Daniel Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 Hi Everyone, if you've been following some threads, you may have heard me mention glass shrimp as a means of algae control. As there was interest in the subject i thought i would post up some images and give a bit of info. sorry about the size of the image and the clarity my digi cam isnt really made for macro, here you can see one of the smaller shrimp, for reference the substrate grain size is about 2-2.5mm. i am unable to tell them apart, that is male and female, i guess though that the larger ones are female and the smaler ones are male, none of them so far are pregnant. the shrimp are from about 1-2cm in size and grow to about 2.5cm, the main colony of about 15 are in my nano tank which has four endlers, neither react to each other, ive put one shrimp into a 10 gal with a betta, i havent seen it since i put it in however, and another has been put into my 30gal with rams, tetras, endlers and corys. I saw the one in my 30 gal when i got home munching on algae on one of my swords. So far they are eating only algae and leftover food, and have made no attempt to damage or hurt any other fish or inverts or plants. They all arrived live sent overnight from Queensland, they are sold by Live Fish umm... the company was really good as well with notification and tracking numbers and arrived before noon. ill keep this updated if they breed and whether they are compatible with bettas and toher fish. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDP Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 thanks for the info daniel, let us know if the one in the betta tank emerges! have they made any noticeable impact on algae yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 I love them! They're so hard to come across here, though - and $5 each!! I might consider Live Fish if I don't find any in Melbourne. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted September 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 I believe they ship everywhere bar Tasmania overnight. i dont think my betta has got the other one, he/she is porbably hiding in the wisteria, the tank isn't the easiest to see into either, they've basically clean most the algae off at ground level, and are starting to move up the tank sides, some have got into the cambomba, whose leaves are all stuck together, with algae. i was trying to get some macro shots but i'm either too close or too far away heres a pic anyways trying to show their insides apparently you can use them as live feeders as well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figure_8 Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 the only time I have seen these guys in perth was in a feeder tank at a lfs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 be careful when looking for these guys, a lot of places sell macrobrachium shrimp at this size and its easy to get caught out. More piccies And for comparison, here is a link to a machro prawn (older and starting to get bigger). Note the dark stripes and the long nippers, these are generally visible when they are younger. Macro Prawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted September 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2006 I just noticed one of mine is pregnant (right term for shrimp?) with lots of eggs the betta tank shrimp was found, dried up and crispy, i mistook it for a freeze dried black worm on the tank stand, since then ive added about 5 more and ive seen them on and off. EDIT: Piccy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 They're all DEAD!!!!!, i acclimitised them to a new tank, then put on a new batch of DIY CO2, too much yeast, (caused a swing in ph ) too bad too, because they had actually produced shrimplets, i'll probably order some more later down the track.... BTW bettas love them to absolute death, especially via means of decapitation :thumbs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 They bred for you and they all died? Bugger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebetta Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 They dont look any different to the ones that I catch in the murray down here and catch my self some nice perch on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 It's true that freshwater shrimp are found all around australia, if you look on the ANGFA website http://www.angfa.org.au/intro.html and go into their database you can find species that are local to your area, Dave at Aquagreen www.aquagreen.com.au also sells native shrimp at the moment. I would too go down to my local river (Georges River) but it was pretty polluted for a while, so id rather buy mine from a cleaner source. But if you do catch some post some pictures please!!! I think i might buy some more, my algae is coming back.... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 These are tiny bluebetta, how big are the ones you catch? I'm just thinking that threading most of these on a hook would be tricky, maybe you are getting young macros? Could be the same though, I used to catch them in farm dams and in the Nepean River. Pictures required! ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebetta Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 They are and inch or to long. I am probably going fishing on the week end so I will take a pic of one If we can catch any they have been a bit scarce lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebetta Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Here are some shrimpies that we caught yesterday when we went fishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figure_8 Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 omg look at the nipper on that!!!! :whistling: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJ Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Those guys are great at cleaning up your fish when they sleep (tried some in my tank when I was a kid ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebetta Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Yeah, them nippers can hurt a little bit when they are on one of your fingers. While we are talking about shrimps eating fish look out for yabbies. They will take your fishies down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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