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Not that I could notice with the fish I listed. Those have very small mouths. And the fish were not left in there permanently. Only 6 months at most.

Did adding fish impact on your shrimp at all?

Scuds are the bane of shrimp keepers. They seemingly appear out of no where. I used to have them in a couple of tanks. And finally got rid of them after many months of trying different things. The most effective was to put in a few fish. Just make sure you choose ones that will not harm your shrimp. I used chilli rasboras, galaxy rasbora (celestial pearl danio) and white cloud mountain minnows. Left them in there for 6 months to be sure they got the scuds and any hatching from eggs left in the substrate.

Thanks for the reply. I'm still fishing them out on site and using a home made trap. At this stage they're still not a huge problem, but I am preparing a spare 38 liter tank if it gets too much. It's interesting to hear that scuds overall aren't harmful to shrimp, it's very different from what I usually hear that they'll destroy everything. I hope that I can get a lid on them so I don't have to teardown.

I had some once but spotted them fairly early I think. They got into the tank from stuff I took from an outside pond and put into the tank. I took everything out except the substrate, then fished out the scuds, checking frequently for a few days. After a couple of days I started returning the very carefully checked over contents and shrimp. It worked out well but did mean a lot of work! The tank had been running for a few years and so was due to be redone anyway so it wasn't too big of a deal for me, but there was still the possibility I didn't get them all and they would then return, though I must have got them all as that didn't happen, thankfully. I re-used everything from the tank, just used a bucket to check each item over very carefully before returning it to the tank. The scuds aren't harmful, and even indicate the water is good if they are doing well. Any treatment you could try is almost certainly going to also kill shrimp! You can just keep fishing them out when you see them, but that will likely become a never ending chore, but can keep the numbers low if you don't mind seeing them occasionally, some people actually quite like the extrra diversity.

Hi everyone. I have an established 87 liter shrimp tank (Blood Mary's) I've been running it for 6 months now and have been careful about what I add, but not careful enough it seems because this week I've seen a few scuds. I've put a lot of work into this tank and hope that I don't have to start all over again, it will mean disposing of everything but the shrimp. I've seen so many divided opinions about scuds, so I hope to hear some experiences from other shrimp keepers and how they solved the problem. Is a complete tear down the only option?

Shrimp Keepers Forum welcomes AJDux. Please feel free to browse around and get to know others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. View Member regards, skfadmin

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Unfortunately no contact with anyone and none of the phones answer 🙂

How did you go? Do they still have any for sale?

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Oh that’s excellent mate. I am happy to pay money - it’s just I was unsure of legalities around purchasing these guys. Thanks so much. Also if anyone has contact with the pioneer in breeding these - Lyndon - I would like to support him if possible. I’ll contact the Vic store tomorrow. Once again, thankyou.

@Crab_man see if Exotic Aquatic in Carnegie, VIC still stock these little guys. If they do, you can sort out an agreement with payment. I don't know if they will accept art works however, being a business. Good luck.

Amarinus lacustris. hi there everyone. I’ve been keeping fish and other creatures for around 10 years now, I also travel around Australia and do really large murals of wildlife and other things I’m passionate about. When I get interviewed by the papers and things like that, I want to start talking more about what individuals can do - to make a difference in conservation efforts. Particularly when the algal bloom is threatening so many species. I would like to get at least 8 females and 1 male for a 150L tank that is prepared properly and matured. If possible, two males and 10 females and split them up in two tanks to double breeding efforts. I understand it is not legal to sell these guys - so I am more than happy to give you a beautiful ink sketch of one of these crabs in return. A4 size. My canvas works sell for around $3000 so you have a worthwhile piece of art. I would attach photos - but unfortunately the file size is so small on the forum it won’t let me. But please google “Sam Brooks Burnside Water tower” to see a recent conservation effort painting. yours kindly Sam Brooks

Welcome to SKF @Crab_man !

