# Bought my first shrimp....Cherry Red



## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

I just won the auction on aquabid today so I will receive these little guys on Friday. The longer I look the cheaper these things are starting to get. I was initially going to start with the Cyrstal Red shrimp but I have no experience at all when it comes to these little invertebrates.

The auction listed 10 shrimp + java moss for 20.00 dollars + 6.95 shipping. The heatpack was free so I was happy about that as well. When I checked out the sellers feedback many people stated that he sent MANY MANY extras.

I will be sure to snap up many pics once these little guys arrive on Friday. Here is the generic picture that he lists on the auctions.

I usually like to evaluate people on their service and value so others can benefit or learn from my mistakes.










*email addy edited per seller's post*


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

Congrats on your first shrimp. I love my cherries. Now if I could just figure out the breeding thing..........

Bill


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

stcyrwm said:


> Congrats on your first shrimp. I love my cherries. Now if I could just figure out the breeding thing..........
> 
> Bill


Don't they just take care of that themselves? :-k
I have read that they are very prolific so I hope they thrive in my tank.


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

I have had no luck yet. They seem happy otherwise. The males are still young about 4 months so I'm hoping this is the issue.

Bill


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## T_om (Dec 23, 2004)

Well, that seller would be... me!

Thanks for the write-up and your shrimp shipped today.

If you don't mind however, I would appreciate you editing your post to disguise my email address a bit. SPAM bots data mine these forums for email addresses and I may end up with a deluge of advertising. 

These shrimp are really easy to keep and fairly prolific. I include a pretty comprehensive care sheet in the box with the shrimp. Even the very young shrimp I ship will be producing young within a couple of months or less.

Enjoy your shrimp!

Tom


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

Congrats on the shrimp purchase and I look forward to hearing more from you about them.


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

T_om said:


> Well, that seller would be... me!
> 
> Thanks for the write-up and your shrimp shipped today.
> 
> ...


Kool....I just took out your e-mail address - now that you're posted they can get in touch with you if need be.


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## [email protected] (Jul 18, 2005)

JerseyScape said:


> I just won the auction on aquabid today so I will receive these little guys on Friday. The longer I look the cheaper these things are starting to get. I was initially going to start with the Cyrstal Red shrimp but I have no experience at all when it comes to these little invertebrates.
> 
> The auction listed 10 shrimp + java moss for 20.00 dollars + 6.95 shipping. The heatpack was free so I was happy about that as well. When I checked out the sellers feedback many people stated that he sent MANY MANY extras.
> 
> ...


Cool shrimp, I finally bought 9 amano shrimp my self the other day. I would love to find other varieties in my lfs (no luck yet). I am leary about ordering fish or shrimp mail order, so let me know how they do.


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

The shrimp have finally arrived today from Florida. First off, I would like to say that I am extremely satisfied with my purchase. I ordered 10 of these little guys but I received exactly 27 and not a single death occured during transport. The seller included a free heatpack that was still warm when it arrived. :shock: I'm still amazed that I received an extra 170% more shrimp for free (comes out to .99 cents per shrimp with shipping included) The sizes range from microscopic (literally) to about half an inch. I just threw them in the tank and they are already working and cleaning various plants. To reiterate, you cannot beat the price of 26.95 (shipped) for great service and all the extra shrimp.

His auctions are listed on aquabid or you can contact him directly since he did post in this thread. 
Here are his shrimp auctions:
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?disp&viewseller&T_om










































This is after I put a few in the tank.....decided to take two last pics


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

Glad to hear that you had a good experience with your shrimp purchase. Thanks for posting pictures, that's always a nice plus!


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

Piscesgirl said:


> Glad to hear that you had a good experience with your shrimp purchase. Thanks for posting pictures, that's always a nice plus!


I'm amazed at how they are finally turning red. When I got them they were more on the clear side but now since they are in their new home they are starting to get red.


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## T_om (Dec 23, 2004)

You DID read the 'Care Sheet' I enclosed, right? 

When they arrive, they are almost clear from shipping stress.

They take a few days to acclimate to their new surroundings and after that they seem to color up VERY quickly. Also, this particular strain gets REALLY red and they seem to turn red at a much younger age than some of these same shrimp from other breed lines.

