# How do you count your shrimps?



## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I'm pretty sure I have ~50 RCS in my 20 gallons, but the most I've ever counted is ~20.

So I'm just curious, for those that say they have 300 shrimps in their tanks, how do you know? Do you have a Secret Shrimp Counting Method? Is it a ballpark figure (and if so, how did you arrive at that estimate)?


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

I would have to say it is usually a ballpark figure. 

The only way to really get an accurate count is to rip up all the plants/rocks in your aquarium and then net them out. Even then, you might miss the tiny baby shrimp.


----------



## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Darkblade48 said:


> I would have to say it is usually a ballpark figure.
> 
> The only way to really get an accurate count is to rip up all the plants/rocks in your aquarium and then net them out. Even then, you might miss the tiny baby shrimp.


Okay, but how do you arrive at that estimate? Like I said, the most I ever see of my RCS is about 20. Is there a rule of thumb that says "multiply the number of shrimps you see by X"?


----------



## patricka (Mar 24, 2011)

solarz said:


> Okay, but how do you arrive at that estimate? Like I said, the most I ever see of my RCS is about 20. Is there a rule of thumb that says "multiply the number of shrimps you see by X"?


count a corner quickly...1..2..3...10 then if you see a lot of shrimp all over the place, if that corner is only 1/10th of your aquarium then you have about 100.

if the corner you counted is loaded and other corners are some then I would say you have 50 +- you'll never know exactly how many you have

if all you've counted is 20 then I would say you have at most 50 shrimps.

even better when it's feeding time usually 90% of them will come out to eat, now it's time to count but you'll never get an exact figure.


----------



## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

remove all plants and rocks and then take a picture it's easier to count them this way. Try counting less than 1/2 inch fry swimming all over the tank any more than 20 is almost impossible.


----------



## RCode (Dec 12, 2010)

I think it all depends how your tank is setup, as their can not really be a formula for scared shrimp... 

The best way I have found to see all my shrimp (because they all hide and make me paranoid that they are dieing), is I give them a day or two break of food, then I'll throw an algae wafer (I usually break it in to small pieces so everyone gets a fair chance at some), and a small piece of spinach and you will see everyone come up to the front for a taste. At that point I usually try and get a rough estimate. 

Also as you grow your tank out with shrimp, you will notice the population double, and you start to have a good idea of how many should be in their as well. It's all a educated guess really.... I know myself (any others probably) that spend hours in front of their tank watching the shrimps swim around, so you eventually see the ones that are hiding.


----------



## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

I remember a couple of months back I was shutting down my cherry shrimp breeding tank and someone wanted to buy my entire stock of cherries, I did a rough count and told him it's around 60 but when he wanted an exact count 2 hours before meetup, so I counted and I stopped counting after I reached 160


----------



## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

Starve, then take a photo on feeding day. Load on large screen monitor and count off the photo.


----------



## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

just count fast


----------



## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

love this thread!

One could do rough estimates with sample sizes.. or take a photo and load it up on the computer


----------



## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

I can tall you how I count shrimps in a box. 

Imagine that you have a small plastic box with 2-3 dozens of constantly floating shrimps. It's impossible to count them.

But, if you make a good photo of the box, it's easy to count shrimps on the photo


----------

