Meeting Notes

March, 2010

60 People present
108 Items in the Mini-Auction.

Rachel O'Leary gave a talk on "Invertebrates in the Home Aquarium." Rachel has been serious about inverts for the past 8 years and operates a business dealing in imported fish and inverts. She runs 50 tanks in her Pennsylvania, basement fish-room from 10 to 220 gallons. She works with 15 types of shrimp, 6 snail species, 2 dwarf crayfish species, and a variety of miniature crabs and other inverts.

Rachel began her talk by challenging several of the myths surrounding inverts in the home tank. She pointed out that there are several snail species that will not eat plants, and inverts that will not devour fish. The key is to match the species of invert to the conditions of the tank.

Plant Safe Snails with Controlable Reproduction:

Mystery Snails (Pomacea diffusa)
Olive Nerites (Vitttina Usnea)
Yellow Snails (Tylomelania sp.) 3 – 4 inches, bears live young
(Clithion corona)
(Neritina Semicona)
(Neritina natalensis)

Unlike their larger brethren who eat plants and fish, dwarf crayfish can be kept with plants and are safe with any fish that will not eat them. They are generally one inch long and do well in tanks with plenty of hiding spaces. They can be territorial, so give them plenty of plants and caves. Good candidates for the home tank include:

'Orange' (cambarellus patzcuarensis) (one per five gallons)
(Cambarellus montezumae) a mottled brown and white cray
(Cambarellus shufeldii) a blue dwarf cray

Rachel emphasized the importance of choosing the correct fish to pair with invertebrates. She cultivates the following in her tanks:

Nerites with cory hebrosis
Amano shrimps with discus
Otos with anything except nerite snails because they outcompete for food
Chili rasboras with inverts
Any micro shrimp do well with other shrimps
Tanganyikan shell dwellers with nerite snails
Rams with nerite snails

SHRIMPS:

Rachel's favorite shrimp is the Amano Shrimp. They are a hardy shrimp, not tempermental with a growth of 2 to 2.5 inches. She said they love to eat black beard algae.

OTHER SHRIMPS:

Green Shrimp (Caridina babaulti)
pH - 6.5 – 8.0
Hardness - 3 – 14 dkh
Temperature - 74° – 78°
Size - 1.25 inch
Lifespan - 18 months

Red Cherry Shrimp (Neocaridina heterpoda var. 'red') Other varieties include 'Blue Pearl' and 'Snowball'.
pH - 6.0 – 8.0
Hardness - 6 – 30 dkh
Temperature - 50° – 86°
Size - 1 inch
Lifespan - 12 – 18 months

Crystal Red Shrimp (cardina cantonensis) Graded by color bands, can be fragile. They enjoy a cooler tank with soft water and will not breed without soft water. These shrimp need a well seasoned tank. ADA soil is a good substrate for softening the water.
pH - 6.0 – 7.2
Hardness - 2 – 8 dkh
Temperature - 64° – 74°
Size - 1 inch
Lifespan - 12 months

Bumble Bee Shrimp (caridina cf. breviata sp.)
pH - 6.0 – 7.2
Hardness - 2 – 10 dkh
Temperature - 68° – 77°
Size - 1 – 1.25 inches
Lifespan - 12 – 18 months

Malawa Sulawesi Shrimp (Caridina pareparensis parvidentata): An easy keeper according to Rachel.
pH - 7.2 – 8.2
Hardness - 3 – 10 dkh
Temperature - 70° – 80°
Size - .75 – 1 inch
Lifespan - 12 – 18 months

Tiger Shrimp (Caridina cf cantonensis) Several varieties are available: blue, orange eyed, and super tigers. These are very popular shrimp.
pH - 6.5 – 7.2
Hardness - 2 – 8 dkh
Temperature - 68° – 75°
Size - 1 – 1.25 inches
Lifespan - 12 – 18 months

Green Lace Shrimp (Atyolda pilipes) Larger and can be kept with more rambunctious fish. Rachel said that these are very present shrimp in the tank and will not breed in freshwater.
pH - 6.5 – 8.0
Hardness - 2 – 10 dkh
Temperature - 72° – 80°
Size - 2 – 3 inches
Lifespan - 2 years

Rachel emphasized that shrimp and snails are far less forgiving of tank parameters. She stressed that one should know the pH and hardness of their water before choosing the inverts for the tank. She offered several ways to alter parameters by using substrate for inverts. One can use ADA aquasoil to soften water to buffer Indian species. Cichlid substrates can raise pH. One can use RO water, peat, rocks, almond leaves, driftwood, and filter media to raise or lower pH or to soften or harden water for inverts.

Also on the subject of substrate, Rachel said that the color of the substrate often effects the color of the invert. Some shrimp will get paler on light colored substrate. She uses dark substrates to show her inverts better.

Rachel recommends sponge or box filters as these prevent the inverts from being sucked into the filter. She also recommends a covered intake or pre-filter on hang-on-back filters or canister filters.

Tank décor runs the gamut from plants to wood to rocks, to cut pvc and caves. The inverts don't care, as long as they have plenty of hiding spaces. Rachel also leaves the algae to grow on the back and sides of her tanks to feed the inverts.

Common Mistakes:

• Overfeeding: Rachel feeds Ken's veggie sticks. She feeds 1 per 10 – 20 shrimp every three days.
• Overdosing Fertilizers: Keep up with the water changes, and beware of copper.
• Wrong parameters for the inverts you are trying to stock.
• Inappropriate tank set-up.
• Inappropriate tankmates
• Adding inverts to new tanks. Always cycle the tank first.

Other Shrimp Notes:

Bamboo shrimp are large.
Red Nose Shrimps eat algae, but do not breed in fresh water.
Malaya Shrimp or Indian White Backed Shrimp are blue, red, clear and green.

SNAILS:

Rachel said, "The prettier they are, the harder they are," as she showed a variety of nerite and tylo snails for the home tank. There are currently 15 varieties she is working with. Most notable were:

CRABS: Freshwater crabs are very small, "pencil-eraser sized," said Rachel. They live in leaf litter in the tank. Rachel is getting interested in semi-aquatic crabs in the 1.5 – 2 inch range.

OTHER NOTES:

"High Order" - shrimps that hatch into miniature versions of themselves
"Low Order" - shrimps that hatch larvae that take time to develop.

Sexing Crayfish: Males have extra, small legs or claspers on the underside. Females have pleopods to fan the eggs.

Sexing Shrimp: Females have a rounder abdomen.

Submitted by Sherry Mitchell