4 replies to this topic

[megan]

Hi

Can anyone tell me if I can put glass shrimp in an outdoor pond with bristlenose and pacific blue eyes. I was hoping to have them breed in there, but wondering if the babies will be eaten by the current residents.

I live in Mackay (Qld) the pond is under our front stairs (so is fairly sheltered from birds) It has been running (without any cleaning out) for 12 years. I have no external filter, just a pump (with a sponge filter over the intake) that takes the water from the pond and sends it down a waterfall. There are quite a few plants around the pond that now have their roots in the pond. I also have quite a lot plants in there as well. Both the bristlenose and the pacific blue eyes breed heaps. I started with about 10 really small bristlenose and about 20 blue eyes and I have not added any since. Some seem to die off if we have a really cold winter, but then in summer they breed back up.

I tried them before in my 4foot planted, but my clown loaches (or perhaps it was the yo yos) cleaned them all up. They only lasted a couple of days. So I thought that perhaps I could breed them and then put some into the main tank. I do have more plants in the tank now so perhaps some may even survive a bit longer.

Any thoughts

Megan

[Brengun]

I don't see any problem with it as long as you get an established pile of weed growing in there for the shrimp to hide, moult and breed in. What about going for the red cherry shrimp? I have found them a little bit hardier and they do well in my outdoor pond. They just don't breed as prolifically as they could due to the hungry little fishes predating on them.
They do grow to a pretty great size outdoors tho and I imagine the shrimp babies are feeding the fish babies as they have quite a few fry.

I wouldnt be too concerned with the bristlenoses eating the shrimp, mainly the hungry blue-eyes but its do-able with some thick weed for cover. Drop some algae tabs in the bottom and the brislenoses and shrimp will feed down there, and the blue-eyes can eat a little bit of supplemented flake foods up the top.

[megan]

Hi Brengun

Thanks for your reply. I do have heaps of val and other plants in the pond itself and lots of slate bits, broken pots, large and small rocks and fine gravel in the bottom.

I feed the pond flake every day, with the occasional missed day. There is also duckweed (?) covering most of the surface - I scoop some of it out every week or so. Just started feeding some algae wafers for the bn, but I don't think they know what to do with them. When the flake goes in they come up to the surface and suck it in - really cute. Some of them are VERY big now. But they just ignore the the algae wafers

Got the blue eyes as they were supposed to eat mozzie lavae, but leave tadpoles alone. I do have some rarely seem but heard frogs (the small brown ones with pointed noses and the green tree frogs) in residence.

So I am assuming that the tiny shrimp babies will prob look like mozzie babies to the blue eyes.

Megan
My thought with the glass shrimp was that they would be less visible (ie take longer before they were eaten) and the fact that I can get 10 for $7.99 but the cherry shrimp are $7.50 each. Also with them being in a concrete pond there won't be much chance for me to actually see them.

[Brengun]

If its only a few feet deep, instead of buying the expensive pond lillies, you know the humble little banana lily will grow up to the surface, flower and grow huge leaves in a pond.

[megan]

I have tried banana lillies before, there is not enough light as the pond is shaded by the steps and a garden with a lot of palms (almost a rainforest), The lillies just don't grow and eventually die.

Not really worried about the plants there are enough in there. Was more worried about the shrimp being able to sustain a population, but hoping that they don't over run the pond

Thanks for your help.