I Added More Than 100 Shrimp to our Planted Aquariums

The last couple of weeks, I was busy trading my excess aquatic plants -- Java moss, guppy grass and dwarf sagittaria -- for aquatic plants that I didn't have. Some of new plants I got are floaters -- salvina, water lettuce, giant duckweed -- and red rotalas, which I planted in the sand substrate.

I also traded a few plants for shrimp, and at one point, got 100+ shrimp for free from a really nice guy who was moving out of town.

Shrimp and fish in my tank

If you are about to get and add a large number of shrimp in your fish tanks, this blog post may be helpful. You want to maximize the chances of surival and make the shrimp thrive in your tanks. Bonus points if you have planted tanks.

My aquariums and jars

I currently have the same 20 gallon regular and 10 gallon tanks since 2021. I also had jars and an outdoor planter that I don't use anymore.

My 20 and 10 gallon planted tanks with fish and shrimp

My 20 gallon aquarium

My 20 gallon fish tank with fish and shrimp

My 20 gallon tank is a regular Aqueon tank with CaribSea white sand as the substrate. There are several lava rocks, most of which are from Home Depot, and one big one from Petco.

🌱 The stem plants are crypts, dwarf sagittaria and red rotalas. I recently added Java fern, anubias and ludwigia repens.

🌱 The free floating plants are Java moss, and a little guppy grass.

🌱 The floater plants are salivina, giant duckweed and water lettuce.

🌵 There are a few cholla wood logs, still there after 2 or 3 years.

I added a few PVC pipes cut to about 4" in length that serves as hiding spots for shrimp and endler babies.

🐟 The current inhabitants are Japanese rice fish also known as medakas, and a bunch of P class endlers. P class endlers are not guppy hybrids, and hence, smaller than guppies or guppy hybrids.

🐌 The cleaner crew includes ramshorn snails. The aerating crew includes Malaysian trumpet snails.

🦐 There were already a few shrimp in here for the last couple of years, but usually stay out of sight.

There is no filter or bubbler, and no issues. The plants, fish and shrimp are happy and breed regularly.

My 10 gallon aquarium

My 10 gallon fish tank with fish and shrimp. Not enough algae in the tank.

My 10 gallon tank is a regular Aqueon tank with only lava rocks as substrate.

There are no stem plants in there.

🌱 There was a lot of guppy grass on one side, and Java moss on the other side. I did a lot of trimming recently. Otherwise, it would turn into a heavy green jungle.

🛖 There is an old resin cave as a hiding spot for shrimp that are molting.

🦐 The current inhabitants are shrimp and more shrimp. I used to have endler babies and Japanese medakas in here, but not anymore. It is a shrimp-only tank now.

Similar to the 20 gallon tank, there is no filter or bubbler, and I have no issues here as well.

I'm trying to grow algae so the shrimp can eat more natural food.

I got the 100 shrimp

I drove to the guy's house with a 3 gallon food grade bucket that I use for the aquarium. He had already caught the 100+ dwarf shrimp -- all neocaridina -- and put them in a ziploc bag. He had sealed the bag very carefully so that it wouldn't leak. I was very excited to get a bag of shrimp skittles.

Bag with more than 100 shrimp

Acclimate the shrimp

Whem I reached home, I first put the bag in the 10 gallon shrimp-only tank.

We first allow the temperature of the water in the bag match the temperature of the water in the 10 gallon tank. A sudden temperature difference of 2 degree Fahrenheit can kill or shock aquatic animals.

After 20 minutes of the bag floating, open it and pour a little water from the aquarium into the shrimp bag. Do it very slowly. Allow it to sit for another 10 minutes.

Release the shrimp into the tanks

I wanted to release 70 shrimp in the 10 gallon tank, and the remaining in the 20 gallon tank.

After laying the bag horizontally just under the water surface, I slowly allowed the shrimp to gravitate into the 10g tank. They were all energetic and swam out of the bag.

I stopped after a little over 2/3 of the bag was empty.

I released more shrimp into the 10 gallon planted tank

Then, I took the bag to the 20 gallon tank, and allowed the remaining shrimp to swim out of the bag and into the 20 gallon tank.

That was straightforward.

Here is a photo of the shrimp in the 20 gallon tank.

Around 30+ shrimp in the 20 gallon planted tank

Video of shrimp being released into the 10 gallon planted tank

Here's a video of the 70+ shrimp being released in the 10 gallon aquarium. Forgot my horrible photo and video-taking capability.

