some Red Cherry Shrimp questions.

[JStrider]

Hey I've got a few questions for you shrimp experts.

according to http://www.petshrimp.com/articles/keepingshrimp.html

you should put brown leaves in the tank for the shrimp to eat, is this really necessary, I would think it would be a big risk to do that and potentially introduce polution or pesticides.  Do any of y'all do this?


It also says that shrimp dont tolerate tannins in their water very well.  Despite me boiling the driftwood for 20+ hours its still putting tannins into the water, should I take all the plants off and boil it more? or is it not much of an issue?

thanks!

[Mzungu]

Re: some Red Cherry Shrimp questions.

I don't think it's absolutely necessary to put leaves in there. But yes, you're definitely correct about the pesticides and such - this is the main reason the only leaves I have put in my shrimp tank so far have been Indian Almond Leaves.

That's strange about the tannins, I've never heard that before. I'll have to read the article in your link...I would have thought the opposite, actually.

Here's another article about leaves in a shrimp tank. Funny, it mentions soaking the leaves beforehand to release the tannins... hmm.

http://www.planetinverts.com/shrimp_and_leaf_litter.html

[nacra99]

Re: some Red Cherry Shrimp questions.

Leaves are not necessary.
Red Cherries are pretty hardy. They should be able to handle the tannins with no problem. Just don't let the pH drop too low with your driftwood. I would say 6.5 and above should be comfortable for RCS.

[JStrider]

Re: some Red Cherry Shrimp questions.

I'll keep an eye on it... my PH starts at 8.4 out of the tap! so it'll prolly take a while to come down.

[Grace]

Re: some Red Cherry Shrimp questions.

my shrimp love to munch on cotton wood leaves. i just let them sit in water for a few days to let the tannins out. They really dont need it but they would love all the goodies on the leaves

[jack]

Re: some Red Cherry Shrimp questions.

i think i can get my hands on plenty of cotton wood leaves. can i boil them before putting them in the tank instead of soaking them for a couple days?