question about mixing native shrimp.

[Burningfyra]

I know the best soliution is species only tanks but I want to try our native shrimp out and I love North Australian Chameleon Shrimp, NQ ALGAE SHRIMP (CARIDINA LONGIROSTRIS) and Darwin Red-Nose Shrimp. can these shrimp interbreed cus I dont want that happening and will I ever see the Chameleon shrimp if there are other shrimp or fish (maybe pseudomugils) in the tank?

[fishmosy]

No those three species will not interbreed.

In fact they can be found side by side in the wild (Caridina serratirostris, C. gracilirostris and C. longirostris in QLD and C. sp NT nilotica, C. sp. WA4 and Darwin red nose in the NT). Note that the shrimp from the NT and QLD are different species and may cross. For example C. longirostris may cross with C. sp NT nilotica, but not WA4 or Darwin red nose. 

[Burningfyra]

Great to know they will not interbreed! few more questions do you know if the Chameleon Shrimp will be comfortable enough to show off colors and be out and about or will they just hide in plants? (I know you said they are found together in the wild but that doesnt really mean they will be comfortable with it I guess) also is it realistic to keep a decent sized group of all 3 in a 2ft x 1ft x 1ft tank (with lots of plants and cover)

[Baccus]

I keep a mix of Chameleon shrimp, DAS, DRN and Blackmore River Shrimp all together with some spotted blue eyes. There may even be some remaining Barney Springs shrimp in the tank, but I can not be sure.

The only time I really see any of the shrimp out and about in large numbers is when I have dropped in some of their favourite foods into the tank. Or when they have new IAL or mulberry leaves to eat. The tank is rather over grown with val (which the DRN seem to love hanging out in) java moss (which all the other shrimp seem to like picking over) and a massive log which dominates the tank and all the shrimp seem to like hanging out inside. I think its the dark log that encourages the chameleon shrimp and blackmore river shrimp to display their best colours and patterns.

If keeping these natives I would strongly suggest following Dave Wilsons advice regarding the pre-aging of water before adding it to the tank. I usually try to age the water at least a few days before doing water changes, I also use the out going water from the tank while doing a water drop/ change to clean/ rinse the various filter sponges. Because the baby shrimp and spotted blue eye fry are so small I use a length of airhose to remove the water, and watch like a hawk that none still manage to make the trip into the bucket of out going water.

Because certain native snails also in the tank where having some shell degrading happening I also added a couple of shrimp mineral balls to the tank. When I first added the mineral balls the shrimp all clambered over the mineral balls, but now the shrimp and snails seem to ignore the mineral balls.

[Burningfyra]

8 hours ago, Baccus said:

If keeping these natives I would strongly suggest following Dave Wilsons advice regarding the pre-aging of water before adding it to the tank. I usually try to age the water at least a few days before doing water changes, I also use the out going water from the tank while doing a water drop/ change to clean/ rinse the various filter sponges.

why is it that you would suggest that? I get the part of letting it gass off but do you also put it outside like he says to do?

[Baccus]

All my tanks are in the car shed, so it is easier for me to age the large tubs of water in the shed, usually with an airstone bubbling away in it. Its also easier to age the water in the shed due to having a dog and cat that both think any water laying about the yard was put there for the express reason of giving them a new flavour of water.

By putting some water out in the sun (after treating with chlorine and chloramine remover) I dare say after a week you may get some sun induced algae blooms on a microscopic level which may assist in providing natural micro foods to any shrimp/snail/ fish inhabitants. There is also the chance that mosquito wrigglers would have hatched in the tub (another great food source) and if you happened to be soaking some leaves or timber in the water than you may even have blood worms move in.

Sunlight is also a great natural steriliser so perhaps even leaving a tub of water in the sun it may sterilise the water to some degree beyond what the local water treatment plants tend to do.

Aging the water will also better enable you to test and adjust pH and gH of the water if you are inclined to mess about with these levels. Sunlight would cause some evaporation to occur thus potentially concentrating the normal water supply to a higher level.

 

[fishmosy]

I've found that gracilirostris and longirostris will settle into a tank quickly and be out in the open, whereas serratirosrtris and WA4 will hide away and only offer glimpses - however their colour is so awesome it is worth the wait! 

I use RO water remineralised with my own salt mix adapted from the one by @jayc 

Therefore the water sitting doesnt really apply.