a tank without freshwater shrimp is not complete in my opinion...
I would always have shrimp in any planted aquarium I have and so should you. They perform such a wonderful job of cleaning up and recycling everything in your tank and offer a buffer it terms of keeping excesses down. For example, in previous newsletters I've discussed the importance of water changes and by keeping your water clean, you reduce the amount of food available for algae. Anything in your aquarium that is breaking down produces ammonia, so leaves that are decaying contribute to this.
But if you have shrimp, they'll be straight onto it. So rather than leaves rotting and producing ammonia, your shrimp will deal with it and compost it for you. As a result, there's less food for the algae to consume and your tank is cleaner and healthier. It really is as simple as that. In terms of shrimp numbers you can literally have as many as you want. The tank which holds our cherry shrimp is 3x1x1' and houses about 800 shrimp - they're not cramped in anyway. I'm not suggesting you need that many but you do need a suitable amount (more than 10 for eg) for them to make an impact. To visit our shrimp page click here.
