Recommendation of dwarf shrimp as cleaning crew

[dnsfpl]

is glass shrimp the smallest "adult" shrimp?
are they as hardworking as yamato?
consider getting a few in my tank which has bioload problem

thank you

[Quixotic]

Uhm, what *exactly* are you actually asking about? There are shrimps that grow as big as 15 cm (the Cameroon-armoured shrimp, Atyopsis gabonensis) or even up to 30 cm (giant river prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii).

If you are looking for dwarf shrimp to remove leftover food, then I think any of them will do the job, including glass shrimp, which are generally from the Macrobrachium genus. As there are many species within the genus, their sizes are also variable, from dwarves to giants. It isn't easy to determine the species of glass shrimp as they look rather alike when young.

For removing leftover food, I would think that Yamato shrimp (Caridina multidentata) would make good cleaners. However, I would also suggest to relook into your feeding regime if there is too much leftover food.

[dnsfpl]

i am looking for hardy shrimps that don't grow in size...small cute shrimps

[anaconda]

Malayans would be best for you in this case

Easy to keep, hardy , small and breed like rabbits

[dnsfpl]

breed like rabbits = breed fast?

if so it will increase my bioload

[jacian]

If they do breed, it shows that your water condition is good. Breeding is a nature thing, it will come to a balance itself. Not to worry too much.

[torque6]

If i still recall some time back, yamotos require saltwalter to breed. Goggle it, theres a guy who has a full article on these, shouldnt be too hard to find.

[Ivan]

Malayan shrimp is still better as it is small and also very cheap...

[ct13]

If i still recall some time back, yamotos require saltwalter to breed. Goggle it, theres a guy who has a full article on these, shouldnt be too hard to find.

I understand that yamato require salt water or black water to breed. Those who has vistit Biotope in AMK will see at least 6 of the yamato in the display tank are carrying eggs!!!!!!!

Anyone can explain? Definitely no salt & black water added.

[Madnezz]

Hi,

Found these info from ShrimpNow,

"Yamato shrimps are a very hard working algae cleaning crew.

Larvaes are not able to develop in freshwater tank, they need certain level of salinity. However, it is reported that a few hobbyists found small number offsprings of Yamato shrimps in their planted tank."

Please note that Yamato often snatch the food and swim away.

[Quixotic]

I understand that yamato require salt water or black water to breed. Those who has vistit Biotope in AMK will see at least 6 of the yamato in the display tank are carrying eggs!!!!!!!

Anyone can explain? Definitely no salt & black water added.

I am afraid you may have gotten the wrong understanding.

1. C. multidentata (Yamato/Amano shrimp) are shrimps that go through a planktonic larval stage. As you would have known by now, the offsprings of hatched eggs are larvaes, instead of looking like miniature replicas of the adults. As mentioned by Madnezz, these larvaes need certain levels of salinity in order to develop. Salinity here refers to brackish water, not blackwater.

See Wikipedia for an explanation of brackish water, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brackish_water

See Wikipedia for an explaination of blackwater, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_river

2. Yamato shrimp live their adult primarily in freshwater conditions. They don't need to brackish water conditions to carry eggs.

Once the eggs are hatched, the Yamato larvaes will be carried by the current of the river downstream to where it meets the sea. This is where they grow and develop in brackish water conditions, and move upstream as they grow into juveniles.

3. There have been reports by hobbyists where some offsprings were found to be growing in freshwater tanks. Therefore, it is speculated that some larvaes may have survived in those conditions (by luck). I don't think there are scientific studies done on this, but no matter what, the number of offsprings in those conditions are very few in between.

Another speculation is that there are some shrimps that look similar to C. multidentata. This cannot be discounted if some of the reports were to be believed. Besides, I have heard of a shrimp in the market which is being traded as Mini Yamato/Japonica (or something similar).

But all these are speculations, so reports of offsprings found in freshwater tanks can only be taken with a pinch of salt.