sounds like they've been poisoned by something. You mentioned somewhere else in a post that you have tested your water and it came out ok but I'm wondering if perhaps something that doesn't show up in a standard test.

Daz is right that the shrimp prefer tropical temperatures and you can buy a really good heater for a small tank from a website which is named after a very long river beginning with "A" for about 7 quid. Having said that temperatures of 18 degrees shouldn't make them role onto their sides and die.

You said some of them are sitting near the water surface which is odd as shrimp generally seem to prefer hanging around on the bottom of the tank, not the surface. Perhaps they are trying to get more air - this might tie in with something unidentified being in your water as this may impede the water's ability to hold dissolved oxygen in it.

How big is the tank you are trying to breed your shrimp in? What kind of filter? Does it have an air supply?

I'd be tempted to go out to a local shop and get 3 or 4 of those big five litre bottles of spring water or go to a supermarket with some on offer and use that to do a few very big water changes.

I'd also go on that website I mentioned before, the one that's named after the big river and I would spend about 7 quid buying a little water heater and they also sell these tiny little air pumps for about 6 quid. Get one of those, some air hose and some airstones (actually this might come to a little bit more money but less than 15 quid)

The heater will keep your shrimp tank at warmer temps but I dont really think thats the problem. My suspicion would be that it's to do with oxygen.

Dont worry about spending money buying sponge filters because you can make your own one that will work more effectively than a bought one. All you need is a pop bottle, a little air pump, an airstone, air hose and a bit of gravel.
1) Rinse empty bottle thoroughly
2) Cut round the bottle where it starts to taper up towards the top.
3) Cut around the bottom of the bottle about an inch and a half to two inches up.
2) Make a few little cuts around the base of the top section so that you can kind of splay the bottom of it out. You should be able to fit the cut off top section into the cut off bottom section.
3) Make a little hole in the top section and poke your air line through. The end of the air line should now be inside the top section. While it's in there push the air hose onto the end thats inside the cut off top section.
4)Now put the cut off top section into the cut off bottom section. The splayed bits around the base of the cut off top section should kind of spread out and the air hose and air stone should be inside the top section.
5)Pour gravel into the cut off bottom section and all around the top section. Make sure the level of the gravel is at least a centimetre or so higher than where the hole and air tube is on the top section. The weight of the gravel should hold the top section in place nice and securely.
6)Make a hole in the bottle top and make sure its screwed onto your top section.
7)Put it in the back corner of your tank and attach it to your pump. It will quickly become a really efficient filter. This kind of filter is actually called a "box filter" or sometimes called a "corner filter"

It works best if you use gravel from an already established fish tank because that also has good bacteria colonies on it.

Here's an attached pic of one I made for one of my axie tanks, it works really well except in this version I got some bits of charcoal at the bottom and some sponge instead of gravel and I've piled river pebbles on top to keep everything in place. It's also got java moss growing in among the river pebbles to give it a kind of extra bit of living filter media.
 

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haha i got a funny feeling that aint your tank Ted....

Regarding planted tanks etc, you surely know by now that it is fully planned :)

Looking at sand front, compost rear ferns, moss wall, moss ball fire moss covered hides etc. I won't be doing that while Barney is in there though as he needs all the space he can to swim, as that's pretty much all he does.

The small tub i have has no room for the elodea right now, but i have plenty of balls and a lump of fire moss in there too.

They are fine right now, and while it's great obsessing over the shrimp my main concern is my Axies, who have to have their tanks as they like them, until of course they share and then my new project begins.....
 
Steve that's a great little tutorial, I had considered making a filter. perhaps i will now i have those nice plans.

Revising what I was saying about planting, once i have the larger tank free I think i'm gonna go all out with a proper planted tank. I keep hanging around on the planted tank forums and it's really quite amazing.

Totally the opposite to what axies need of course, but perfect for little shrimpies.
 
HAHA of course its not my tank haha ive only got pondweed in mine nothing as mad as that I just think with that many plants there wouldnt be much need for a filter as someone said earlier about filters and water changes especially with baby shrimp, something like that would just be like a shrimp haven with pretty minimal maintenance apart from abit of gardening, u could avoid noisy airpumps or power filters that way as they were a concern!

The elodea has grown loads most is bout an inch from the waters surface now! not bad goin for a week or two!

As for scuds, no sign of them but no dead bodies either (would be easy to see on the white sand), so im guessing they are just hangin in the dense jungle of silk plants I have in that tank, I guess I should start to see them if they start to multiply!
 
Thanks for all of the info! My next stop is to buy a heater for the tank, I think its a 5gal tank, just one I had knocking around from when I used to have goldwater fish with a standard sponge filter I bought from that long river place you mentioned! BUT I have come home today to find that they seem to be doing better! There are 4 dead bodies I can see, they have gone red - whereas the others are more clear at the moment, I can see around 7 of them which are alive, shrimping around on the bottom of the tank!

I have just done a 25% water change, I think I will do that for a couple of days and see how they get on, I was wondering if it might be copper, as I have read many places that copper can kill, have no idea how it might of got into the tank though, everything was cleaned before!

Thanks for the filter tips! You have no idea how much of a cluts I am when it comes to making stuff, I would of been the worst blue peter presenter ever! I didn't realise that you could use something like that in an axoltl tank, I have an old throw over the side style one in my axolotl tank

Right now off to find some heat!
 
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