Cold water shrimp?

xerxeswasachump · Post by **xerxeswasachump** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:58 pm

I am trying to set up a pond in the tropical room of my college's greenhouse. I was wondering what sort of shrimp i would be able to keep in this thing, if at all. Also, are crayfish a better idea?
This is my first time trying to set up a pond. Is there anything i need to keep in mind? It won't have running water or any sort of filter or heating, but i have planted some elodea in there to help with oxygen and cleaning. It is a tropical room however, and the room temperature is always in the 70s. Also, the plants are watered via a misting system that makes it rain, should i be worried about runoff? I figured shrimp could help with that task. Ideally i want this thing to be self-sufficient. I am goign to be graduating this year and i don't want it to need constant upkeep since i don't know who will be takign care of it after i am gone.
As of right now there is one fairly large (4") goldfish that will be living there. I am considering putting a friend's turtle in there but i dont want her to shred the rest of the tropical room.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 7:41 am

Turtles and goldfish are both agressive predators and will likely eat any shrimp you put in there. As far as your conditions, as long as the temps are above 68 degrees, both cherry shrimp and ghost shrimp will do well. Ghost shrimp are very cheap to buy and will breed in a pond environment if you have seeded it with enough rotifers, copepods and moina and have enough green water to sustain the population.

How big is this pond and what sort of light does it get? What sort of water changes does it get?

xerxeswasachump · Post by **xerxeswasachump** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 10:38 pm

OK i will steer clear of any expensive shrimp then. I might get a crayfish though. The pond will not be getting any sort of water changes, it needs to be self sustaining exept for feeding the animals. Fresh water will enter the pond as runoff from the watering system. Is this possible?

The pond isn't that big maybe one or two hundred gallons. The center of it gets a fair amount of natural sunlight but that is all it gets. Lights don't work in the tropical room because of the misting system. It doesn't even have any wall outlets. Ideally we would like to put some native species into the pond. I live in New Jersey so any northeastern wetland amphian, invertebrate, or fish would be nice.
I was also thinking that i could maybe turn it into a betta pond. I think they would be alright in that sort of water.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:00 am

If you don't have any water changes, eventually everything will die. Bettas are a better choice as they are air gulpers, but even they will die from the pollution eventually. The water will concentrate anything in the run-off through evaporation.

What is in the run-off? If there are any sort of fertilizers, you can totally forget shrimp. It sounds ideal for a green-water culture though.

xerxeswasachump · Post by **xerxeswasachump** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:07 pm

what pollutants would collect? is there any natural way to keep that in check?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 7:57 am

You said you were collecting run-off from the watering system. What ever is in the soild, like any fertilizer, disolved minerals, rotting vegetations, etc. will find its way into your pond and just concentrate. The Great Salt Lake and the Salton Sea is an example of what happens when water goes in and nothing comes out.

Without filtration and water changes it will eventially turn into a witches brew of stangnant water and nothing you want will live in it.

There is no natural way when you are doing an un-natural thing.