Can you keep sand shrimp on gravel?

theshrimp_123 · Post by **theshrimp_123** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:16 pm

Will it be harmful? do they need sand? tank size? food? how many per gallon?

Veneer · Post by **Veneer** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 6:26 pm

It depends on what you mean by "sand shrimp"; I assume you are referring to Macrobrachium banjare of this site's "Shrimp Varieties" column. I assume (note that I have not personally kept this species) from the information blurb that specimens will exhibit the most “natural” behavior you can expect in captivity in setups having sand substrate (in which they burrow and cavort), and will probably become stressed if not provided such.

As for food requirements, they are apparently detritus feeders, and will consume Spirulina-based pellets, as well as "flake food and even algae".

I do not know of bioload specifications or whether they are particularly aggressive amongst themselves, but one should keep in mind that they stay relatively small for a Macrobrachium, within 5 cm in length, when stocking.

Post by **Mustafa** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 6:40 pm

As Veneer said, they will display their natural behavior only on a sand substrate. However, they should do just fine on gravel too as long as they have places to hide. They are not aggressive among each other at all, but still should be kept in as large a tank as possible since they still do not like to be all that close to each other.

Mustafa