Choosing Shrimp

[micstarz]

Hi im new to this forum, does anyone know of a shrimp that does not need special care, is big and is hardy? (except for grass shrimp)

[MyraVan]

Well, basically there are two types of shrimps you can get, smaller algae-eating ones, and larger filter-feeding ones. For info on all of these, check out:
http://www.azgardens.com/shrimpfactory.php
Almost all of the ones they mention are the algae-eating kind, the only filter feeder they have is the Singapore Wood Shrimp. The filter feeding ones need fine particles floating in the water, so I would say they need specialized care. Of the other ones, the Amano shrimp is the biggest, about 2" long full grown. I don't think they need much in the way of specialized care, except that they do need some iodine in the water, and they need a fair bit of calcium for their shells (the calcium can be in the water or in their food).

If your fish aren't big enough to eat the Amano shirmps, they would be your best bet I think.

Er, I find that my classification "small smaller algae-eating ones, and larger filter-feeding ones" is a little too simple. There are other kinds of shrimp as well, and some of the fitler-feeding ones are small, see
http://www.petshrimp.com/shrimpspecies.html
Still all of the ones I've ever seen for sale fall into these two catergoeries.

Edit: maybe the filter feeders don't require much specialized care after all. This page
http://www.shrimpcrabsandcrayfish.co.uk/fanshrimp.htm
says they'll eat normal bottomfeeder food.

[micstarz]

thanks, i'll go for amano shrimp then. They are scavengers right?

[garfieldnfish]

Amano shrimp primarily eat algae but will take it in form of algae wafers or Formular II (frozen algae) as well if there is not enough algae in the tank.
Singapore Wood shrimp or Bamboo shrimp are easy to take care of (1 of them per 10 gal of water). I have 2 of them and they filter small particles out of the water but will also pick up larger ones from the gravel and off of plants. I add liquid calcium to my water because it is very soft and some idodine (I have a water purification system that takes almost all minerals out, hence I have to add some back in the tank with the shrimp), other then that I do nothing special for them. Is you use regulat tap water and is is above 7.0 in PH adding calcium may not be necessary.