Sakura Red Cherry Shrimp in Plant Jar with Babies

I turned an old cookie jar into a desktop aquarium, complete with live plants, olive and horned nerite snails, and Cherry Shrimp. I light the jar using a plain LED desk lamp on a timer. A few days ago, I noticed several super tiny shrimplets zooming around!!

Bamboo Shrimp

Bamboo Shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis) is a large species of filter feeding shrimp with “fans” instead of claws, rendering them harmless to fish. Unfortunately, their specialized feeding needs and sensitivity to ammonia and nitrites can make them difficult to keep alive. A planted tank is best, and finely crushed flake and baby brine shrimp, along with regular water changes will keep them happy. When they are perched on a plant or a bit of driftwood ‘catching’ bits of food out of the water column, they are content. If you find them on the substrate trying to eat off the floor, they’re hungry.

Neocaridina davidi Sakura Red Cherry Shrimp

Sakura Red Cherry Shrimp

Sakura Red Cherry Shrimp in my plant jar.

Sakura Red Cherry Shrimp photobombing a great shot of an Olive Nerite.

Neocaridina davidi, formerly heteropoda, is a strikingly beautiful little freshwater shrimp that we’ve had for several years now.  Females are fat and bright red… males are smaller and less brightly colored.

Assassin Snail (Clea helena)

Assassin Snail (Clea helena)

Assassin Snail (Clea helena)

Assassin Snail Egg Packet

Assassin snails assass other snails. Seriously, though, they are an interesting, pretty and useful addition to aquariums where pest snails are a problem. They move very quickly as snails go, and eat… you guessed it… other snails (and of course, being scavengers, leftover fish food). Any snail that is smaller than they are is at risk, though they’ll generally leave large snails and nerites alone unless they are very hungry (or the snail makes itself easy prey by being almost dead)… at this point they will ‘gang up’ on the large or tough snail. These guys lay a single egg in a little square packet just above the surface of the substrate along plant stems or at the base of decor. The babies are very tiny versions of their parents and start their careers out on tiny versions of prey species parents. Life in miniature.

Nerite Snails

Zebra Nerite

Tiger Nerite

Sakura Red Cherry Shrimp photobombing a great shot of an Olive Nerite.

Olive Nerite

Horned Nerite

Nerite snails are actually a saltwater snail that adapts very well to fresh water, though they will not reproduce in fresh water (they do lay eggs, which don’t hatch). They are voracious algae eaters, and tanks with enough of them will stay sparkling clear. While assassin snails will usually leave them alone (preferring easier prey), they will gang up on a nerite if they are very hungry, or if the nerite is weak or dying (usually from starvation). It is important (assassin snails or not) to make sure the nerites get enough to eat… if the glass stays crystal clear at all times, it’s a good idea to supplement their diet with algae wafers, though they will forage on any uneaten food in the tank. While nerites can live with assassin snails under the right conditions, they cannot live with snail-eating fish like loaches. Olive nerites are probably the most common nerite available to aquarists, and they behave themselves very well… some of the larger nerites, like Zebras, will occasionally try to go on vacation outside the tank, so a tight-fitting lid is recommended. If you do find one on the floor, don’t assume it’s dead. Nerites can live for quite a long time out of water if their trap is closed tightly. Pop him back in his tank, or if you’re anxious about possibly polluting your tank with a dead snail, put him in a bucket of tank water and watch… as long as his trap is there and closed, or if he’s moving around, you can assume he’s alive. Dead snails lose their trap door and rot pretty quickly.

Mystery Snails

I don’t know why, but this group of five white mystery snails reminds me of the Mystics from The Dark Crystal. Did I just date myself?