Just want to share what I thought was a really interesting anecdote re: Peppermint Shrimp stocking info and behavior. The "fine line between sex and murder" was the best part -
"I began my project last year by creating a 55 gallon broodstock tank for the adult shrimpand placed as many as 28 individuals in there at first. I was not surprised to witness progressive cannibalism amongst them over time which has confirmed my strong belief that you can only house just so many shrimp within a given amount of tank space. Today my conclusion drawn from this is that just under ten adult peppermintshrimp can be successfully housed in a tank of this size. It is during molting episodes when cannibalism most often occurs and this is also when mating occurs as well so there seems to be a fine line between sex and murder in the shrimp world depending on the density of individuals in a given captive environment. Naturally hunger is also a strong factor and underfed shrimps arecertainly more prone to cannibalistic behavior. Feeding the adult shrimps daily with quality feeds, vitamin and lipid enriched, is a big part of success with large hatches and healthy larvae."
The entire article is at http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/4/aafeature
"I began my project last year by creating a 55 gallon broodstock tank for the adult shrimpand placed as many as 28 individuals in there at first. I was not surprised to witness progressive cannibalism amongst them over time which has confirmed my strong belief that you can only house just so many shrimp within a given amount of tank space. Today my conclusion drawn from this is that just under ten adult peppermintshrimp can be successfully housed in a tank of this size. It is during molting episodes when cannibalism most often occurs and this is also when mating occurs as well so there seems to be a fine line between sex and murder in the shrimp world depending on the density of individuals in a given captive environment. Naturally hunger is also a strong factor and underfed shrimps arecertainly more prone to cannibalistic behavior. Feeding the adult shrimps daily with quality feeds, vitamin and lipid enriched, is a big part of success with large hatches and healthy larvae."
The entire article is at http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/4/aafeature