Freshwater shrimp have turned out to be very popular as algae eaters, and interesting additions to planted nano tanks. Let me give you some tips for keeping shrimp in your tank.
How do I take care of a shrimp tank?
Do your research
Before you buy any new shrimp, is crucial that you do your research, and find out all the things that you need to know about this species.
This is important because you need to know what kind of environment the shrimp you’re desiring to get it needs to live it. This is important because you also need to know the diet of your shrimp and the water parameters which it lives in.
It’s important that you do a thorough background check on any species before you buy it in the aquarium hobby.
One type of shrimp per aquarium
Keep one type of shrimp per aquarium. Different species of shrimp, require different types of water parameters. For example, cherry shrimp lives in a much different environment to the crystal red shrimp or the ghost shrimp.
This means so if you keep both together, one species will thrive and the other one will probably perish.
It is also almost certain that if you keep the same species of shrimp but in different colors in the same aquarium, that the shrimp will breed together and stuff up the colors of future generations of shrimp.
So for these reasons and your enjoyment of the hobby, it is important that you only keep one species of shrimp per aquarium.
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Steady water parameters
Keep steady water parameters in your aquarium. This is crucial for keeping any kind of shrimp because shrimp are very fragile and gentle species in the aquarium hobby.
Shrimp require a steady environment, with little to no fluctuations in the water temperature and pH. Shrimp can become easily distressed and because of this, they can die.
So because of these factors, it is important that before you buy any shrimp, that your tank is well cycled and has a steady balance of pH and temperature.
Acclimate before you add shrimp to a new tank
We have to drip-acclimate before you add any shrimp to a new aquarium. I can’t tell you how many times I made this mistake and killed a bunch of shrimp because of doing it.
Because shrimp is so fragile and could become easily distressed, moving them from an environment to a different environment in a really short period of time, can actually stress them out and kill them all.
So it’s really important that you drip-acclimate them for a couple of hours, before adding them to a new aquarium.
This will ensure that their tiny bodies become used to the new aquarium water parameters before they’re introduced.
pH level should be low
Keep the aquarium pH at a very low level. Different kinds of shrimp can handle a neutral pH of around 7-8, but different kinds of crystal red cherry shrimp will not survive at this pH level.
It is important that you keep the pH level of your aquarium below 8 for any kind of shrimp. A pH level range of 6-7 is generally the sweet spot for any kind of shrimp.
Add hiding place to the tank
Keep plenty of hiding spaces available for shrimp in your aquarium. This is important as it will give a little shrimp place to hide when they are newborns. And it’ll also give adults places for refuge and relaxation.
Hide spaces will make shrimp feel secure and safe in your aquarium, and thus bring down the rate of stress in the aquarium.
Shrimp like Java moss
Add java moss to your shrimp aquariums. Java moss is great because it gives shrimp plenty of spaces to hide, and also forms a little micro bacteria, which the shrimp can eat when there’s no food available in the aquarium.
Java moss is a cheap and affordable plant, which is available at most local fish stores and will grow rapidly. Java moss is one of the keys to a successful shrimp aquarium where the shrimp feels safe and secure and can breed with ease.
I would highly recommend this plant to anyone who keeps in breed shrimp in the aquarium hobby.
Hi, my name is Sean, and I’m the primary writer on the site. I’m blogging mostly about freshwater and saltwater aquariums, fish, invertebrates, and plants. I’m experienced in the fishkeeping hobby for many years. Over the years I have kept many tanks, and have recently begun getting more serious in wanting to become a professional aquarist. All my knowledge comes from experience and reading forums and a lot of informative sites. In pursuit of becoming a professional, I also want to inspire as many people as I can to pick up this hobby and keep the public interest growing.
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