Shrimp are sensitive creatures

Shrimp are sensitive, so their acclimation to their new habitats should be gradual.

Shrimp are also very sensitive to water quality. If you suspect that your water quality needs to be better, please add shrimp at another date.

They are also sensitive to changes in water chemistry. Random or sudden shifts in water conditions can lead to stress, and worse, death. You can know if they are stressed when they lose color.

The sensitivity is mainly due to three factors:

1. pH Levels: Shrimp prefer a pH value of 6.8 to 7.5. Sudden changes in pH levels can stress them.
2. Temperature: Dwarf shrimp can live in 65F through 80F. However, sudden changes in temperatures are dangerous. A temperature difference of 3 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 3 Celsius) can actually kill them.
3. Metals in Water: If the total dissolved solids (TDS) value of water changes drastically, they can die. If your water gains new salts, TDS value goes up, and there's a significant increase of minerals or organic matter in a short amount of time, shrimp can dehydrate and die. If the TDS value goes down, and there's a significant reduction in dissolved metals, and where the salt balance in shrimp is not stable the shrimp can get into osmotic shock.

There are other factors, mostly from co-inhabitants, such as fish.

1. Aggressive Fish: Some fish like barbs and larger fish are territorial and aggressive. They can hurt shrimp just for fun. Sounds sadistic, but that's how they are, with their behavior.
2. Fish Competition for Resources: Fish and shrimp can fight for the same food. I've seen that when I throw in fish flakes or boiled egg shells. Most of the time, they are okay. But once in a while,you get an aggressive pregnant endler or guppy attack a shrimp for looking at the same food source.
3. Predatory Fish: Some fish (not mine) target shrimp for food. These are generally larger fish. If the shrimp fits in the mouth, they are food. Even if they don't fit, the fish may target the shrimp another day. It is good to have a heavily planted tank or lots of hiding spots, so the shrimp do not have to keep looking over their shoulders every moment of the day.

Having kept these factors in mind, make sure you have a very friendly and shrimp-safe environment for your shrimp BEFORE you add them.

What do I feed the newly added shrimp?

Shrimp are scavengers and algae eaters, for the most part. They will happily munch the algae growing on the grass, plants, substrate, lava rocks and decorations.

Shrimp also like to eat other things. I feed mine blanched vegetables, boiled egg shells, and on the rare occasion, crushed Tetra flakes.

A source of calcium is necessary for shrimp, and for that, I feed them boiled egg shells.

Blanched vegetables

Take small pieces of carrot, maybe 1" x 0.5" in size, and boil them. You can also put them in water and microwave it for a minute or two. After the carrot chunks cool down, put them in the tank.

My default blanched vegetable for shrimp is spinach. I take whole spinach leaves, boil them for a few minutes in water, either on the stove or in the microwave. When the spinach leaves cool down, I throw them in the tank.

Shrimp will love all of these. Blanched vegetables contain protein and other nutrients for healthy growth of shrimp.

Boiled egg shells

Shrimp nibbling on boiled egg shells

Shrimp shed their exoskeleton regularly. This process is called molting. When they eat calcium-rich food, their new shells harden well.

Shrimp need calcium sources for molting, or else they can die during the molting process. I tried giving them cuttlebone, but they really love is boiled egg shells. You can also take raw egg shells and boil them for a minute. When you throw egg shells in the water, shrimp will immediately go for them.

Egg shells contain 95% calcium carbonate, which are beneficial to shrimp. Egg shells also contain protein and mineral supplements. Shrimp also get trace minerals from consuming egg shells.

Egg shells also add calcium to the water column, and that helps other inhabitants like snails to strengthen their shells.

Algae wafers and products

I have tried feeding my previous shrimp algae wafers and algae shrimp balls. They loved it very much. However, in my recent tanks, I prefer to let them graze on algae growing on the glass tank walls.

Shrimp bioloads

Shrimp bioload refers to the waste produced by shrimp, basically poop and pee.

Shrimp have low bioloads, and the waste is taken care of in the nitrogen cycle process. However, keep monitoring it.

When in doubt, do a 10-20% water change.

I did not see any noticeable change in water parameters over the last couple of weeks in either tank.

Conclusion

If you are going to add several shrimp to your tank, and this blog post helped you, please comment below. Please note that your results may vary, and not be exactly the same as mine. Thanks for reading.

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If you have any questions, please contact me at arulbOsutkNiqlzziyties@gNqmaizl.bkcom. You can also post questions in our Facebook group. Thank you.