Choosing Freshwater Invertebrates For Your Aquarium That Will Not Cause Death

The author identifies certain freshwater invertebrates species you can use in your aquarium and some you certainly cannot. These include snails and shrimp and if you do not make the correct decision there will be a lot of dead creatures and missing plants!

Shrimps are a popular choice amongst the invertebrates when it comes to adding them to your freshwater aquarium. But you have to be careful as depending on their size and/or nature they may either be eaten by the fish in the tank or they themselves may become the predator and eat your fish!

Suitable for Community Tanks

Bamboo shrimp are great for community aquariums because they do not have claws, they have fans. And they only reach two to three inches in length so are unlikely to be eaten by smaller fish but think about how big your fish will get.

Their fans are used to collect food from the environment so they need a water flow to enable them to feed and therefore your aquarium needs to have a filter in it with plants and rocks nearby so they can access the water exuding from the outlet.

Food wise, if a bamboo shrimp is noticed using its fans on the bottom of the tank then it means there is not enough food for it. One way of ensuring they get the food is to use a syringe to squirt it near their fans. Food for the syringe includes daphnia, algae wafers, flake food and young brine shrimp.

Amongst the snails, Pomacea bridgesii is a good selection for a community tank but you need to make sure that this is the snail you have purchased. If you buy the wrong species your plants may disappear very quickly!

Not suitable for Community Tanks

Long arm shrimps are species of Macrobrachium and some of them can grow to over twelve inches, are territorial and aggressive and will eat most things they can catch so are definitely not suitable for a community tank. As a warning, look out for this species as they can be offered to aquarists for their aquariums.

Snails: There are species of snails that can grow up to 6 inches wide and clearly will not be ideally suitable for a community aquarium. Pomacea canaliculata (Apple snail) fits into this category and should be avoided, unless of course you have a tank big enough. You cannot miss their eggs, they are bright orange in color.

And you may well find that you have hitch-hiker snails. These are small snails that get a ride on the plants that you buy for your aquarium. Be warned though. They can multiply rapidly (threefold in a week?) and give you water quality problems due to their waste, so check your plants before putting them into your tank. Some folk just squish them against the glass and let their fish eat them!

At the end of the day you have to make specific choices regarding the inclusion of freshwater invertebrates into your aquarium.

Get a FREE E-Course on how to set up, keep a beautiful aquarium and learn more about freshwater invertebrates in your aquarium. Paul Curran is webmaster at Fresh-Water-Aquariums-Guide.com and provides a fresh water aquariums information system