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Hi all I have a 2 gallon tank just sitting here till I figure out what I am going to do with it, my idea is a Ghost Shrimp tank.

here is what I have.

2 Gallon tank, Aquatic Gardens desktop tank.
UGF designed for it.
Built in 15watt Light.

Is this a good idea or should I find something else?
If this is doable what should I add as for plants and the like?

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Since it has a filter to provide some water movement and aeration it would hold shrimp fine. Not a whole lot of shrimp but if you got a trio with at least 1 male and female you'll probably be bringing shrimp back to the store or giving to friends within a couple months. For plants I'd just stick with anything slow growing like java fern, anubias, possibly some crypts. They'll still outgrow the tank fairly quickly but at least you won't be trimming them every day just to keep it from turning into a jungle or having plants hang out the top and dry up. Just make sure when you start the tank up that you either fishless cycle or plant well and keep a very close eye on the ammonia and nitrites. Shrimp die very quickly when any ammonia or nitrite are present. With more sensitive shrimp even levels below testable on my aquarium pharm kit can kill them off. Ghost shrimp are a bit hardier and will survive around .25-.5 ammonia for a day possibly 2. Beyond that you have to use a water conditioner that locks up ammonia. With prime added I've had ghost shrimp survive over 1ppm ammonia but it's risky so better to do a complete cycle before adding them.

Sounds like a plan. I am thinking of doing the same exact thing with a 3 gallon mini tank that has a filter and light etc. Will grow some java moss, fern and whatever else will look good. I am thinking 2 females and a male will be a good start. If I have babies I will most likely put them in the 55 gallon and they will surely be eaten but maybe not. If they do get eaten its ok. Its all part of the circle of life.

Thanks guys I now have a plan of action. As for the cycling issue, I am transferring water from one of my existing tanks into it. Possibly gravel as well. And I have more Java Fern than I can shake a stick at. I was also thinking about a small amount of Java Moss. I know it will grow quickly and I will have to keep it trimmed but thats not a problem.

As far as ghost shrimp go I have a LFS that sells them 10 for $4.00 As feeders. And any extras will go to help my Rainbowfish as feeders.

Do Ghost shrimp eat algae or will I need a snail in there for algae control? Also How do you tell the Males from Females?

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Water will not transfer a noticeable amount of bacteria. All it will do is add nitrates to a new tank. Bacteria is attached to things like filter media, gravel, or even plants. If you fill the tank with plants you probably won't have an issue with cycling both because of the plants using the ammonia and the bacteria that would be on them if you get them out of a cycled tank.

Ghost shrimp don't eat a whole lot of algae. They mostly prefer meaty fish foods. The only way to tell males from females is that adult females will be larger, fatter, and often times carrying eggs. Find a store that has many of them in the same tank and so long as they are healthy freshwater ghost shrimp(there are saltwater ghost shrimp) you should be able to pick out a female or 2 that has little green eggs under her tail. Then get some slightly smaller skinnier ones and they will probably be male. Females will likely drop their eggs and not hatch them when moved to a new tank but should be carrying again within a couple weeks. If there are no females in the store tank with eggs don't buy those shrimp. There's a good chance they are brackish or saltwater shrimp instead.

sorry Forgot to mention I would also be adding in Gravel plants and the like. Cool no I can figure our what is what.

thanks all.

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Okay I am scrapping the 2 gallon and going for a 10, that I already have set up. All I need to do is move the Betta out of that tank. I have a few GS in there now, but I think the betta is losing interest in them. They have lots of hiding places as about a quarter of the tank is covered in Java Moss, some Java fern and a large lava rock.
the Danios cold care less about the shrimp, so I am going to leave them in. It has a UGF. do they prefer lots of water movement or just a little?

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If you want to breed shrimp you can't have any fish in the tank. Everything will eat baby shrimp. If you just want to have shrimp around then it doesn't matter so long as you avoid most cichlids and labyrinth fish. Most shrimp lean towards prefering low water flow but will survive in tanks with more water movement. Littler shrimp may get sucked into intake tubes of larger filters but full grown ghost shrimp will handle nearly rivertank conditions.

Well breeding them is up in the air as all I need them for is to breed enough to feed the other fish. although I am probably going to get a twenty and remove the fish to that and keep the GS in the ten.

mts.gif" border="0"> I vote do you?
My Tanks at Photobucket