I am currently planting a 55gal tank. This will be a heavily planted tank (read forest). There will be angels in the tank once it is 100% planted and ready. What kind of shrimp would be good (and area appropriate, or at least look that way) to clean up all the poo poo in the plants?-
Shrimp for an Amazon Biotope Tank
- Thread starter snarferer
- Start date
Shrimp do not eat feces, but will help clean up plant debris, small growths of algae, and uneaten fish food.
Species of Palaemonetes (ghost shrimp), Atya (fan shrimp), and Macrobrachium (whisker or longarm shrimp) are native to South America. Angels would probably pick off ghost shrimp pretty quickly, and the larger Macrobrachium species would be a threat to the fish. Atya gabonensis is a filter feeder and should not be kept for tank maintenance, but is a cool species in its own right. I suggest smaller Macrobrachium species as a 'clean-up' crew.
One thing to be aware of is that crustaceans generally don't do well in acidic conditions. If you set this up as a blackwater tank you should probably forego shrimp altogether.
Species of Palaemonetes (ghost shrimp), Atya (fan shrimp), and Macrobrachium (whisker or longarm shrimp) are native to South America. Angels would probably pick off ghost shrimp pretty quickly, and the larger Macrobrachium species would be a threat to the fish. Atya gabonensis is a filter feeder and should not be kept for tank maintenance, but is a cool species in its own right. I suggest smaller Macrobrachium species as a 'clean-up' crew.
One thing to be aware of is that crustaceans generally don't do well in acidic conditions. If you set this up as a blackwater tank you should probably forego shrimp altogether.
I think it's strange how few South American freshwater crustaceans arrive in imports.. They're there, but somehow the Southeast Asian market is the big one for shrimps...
Noto;3115223; said:
Sorry, meant poo poo as in detritus. Angels are weird. If something is at or below a certain size they will eat the Angels. If the organism is larger, it will mess with the angel.
Many of the Caridina species, such as tiger shrimp, bumblebees and the like, prefer soft water. Technically they are from Asia though, not SA. But they like the same water conditions.
You can't keep these guys with angelfish though. The angelfish bite their legs off and leave them dying on the tank floor!
You can't keep these guys with angelfish though. The angelfish bite their legs off and leave them dying on the tank floor!