Sulawesi Shrimp Habitat

[BlueRam]

Well I managed to get 8 sulawesi shrimp home from Singapore to Canada. I purchased these while I was in Singapore for Aquarama. I've had them in the tank for a month now. I lost most of the 40 cardinal and yellow cheek through shipping and acclimization but as stated I have 8 healthy ones left with no losses for the last 3 weeks. Our ph in Alberta is very high and the tank is heated to 80 degrees.
What I'm wondering is how you would set up their tank? I have some natural tan coloured sand on the bottom which shows off their colour well. What else would you put in the tank? Since I don't want to lower the ph I was not going to add any wood, dried almond leaves or co2. Does anyone know what their natural habitat consists of? The tank is a 15" long cube so not the easiest to aquascape. Any ideas most welcome.

[joydiv]

Take a look at the thread in the stickies

[fla04gbf]

So, you lost 32 shrimps. That's quite sad cause they are pretty expensive. Anyway, I was just wondering what kind of sulawesi shrimps did you get in Aquarama? I also bought some there but I was not successful in keeping them alive, I think mine were the white strips. Now I have switched to Cardinal which is supposed to be the most hardly and people have succeeded in breeding them in the tank.
The pH for these shrimps should be at around 7.5-8 although some managed to keep them in a slightly lower pH as well. I will not put C02 in and you need to make sure the nitrate is low (<10ppm , ideally), so not over-feeding. In fact feeding may not be very neccessary as they usually only pick on the leaves or rocks for whatever scrapes they find. I feed algae raffles occassionally to supplment their diet and bit. In term pf temperature, it doesn't seem to be a vey big issue, but I will try to avoid big swings at daily temperature, if possible. Have to remember that they are very sensitive to water paramter changes, so if you need to change anything, do it very very slowly. Good luck!

[BlueRam]

I only paid $3 per shrimp. In Canada, if you can get them, they are $18 each! I bought cardinals and yellow cheeks. They have gone through 2 water changes of about 15% since being put in the tank with no losses.

[fla04gbf]

I only paid $3 per shrimp. In Canada, if you can get them, they are $18 each! I bought cardinals and yellow cheeks. They have gone through 2 water changes of about 15% since being put in the tank with no losses.

This sounds quite encouraging. I think the trick with sulawesi shrimp is to avoid sudden change in water parameter, so do small water changes more frequently should help to keep them healthy without causing too much stress. I usually vacuum my gravel a bit when I change water and I would drip the filtered (activated carbon + membrane) water slowly to my sump, which then get circulated slowly into my shrimp tank. Also put some coral chips into the filter and into the tank (maybe bury them under the gravel) to keep the pH high