freshwater shrimp aquariums

The cherry shrimp is the freshwater shrimp that is most commonly kept in aquariums. They can grow to one and half inches long, live best in clean water with a ph of around 7 and a temperature ranging from sixty-five to eighty-five degrees. They are omnivores with a life span of about one to two years, and are quite easy to take care of.

The cherry shrimp is an algae eater, though it will eat any kind of food meant for aquariums. Alage discs are a common food for them, but they will also eat soft vegetables like carrots, spinac h and zucchini. Feed these sparingly, as uneaten stuff can mess up the water in your aquarium. Flaked food is perfectly fine as well.

Cherry shrimps are small and quite docile aquarium dwellers. This means that any other aquarium tank mate could pose a risk to them. Even tiny fish will pick at their appendages and the like, and baby shrimps are so tiny that fish barely know what they're eating. For breeding, cherry shrimps should be raised in their own tank. Little non-aggressive fish like tetras and otocinclus catfish and vegetarian killifish may be kept with them. Barbs and cichlids and other aggressives will eat them on sight.

Aquarium shrimp are some of the easiers fish to take care of. They'll adapt to almost any condition and can live comfortable in any size of tank. For a colony, however, a tank size of ten gallons is recommended. Most shrimp while away the hours sitting on plants and hiding in them for protection when necessary. This is usually the case after they molt. What's better, freshwater aquarium shrimp will clean the algae and microorganisms off of plant leaves without harming the plants. The java moss and fern plants are great additions to shrimp tanks as they thrive in the same conditions as shrimp and also add to the visual appeal of the tank offering a great contrast to the cherry shrimp. These shrimp will also range in color based on their surrounding, so a darker decorative tank will bring out their full colors while a lighter tank can make them almost transparent.

The red cherry shrimp is quite sensitive to ammonia, like many other fish. Never place shrimp into a tank that hasn't fully cycled first, and always keep a close eye on the ammonia levels with a common meter available from any pet store. Nitrogen cycles are critical in freshwater shrimp aquariums, as even tiny ammounts of ammonia can harm or even kill them. Common causes of high ammonia levels in tanks are overfeeding which leads to uneaten food and decay, shrimp overcrowding, low levels of bacteria that take the nitrogen out of the water, or all of the above.  Red cherry shrimp are also very susceptible to copper levels, so if you use copper treatments to get rid of parasites, make sure to remove your shrimp first and indeed until all traces of copper are gone from the tank. Some shrimp owners say to also add small quanitities of iodine to the tank water as a general supplement. Others say this is a harmful practice, so use your own instincts.

All in all, the red cherry shrimp is a freshwater tank dweller that is very docile and easy to take care of, so long as you watch the ammonia levels and cooper levels and don't put them in with aggressives. They're quite active in the day, scouting for detritus in the gravel or algae all around the tank, and mating as well. Some may shed their exoskeletons. These ghostly remains should be left in the tank for the shrimp to eat to salvage the minerals contained therein.

Enjoy your freshwater shrimps aquarium project!