Louie

Poopians ,

                   You had them shipped?

wicca,

             My smallest tanks are 20 gallons, I find the smaller tanks like 10 gallons give or take much more difficult . Same premise as those marine nano-tanks . I always say that if you can keep freshwater shrimp you can keep marine .

I purchased that color from Soothing about a year ago . They look rather drab in that pic but they are actually much nicer .

I got some solid black shrimp when I mixed some of their babies with orange shrimp but I never separated the Black shrimp thus never got any babies . Not sure if they would even pass on that color . Since I know close to nothing about shrimp genetics but the 4 adults I have are nice .

countryboy,

                    Could it be that only 3 actually adapt to freshwater ?    The pet store lady told me that they sold only 3 types , I just assumed 3 types.

Mine are 76 during the day about 12 hours  , 72 at night the other 12 hours.

I have not seen any negative affects from the 4 degree temp swing .

Around here they are found in every lake , ponds and the old sandbag wall canals (not the newer cement wall canals) .  They prefer grass , weed areas which is why we call them grass shrimp .

The commercial places that sell to pet stores catch them right outside the Everglades or the Indian reservations which are full of high grass marsh's . You catch them with a regular net by skimming the high grass or any area that there are weeds, etc .

They prefer slow moving water and fairly shallow .

Years ago I used to catch them before fishing because other than earthworms , they are one of the best bait .

Thank you for the info

I am surprised the one's I have caught in canals are very aggressive compared to these fancier shrimps.

The shrimps found in canals which have bred there for generations are redder than the lake shrimp which are the one's you find in the pet store but same exact shrimp . Just happens that they eat something in the canal which gives them red hue , they lose it after a couple of months

I had them even attack endlers livebearer males and after catching them , a few threatened me (lol kidding) .

I have never seen the pet store type but heard same Florida ghost shrimp , harvested by the lakes .

I have been feeding my shrimp a color enhancing food which brings out the reds and oranges but I particularly noticed it in my CPO crayfish which were average looking but after a few molts with this food a very bright orange.

Very nice . Seems the reds vary a little in color.

What is their care like?

Pretty color, It is a blue/green look .

poopians.

                    Ghost shrimp are aggressive . I have caught them in the area canals and found them aggressive .  I also find them harder to keep than most fancy freshwater shrimp .

I was just kidding around but in a 125 with only 1 shrimp but I do not think you would ever need to do water changes in such a size tank with one shrimp .

Soothing,

                  I agree with your theory . Have you considered setting up a 125 gallon with just ONE shrimp . I think this experiment for a year would be interesting.

Doc,

            A planted tank will keep the tank cycled but looking at a planted tank without adding something is hard too do , lol.

  I had an extra 20 gallon in my garage but finally caught a fairly tame wild leopard gecko which was living under my dryer in the garage and put the skinny fellow in the tank , got him/her some crickets .

Perhaps you are over feeding ?

Don't feed for a few days , than try a fresh pea .

I feed 3 days a week but throw in a pea which they love every couple of weeks .

Well by fresh I mean a canned pea , rinsed in tap water , break it up a little bit and they love it .

Brown cardboard will work just fine, I just happen to like black because it enhances the fish, shrimp colors but any cardboard, poster board , even black paint on the tank bottom will work.

Of course outside of the tank , lol.

Cardboard or poster paper you attach with scotch tape .

Than you do not use gravel and you place your driftwood with moss (if you want) and some clay pots if you like with plants scattered about the tank.

I mention either driftwood piece with java fern and or moss and or a few small pots with plants because I think the colors on danios become much more vibrant when they have something that gives them cover and the comfort that plants give them.

The celestials are very pretty . Think they are fairly new to the hobby , maybe 5 years .

I can not copy and paste but if you look up bare bottom discus tanks photo gallery , You will see how nice some are . Easy as can be as far as cleaning .

That'll work .

Do you have a cover to keep the water in from splashing as you drive?

Hungle,

                  My first tank decades ago was saltwater . We did not have all the equipment you have now. It was under gravel filter or box filters and water changes . Even the filters back than could not be used because they had metal parts . 

I kept cucumbers , constantly multiplying feather dusters and other inverts (not intense light needing coral like they keep now ) . I used to do a 5% water change twice a week because it would not throw off the salinity (I did try to get at 1.020  in new water )  , water I was using was not same temp as tank and if something was wrong a 5% water change wasn't that much.

Everything thrived so I stuck with that method with freshwater shrimp . My fish inside/outside I do larger water changes . I use the water for the plants .

I use tap water and have had no losses with shrimp and they breed well . My tanks are planted tanks which is a big buffer , I use Borneowild shield which I add to the new water (only 1/2 of that little spoon ) and prime dechlorinator .

Everyone has different methods . A friend has aquaponic shrimp tank with bamboo growing roots deep in the tank and it looks very pretty , they rarely change water only replenish water.

I'd try that method myself with some local cherry shrimp in a backyard patio tank because it does look nice but it just gets to hot here for shrimp unless a pond , plus my wife would kill me for intruding on her orchid area .

You could keep some cheap cherry shrimp in there , male endlers livebearers , even a planted tank with nothing else will be nice and keeps the tank cycled.

Chibikaie ,

                   Scuds are the easiest live food to culture esp if you could keep them outside (in shade)  , no filter with a piece of driftwood on the bottom ., Fish not only love them but you see it in their color .

I find driftwood (NOT the rock hard Mopani) to be the key as far as heavy breeding, They colonize the driftwood like termites .

Soothing.

                    I guess over 300 gallons www.tropicalfishmiami.com  You see the cement vats on the site . They only sell cherry shrimp and not mail order for shrimp so the site isn't in competition with anyone here but their cherrys are huge and the water isn't cool either.

Hungle,

              On my 20 gallon tanks I do 5% water change twice a week using de-chlorinated tap water . Temps are 76 during the day and 72 at night .  I could be wrong but  I suspect that the 76 during the day also plays a factor in the breeding.  

I could be wrong but pretty sure mine breed all year long and I attribute this to the weekly water changes .

I do not keep any shrimp outside but find those who keep cherry outside (Fish farm that sells them) The shrimp are noticeably larger than tank Cherry shrimp .

I would go with the Marineland penguin 100.

I have used one for years .

Fire belly toads are easy or if you can keep the tank fairly cool all year long , three lined salamanders which are small and semi aquatic .

Florida newts (peninsula newts ) can go warmer than eastern newts , they will use land/water and you see them more than 3 lined . We used to find them even in summer bit further north in ponds .

If you keep the tank warm the tiny Green house frogs are very interesting but they do like it warm. They are rather vocal for such a tiny frog .

Soothing,

                  When I was in the Army I was at Ft. Sherman Panama for a year and there were mudskippers all over the mangrove swamp but they hate each other and constantly chased each other , think they are territorial . One of the prettiest places I have ever seen .