I have finally managed to put together a Beginners' FAQ that will (hopefully) answer some of the questions that beginners in our hobby ask the most. It's located in the "Articles" section of the website. I recommend all beginners (and even more advanced people) to read the FAQ in addition to the articles.
Please let me know if there is any question that should be added to the FAQ to make life easier for beginners. I will be happy to hear your suggestions (although I might or might not take them, so please don't take it personally ).
Last edited by Mustafa on Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Maybe suggested shrimp to start with. It might get discouraging if someone bought a specie harder to care for or one that need very specific envirnoment. Sometimes beginigers have great intrest, have read the pages, but are still unsure. Some people like to be straight out told "so-and-so shrimp is a nice creature to start the hobby with, etc, because...and it can breed in freshwater...and so on.
Your page has a myriad of great information reguarding shrimp. I thought I knew all about the shrimps I have been keeping since childhood, but I learned many nice pointers on your site and discovered that there are more than just ghost shrimp in the world. The fact that you made this beginer guide show a great love and enthusiams, in my eyes. Keep up the good work, and good luck with all your shrimps you study.
Good article. My only suggestion in in question #2. Not all dwarf shrimp reproduce by eggs. Some go through a larval stage which is not mentioned in the answers.
I wonder if there should be some kind of explanation of what constitutes a cycled tank. To many people a cycled tank, is just one they have added a bacterial supplement too. I'm not sure these are even a good idea, where shrimps are concerned.
Maybe just a basic breakdown of
0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
and very low Nitrate.
Hardness and Ph according to what species you are keeping.
Thanks again for all the feedback. I'll make this topic a sticky, for now at least, as suggested. JK, I'm going to write a separate article about cycling and water chemistry, so that's where all the information on that topic is going to go into.
I've actualy been compiling a list of topics for articles I was going to suggest to you, Mustafa, so this this thread is very timely. I'll leave it to your discretion as to whether these suggestions can be included in the FAQ, or need articles of their own, or neither.
#1. Basics of Shrimp Photography. As many of us have discovered, getting good photos of dwarf shrimps is significantly tougher than getting good photos of (most) aquarium fish. An article with pointers and suggestions would be very helpful.
#2. Tell Me About My "Rainbow Shrimp." I know you have had to answer countless times in various threads about the impossibility of knowing what species a store might be selling when they call it a rainbow shrimp; perhaps a note in the FAQ article clarifying this would be enough.
#3. What Shrimp Species Can I Mix in the Same Tank? This seems to be another question that is asked again and again in various threads; not sure if you could answer this briefly in the FAQ or whether it would require a whole article. Either way, it's a question that seems to come up regularly.
Those are all I can think of for now. I'll add more if I think of any.
Another suggestion on #3 "Do shrimp eat their young?" my observation with american ghost shrimp Palaemonetes paludosus, and another member with Macrobrachium lanchesteri sugggest that the parents will actively eat the larva if not separated from the parents. This is probably good practive for most shrimp that have a larval stage except ones like Halocaridina rubra that we know won't. While this isn't a newbie activity, ghost shrimp are one of the newbie shrimp. We often try things without our training wheels!
).
Typo corrected.
Macros, anyone?
I think this article was very helpful!
