After keeping some of the larger aggressive cichlids for years, I was looking for something different. By chance, my son brought home some ghost shrimp to feed his turtle, and it didn't take long before I was hooked. When not being harassed by the turtle, I found these to be very interesting little creatures in their own right. They would gracefully float through the tank and could spend hours meticulously searching the substrate for food.

  Well one thing has lead to another, and I've become rather attached to keeping a variety freshwater dwarf shrimp in most of my aquariums. Over the years I have found, that I keep three distinct types of aquariums containing dwarf shrimp.

  The first type would be the "shrimp" tank. In this type of set-up, every consideration is given to the well being of the shrimp. With the great variety of shrimp available, a tank of this type can take on many different forms. You might chose a soft water tank for Crystal Red or Tiger shrimp, or a hard alkaline water tank for Sulawesi shrimp. Perhaps something middle of the road suitable for any of the Neocaridina species like Red Cherry or Yellow shrimp. With a water parameter range like this, almost anything possible. Personally, I have started to get double duty from some of my tanks by keeping fish fry with the shrimp. The fry are too small to eat any shrimp babies, and fry will thrive on the micro fauna found in most mature shrimp tanks.

  The second type of shrimp tank that I keep is the "planted tank". Typically in this set-up, the plants are the star characters. In my planted tanks, shrimp are relegated to being janitors so to speak. As most all shrimp are great algae eaters, don't limit yourself to keeping only the famous "amano" shrimp in your planted tank. In fact, I've never kept amano shrimp. For a little added color, you might choose the Red Cherry shrimp for your planted tank. If you choose to not be distracted, Green shrimp will simply vanish in the greenery of a planted aquarium. Frankly, dwarf shrimp are so beneficial to a planted aquarium, I can't imagine keeping a tank without them!

  The third set-up I keep that contains shrimp is your typical "community" aquarium. When including shrimp in this type of aquarium, great care must be taken when selecting tank mates. But the same is true when creating any successful community of fishes. Obviously, growing a great colony of shrimp is usually not a high priority in this type of set-up, but with care you can achieve a balance where each species in the community can perpetuate itself. I've had great success with community tanks containing Microrasbora, Celestial Pearl Danio, Neon Tetras, White Cloud Minnows, Otocinclus Catfish, and Pygmy Corydoras Catfish, along with a variety of dwarf shrimp.

  As you can see, the joys of keeping shrimp, takes on limitless different forms. With all these choices available to the shrimp enthusiast how can you not love them!