# How many shrimp could fit in a 5.5 gallon?



## Indignation (Mar 9, 2008)

I'd like to setup my 5.5 gallon as a breeding tank for RCS, to be transferred to my larger tanks once they get past the bite-sized range. I currently have 8 amanos and 2 nerites, and dose EI style with 50% weekly WC. Its heavily planted. How many red cherries could i comfortably keep in it? 
Thanks!


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## JohnPaul (Aug 28, 2006)

Indignation said:


> I'd like to setup my 5.5 gallon as a breeding tank for RCS, to be transferred to my larger tanks once they get past the bite-sized range. I currently have 8 amanos and 2 nerites, and dose EI style with 50% weekly WC. Its heavily planted. How many red cherries could i comfortably keep in it?
> Thanks!


Easily 75-100 RCS (mix of adults & juvies), assuming the tank is well aged.

If you are really looking to breed RCS, a few things to keep in mind:


they will breed better (faster, larger broods) if your water is on the alkaline side and has some decent hardness to it.
having a substantial amount of moss (java moss or something similar) helps provide food for the shrimplets and is the best/most important plant to have in a shrimp breeding tank.
sponge filter is far superior to any other option for a filter. Not only will it provide food (grazing) for shrimplets, it is the only filter kind that doesn't pose a danger to shrimplets. HoB or canister filters with uncovered intakes (i.e. no sponge covering) will be the death of tiny shrimp.
while planted tanks generally thrive at higher nitrate levels, dwarf shrimp breeding does better at low nitrate levels (less than 10 ppm). Thus there is often a trade-off between water parameters for your plants to thrive and water parameters for your shrimp to thrive. You need to make a choice about which you want to favor.
be sure to avoid fertilizers with copper, and be cautious about dosing iron, as both are toxic to shrimp at levels way lower than they are to fish. It's also best to check the ingredients on any food you plan on putting in the tank and, if anything containing copper is listed (e.g. copper sulfate as a preservative), at least consider moving to a different brand of food. (Note opinion is split among shrimpkeepers about whether the low levels of copper introduced by food have any negative effect. YMMV.)

RCS are the "rabbits" of the dwarf shrimp world, they really do breed like crazy when given the right conditions.


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## newbie314 (Mar 2, 2007)

Look out for coppirus solfurus... or something like that. Kinda the latin or formal form. Were trying to hide the copper.
I even found shrimp food with copper.

I use Hikari food.

If you have an El Natural, you can have lots of plants and shrimp.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Apr 23, 2008)

10 shrimp per gallon is _usually_ the rule, but you can go over a bit.


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## kayakbabe (Dec 29, 2005)

I believe if you use 350,241 cherry red shrimp you could fill a 5.5 gallon aquarium.
So when do you deliver my lamborghini? 
That was the prize for the correct answer wasn't it?


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## Indignation (Mar 9, 2008)

kayakbabe said:


> I believe if you use 350,241 cherry red shrimp you could fill a 5.5 gallon aquarium.
> So when do you deliver my lamborghini?
> That was the prize for the correct answer wasn't it?


Ooh, so close! the correct answer was 350,24*2*. Guess I have to keep the Lambo a little longer.

The sad truth is, it took me a couple seconds to get the joke. Bravo, kayakbabe.

Thanks for the other replies! I'll aim for the low side, about 40.


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## BJRuttenberg (Sep 25, 2005)

Ah...but the real question is how many red cherry shrimp does it take to change a light bulb...?


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