# Anyone currently keeping Sulawesis?



## TarantulaGuy (Apr 15, 2009)

Such interesting shrimp, interesting natural history, absolutely gorgeous. I've been toying with the idea for about a year now of setting up a sulawesi tank, but would love to hear from someone who's actually been keeping them. I need details!  I'm still torn as far as species go, I love the harlequins, but I hear they're shy, and also smaller than the other species. The cardinals and red goldflakes are also gorgeous. Any experiences?


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## sampster5000 (Jul 24, 2010)

There are a decent number of users on the planted tank forum that keep and breed sulawesi shrimp.


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## TarantulaGuy (Apr 15, 2009)

This IS an aquatic plant forum . Hopefully if they're breeding sulawesis they're big into shrimp, and will poke their heads in here.


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## NatureAquariumGarden (Nov 19, 2011)

Sulawesis don't like with planted tanks. They need low KH with high pH 7.5-8.0, and high temperatures that plants won't survive. That's what I know. Sulawesi snalis work with planted tanks much better.


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## manualfocus (Sep 26, 2011)

Here's a good place to start: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/107239-sulawesi-shrimp-guide-progress.html


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Best place to start with Sulawesi shrimp is the malawa shrimp (Caridina preparensis parvidentata). It comes from Sulawesi, but is far hardier than the fancy lake shrimps (which are gorgeous, but finicky...). On the down side, they're just about the dullest shrimp on all of the island. Malawas are about as easy to keep/breed as cherry shrimp, but they like the warmth and high pH conditions found in their native waters.

There are plenty of plants that'll grow in sulawesi conditions, too - java ferns, hornwort, mosses, some crypts, vals, sagittaria, Lilaeopsis chinensis...plus all those oddball plants from lake Poso that the importers occasionally bring in. Any plant that can live in brackish conditions can do well in a Sulawesi tank...(Though, in response to whoever said sulawesi snails are good for planted tanks... that's actually quite untrue. Tylo snails are rabid herbivores - they mow down vegetation like there's no tomorrow.)

Anyway, use a hardy species like the malawa shrimp to establish your sulawesi tank, then consider some of the fancier varieties once you've succeeded with running a tank at the proper parameters.


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## DUHK (Aug 6, 2009)

I want to have cardinal shrimp in my tank.

Can I use Aragonite as the substrate for the shrimp instead of crushed coral? I read that aragonite keeps the pH fairly stable at 8.2.

Please let me know what you think!

Also, would I be able to grow Anubias petite in the same tank?


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## TarantulaGuy (Apr 15, 2009)

asukawashere said:


> Best place to start with Sulawesi shrimp is the malawa shrimp (Caridina preparensis parvidentata). It comes from Sulawesi, but is far hardier than the fancy lake shrimps (which are gorgeous, but finicky...). On the down side, they're just about the dullest shrimp on all of the island. Malawas are about as easy to keep/breed as cherry shrimp, but they like the warmth and high pH conditions found in their native waters.
> 
> There are plenty of plants that'll grow in sulawesi conditions, too - java ferns, hornwort, mosses, some crypts, vals, sagittaria, Lilaeopsis chinensis...plus all those oddball plants from lake Poso that the importers occasionally bring in. Any plant that can live in brackish conditions can do well in a Sulawesi tank...(Though, in response to whoever said sulawesi snails are good for planted tanks... that's actually quite untrue. Tylo snails are rabid herbivores - they mow down vegetation like there's no tomorrow.)
> 
> Anyway, use a hardy species like the malawa shrimp to establish your sulawesi tank, then consider some of the fancier varieties once you've succeeded with running a tank at the proper parameters.


Thank you for some good information. I have a 20 long that, assuming it holds water, will probably end up being a sulawesi tank in the future. Finding a source is going to be my next task. (That, and finding gainful employment again, damn you money!) I'd like to do lots of mosses in that tank, keep it lower light so I can get by with just a CF fixture, lower wattage-ish. The only thing I would worry about is not being able to get all the Malawi's out when I want to introduce the other sulawesi species, and then getting cross-breeding, which would be no bueno.


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## madness (Aug 14, 2011)

Once you put Malawas in you will have trouble getting them out.

Breed like crazy, many are translucent(ish) and they swim pretty darn fast.


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## TarantulaGuy (Apr 15, 2009)

I thought that might happen. Well, we'll see how it goes. I have no money for this project at the moment, so I'm mainly just information gathering till I get a job again. Either way, with our without malawa shrimp, I'll have this tank set up for a couple months before anything live goes into it to make sure it's super stable, and to give some biofilm time to accumulate and for the plants to grow a little.


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