Shrimp Keepers Forum welcomes Crab_man. Please feel free to browse around and get to know others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. View Member regards, skfadmin

Oh I was assuming it was a male. But if a female, so far i haven't seen any eggs yet

Thanks @jayc! Already shooting for a very leafy/sticky vibe so that's good to know

That's a slightly better angle. I can see it's a female now. @sdlTBfanUK was right there. Still think it's a Neo, but with an unusual colouration.

Welcome to SKFA @Etnorb. I kept an Australian native tank for many years, before letting it go naturally and decommissioned that tank. I kept Darwin Red Nose (DRN), Chameleon Shrimps, and some unknown Paratya glass shrimp. Never kept Macrobrachiums however. I used rainwater predominantly, because it was easiest for me. Rain water without adding additional chemicals to alter TDS, pH, KH. I found RO water to be too fiddly after a while, in order to get it suitable for living organisms. I collect rainwater from one of my gutter downpipes, it's got a Leafeater plumbed in to strain out leaves and twigs. The water is collected in a couple of 100L tanks. I would just pour this into the tanks without further treatment. Gets as close as 0 - 1 KH, 60. to 6.5 pH and very low TDS. That's how our natives like it. If you design/build your tank closely to an Australian biotope, than drift woods and leaf litter will be present in your tank. That will condition the rain water up to a suitable environment for native shrimp. Fishmosy's guide is great. There is also a short article on Aquagreen here, if you have not seen it ... https://www.aquagreen.com.au/files/Freshwater_Shrimps_of_NT.pdf Good luck.

This pic a little blurry but the original shrimp is more stretched out. Will try to take a better picture

Hi, new user here, so bear with me if this is the wrong area to ask 🙂 Been keeping RCS/neos on and off for a few years, but curious about Paratya keeping/breeding because they are cool and I'm slowly constructing an Australian river/creek biotope. I was wondering what other people think of different "types" of water, or anything else you have learned specifically that have been successful. I have read fishmosy's helpful article on Paratya and will refer back to it once the tank I'm planning to use is more settled/ I have a backup for the rasboras in it. My understanding is that for most shrimp: -RO is best (with additions depeding on waht you need) -clean rain is next-best -and then aged outside or treated (e.g. with Prime etc) , is ok too but not ideal due to less predictable gh/kh I have only ever used treated tap water for my RCS, but I want to provide better for them and any future shrimps I have. Being a student/renter, I can't really justify a RO system of my own, so am planning on making a habit of collecting rain water and jarring it for my tanks. I live in Sydney now, so perhaps not the best in terms of quality, but will try anyway. Curious about what others think and how you collect/make/use water.

That looks like vorticella / epistylis rather than a molt or egg-related issue. The white fuzzy growth on the legs, hiding, and loss of appetite are pretty classic signs. Salt dips can help if it’s caught very early, but once shrimp stop eating and start declining it’s often already advanced. Low KH on its own usually isn’t the cause, but instability and stress make shrimp much more vulnerable to this kind of thing. At this point I’d avoid chasing parameters or doing harsh treatments — just keep things as stable and clean as possible. Sadly, outcomes are often poor once it reaches this stage, but it’s something to watch for and prevent in future colonies.

I’ve never personally used gentian violet in a tank that already contained shrimp, and honestly I wouldn’t risk it. While it’s in the same dye family as malachite green, gentian violet is much less commonly used in aquariums, which is why you’re struggling to find info on it. That alone is a bit of a warning sign for shrimp. Malachite green at very low, controlled doses has at least been used by shrimp keepers for years; gentian violet just doesn’t have that track record. Bladder snails being fine doesn’t really tell us much unfortunately — they’re incredibly hardy compared to Neocaridina. Shrimp tend to be far more sensitive to dyes and medications, especially ones that affect cellular processes like these do. If you’re treating now with no shrimp present, I’d just make sure to do several large water changes afterward and run fresh carbon before adding any. Once shrimp are in the tank, I’d strongly recommend treating fish in a separate hospital tank if ich ever shows up again.