Loaches Online Forum

I went to Petco yesterday to buy antibiotics for my botia striata who is very skinny, since the levamisole didn't work. I swore I was going to just accept it and let nature take its course, but you know how it is...

Anyway, they were out of the meds, but of course I had to go look at the fish, and they had bamboo shrimp!!!!!!!!!!! I have been wanting one for about 6 years now, so it must be time to do it.

They are $10 each (more than I have paid for any of my fish), and I have heard that groups are good, so I was thinking about three. I would like to put them in my 29 gallon tank with my botia striata, but that would be a very expensive snack if the botia decide they look tasty.

I currently have an amano shrimp with these guys, and they have shown no interest that I can tell. The botia are only about 1.25 inches (3 cm) right now. Does anyone have any experience with these shrimp? Think they would get eaten? How about red cherry shrimp (much smaller I know, but I want these guys too).

I am also worried that I will end up overstocked if I add many shrimp. I have heard conflicting opinions about the effect of shrimp on bioload. My plan for the tank (29 gallon/30x12x18inches) is: 5 australian rainbowfish, 5 botia striata, 1 bristlenose pleco (he seems to be pretty much done growing at 3 inches). That should be pretty full when everyone is full grown, and I don't know if adding shrimp will cause problems.

Sorry, I can't seem to write short posts. Thanks for any opinions and ideas.

Jessica

Can't say about the bioload but any sizable bamboo/fan shrimp will be perfectly safe with little B. striata. I had three of them in with a group of B. almorhae (the largest of which is 4") with no problems. They do need some current to allow them to feed properly (see pictures!). Without it they can move around the bottom picking up food, but its really better to let them do it the way they like.







I hate loading videos up on the internet, all the qualitiy disappears! Tried youtube but it turned out to make it worse than photobucket did!

Oh, the pictures are just feeding the addiction! Thanks for the encouraging info. I think maybe this afternoon I will have to stop by Petco again.... I will have to figure out the stocking issue later if it seems to be a problem. Just add another tank I guess.

One more thing I thought of though. I don't have a quarantine tank to use right now (husband filled mine with baby guppies, which I encourage as the gateway to addiction). Are shrimp ok to just put in my main tank? Can they carry anything that fish would also be susceptible to? I will be careful to net them, rather than dumping fish store water into my tank.

Thanks!

Jessica

I have two bamboo shrimps and they will not bother any fish. They like to stay around the outlets of the filters to get the current and they shed their shell/skin once a while.

Mine are about 2" big now. I did use the nano tank to QT them for a while. I did daily WCs while they were in there.

I've never heard of shrimp carrying anything that can be transmitted to fish, though I'd wait for one of the more experienced fish keepers around here to confirm or refute that. If you did want to quarantine them I can't imagine they'd touch the baby guppies.

my striata tear into shrimp like sharks at a feeding frenzy.
not my much larger clown, dario or kub.
as always YMWV.
I would use a Qtank. If snails can carry desease...shrimp can I would assume. and in this case it is better to assume.

newshound wrote:my striata tear into shrimp like sharks at a feeding frenzy.
not my much larger clown, dario or kub.
as always YMWV.
I would use a Qtank. If snails can carry desease...shrimp can I would assume. and in this case it is better to assume.

Wow, milage does indeed vary! Mine didn't touch a couple of 2cm japonica shrimp....

Well, I somehow managed to restrain myself for now, and I will wait until I can quarantine them for at least a little while. The guy at the store said that they have them in stock regularly.

I'm hoping if I put them in the tank while the loaches are still small, maybe they will never view them as food.

Thanks for the responses!

Jessica

Hey Jessica, still holding out on the shrimp? Just to tempt you a little more....

Oh why must you torture me?!?!?!

It's pathetic, I find myself thinking about shrimp in the middle of the day. Unfortunately we started a home improvement project in the room where I would need to put the quarantine tank. It's turned from a weekend project into, well, it's going on 3-4 weeks now, mostly due to lack of energy, but until the room is done, I can't get my shrimpies!

I guess the plus is that it will leave me a little time to actually spend some money on clothes for work or something instead of aquarium stuff. The people at work are probably tired of my limited wardrobe, but hey, I had other priorities (botia striata, battery backup unit for the filter, levamisole, rainbowfish, etc, etc). Before that it was orchids, there is always something more important...

Jessica

i to had those shrimp...

i did not had a spare tank so i kept them with my kubotai... all went well till one died and the botia's snacked on it... than as soon as the other one shed his or her's skin in was over too... there are still some japonica's and one redtail in the tank but they can hide much easier in places where a botia cant get to them to shed.

even the lager scarie looking african version of it is no match for a botia that's hungry...

My botias have eaten dead fan and japonica shrimp but never bothered live ones even when shedding. Or maybe I've just been lucky so far! I have to say I do get a little nervous whenever I put feeder shrimp in there that they'll be getting a taste for it, but since they come from salty(ish) water they seem to smell different.

Ok, dredging up a really old thread, and it's not even really loach related, but I had a horrid day at work, so I am showing off photos to make myself feel better. I finally got 3 of these guys a few weeks ago. They are in the QT with a few new guppies. I think I might be too chicken to put them in with my striata. The loaches show no interest whatsoever in my amano shrimp, but what if they suddenly change their minds one day? I'm torn, because I really want the shrimp in the big tank, but I like them so much and they are so pricey...



Jessica

Nice picture Jessica.