RE: NANFA-- native shrimp and other invertes

Hoover, Jan J WES (HOOVERJ_at_wes.army.mil)
Wed, 8 Dec 1999 08:06:48 -0600

>>Has anyone had any long term success with the glass/ghost shrimp? I've
tried them several times in tanks alone and with fish and I never can
keep them alive for more than a year.

Field studies suggest that grass shrimp (Palaemonetes spp.) throughout their
range are annuals so a year in an aquarium is pretty good longevity.

Arthur Bragg, the herpetologist, used grass shrimp in his introductory
biology courses. He wrote an article for teachers on how to care for and
use shrimp in educational demos. It was published in "Turtox News" which
was sometimess bound and shelved with scientific journals in libraries.

>>I do have a tank with some whirlygig beeltles in it (Gyrinidae) and
theyre pretty cool and seem to feed on flake food , also Caddisfly
larvae which I accidently discovered like to eat lettuce as well.

I'm keeping some whirlygigs, too: Dineutes, the larger beetle with a sweet,
fruity fragrance (as opposed to Gyrinus, the smaller, foul-smelling beetle).
Mine will also eat dead fish.

Another neat beetle to keep in community tanks is the giant "predaceous"
diving beetle: Cybister. Its unusually large (approx 35 mm) with a
distinctive tannish band around the perimeter of its body. I had one for
almost a year that ate flake food and never bothered its tankmates (The
larvae are extremely predatory, however).

Your caddisworms probably like the shredability of the lettuce but might be
better off long-term with spinach or collard greens which have more
nutrients in them.

Re Norm's post about the Boardman book, "Field Guide to Lower Aquarium
Animals:" its a great book and not like any other I know of. Old copies are
still around and reasonably priced and its possible that Cranbrook (the
publisher) may still sell reprints (they do with some of their other
literature).


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