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I have just added fish to start cycling it, but I am planning out what else to add later.
This will be my first planted tank, and I am hopping to track down some slate to make my own caves.
As far as bottom dwellers, I am planning on 6 Cory Cats and 5-6 Kuhli loaches, so I don't want anything that will bother them. The rest of the tank will be Swordtails, Glass Cats (maybe), and Gouramis (probably drawf).
What kind of shrimp would be best for this set up, and how many? I have black gravel in this tank. I have seen Java Moss mentioned, but ideas on other plants or shrimp that won't aggressively eat plants?
Any other inverts that might be better than the shrimp?

Christina
crickit99@aol.com

i've had amano shrimps, they don't eat plants. and do a great cleaning up job.
problem with them is that they are so quick and get to the pellets before your cories and loaches could.
and they do like climbing out of the tank and drying up on the carpet to scare the visitors, who then think you've got and insect infestation.

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Amannos are good but if you want one that is just as good and a lot more good looking get cherry red shimp. They are more expensive.

And quite a bit smaller. More likely to be eaten,but much cuter and easier to find.

Kim

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-07-24 20:43][/span]

How large is your tank? Because like fish, the tank's size will dictate how many shrimp you get. While shrimp don't add a great deal to the bioload of the tank, you also don't want to overpopulate.

One problem you might have are the cories. Some people have reported their cories get nervous because they have to share the bottom of the tank - though the loaches may be more of a bother. But this shouldn't be too much of a problem if you have a large enought tank.

If you can, go for a mix of different shrimp. I have Amano, cherries, ghost and Bamboo. I would definately recommend the Amano and cherries - both are good algae eaters but will eat normal fish food. I would get about 1 Amano per gallon and maybe 1.5-2 cherries per gallon. (no cracks about how to get .5 cherries

Since ghost shrimp are primarily scavengers like the cories, I wouldn't get them since you'd be creating a lot of competition. Unless you have a lot of algae floating around your water, I would also stay away from the Bamboo shrimp as they are filter feeders and don't eat much else. I found out the hard way after one of mine starved to death.

You need to supplement the bamboo's diet with zooplankton and daphnia.

Kim

I have been rethinking my stocking plans for this tank, because I don't want to overstock. And I know I have read that some of the shrimp prefer to be in a group so they are more active.
But as far as the bottom dwellers, I went out and bought slate and made some 3 tiered shelves/caves, and I am going to add some Java Moss and Dwarf Sagittaria tmorrow. I figured that would add some great hiding places.
Thanks for all the advice. If anything, I guess if I see that I have gone overboard, it's just a good excuse to get another tank!
Christina