Shrimp Tank

[Shrimpdude]

I currently have three ghost shrimp and some snails living in a 2.5 gallon aquarium. It gets rather chilly at night, so I was wondering If I should invest In a small heater. (I know where to get them!!) The light provides most heat during the day, but at night It drops into the low sixty's!! Could they tolerate this?? I just want my shrimp to be healthy and happy!!

[Robert]

Hi,
most of our little shrimps of the genuses Neocaridina and Cardina come from tropical and subtropical countries. The ones frm southern China, Taiwan, India etc. should be able to tolerate such temperatures. But I don't know exactly where your ghost shrimps come from because the name is too common. To make sure they are fine, get the heater and set it to 20-22°C (don't ask me how much degree Fahrenheit these are, it took me alreday some effort to find our what your "low sixty's" mean).

regards
Robert

[GunmetalBlue]

Hi Shrimpdude, what I've read about freshwater Ghost shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus) is that "they will tolerate a wide range of temperatures, but best kept at 70°F-78°F." So basically anywhere in the 70's is fine. If you use a heater, make sure there's current in the tank to disperse the heat and also, if you happen to have a plastic tank, be aware not to have the heater resting against it; it might ruin a little bit of the plastic.

Robert, I have the opposite problem, I can't understand Celsius so I have to use an online Celsius/Farenheit converter, hehe. :p

-GB