Pearl shrimp with aragonite?

cro117 · Post by **cro117** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:40 pm

Hi, I work at a pet store and while going through one of the whole-salers stock list I saw pearl shrimp for 1.50 and just had to order some, 10 to be exact. I currently have a six gal with about a 2.5 sump set up for a saltwater mantis. To help with nitrates, I will add some peat to the sumps substrate to get the anaerobic bacteria going.

My question is should i keep the aragonite in the main take? It should help keep the ph and kh up.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:04 am

Is pearl shrimp another name for Snowball shrimp? If so then I think our Southern California water is good enough for these shrimp. I am currently keeping my Snowball shrimp in dechlorinated tap water and they are healthy and active. I don't think the aragonite is needed but if you want to keep it in the tank then let us know how it turns out.

cro117 · Post by **cro117** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 9:39 am

Sorry, I should not have used the common name only :oops: , especially because some people call it a sand shrimp. I was referring to Macrobrachium cf. mirabile.

Another question I forgot to ask is do they like some salt added to the water? If so how much and would they coexist with bumble bee gobies?

Newjohn · Post by **Newjohn** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:14 pm

cro117

You might want to check out the Shrimp Varieties Page.
The Pearl/Sand Shrimp Are not a brackish water Shrimp.

And need Alkaline conditions and A PH of above 7.6 to do well.

John

Annako · Post by **Annako** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:33 pm

First off I am not the shrimp expert like most people here, so what I say probably can become contested

Well, with the aragonite it will keep the ph at arround alkaline levels (8-8.5). the aragonite acts as a buffer, and also contains small traces of other elements.

I don't hear of aragonite being used outside of saltywater and possibly cichlid set ups. Let me know how it goes.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:08 pm

Hi Annako,

We are here to share information we know so that we can improve the hobby and help eachother. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of aragonite. I too want to know how it goes

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:57 pm

I use crushed coral to buffer the pH at 7.6, it works very well for my cherry shrimp and dwarf crayfish (snails too). Any invert that likes hard, alkaline water should find it more suitable than aragonite.

Annako · Post by **Annako** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:34 am

to be honest i have kept aragonite with some of my shrimp a while back to see what was up. The palaemonetes i have do not seem to like the environment it causes. They bred at first but after a few spawns they started to drop and not even have eggs, this could also be they are petstore and probably older. I have juvie palaemonetes that are thriving and growing. Currently all the palaeomonetes are on an aragonite because they live with the axolotls. I retired them. the cherry shrimp i put on arrogonite seem to be thriving, they live in the old palaeomonetes nursury When i get a new ph tester i will go to those tanks and see whats up, i lost the colour coder, bad me. It usualy stays arround 8-ish. other cherries are on some local Illinois brand of sand that is not a fine grain. The aragonite may be pushing the limits of hardness the shrimps can live in.

I never had live aragonite, which they do sell, but my aragonite contains a lot of calcium, carbonate buffer, magenesium, etc. It is suposed to keep water at 8.2 which is good for seawater. It states on the packgage great for keeping inverts and fish healthy-well of course if its marie or cichlid.

Chances are I may remove all the aragonite one day, but I was curious to see what effect it would have on some of my populations. In the aragonite tanks i also keep plants, red crypts, javamoss/fern, riccia and all are thriving. These aragonite tanks have only been up for 4 months so time will tell.

Ok that is my Junior Scientist experament with aragonite in freshwater. I will check to see what the people at the Shedd have to say about aragonite. Maybe I will also convince them to breed, display, and conserve shrimps, people get a kick when they find out shrimp are not just from the ocean.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:51 am

Ok that is my Junior Scientist experament with aragonite in freshwater. I will check to see what the people at the Shedd have to say about aragonite. Maybe I will also convince them to breed, display, and conserve shrimps, people get a kick when they find out shrimp are not just from the ocean.

Great job Annako

Way to spread the word about shrimp also! Please keep us updated.

Annako · Post by **Annako** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 4:36 am

from what I read about the pearl shrimp on the shrimp varieties a while back I think it likes alkaline water and no acidic? I think the sand substrate is because they burrow, if this is the right shrimp I am thinking of. I concidered there once because, well, i thought it was pretty neat they can dig tunnels in the sand and I have lots of aragonite in a bag.

I hope the original poster gets back to if the aragonite is appropriate to house his shrimp. I think I am going to spend some time reading about his shrimp.

I am just wondering about things like peat with the aragonite. It might be a tug-of-war in a tank with lots of decaying plants, or leaves or logs fighting with the buffering of aragonite. not sure if things will balanceor crash. I think it is time to find good aragonite articles.

I found a neat fact sheet concerning these pearl shrimp reguarding min max and medium ph, gh, kh and other info. says max ph is 8.5 so aragonite may be ok.

YuccaPatrol · Post by **YuccaPatrol** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:08 am

Annako wrote:
I am just wondering about things like peat with the aragonite. It might be a tug-of-war in a tank with lots of decaying plants, or leaves or logs fighting with the buffering of aragonite. not sure if things will balanceor crash. I think it is time to find good aragonite articles.

The buffering capacity of aragonite is MUCH stronger than the ability of peat to soften and acidify the water. Adding peat, driftwood, decaying plant matter will not make much of a difference if any.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:43 am

Annako, could you please post the information on the fact sheet here or add a link to it.

Yucca, thanks for the clearification on the buffering capacity.

cro117 · Post by **cro117** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:08 pm

The peat will be mixed with a lower layer of substrate with a top layer above it, so it shouldn't leach into the water too much. It's just to get some carbon in an oxygen poor part of the system so it can be used for the terminal electron accepter instead of oxygen.

I forgot to ask about texture. I'm thinking that if it is too fine, than their burrows will collapse, too course, and they wont be able to burrow at all. What has everyone else kept them in?

Annako · Post by **Annako** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 8:06 am

hi, I have the link to the fact sheet on the pearl shrimps
http://www.crustaforum.com/topic,10,-pearl-shrimp.html
I think it is a german forum in english?

I am still looking for fact sheets, information on this shrimp and a caridina shrimp I saw labled as penguin shrimp. I will post something if I find anything new or important info about the M.Mirabile. If anyone know exactly what species a shrimp called "penguin shrimp" is let me know. I hate common names so much

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Pearl shrimp with aragonite?

Pearl shrimp with aragonite?

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