Written by Kate Barrington Updated June 16, Marine shrimp can be a useful addition to the saltwater tank - just be sure to pick the right species. What many aquarium hobbyists love about saltwater tanks is the fact that they are so easy to customize. There are thousands of different fish and invertebrates to choose from in stocking your tank so you can create a tank setup that is uniquely you. In selecting the inhabitants for your saltwater tank, you should consider adding some marine shrimp.
Marine shrimp may be small but they are mighty when it comes to keeping your saltwater tank clean. These little invertebrates are excellent scavengers and they are generally very easy to care for.
If you are thinking about using marine shrimp in your tank, keep reading to learn more! One of the main benefits of marine shrimp is their cleaning ability. Different species of marine shrimp feed on different types of detritus and pests in the saltwater tank, plus they help to sift through the substrate to improve circulation. Many species of shrimp are classified as omnivorous scavengers because they will eat just about anything — you do have to be careful with them around very small fish, however.
In addition to being excellent scavengers, marine shrimp are usually very easy to care for and they do not require a very large tank. Although marine shrimp serve many useful purposes in the saltwater tank, there are a few downsides to consider.
For example, some shrimp will feed on anything they can get their hands on which sometimes includes small fish. Certain species of shrimp, on the other hand, are very finicky and will only eat certain types of food — they may also require certain tank conditions.
Shrimp are not known to be affected by parasites or other diseases that might affect marine fish, though they do need clean and highly oxygenated water in order to remain in good health. Although many marine shrimps are scavengers, you still need to feed them in order to supplement the food they pick up as they make their way around the tank.
Some shrimps are omnivorous and will accept a wide variety of foods including brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, tablet foods, pellet foods, and even frozen foods. Some shrimps, on the other hand, have highly specialized diets. For example, the Harlequin Shrimp only feeds on sea stars a type of echinoderm so you will need to have a steady supply of these available. Bumblebee shrimp also feed on echinoderms, though they can sometimes be taught to eat other meaty foods.
Be sure to do your research before selecting your marine shrimp to be sure that you can meet their feeding needs. There are many different species of marine shrimp out there, but not all of them are recommended for the saltwater or reef aquarium.
Below you will find a list of some of the most popular marine shrimps that you can think about using in your own tank:. If you choose to use any of these shrimp in your own saltwater tank, just be sure that they are compatible with the water conditions in your tank as well as other tank mates. Many marine shrimp are small enough that they will not bother your fish or other tank inhabitants.
There are some fish, however, that simply do not get along with shrimp and vice versa. Many reef fishes, for example, feed on crustaceans like marine shrimp as part of their natural diet. Some of the fish that are least likely to bother marine shrimp include cardinalfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, damselfish, wrasses, blennies, dragonets, surgeonfish, and rabbitfish.
Certain species of marine fish like dottybacks, larger cardinalfish, and pseudochromoids are potentially dangerous to shrimp, though smaller specimens of these species are unlikely to be a problem. Some fish that are almost always a threat to shrimp include rays, morays, sharks, coral catfish, toadfish, lizardfish, squirrelfish, groupers, comets, goatfish, snappers, hawkfish, tilefish, triggerfish, and puffers.
Avoid keeping marine shrimp in a tank with any of these species. If you want to diversify the inhabitants in your marine tank while also gaining the benefit of a built-in cleaning crew, consider adding some marine shrimp to your tank. As is true for all tank additions, be sure to do your research before choosing a species to make sure that it will get along with your current tank inhabitants.
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Discover five common myths about the beautiful betta freshwater fish. When you see signs of stress in your fish, you can then take steps to identify the source of that stress and then to resolve it before it becomes a major issue. Guide for Keeping Anemones in a Reef Tank. Keeping anemones in a reef tank can be a challenge if you are not fully prepared. Sea Urchins in the Saltwater Tank. If you are looking for a unique invertebrate to add to your saltwater tank, consider the sea urchin.
Learn how to properly select and establish a clean-up crew in a saltwater or reef aquarium. Keeping Lionfish in the Home Aquarium. The lionfish is a beautiful but deadly fish that makes a unique addition to the saltwater aquarium.
Stocking Salt Water Reef Tanks. Learn how to select the right quantity and combination of fish for your saltwater aquarium. Hermit Crabs in Saltwater Tanks. Hermit crabs do more than just add decoration to the saltwater tank -- they can also help to keep your tank clean.
What's That? Cultivating a reef tank is a unique challenge, not only because caring for corals is tricky but because it can be difficult to find reef-safe fish. Marine Shrimp for the Saltwater or Reef Tank. Clownfish in the Reef Aquarium. Clownfish are one of the most recognizable types of saltwater aquarium fish. Selecting and Caring for Saltwater Angelfish.
Saltwater angelfish are some of the most colorful saltwater fish available. Sea Cucumbers for Reef Tanks. Sea cucumbers are found throughout the ocean but they are a popular addition to saltwater reef tanks. The Benefits of Snails in the Saltwater Tank. So, marine shrimp are omnivorous creatures that need a plant-based diet containing plenty of meaty protein.
