Blood Red Fire Shrimp

[GLOCKMOM]

After my tank finally cycled, and another week of making sure I added my first addition to my 46g bowfront with 40lbs live rock... Her name is "Puddin" a fire shrimp. I have tried to find more info than just the norm on her, but no luck, and what I find is contradictory... My questions are..

1. Is it ok to house just 1 fire shrimp instead of a pair?

2. How often should I feed her and how much?

Thanks,

Amber

[lcstorc]

I have fire shrimp in all of my tanks. They are very beautiful and fun animals but spend most of their time hiding in the rocks. Personally I would stick with one. Every time I have tried two one has disappeared shortly after so now I have one in each tank and I have one that has been with me for almost 3 years.
I don't feed them anything specific. They just get whatever stray food from when I feed the fish. If the only thing I had in the tank was the shrimp I would give it a shrimp pellet every couple of days. Otherwize they are part of my cleanup crew.

[framerguy]

Originally Posted by GLOCKMOM

After my tank finally cycled, and another week of making sure I added my first addition to my 46g bowfront with 40lbs live rock... Her name is "Puddin" a fire shrimp. I have tried to find more info than just the norm on her, but no luck, and what I find is contradictory... My questions are..

1. Is it ok to house just 1 fire shrimp instead of a pair? You betcha! I have one and it is doing quite well. It used to hide it the caves a lot but now I see it out in the light. They are normally a nocturnal/cave dweller so I am not sure why it is so bold now except for the competition from the three skunk cleaners I also have.
2. How often should I feed her and how much? I feed them a tiny morsal each day when I feed the fish. They come to the top with the fish to feed and go nuts, it's fun to watch. When I say tiny, I mean maybe one mysis shrimp so they still forage and clean and do their job!

Thanks,

Amber

[GLOCKMOM]

Thank you so much! At $32.00 a piece I was really dreading having to buy another one

[KimPossible]

Hi Amber,
I have housed a single fire shrimp for 5 yrs. I feed it every 3-4 days while I feed my fish, just what it can hold and eat a couple of times during that tank feeding. It scavengers for uneaten food in between.
I have read articles that state that these shrimp should be kept in pairs, however, I have read many more threads from aquarists that stated that the introduction of another shrimp has led to death.
They are hardy little critters and every entertaining! You will enjoy this little guy, Good Luck !

[reefer4200]

Originally Posted by GLOCKMOM

Thank you so much! At $32.00 a piece I was really dreading having to buy another one

Thats it!? LUCKY!!! They are 48.99 by me at the lowest rate....

Thats the only reason why i have yet to get one. My favorite shrimp tho!!

[djbacon]

I have a single and she is not very shynor appears lonely at all anymore - the less time your hands are in the tank the better - good tip though - if you feed the shrimp directly by hand, (mysis shrimp) they will start following you around the tank just like your fish when you walk by. my fire shrimp was very shy when I first got her and now she is out ALL the time.

She still scavenges the bottom but its actually really fun to hand feed it mysis, it also reduces the amount of unused food that floats around the tank.

[grinch]

While we are on the subject, I also recently added a fire shrimp, my question is, is it safe to add a cleaner? I have a shrimpgoby and would like to observe the interaction between the shrimpgoby and the cleaner. So far no interaction between the two in the tank (except fighting for chow!!)

[djbacon]

I've seen many of them together in tanks - should be fine. Your fire shrimp may also perform fish cleaning duties, mine does, but it is less likely