I have no idea why that is so, and I certainly claim no exceptional talent on my part being the cause of this process. But I do segregate out the best red shrimp from each generation and place them in their own tanks. When I break down breeding tanks in my cleaning rotation, I re-populate the fresh setups with only these selects and they breed with each other. I have been doing that for over a year now and it is working out nicely.

I even sell these selects, but truthfully, it is not worth the extra expense to buy them. My regular sales are all the offspring of these shrimp anyway so you get the same line-bred strain at much lower cost.

They are algae eating machines too... wait until they start breeding in your tank and you will never have to worry about algae again no matter how much light you pump in there. 

Tom


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## roamingwesty (Dec 16, 2005)

Yippeeee, I happened on this thread while reading up on my new online purchase of red cherry shrimps. Guess whom I bought from?! It's a small world sometimes.

It's great to read about other people's positive experience and Tom's behind-the-scene good work. I can't wait to get them next.

This being my first post I'd like to also thank whomever that made this possible for us. It's a great resource to have. Thank you.

Ricky


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

roamingwesty said:


> Yippeeee, I happened on this thread while reading up on my new online purchase of red cherry shrimps. Guess whom I bought from?! It's a small world sometimes.
> 
> It's great to read about other people's positive experience and Tom's behind-the-scene good work. I can't wait to get them next.
> 
> ...


Welcome aboard! Make sure you check out all the nooks and crannies on this website. There is a ton on info to be found.


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

Welcome to APC, Ricky! There is an introductions and greets forum if you feel like posting there and saying hey to all.


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## roamingwesty (Dec 16, 2005)

Thanks for the welcome! And I WILL keep to the topic for sure, haha.

Well this is the second time I aquire shrimps. The first time was 7 years ago tho and it was the cleaner shrimps for my 75gal reef tank when we lived in SF. Got everything from the LFS. Them shrimps were great. (So was the monthly Friday evening SFAS auction inside Steinhardt Aquarium in the Golden Gate Park.. back to topic, Ricky....) 

Funny that I'll be relying on the shrimps again, for my 55gal and some freshwater plants this time. My first time ordering livestocks over the 'net as well - Flagstaff AZ is not quite the capital of aquarium hobby. It was just too funny to see someone did exactly the same thing only a short while ago, from the same purveyor no less, with interesting notes from both parties to share.

Ricky


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## acbaldwin (Nov 3, 2005)

I'm putting an order in to Tom right now  .


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

acbaldwin said:


> I'm putting an order in to Tom right now  .


Tom was great when I placed the order  You have nothing to worry about!
My shirmp have actually grown alot since I bought them.


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## T_om (Dec 23, 2004)

JerseyScape said:


> Tom was great when I placed the order  You have nothing to worry about!
> My shirmp have actually grown alot since I bought them.


I'm glad your shrimp are doing well. They grow out quickly.

Entertaining little guys, aren't they? 

Tom


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## oceanaqua (Oct 24, 2005)

Cool, this is better than reading aquabid's feedback. I will place a bid now. Do these shrimp do okay on PMDD or EI dosing? Because my Fan shrimp die of unknown reason. The amano are alive and huge though.


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## T_om (Dec 23, 2004)

oceanaqua said:


> Cool, this is better than reading aquabid's feedback. I will place a bid now. Do these shrimp do okay on PMDD or EI dosing? Because my Fan shrimp die of unknown reason. The amano are alive and huge though.


I have absolutely no idea.

All my breeder tanks contain Java Moss and Narrow Leaf Java Fern and are never dosed or fertilized.

Unless you are willing to risk the whole batch, the best thing to do is put them in a small shrimp-only tank and let them grow out a bit. Try a few adults in your tanks that are being dosed and see what happens.

Someone else here on the forum might be able to answer if they have had success with these shrimp in heavily dosed tanks.

About the only thing I can say for sure are that shrimp are EXTREMELY susceptible to even small amounts of copper. You can kill a whole tankful of shrimp by tossing in a couple of copper pennies.

Tom


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

I use the EI method and all my shrimp are still alive -- especially since I don't have a clue as to what I am doing. Everything seems to thrive in my tank so I must be doing something right. 

I even put Seachem Flourish which contains traces of copper


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## oceanaqua (Oct 24, 2005)

Traces mix contain copper, I guess thats a No.


