new tank setup, feeding- bamboo and vampire

[Yana]

Lots of random questions , hope you don't mind
I have a 20g. tall well established, moderatly planted with 3 bamboo shrimp(have been with me for about 4 months), and 1 vampire shrimp(a couple weeks).
(the other inhabitants are: 10 Lemon tetras, 1 dwarf gourami, 6 japonica, 5 Neocaridina cf. zhangjiajiensis, and a few ghost shrimp)

I'm considering using a 10gallon to make a planted, filter-feeder only tank. So that I can insure the filter-feeders are getting plently of food, because of all the competition in the other tank, and so I can enjoy seeing them more, as there will be no, or almost no, fish to hide from(the vampire is still fish skittish, the bamboos are used to them).

I'm thinking it will have alot of driftwood twigs and things to create alot of little crevices and climbing structures, and having a soft sandly bottom. Would the 10 be too small for these guys?
Do you guys have any tips to feed these guys? I currently use a little pipette and push in a tankwater+powered flake food mix to the most shrimp frequented areas.

---
Q- Does anyone here use KentMarine Micro-vert to feed them? I bought it was back but don't really use it much.
edit: I just squirted some near the vampire and he seemed really excited about it. filtered faster and walked towards the spot I put it.

Last question, I read in another post that redness is just a diff. color phase that happens sometimes after shedding. In my experiance, every one of my reddest ones has died, including one recently. Is it in any way an age indicator? or is it showing that my water has something wrong? I haven't ever lost a brown one.

The most recent casulty



-Jess

[badflash]

Welcome to the forum.

A shrimp only tank is best, but I'm keeping 3 small ones in a 10 gallon tank with a bunch of Amanos, bubblebees and endlers (guppies) along with some 3" Siamese Algae eaters.

The secret is to give then high flow so they can filter. See the thread:
viewtopic.php?t=1143

Search the forum for "bamboo", "filter feeder" "atya" and you'll see all sorts of good stuff on these guys.

Mine do fine on ground up algae based flake food. I also feed them moina and rotifers for a treat a couple times a week.

[Yana]

Thanks! I've been searching, very helpful info here.

Nothing official but I've been thinking that since I want to get another vampire shrimp anyways I'll try to see if it's feasilbe to get a 20g long to keep the shrimp in. It may take longer, I'm currently upgrading my fish in a 10g. to a 20 high as it is, so i'll need to figure out costs and so on. The 20 long would give them more room.

I'll have to go figure this out...hmm..

There is another possibility but i'm wary of it... can Canaliculata Apple snails live okay with shrimp? The idea of sticking the two together gives me nightmare images of the snails devouring the shrimp, lol. They've tried to munch everything else they've been housed with.

[badflash]

I've kept them together no probles at all. They will eat up all your plants and you need to feed them plant materials to keep them happy, but they don't bother live shrimp. Dead ones they eat as well as the molts.

They really like the warm temperatures. I keep them in with my prawns at 82 degrees F. They lay eggs liek crazy at those temps. I've got babbies up the gazoo right now.

[Yana]

Ack....just when I think I've got a great idea, I forget they eat plants(i should definitly remeber that incident...my poor, poor planted tank, lol.). I most definitly want the shrimp tank planted...hmm..

My cana's just layed their first batch a couple of days ago(my first batches actually, 3 of them, from 3 diffrent snails, on the same night....they exist purely to complicate my life...). I figured I'll give hatching baby snails a go at least once and then after that no more. Too many eggs as is.

I think I'll keep the idea of getting a 20long for the shrimp, get another vampire(hopefully a female, although I know it's rare) and do a bunch of drift wood and so on. That should work.