freshwater shrimp to clean detritus

[Michelle Silva]

Gina (Green Acres Organics) and I were talking this morning and she mentioned Friendly Aquaponics using Gammarus as a great addition to raft tanks.. I was just researching suppliers and found out our local tilapia supplier has  something commonly called grass, glass or ghost shrimp.

According to this link, sounds like it would do similar thing in clearing out dead stuff and adding to a more natural ecosystem, possible adding more nutrients?

They grow to about 1" in size and are clear..hence the name.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=1075+1468&...

Has anyone used these in their raft systems?

[TCLynx]

There is also a place in Florida you can order Gammarus as well.

 

I wouldn't say they add any nutrients, they will be much like worms in converting nutrients the same as any other detritus eater. Just keep the dissolved oxygen really high since every additional creature you add will need dissolved oxygen too.

 

I know that the gammarus don't seem to be a problem for plant roots but you might want to research the glass shrimp and make sure they prefer dead stuff since if they take to snacking on the fresh new tender plant roots, they won't be an asset to a raft system.

 

I've actually been at Aquatic Eco Systems when some one came in complaining that the ghost shrimp in an ornamental pond they were caring for were causing them no end of trouble by cleaning the filters too well.  See their issue was they didn't want any suspended solids in the water since it was for an ornamental koi pond and people don't like to see floating specks in the water but the ghost shrimp had taken up residence in the filter box and were breaking down the larger detritus that would normally get trapped in the filter causing the water to flow through the filter media too well and leave the water with all the little specks in it that the customer didn't like.

 

Now this isn't an issue in aquaponics where we are not worried about a small amount of suspended solids but something to understand if you dabble in the ornamental side too.

 

 

[Cory Cramer]

I keep Cherry Red Shrimp in a planted aquarium and they do an excellent job of breaking down little pieces of stuff. Need to keep the water fairly warm though...70 + degrees or so. I would think they'd work well in a raft system.

[TCLynx]

Really, I thought I'd heard of a guy who was growing cherry shrimp outdoors year round in Florida.  Sounded like he was moving a bunch of his operation into the garage to get more production through winter (pretty sure even in South Florida water temps drop well below 70 F) I got the impression that they survived fine but I expect they wouldn't be reproducing or growing very well when the temperature was below 70 +

 

I've thought about getting some and growing them as feed for my catfish but I'm not sure if I could grow enough to make it worth the extra trouble.

[Chi Ma]

There is no trouble TC they are pretty much set and forget. I threw a bunch in my NFT tubes and they are doing fine. I don't pay any attention to them unless I am pulling out a pot.

[TCLynx]

What sort of temperature range do they need to survive and what temperatures to thrive?

[Cory Cramer]

Yeah, I was breeding them so that might be where I got that number.

[Chi Ma]

I get most of my breeding in the 75-80 degree range. I've had some outside in a bucket where the temps got as low as 30 degrees and they were ok. Cherry shrimp do well in a planted tank because they don't bother live plants. They actually groom them of detritus.

[Cory Cramer]

http://www.petshrimp.com/redcherryshrimp.php

 

Looks like they thrive at 70-80. Ph might be a bigger factor in some systems since they like it above 6.6

[TCLynx]

Well my big system shouldn't be a problem on the pH or carbonate hardness side of things of crustations, system is full of shells and the pH doesn't go below 7.6 very easily.  Great for watercress though.  I got a great big raft tank that really isn't doing much at the moment but collecting detritus.  I need to add some air and perhaps get some cherry shrimp.

[Chi Ma]

I just went out and took a sampling of my cherries in the NFT tube. They are not as dark as the ones in my tank because the tubes get no light.

[TCLynx]

I don't think the catfish would care.

So are these just in those 4 tubes over your bin fish tank?  Any idea how many you have in those tubes?

[Chi Ma]

1 Million!

Yes just in the 4 tubes. Every now and then some make it out into the main tank but they don't last long.