40g cherry shrimp setup help

[shamedic]

there are about 50 in there now I got 50 more super red cherry coming from aquabid later this week, also I got two 12 inch x 2 inch cholla wood that came in today and order IAL from HAN coming as well I'm going to need a new tank soon lol

[gtippitt]

@shamedic,

I realize this thread is a few months old, but I was thinking of ordering some RCS from BioAquatix on Aquabid and wondered how your shrimp fared.  I've kept fish for decades, but I'm just started trying to get a tank of RCS started.

 

Their description says they raise the shrimp in aquariums themselves, rather than buying and reselling. I had a bad experience with another seller, who I found out later imported his shrimp from overseas and then resold them.   After multiple water conditions and shipping from overseas, and then from California to Tennessee, many of the shrimp were DOA and most died within the week.  Like BioAquatix,  he had the same DOA, "take a picture of the dead ones before you open the bag", policy as BioAquatix, but he put 40 shrimp in about a cup of water, so they were so densely packed in the bag,  I couldn't tell how many were dead or alive.  After wasting $150 on that deal, I'm a bit leary trying again, but I can't find any RCS in the Nashville area except for a guy on CraigsList with pale clear ones he wants to get rid of.

 

It would be really helpful if you or others could tell me if BioAquatix is a good source for RCS.  If not, any other suggestions?

 

If you are still looking for easy to care for life plants, I love  Aponogeton ulvaceus bulbs.  Since they are normally shipped as dried bulbs, you don't have the problems with pests like pond snails and others to worry about as much.  They sprout leaves in just a few days and then explode with really gorgeous leaves.  They are a bit large for small tanks, but they are wonderful in a medium to large tank.  Some other varieties of  Aponogeton, can get excessively large, but the Ulvaceus tops out at about 15 to 20 inches.  Since their leaves branch out sideways, even when 20 inches long, the plant isn't that tall.  Their is another variety that has really pretty leaves that look like lace, but I've always had problems with it collecting algae too easily.  Also, for shrimp the solid leaves gives them more surface to graze on.

 

The 4 shrimp of mine that survived my bad order, spend much of their time climbing about on the  Ulvaceus grazing on the bio film that collects.  Ulvaceus are very tolerant of different water conditions and light.  They don't require CO2 or other pampering.  My tanks normally run with levels of ammonia and nitrate that are too low to detect, so I stick a Flourish fertilizer tab under each bulb once it has begun to sprout lots of leaves.  They have an initial burst of growth from the energy stored in the bulb, but to keep them growing big, they will need some nutrients.  Once a tank has been running for few months, I find that they normally get enough nutrients from gunk in the substrate, but in a newish tank where the substrate is clean, I give them a fertilizer tab to feed on until there is enough fish poo for them.

 

Besides not getting snails and other pests that can hitchhike on life plants, the other great thing about the bulbs is that they don't drop leaves from the stress of shipping and changes in water conditions from where they were before.  Plastic plants are the only species that I've found easier to grow underwater.   You can get the bulbs for about $5 each from sellers on eBay or Amazon.  The only problems I have with them is that they are big enough that it is sometimes hard to get small foreground plants to do well in their shade if you try to have a lush aquascape.  I normally just scatter some rocks in front of them to decorate the foreground instead.

 

I tried to attach a picture of one of mine, but I couldn't get it to upload, perhaps because I'm new on this forum.  If you Google Aponogeton Ulvaceus, you can see what striking they are.  

 

Thanks,

Greg

 

[shamedic]

So I ended up not buying from Bioaquatix when I messaged him and ask if he was the one that breed them he wasn't very clear. I did tho just order some green jades from Joe's Aqua he has an account here and aquabid he price matched the aqua bid price and they showed up very fast and all a live. The cherry shrimp I ordered from aquabids was from dreamer yoyo I think his name was usps jacked that shipment up and it took 5 days in the mail for them to get to me BUT there was no DOA

[gtippitt]

@shamedic

Thank you for the info.  Ironically Joe's Aqua is where I ordered from and was disappointed.  I've heard good and bad about them since.  The color of the shrimp was outstanding.  All of the females had dropped their eggs during shipping, but I was able to hatch about a dozen of the eggs.  Even the little guys have good color.  

 

I've got a 55 gallon tank that I had set up just for Red Cherries, and it's pretty empty looking with only 4 adults and dozen tiny babies.  Rather than ordering more and risk being heartbroken again, I'm going to see if maybe I can find an individual with excess ones to sell that is within driveable distance to pick them up myself.

 

Thanks,

Greg

 

 

[chappy6107]

@gtippitt you might check with other members here on the marketplace and see if anyone has some.  Most shrimpkeepers here have very nice stock.