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

oceanaqua said:


> Traces mix contain copper, I guess thats a No.


There is an article about this in the new article section of "gregwatson.com". The article is written by Mustafa who I think has a shrimp website and he sells shrimp. If I remember right he uses the CSM with out any problems. Besides I think it's only the CSM mix that contains any copper. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think Flourish and Tropica MG contain copper.

Bill


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

*Copper and shrimp*



T_om said:


> I have absolutely no idea.
> 
> You can kill a whole tankful of shrimp by tossing in a couple of copper pennies.
> 
> Tom


I have read this a hundred times but I don't get it. Probably 90% of the plumbing that has gone into homes in the USA for the last 30 years has been copper piping. We all fill our shrimp tanks with this water all the time and it doesn't have an adverse affect. Why then would the copper from a couple pennies be enough to do it? Would the pennies give off more copper than the pipes for some reason? I guess they are sitting there longer but it is such a smaller quantity. Is a penny made of pure copper or could it be there is something else in a penny that is doing the damage? Has anyone ever tested this idea out? Does anyone know the source of the idea?

Just a plumbers curious thoughts,
Bill


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

stcyrwm said:


> There is an article about this in the new article section of "gregwatson.com". The article is written by Mustafa who I think has a shrimp website and he sells shrimp. If I remember right he uses the CSM with out any problems. Besides I think it's only the CSM mix that contains any copper. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think Flourish and Tropica MG contain copper.
> 
> Bill


I'm looking at the Flourish bottle right now and it says Copper (CU).......0001%
I guess that's not enough to kill shrimp because I dose this stuff like crazy


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## sayembara (Dec 13, 2005)

Personally, I have used PMDD and trace elements and the shrimps seemed unaffected i.e. still alive. I guess the amount of copper or whatever minerals was too small within the shrimp safe limit. It is best if you can perform test for a sample of the shrimps before exposing the rest of the shrimps to the ferts.

p/s: I bought cherry, tiger and bee shrimps from lfs before but only the cherries able to breed. Now, only cherry shrimps left in my tank. I would say cherry shrimps worth the money even though they are a little bit more expensive that other shrimps. Hardworking too !


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## RTR (Oct 28, 2005)

On copper pipes versus copper pennies- most pipes over a few months old (in use) are at least lightly coated with scale, which blocks solution from the piping. Also, utilities go to great lengths to short-term buffer their water if it is acid, just to avoid eroding the pipes, theirs and ours. Then we put that water in the tanks, the short-term buffer breaks down, and we add CO2 and acidify the water. Copper pennies are riskier than pipes. Test it yoursef - put some pennies in a beaker and bubble CO2 in for a few weeks and test for copper.


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## RuslanJamil (Oct 30, 2005)

*Shrimps*

I have a few questions:

Anyone know what the safe level of copper is for a tank containing shrimp? If I'm not mistaken, the casualties will only occur when the shrimp molts. So to be safe, we need to ensure that the shrimp has molted in a tank being dosed with copper (even though at trace amounts). Is this molting on a regular basis for a particular species or does it happen as and when the shrimp is too small for its old exoskeleton?

I've had a batch of Amano's die on me and I noticed that their color were bluish a day before the unfortunate event. I don't have a Cu tester so could not measure the level of copper and whether it played a part. How about other stuff such as Magnesium and Nitrates? Should we worry about them too?

Finally, some questions for Tom:
Do you have gravel in your breeding tanks? What sort of lighting and filtration do you use? Do you feed them anything apart from the naturally occuring algae?

Thanks!


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

I do worry about nitrAtes for my Crystal Red Bee shrimp as they tend to be more sensitive. I would assume Cherrys can handle much more 'abuse.' As for any set 'level,' I'm not certain of one but I keep my nitrAtes around 10 or less.


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## T_om (Dec 23, 2004)

RuslanJamil said:


> Finally, some questions for Tom:
> Do you have gravel in your breeding tanks? What sort of lighting and filtration do you use? Do you feed them anything apart from the naturally occuring algae?
> 
> Thanks!


Sorry to be so long in answering but I have been away for the holidays.

No gravel in breeding tanks. Enough lighting to make the Java Moss I fill the tanks with grow like crazy. Foam filtration. I feed the shrimp Omega One Tropical Fish Flakes. They ABSOLUTELY need supplemental nutrition to show their best colors and breed steadily.

