shrimp

hey everyone!!!
i have a 55 gallon tank with like 50 or 60 pounds of live rock, planning on getting like 20-25 more ponds of it. i am planning on turning i into a reef soon. i am in love with shrimp and think that they are the coolest things in a tank besides the fish ahah, well i have a CBS right now that just loves eating my hermits so when i get my refugium he is going there, but i am planning on getting like 2 or 3 cleaner shrimp, like 4 or 5 peppermint shrimp and a fire shrimp possibley will that all work out???
i no the more cleaners or peppermint shrimp you have the more likely they are to come out and be more social

 

yeppers!

 

thats alot of shrimp for a 55, they may starve if not directly fed

 

I wouldn't put the CB in the refugium as it will eat your "bugs" and worms. The idea behind a refugium is to give your plants and microfauna a safe place to grow and reproduce.

 

I, like yourself, am fascinated and love shrimp as a nice addition to a reef tank. They will tend to mate and produce offspring fairly rapidly, though will not make it very far as they will end up as a nutritional food source.
I don't see a problem with having a nice diverse population of shrimp, just be aware of their husbandry issues and water parameters. And yes as reef guru pointed out care should be addressed to ensure that they are eating. They are ideal scavengers and should have no problem finding food though. Offering flake and frozen foods should have them scurrying about in search of a bite to eat!

 

we're are shrimp nuts too. do some research, there are many cool shrimp out there that dont get enough attention. we just picked up this Periclimenes brevicarpalis.