George Monnat Jr Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 When my tank was SW, I had an awesome, self-sustaining population of amphipods and a decent, self-sustaining population of copepods. I'd like to do something like that with the FW tank. I understand that most feed critters either don't like the FW parameters (brine shrimp) or need really green water which I don't want in my DT. I've read great things about Daphnia, and I was thinking about buying a starter culture. Has anyone messed with them or have a different, self-sustaining population? I have Ghost Shrimp which are actually very entertaining, but they're way to big to be feed for my livestock. Unless they spawn regularly. Has anyone seen Ghost Shrimp spawn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I haven't tried any of those. I'm not sure about ghost shrimp spawning but cherry shrimp will. Mine have spawned a few times that I know of and my clown loach looks like he's gonna pop. So I guess that's what he's eating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 I haven't tried any of those. I'm not sure about ghost shrimp spawning but cherry shrimp will. Mine have spawned a few times that I know of and my clown loach looks like he's gonna pop. So I guess that's what he's eating. Do you have hard or soft water? I'm doing a soft tank, 4-5 dKH and 6-7 pH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I've honestly never tested it. But my tap water is usually 7.2-7.8 ph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 I've honestly never tested it. But my tap water is usually 7.2-7.8 ph. So Austin tap water? I can test that. I think it should be fairly close to yours. If victoly is watching, he can tell us about South Austin water (KH and GH). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Yes Austin tap. Are you using tap water or are you doing a soft tank on purpose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 I'm doing a soft tank on purpose, because my wife really likes Elephant Noses (please, no jokes ). My problem is the dead coralline algae, spirorbids, etc. from when my tank was SW are keeping the GH really high while the KH has fallen off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Interesting. Is this fish wild caught? I read an article many years ago about wild caught fish being able to acclimate to hard water. But will not breed. With that being said, you might be able to make the water a little harder and be able to get some of the different shrimp to breed. I'll look into it a little further. My friend has a brackish tank and he has ghost shrimp (he thinks) that spits baby's out like crazy. I will try to see if I can find a list of shrimp and what type of water they breed in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Aquadome has the elephant nose and I bet they don't keep it in special water. But you might want to call them and see. That is if you don't already have one. Maybe you could buy one that is already acclimated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I was looking at types of live food and it said African fish love mosquito larvae. That would be easy to cultivate. I'm doing it at my house but I just feed the parents my blood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 I had ghost shrimp breed for two years in my soft water. Started with 5 and when I broke the tank down 2 years later there were 20-30. When I broke that tank down I added them all to my 75 gallon, and my bala shark, synodintis, and tiger barbs wiped them all out within an hour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 I have small Synos, and they haven't bothered the 15 Ghost Shrimp I (think I) have. I've seen eggs on a few but no spawn/fry. Do they spwn at dusk or night like a lot of SW shrimp? I actually like the Ghost Shrimp, and I plan on getting some similar but colorful shrimp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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