Tom


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

Tom,

They have just begun breeding as I noticed a female carrying yellow eggs. It doesn't take long for them to get started I guess.


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## T_om (Dec 23, 2004)

Glad to hear they are doing well. They should all be growing out now and coming on to their adult sizes. 

These shrimp are not very long-lived, so establishing a breeding colony is the way to keep them so they constantly replenish their population.

They eat a pretty amazing amount of algae, even when I add (a LOT) of supplemental feed.

Tom


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## MelaGal99 (Nov 6, 2005)

What types of fish would be 'safe' with the Cherry Shrimp?


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## Aquaspot (Jan 19, 2006)

MelaGal99 said:


> What types of fish would be 'safe' with the Cherry Shrimp?


Any fish that are big enough would find Cherry Shrimps a snack! Normal schooling fishes like tetras and rasboras are compatible with Cherries. But keep them to a minimal, otherwise you will find less Cherry fries maturing into adults, resulting in a dwelling population.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Jerseyscape Thank you for recommending Tom. I ordered a 10 shrimp package from him about a week ago. And like you, I received over 30 shrimp. I'm amazed at the quanity he sent. 

I dumped them into my 29 gallon, and where they are...who knows  But I know theirs definately at least 30 in there!

Thanks Thomas, and Jersey!

-John N.


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

John N. said:


> Jerseyscape Thank you for recommending Tom. I ordered a 10 shrimp package from him about a week ago. And like you, I received over 30 shrimp. I'm amazed at the quanity he sent.
> 
> I dumped them into my 29 gallon, and where they are...who knows  But I know theirs definately at least 30 in there!
> 
> ...


John N, I ordered these a few months ago and I have so many it's not even funny. These things are worse than roaches 

I'm glad you were able to benefit from the post, it looks like many did.

Have fun.


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## YuccaPatrol (Mar 26, 2006)

I hadn't read this thread before, but I also bought my shrimp from Tom. Like many others, I received many extras. 

Before I opened the bag, I estimated about 20 shrimp including one bonus pregnant female. A week later, I began noticing very small shrimp that must have been too small for me to see in the shipping bag. I'd would guess that I received at least 30 if not more! Now that pregnant female's eggs have hatched and I see shrimp everywhere after less than 2 weeks of having my shrimp!  

Also, Tom has been great after the sale by thoughtfully responding with my questions about shrimp care.


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## Shrimp&Snails (Mar 27, 2006)

How I wish I could grab a bargain like that.

Cherry shrimp are £2.50 per shrimp here in the UK. Tigers are £2.00 a piece.


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

Shrimp&Snails said:


> How I wish I could grab a bargain like that.
> 
> Cherry shrimp are £2.50 per shrimp here in the UK. Tigers are £2.00 a piece.


Why are tigers cheaper than cherries?
It's funny because I'm going to pick up 20 tigers today for 2.25 each. Hopefully they start breeding quickly as they are wild adults (i think).


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## Shrimp&Snails (Mar 27, 2006)

JerseyScape said:


> Why are tigers cheaper than cherries?
> It's funny because I'm going to pick up 20 tigers today for 2.25 each. Hopefully they start breeding quickly as they are wild adults (i think).


I have often wondered why their tigers are cheaper. Perhaps they have had more of them dying in the shop (with tigers being a bit more fragile than cherries) and like to sell them faster?

Good luck with your tigers.


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## CrownMan (Sep 12, 2005)

I just received my order today from Tom and I also received quite a few more that the 10 I ordered. They are in a dedicated 10 gallon tank with lots of HC and algae. Hopefully, I will have enough in a few months to populate my 2 larger planted tanks.

Thanks for the tip guys.

Mike


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## AFK (Mar 8, 2006)

Thanks for this thread. I will be making order in the near future for cherry shrimp as well and will now definitely order from T_om.


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## T_om (Dec 23, 2004)

Thanks again for the kind words guys. I'm glad you are enjoying the shrimp!.

Tom


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

T_om said:


> Thanks again for the kind words guys. I'm glad you are enjoying the shrimp!.
> 
> Tom


With so many new cherry shrimp sellers on aquabid, you seem to be holding your place there. I see you being there for a while with your service.


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