# alternatives to fish....



## mex2tx (Oct 9, 2008)

What are some good alternatives to fish...
I'm going to keep a no-fish tank( strange, but yes)
So what can i put in it , but still be aesthetically pleasing? and not pricey either..

I already thought of African dwarf frogs, and maybe ghost shrimp, but i wanted a bit more color
added to my tank...

thanks for your help, and remember no fish..8)


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

All kinds of shrimp  They come in a bunch of different colors but some species can get pricey. You can take a look at my website in my signature for some ideas of the different shrimp available out there.


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## mex2tx (Oct 9, 2008)

nice website, i am liking the idea of keeping the blue pearl shrimps.

Thanks for your link to your website...


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## Sunstar (Sep 17, 2008)

an amazing variety of shrimp out there. Do some research and see what appeals to you. you might find shrimp are your think. I am prefering tem to fish now.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

There are also some very interesting snails that are plant safe. Some of the nerites have nice patterning and brigs are interesting to watch.


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## Sunstar (Sep 17, 2008)

then the A. helana if you get pond snails in excess... (thye kill and eat snails)


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## mex2tx (Oct 9, 2008)

cs_gardener said:


> There are also some very interesting snails that are plant safe. Some of the nerites have nice patterning and brigs are interesting to watch.


Found this link:
http://www.applesnail.net/content/snails_various.php

But i am wondering what are the most active types of snails. ones that wont stay in a corner all week long..


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## clearleaf (Oct 4, 2008)

I have a friend who keeps newts fairly successfully in a paludarium with frogs. I was surprised, I had expected them to be more sensitive and more land-based. But whenever I'm over I mostly see them hanging in a 'cave' underwater. He has a couple plastic logs which float at the surface, they like to sit inside those.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

My nerites are always moving around. Currently I only have olive nerites but I'd like to get some like this spotted nerite. I don't have brigs now but when I did they were frequently moving around and they could cover a large area in relatively little time. It was fun because I could feed them directly when they came near the water surface. I also like some of the more colorful ramshorn snails. I've had some pretty spotted ones and have seen some deep red ones.


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

you could do sulawesi snails or sulawesi shrimp if you really wanted something exotic.


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## mex2tx (Oct 9, 2008)

Thanks, so I'm very interested in shrimp,aquatic frogs, and snails?

Can anyone give me or link or post the information about what they eat, and what 2 species of any of the 2(and if u can all 3) 
are less aggressive towards each other and wont eat each other?


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

besides snails and shrimp theres also fully aquatic newts/salamanders you can get however they are hard to find. I have a buddy that has two living fully aquatic


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## mex2tx (Oct 9, 2008)

Newts sound like itll be fun to keep, but wouldn't they eat the shrimp?


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

I would assume they would


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## mex2tx (Oct 9, 2008)

oblongshrimp said:


> I would assume they would


Which puts me back at square 2- only shrimp,frogs ( but need info on what types wont eat shrimp or what shrimp can survive being with frogs) and snails


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

If they can catch them they will eat them, just not sure which kinds can actually catch them. The african dwarf frogs may beable to get some of them but i know people who keep them with their shrimp and the population stays steady. Almost all frogs need some way to get out of the water anyways and probably won't spend much time in it. Are you doing a terrarium?


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## mex2tx (Oct 9, 2008)

oblongshrimp said:


> If they can catch them they will eat them, just not sure which kinds can actually catch them. The african dwarf frogs may beable to get some of them but i know people who keep them with their shrimp and the population stays steady. Almost all frogs need some way to get out of the water anyways and probably won't spend much time in it. Are you doing a terrarium?


Thanks for bringing that up, i was aware that all frogs need land, but the frogs at walmart, its right outside my house so thats why ill purchase them there, they come in a plastic "cup"(if you will) and its just a frog inside water, so i assumed it was a full aquatic frog?

AM i wrong?


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

im assuming these are dwarf frogs? I've seen these at tanks at my LFS with no land avaiable to them, and i made the same assumption as you mex.


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## yikesjason (Jul 3, 2008)

Yes, they are aquatic frogs. They do fine without land to get out of the water.


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## rich_one (Oct 31, 2007)

don't know how much I'd trust frogs w/ dwarf shrimp... if you are going with the blue pearls (excellent choice, btw), in addition to whatever snail, you could always try dwarf crayfish. they do hide a lot though... but it is another non-fish you could try, that will not harm your dwarf shrimps!

good luck!

-Rich


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## mex2tx (Oct 9, 2008)

Thanks rich one, and everybody else,
Yes the frogs i was talking about was dwarf frogs.
Btw, what do african dwarf frogs eat?


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

maybe this was covered, i didn't read all 3 pages of the thread...but make sure you get the correct frog....
http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/species/clawedordwarf.html


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## mex2tx (Oct 9, 2008)

vancat said:


> maybe this was covered, i didn't read all 3 pages of the thread...but make sure you get the correct frog....
> http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/species/clawedordwarf.html


Thanks, i think its the african dwarf frog, but it might be the clawes

Ok so the clawed will eat brine shrimp and fish food?
and the dwarfs will eat frozen brineshrimp(or dried) and frozen bloodworms?

im just curious could any one of them eat krill?


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## yikesjason (Jul 3, 2008)

There are also frog foods. I had some called Frog and Tadpole Bites. It has worked well when I had frogs in the past.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

I had to laugh at myself, did I actually say get the "correct frog"? LOL

I think the problem with the clawed frog is that they eat EVERYTHING. Other frogs, fish, your cat, you....

and PS- I keep fish forever, they hardly ever die. I got 2 dwarf frogs once and they keeled over pretty quickly.


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## mex2tx (Oct 9, 2008)

vancat said:


> I had to laugh at myself, did I actually say get the "correct frog"? LOL
> 
> I think the problem with the clawed frog is that they eat EVERYTHING. Other frogs, fish, your cat, you....
> 
> and PS- I keep fish forever, they hardly ever die. I got 2 dwarf frogs once and they keeled over pretty quickly.


lol ..its ok 
Thanks for sharing that link


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