# How long to add shrimp to new tank & is $0.99 good for RCS?



## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

I set up a 20 gallon long NPT (soil bottom, capped with Schultz Aquatic Soil, heavily planted, heater, lights, no other equipment). It's been up for 10 days, no critters in the tank except for some snails. I am new at plants so I don't know the names of much of anything in there. I know I just put some java ferns, tons of java moss, rotala, some kind of swords, some kind of floating bits like tiny duckweed and some other low light plants.

I have done one water change to clear up the water and plan on doing another this weekend.

How long should I wait till I put some shrimp in? How many should I put in at a time?

My LFS is selling them for 99 cents. I might be able to haggle if I buy a bunch. What do you think would be fair to ask? 75 cents each if I buy 20? They have 2 tanks in with fish connected to the main filtration system, should I be worried about contamination? The fish guy told me that he originally bought 6 and was charging $4.59 per shrimp! Needless to say, they didn't sell and they have since spawned. now he's got tanks of them and selling them for 99 cents. Should I ask shrimp from his non-public tanks that aren't hooked up to the other tanks?


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## MiSo (Nov 4, 2005)

the going price online is about $1 per shrimp.
its already a fantastic deal especially since its coming from a store. if he wants to drop the price for a bulk purchase, its up to him.

you should check the condition of the other tanks to see if there would be a problem with contamination. if a lfs has bga/ich/whatever in their tanks, i dont buy from them. i'm picky with stuff like that.
i've never had problems adding shrimp to a newly set up tank, but thats just ime.
you can add however many you want at once. i started with 10 shrimp in my 20 gallon and within 2 months i was a 50 ish.
now months later, i dont even bother to count.


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## southerndesert (Oct 14, 2007)

It is always better to add your shrimp to a mature tank, but as long as you have zero ammonia, nitrites, and very little nitrate they should be fine in a 10 day old tank. 

Bill


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## gibmaker (Jan 3, 2007)

I always purchase my shrimp off of aquabid.com, you can find really good deals.


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

thanks everyone! of all the critters to add to the tank, the RCS makes me the most enthusiastic!

i checked aquabid last night and there was a seller with shrimp said to be extremely red, so i thought it would be good to start the tank with a "high quality" shrimp but then i thought the benefits of getting them locally without going through shipping outweighed it.

i notice that there is some debate about buying either young or adult shrimp. should i choose small/young or big/adult shrimps?

do i need to be concerned with color? does it denote health?

i want to make sure i get some males and females so they can breed; is 20 a good number to increase my chances?

also, should i buy just a handful as "guinea pigs" to see if they take to the tank? or if my water quality checks out fine, can i just drop in 20 of them?


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Young shrimp seem to acclimate to new conditions better. Juvenile shrimp gradually increase their color as they age. With adults, females are much redder than males. My females are very red and my males are just kinda reddish.


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## NatalieT (Mar 20, 2007)

yum said:


> also, should i buy just a handful as "guinea pigs" to see if they take to the tank? or if my water quality checks out fine, can i just drop in 20 of them?


I would get a few locally as "guinea pigs," then decide whether to get more locally or order from someone.

I'm in favor of "guinea pigs" because my tank was all set up, no amonia/nitrite/nitrate, plants growing well--and my first batch of fish died because there was copper in my water. Yours may well be fine, but my experience makes me recommend testing with a small number first 

Natalie


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## aznb0i (Feb 14, 2008)

that is a descent price but yeah check aquabid. I got mines for a steal! I paid I think 20 dollars with shipping for 35 shrimp. His user name is Bandaiban.


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## neilfishguy (Mar 10, 2008)

southerndesert said:


> It is always better to add your shrimp to a mature tank, but as long as you have zero ammonia, nitrites, and very little nitrate they should be fine in a 10 day old tank.
> 
> Bill


0 nitrate is not a good sign and is deffinitly not needed for a shrimp tank!


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

Ok, I put 7 shrimp into the tank tonight. Crossing my fingers! I'm guessing they are juveniles as they have almost no color and are about 0.5" long.

I also added 3 ottos! the tank is slowly coming together!


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## Markalot (Feb 14, 2007)

Is this tank cycled? The shrimp and the otos won't survive in a new tank that's never been cycled.

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

Markalot said:


> Is this tank cycled? The shrimp and the otos won't survive in a new tank that's never been cycled.
> 
> http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html


Thanks for the info. This was one of my concerns when setting up the tank and I did bring in water samples a few times to test at the LFS before I got the shrimp and ottos. I did do some reading on the subject and the consensus was that heavily planted tanks would not "cycle" in the traditional sense.

Here are a few pages that touch on the subject.
http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.200308/msg00277.html
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm

Well, as I am more of a "enough reading let's get our hand's dirty" kind of guy, I felt that the acceptable water tests, new plant growth and minimal algae growth meant the plants were getting established and doing their job sucking up nutrients in the tank.

The shrimp and ottos have been very good so far. The first day they were very active but I was worried the second day when I barely saw either of them. My fears were put to rest the third day, as they both are out and about now. The shrimp are actively foraging all over the tank and after watching them closely, I can see them pooping a lot.  So, they are all eating the plants in the tank. They ignored the hikari wafer i tried (see other post) so I'm assuming they are doing just fine eating what's in there. I'll try a few bits of the wafer again today to see if they show any interest.

Also, I noticed 2 molted shells already. Does that usually mean they are doing well and growing?

So, I think that the critters are doing well so far. I might add a few fish this weekend as I'm going to a guppy auction tomorrow.

Thoughts?


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## go9ma123 (Dec 22, 2007)

Hi yum. I am close to chicago as well. Where did you get your shrimps? I normally order from online and can't find good place to buy shrimps near my area. But, I do know 2 places where you can buy some great cherry shrimps, brown shrimp...?(I think same type as cherry but brown...) and some other shrimps. Also, if you have kept your tank only for 10days, I would have to say most of the fish or shrimp won't live long. I would at least do cycle about 3 weeks for fish and 4 weeks+ for shrimps. Make sure you do test out 3 or 4th week. Good Luck!


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

I got mine from Thee Fish Bowl in Evanston. They seem pretty healthy and the people there are really friendly. If you talk to either John or Steven for a bit and let them know you're an enthusiast, they will probably kick you a discount. Otherwise, once mine get spawning you can have some of mine. I'm sure we can work out a trade or something. 

edit: also disregard the 99cents original pricing in the first post. I must have heard wrong.

They are acclimating well now. No deaths. I've found 3 molted shells thus far and they are finally starting to develop that nice red color. I'll probably do a few 25% weekly water changes until I think the tank is stable... It will be tricky, I think. I just put in a pair of fancy guppies on Sunday and they already spawned. LOL. So now I have a dozen more fish in there than I intended. So you might see a "free guppy" post soon. heh.


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## go9ma123 (Dec 22, 2007)

Well what kind of shrimps do they sell? Also if you got a picture can you send me? I would like to see before I go... I live in orland park and takes about 50mins to get there... If the shrimps aren't the one I like, it's not worth driving there...


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## rat49f6 (Mar 21, 2008)

i got 35 cherry red juvies (1/4" to 1/2") for $25 shipped off aquabid


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

that is a heck of a deal!


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## Revernance (Aug 20, 2007)

I'm currently ordering my shrimp online from a member. They should be here shortly! I can't wait to put them in an all shrimp tank!


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