# Best shrimp plants



## Underwater (Jun 25, 2012)

Hi all,

I was wondering if there was a thread already started with this topic, but did not readily find one. If there's one I missed we don't need to restart an old topic. If there isn't, please read on - thanks!

In your experience, what is the best shrimp plant? This could be based on several factors including optimal foraging, breeding/security, tidiness/growth habit, nutrient requirements, price, and other factors you think are important.

I'm just getting into the shrimp breeding, but so far my pumpkins and rili's have loved subwassertang and flame moss. Subwassertang can be a bit fussy, but flame moss seems to be easier to grow than even java. It may just be my liquid limestone rock water though. Both of mine do good in lower light, but I'm also looking to get into some higher light and CO2 requiring plants so I look forward to your comments.


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## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Any type of moss is good


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## Dugsul808 (Jul 30, 2012)

I agree with Axelrodi202, shrimps love to graze on all types of moss. i have also notice that my shrimps love to hang out on my red root floaters.


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## greaser84 (Feb 2, 2014)

I have Taiwan moss, java moss, flame moss, peacock moss, mini xmas moss. My shrimp seem to like flame moss the best. Other plants I like to have in my shrimp tanks are frog bit and water wisteria for they're unrivaled ability to absorb nitrates.


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## Underwater (Jun 25, 2012)

With the mosses does everyone prefer to have them attached to mesh? 

I've had free floating java and flame, but the shrimp seem to prefer grazing on a more manicured moss-I'm not sure if this is just because I can see them better or if they actually do prefer it. The mesh attached moss also seems to work better for catching the shrimp as you can just take them out.

I've been playing with tank designs also and I haven't found a great balance between low growing mosses and taller plants to provide more cover and nutrient absorption. Is this where the larger floaters come into play? I've only got duckweed right now and the shrimp don't seem to hang out there much.


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## Aqua nut (Jul 5, 2014)

Heteranthera zosterifolia star grass
is my favorite in my shrimp tank.
Once it settles in it forms little tunnels or paths for the shrimp to hide in.


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

I don't think shrimp really care all that much what plants you have so long as they've got adequate food and shelter. 

All my shrimp are in community tanks and, at first, I made sure there was lots of moss for them to graze and hide in--but over time I realized there were a lot more shrimp hiding out in my java fern and climbing around on wood pieces than there were in the moss. Eventually I ended up pulling all the moss--it was always over grown and messy, trapped dirt and I was constantly fighting to keep it from breaking loose and growing in tangles around the base of stem plants. The shrimp are just as healthy, reproduce just as well--and I actually see more of them as they're constantly flitting about and wandering back and forth along the wood pieces going between groups of plants.


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## shrimpzoo (Sep 27, 2011)

Underwater said:


> With the mosses does everyone prefer to have them attached to mesh?
> 
> I've been playing with tank designs also and I haven't found a great balance between low growing mosses and taller plants to provide more cover and nutrient absorption. Is this where the larger floaters come into play? I've only got duckweed right now and the shrimp don't seem to hang out there much.


I was contemplating whether or not to buy some Triangle moss on meshes because I was told they grow really slowly and "neatly".

But I might just end up making my own meshes with Java Moss lol (just to save money and to have some DIY fun).

And in terms of floaters, if you don't plan to sell your shrimp (because I find floaters get in the way of netting [really annoying]) you can use amazon frogbit because they grow really nice roots the shrimp will hang off of and graze.


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## Atiba (Jul 6, 2014)

I have java, flame, mini christmas, pellia, peacock, and floating riccia. Out of all of them my shrimp go nuts for the riccia. They pull it down to the bottom and swim back up for more.


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## Underwater (Jun 25, 2012)

Aqua nut said:


> Heteranthera zosterifolia star grass
> is my favorite in my shrimp tank.
> Once it settles in it forms little tunnels or paths for the shrimp to hide in.


This looks like a high tech cousin to guppy grass. I'll check it out if I have some empty space after my next batch of plants come in.



shrimpzoo said:


> But I might just end up making my own meshes with Java Moss lol (just to save money and to have some DIY fun).
> 
> And in terms of floaters, if you don't plan to sell your shrimp (because I find floaters get in the way of netting [really annoying]) you can use amazon frogbit because they grow really nice roots the shrimp will hang off of and graze.


Making your own moss mesh is an art form! Make sure to get the right mesh size and I've found rubber bands work better than string. I've got some dwarf water lettuce I was thinking of tossing in, I'm trying to keep out the duckweed. I have heard rumors that amano shrimp will eat it-has anyone found that to be true?



Atiba said:


> I have java, flame, mini christmas, pellia, peacock, and floating riccia. Out of all of them my shrimp go nuts for the riccia. They pull it down to the bottom and swim back up for more.


Riccia looks great, I'm not sure why I haven't picked any up yet. Be right back......


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

My amanos pretty much ignore the dwarf water lettuce, though I'll occasionally spot them riding the roots. 

The cherries on the other hand? If I flip on my 20g long lights too early in the morning, there's a veritable blizzard of little red bodies swarming down from the DWL roots.


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## Dolfan (Apr 8, 2005)

I think the shrimp tend to prefer anything with fine leaves as they create more surface area for foraging. Hence why they seem to love the moss, as there are tons of strands to clean and forage all day. Others that my shrimp seem to like are hornwort (also with fine leaves), any of the mosses, subwassertang, frogbit (especially the frilly roots), and rotala to a certain extent. But as someone else mentioned, I think to the shrimp, a plant is a plant. I like hornwort as it's so easy to grow and tends to be a nitrate sponge, therefore helping to keep the water parameters better in check, therefore helping the shrimp out in theory.


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## Ameisen (Sep 8, 2013)

As Dolfan said above, they love greater surface area as it gives a greater area for a biofilm to develop, which is what they eat.

Larger leafed plants are also liked, such as Anubias. They also love areas with very short algae ('fur' algae?), and in my tank, where it is on the back it basically look like flowing grass, so I keep it.

They also love Süßwassertang for the same reason. When I had a tank with it, they also loved duckweed. All the surface area from the roots, I think.


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## Underwater (Jun 25, 2012)

Another plant question maybe worth discussion-what about doing native plant tanks for the various shrimp species? I would assume more "wild" species like the various tigers would recognize their native plants or rather biofilm would be more accurate?


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