Feed your shrimp Mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, pellet and tablet commercially prepared shrimp foods, and frozen foods too. Like their ocean-dwelling relatives, species of freshwater shrimp are scavengers, searching the substrate for bacteria, algae, decaying plant matter, and other microorganisms that they spend much of their time grazing on. Freshwater shrimp will also eat dead fish and other deceased creatures, including shrimp. So, basically, all aquarium shrimp need a plant-based diet with some animal protein included to provide them with a properly balanced diet.
All shrimp shed their outer carapace periodically, going into hiding for a few days as their new shell hardens. The shell is packed with calcium, and the shrimp will eat it to replenish their supply of the mineral, helping to keep their outer carapace strong and healthy. So, you should only add shrimp to a mature tank that contains plenty of green algae for the shrimp to graze on. In that case, all you need to do is stop feeding the shrimp for a day or two, and they should go back to eating algae.
If algae levels are becoming depleted, you can give your shrimp some veggies to supplement their diet. Try offering kale, sweet potato, spinach, zucchini, broccoli, and carrot. Remove the veggies from the water and place in a dish over a bowl of ice to stop the cooking process. Freshwater shrimp live in an environment where the substrate is often covered with a layer of fallen leaves.
Those leaves harbor colonies of infusoria, microorganisms, and harmless bacteria that gradually break down the leaves. Shrimp thrive on the decomposing matter and the organisms that live on it, so adding a layer of dried leaves to your tank is great for the shrimp.
These leaves are perfect for use in the aquarium because large leaves provide a big surface area for the shrimp to graze on. The leaves also leach flavonoids and tannins that have excellent anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, promoting a healthy environment for your fish. For more information about this Stenopus shrimp, check out this care guide: Coral banded shrimp. The Blood red fire shrimp is the most expensive and colorful invertebrate in his group.
They are a hermaphrodite—each shrimp has both male and female reproductive organs. To learn more, check out this Fire Shrimp Care Guide. Most often purchased because of their low cost and aiptasia-eating tendencies, the Peppermint shrimp is also considered to be a cleaner.
Want to learn more about how to care for this invert, check out this guide about Peppermint shrimp care. Beautiful, hardy, tolerant, can be kept as a single individual or as a pair or group. The most likely to demonstrate the cleaning behavior in the tank. Supplement diet with feeding meaty foods or they may starve. If you want to learn more, check out this guide written about the Scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp care. Cleaner shrimp are carnivorous invertebrates, meaning that their diet consists of meaty marine foods.
The mucous is so important, it is even believed to be part of what drives certain cleaner species to preferentially choose certain individuals or species to clean.
But you should not rely on the cleaning behavior alone to meet their full nutritional needs alone. Feed them routinely with prepared frozen foods, flakes and pellets, to ensure they get an adequate amount of calories and nutrition. No, generally speaking, saltwater cleaner shrimp will not eat an appreciable or particularly helpful amount of algae, they are carnivorous and their natural diet is animal-based foods, not algae.
While it may not be a preferred food, saltwater cleaner shrimp will eat ich and other parasites off of the scales and gills of a saltwater fish. A word of caution, however, is that the presence of a cleaner shrimp species is not likely to be enough to keep a saltwater ich infestation under control. As mentioned earlier in this article, each of the different species of cleaner shrimp has a different level of zeal with which they will attempt to clean the fish in your tank, ranging from nearly total disinterest in a captive setting to very aggressive about it.
There is also no guarantee of a good fit between the shrimp and fish in your tank. Saltwater cleaner shrimp are also sometimes specific picky about the fish species they will clean and some fish are reluctant to receive cleaning services from a resident shrimp. Unfortunately, the ich probably will reproduce exponentially in your tank, while the dance plays out.
The Peppermint shrimp is a saltwater cleaner shrimp species that is often added to a reef tank because they will eat aiptasia anemones. In addition to occasionally providing cleaner services, the Peppermint shrimp may also help by eating aiptasia anemones. Saltwater cleaner shrimp are carnivores and therefore need to be fed meaty foods, like brine shrimp, mysid shrimp, and other prepared foods.
You should not rely on their cleaning behavior to fully meet their nutritional needs. Red skunk cleaners, Peppermints, and Fire shrimp all grow to about 2 inches 5 cm in total length as adults not including the antennae. Coral banded shrimp are a bit larger and grow to be about 3 inches cm in length and also seem larger, in general, because their front claws are spread out and crab-like. One of the most enjoyable things you can do in this hobby is watching a cleaner shrimp cleaning fish.
Saltwater ich does not affect cleaner shrimp—they will not become infected if you have those parasites in your aquarium. For that reason, they are a better choice than Neon gobies or Bluestreak cleaner wrasses, because those fish are susceptible to becoming infected by the water-borne parasitic ich.
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