Like millions of others, the first pet I had sole responsibility for was a goldfish. Two, actually. Fish are usually the sort of pet parents are happy for children to own....sometimes with devastating consequences for the fish. They're often the pets you get before graduating onto hamster or gerbils. A small tank, a filter if the parents have done a little research or kept themselves, a light if you're lucky. And there are a good many kids out there who are extremely dedicated, responsible, passionate aquarists.
But, for many of us, the passion continues. We grow up researching more, understanding more, buying more kit and, perhaps, venturing into tropical or marine.
Like many others, I've kept fish for almost all my life. But I can't say I expected to ever become interested, as such, in shrimp. My first foray into invertebrates occurred when I bought a red crab (Perisesarma bidens) for a small tank I had no other use for. He had a dedicated beach, access to dry land, lots of interesting things to scrabble up and down.......spending more time hiding than anything else, he thrived for about a year and then perished for no discernable reason.
A few years passed, my non-invertebrate aquaria continued, and I found myself interested in snails and shrimp. I think, in all honesty, it was the various shades of apple snail (Pomacea bridgesii) I was initially drawn to. I didn't purchase immediately, preferring to do as much research into any new species (aquatic or not) as possible before taking the leap. But during the course of researching the apples I learned more about shrimp than I'd intended. The colours, the variety....quite fascinating.
I set up a small 20l tank, complete with shrimp-safe filter, and surprised even myself by purchasing some red cherry shrimps (Neocaridina heteropoda var. red). Only a few at first, just to see how they did. They were all juveniles, so I got to see how they developed into adults. And they rewarded me when they hit maturity and produced offspring......many offspring.
By that time, little did I realise I'd been bitten by the bug. Sure, I'd found myself "rescuing" some ghost shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus) being sold as feeder shrimp at my lfs ("local fish shop/store", for those not in the know), and kept those in a spare 30l, but I didn't realise just how interested in shrimp I'd become. The ghosts were a wake-up call.....the first 7 I bought perished within 2 hours of bringing them home. I'd never experienced such losses in one hit, certainly never the day I purchased. I felt very much responsible, not to mention confused, and researched even more, finding out that in countries where these shrimp are seen as feeders and almost never as pets they can be kept in awful conditions at the lfs. Even in the wild, these shrimp tend to live in what most aquarists would consider to be less than ideal waters, and this only seems to get worse once at the shop. It turned out they'd died from shock - even after spending a hour or so acclimating them, my aquarium water had been too clean. I bought another 10 and instead of keeping them in an aquarium, for the first couple of days I kept them in their own water in a small plastic pet carrier, the kind you get for stick insects, with just a gravel substrate, lots of java moss and an airstone. Over those couple of days, I gradually acclimated them to the aquarium water...and to my surprise they survived.
I stuck to these two species for quite some time, just researching others, but eventually had to aquire some more. After setting up a few more shrimp tanks, I purchased some green dwarfs (Caridina babaulti var. green), some yellows (Neocardina heteropoda var. yellow) and some snowballs (Neocaridina zhangjiajiensis var. white).....the bug had well and truly bitten and I was addicted.
I don't really know quite why I'm so addicted, or why shrimp have become so popular in recent years. Perhaps it's their colours and variety, their behaviour, or how readily most of them breed in the right conditions. They certainly make a fantastic addition to a select community tank, and mainly come with the added benefit of eating algae.
Over time, no doubt more will be added to my collection. Hopefully this will become a shrimp journal of sorts. Enjoy!
But, for many of us, the passion continues. We grow up researching more, understanding more, buying more kit and, perhaps, venturing into tropical or marine.
Like many others, I've kept fish for almost all my life. But I can't say I expected to ever become interested, as such, in shrimp. My first foray into invertebrates occurred when I bought a red crab (Perisesarma bidens) for a small tank I had no other use for. He had a dedicated beach, access to dry land, lots of interesting things to scrabble up and down.......spending more time hiding than anything else, he thrived for about a year and then perished for no discernable reason.
A few years passed, my non-invertebrate aquaria continued, and I found myself interested in snails and shrimp. I think, in all honesty, it was the various shades of apple snail (Pomacea bridgesii) I was initially drawn to. I didn't purchase immediately, preferring to do as much research into any new species (aquatic or not) as possible before taking the leap. But during the course of researching the apples I learned more about shrimp than I'd intended. The colours, the variety....quite fascinating.
I set up a small 20l tank, complete with shrimp-safe filter, and surprised even myself by purchasing some red cherry shrimps (Neocaridina heteropoda var. red). Only a few at first, just to see how they did. They were all juveniles, so I got to see how they developed into adults. And they rewarded me when they hit maturity and produced offspring......many offspring.
By that time, little did I realise I'd been bitten by the bug. Sure, I'd found myself "rescuing" some ghost shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus) being sold as feeder shrimp at my lfs ("local fish shop/store", for those not in the know), and kept those in a spare 30l, but I didn't realise just how interested in shrimp I'd become. The ghosts were a wake-up call.....the first 7 I bought perished within 2 hours of bringing them home. I'd never experienced such losses in one hit, certainly never the day I purchased. I felt very much responsible, not to mention confused, and researched even more, finding out that in countries where these shrimp are seen as feeders and almost never as pets they can be kept in awful conditions at the lfs. Even in the wild, these shrimp tend to live in what most aquarists would consider to be less than ideal waters, and this only seems to get worse once at the shop. It turned out they'd died from shock - even after spending a hour or so acclimating them, my aquarium water had been too clean. I bought another 10 and instead of keeping them in an aquarium, for the first couple of days I kept them in their own water in a small plastic pet carrier, the kind you get for stick insects, with just a gravel substrate, lots of java moss and an airstone. Over those couple of days, I gradually acclimated them to the aquarium water...and to my surprise they survived.
I stuck to these two species for quite some time, just researching others, but eventually had to aquire some more. After setting up a few more shrimp tanks, I purchased some green dwarfs (Caridina babaulti var. green), some yellows (Neocardina heteropoda var. yellow) and some snowballs (Neocaridina zhangjiajiensis var. white).....the bug had well and truly bitten and I was addicted.
I don't really know quite why I'm so addicted, or why shrimp have become so popular in recent years. Perhaps it's their colours and variety, their behaviour, or how readily most of them breed in the right conditions. They certainly make a fantastic addition to a select community tank, and mainly come with the added benefit of eating algae.
Over time, no doubt more will be added to my collection. Hopefully this will become a shrimp journal of sorts. Enjoy!
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