How Many Shrimp?

[techman81]

For those of you that keep shrimp tanks, how many is too many? I have a UNS 30C (7g) with Sunkist Orange Neocaridina. Plant mass is high. I would estimate there are at least 100 shrimp in it now including those you can barely see. I know I need to start rehoming some soon, but was curious how densely populated other's shrimp tanks are.

 

[Art]

Bumping for you.

 

[ElleDee]

I have always let my shrimp population self regulate. I couldn't tell you how many shrimp were in my tanks if my life depended on it. There are so so many. I have had the same yellow neocaridina shrimp colony spread over all my tanks for 5+ years now and going strong.

 

[hamfist]

In the end they will self-regulate, generally to the amount of food available.

If you keep feeding more and more as the colony increases, then it will likely continue increasing likewise.

If you keep increasing the amount of food as a colony grows bigger and bigger then there comes a point where the nitrification within the tank and the filters cannot cope with a really large amount of organic material going into the tank. This will raise ammonia and nitrite levels - again a shrimp colony-limiting thing, as it will kill shrimp.

The thing is to be disciplined in only giving a certain amount of food within a week (ideally an amount that is easily supported by the filtration and water chnage schedule for the tank). The colony will adjust to be a size that can be supported by that amount of food, and should ultimately stabilise at that point.

 

[Koan]

how many is too many?

Per-shrimp bioload is infinitesimal on your tank. There's no necessary calculation like there is for bioload for fish. As Ham says , overfeeding is the limiting issue, not numbers of shrimps

Some research here shows the survival difference between light and heavy stocking on a tank is all within the margin of error

Short answer: if your tank is clean and your shrimp are breeding, they're happy

How Many Shrimp Can I Have in My Tank? - Shrimp and Snail Breeder

Keeping about 5 – 10 dwarf shrimp per gallon is considered to be the optimal shrimp density, with respect to growth performance.

aquariumbreeder.com

 

[techman81]

Per-shrimp bioload is infinitesimal on your tank. There's no necessary calculation like there is for bioload for fish. As Ham says , overfeeding is the limiting issue, not numbers of shrimps

Some research here shows the survival difference between light and heavy stocking on a tank is all within the margin of error

Short answer: if your tank is clean and your shrimp are breeding, they're happy

How Many Shrimp Can I Have in My Tank? - Shrimp and Snail Breeder

Keeping about 5 – 10 dwarf shrimp per gallon is considered to be the optimal shrimp density, with respect to growth performance.

aquariumbreeder.com

Oh, they're definitely still breeding

 

[hamfist]

Oh, they're definitely still breeding

Yes, but they will self-regulate eventually. At some point, all those hungry mouths to feed will mean there isn't enough food per shrimp, for the females to reach breeding condition, and breeding will stop. I promise. It will.