Community aquariums?

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

Hi, I had some ideas for an interspecies community freshwater aquarium-here are my ideas:

NOTE: i'm not trying to be "cruel'' or anything by mixing species, I need to make that very clear. But different species being peaceful (or just blatantly ignoring each other) fascinate me.

• Bamboo shrimps
• Vampire shrimps
• Medicinal Leeches-I heard from someone that they won't bother an invertebrate, as they only feed off mammals
• Freshwater crabs of some sort
• floating moss balls

Does this sound good? Any recommendations? Anything would help-thanks!

 

[Ajohnson5263]

vampire shrimp and bamboo should get along nicely. expect the vampire to be more secretive. i would house leeches in a species only tank, considering the hassle that would be trying to feed them (you'd have to fish them out and put in separate container every time). there isnt a guarantee that they wont attack the shrimp either, even if being uncommon. as for crabs, there arent as many freshwater species that dont require air. either make it a palladarium or get one of these (see link below). If you want a crab that doesnt need land, try shooting for a micro crab species, as they dont require land. in addition to these fish, you could try adding a freshwater mussel (filter feeders like shrimp) along with some white cloud or 24k minnows (or other small community fish). if the tank is shallow enough, some dwarf African clawed frogs would be really neat and would get along. to sum things up, shrimp will get along, vampire tend to hide more, i would avoid leeches for feeding issues and possibility of predation, most crabs need land access, and moss balls are perfect for any freshwater tank.

http://www.underwaterislands.com/underwater-oasis/

other good community fish include corys, pretty much any snail, neon tetras, harlequin rasporas, and guppies. if you're looking for a wow factor, hillstream loaches might work (they need high circulation, which benefit the shrimp anyways)

 

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

vampire shrimp and bamboo should get along nicely. expect the vampire to be more secretive. i would house leeches in a species only tank, considering the hassle that would be trying to feed them (you'd have to fish them out and put in separate container every time). there isnt a guarantee that they wont attack the shrimp either, even if being uncommon. as for crabs, there arent as many freshwater species that dont require air. either make it a palladarium or get one of these (see link below). If you want a crab that doesnt need land, try shooting for a micro crab species, as they dont require land. in addition to these fish, you could try adding a freshwater mussel (filter feeders like shrimp) along with some white cloud or 24k minnows (or other small community fish). if the tank is shallow enough, some dwarf African clawed frogs would be really neat and would get along. to sum things up, shrimp will get along, vampire tend to hide more, i would avoid leeches for feeding issues and possibility of predation, most crabs need land access, and moss balls are perfect for any freshwater tank.

http://www.underwaterislands.com/underwater-oasis/

wait, so the underwater oasis is like a mini-air bubble? That's AWESOME! How, however, could I guarantee the others not going in it and becoming trapped? Should I just avoid the possibility of that and get micro-crabs?

 

[Ajohnson5263]

i've only ever seen the product, never used it or heard of others reviews. its just an idea. if it were me, id get some micro crabs and keep it simple.

 

[MTA]

Make sure you get a piece of glass to cover the tank or your leeches will escape, since you're keeping other animals with them you should get some sort of filtration like a sponge filter. Don't get a filter with a motor or you're leeches could get sucked in and killed.https://m.facebook.com/groups/431068910413451?view=permalink&id=828010394052632
This link shows how you can keep a glass top with cords. Don't those shrimp need tropical temperatures though, medicinal leeches need cooler temperatures. Hirudinaria manillensis is more suited to those temperatures, although it does get a foot long which could be too big for your aquarium. Leeches can go a long time(couple months, I would feed around every 2-3 ) without food so you won't have to fish them out often. Also don't get mussels they need cool temperatures, and lots of food, I think greenwater which is phytoplankton, mussels genrally do poorly in captivity.https://www.facebook.com/friedrich.vanderwart.5 You can buy Hirudinaria manillensis from this guy. I think micro crabs are the only peaceful crab, the other aquatic crab is the panther crab which will likely eat all your other inhabitants.

 

[pirminiamac]

I've seen vampire crabs catch Angel fish and decent sized clown loaches, I wouldn't trust them with the others. Anybody done something like this or seen it done?

 

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

Hirudinaria manillensis

are those guys Buffalo Leeches?

 

[MTA]

are those guys Buffalo Leeches?

Yes, they are.

 

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

Yes, they are.

would Tadpole shrimp work well in this environment? I'm guessing not, right?

 

[Ajohnson5263]

would Tadpole shrimp work well in this environment? I'm guessing not, right?

Generally, most species prefer temperatures that are cooler then the preference of bamboo shrimp. they have been known to attack other species as well

 

[MTA]

Tadpole shrimp would do best in their own environment and might not enjoy all the action around them, I also think they're sensitive to water changes. You might get away with slowly acclimating adults over a long period of time(look up drip acclimation) but they would need to be hatched in their own container as babies are very sensitive. Also at most they would live around a month or 2 max and retrieving eggs for a new generation could be a pain in an established community tank.