• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

What do I need for my first Shrimp Tank

RolyMo

Member
Joined
19 Jun 2012
Messages
430
Location
Fareham, UK
Hello
I am one year into fishkeeping and in my 180l tank I already have Amano and red cherry's shrimp.

I recently added some low grade CRS to the tank and promptly saw them disappear never to be seen again (i'm sure they are there. Just hiding).

Which got me thinking that I saw in my LFS that they were getting rid of some display DO!Aqua tanks and if they were cheap enough then I could get one and make it a specific shrimp only tank.

My thinking so far and any help and assistance would be greatly appreciated.

  1. The Do!Aqua tank and a Denearle corner filter and some sort of denearle light come in at £49. The size is the 36 x 22 x 26. LFS reckons £150 for the lot brand new.
  2. Then I need some substrate. I have been using the Tropica stuff in my 180L is there any reason to switch to ADA Amazonia? Do the shrimp prefer dark substrate or light substrate, or does it depend on breed of shrimp?
  3. Then I am thinking minimal plants. But then do you create the same elaborate environments for shrimp as for fish, or is it minimal so you get to see them? Guess no fish so no need for the shrimp to hide.
  4. Will I need to fork out for elaborate CO2 system like my FE setup on the 180l or is there something cheaper I can get away with. Still want to automate it if necessary.
  5. Water is my only other thing I am thinking of. I live on the south coast of England which is hard water. For shrimps I am guessing I need to switch to RO because of the water hardness, which to me is a slight ball ache as it adds to the weekly cost and hassle of getting to a LFS to get RO water. Yes I am on a water metre, but I also have 2 kids!!!
  6. I am guessing I need to cycle the tank for 4-6 weeks before introducing the shrimp.

Anything else I need to be thinking of?
Cheers in advance.
R
 
For CRS its reccomended:

60L tank
External filter
Buffering Substrate ADA stuff or FloraBase
RO with Salty Bee Minerals added and a A TDS tester (£10 on eBay)
Nothing in the hardscape that will raise the pH (ie, no landscape rock)
Some plants and mosses

If you want them to breed and the babies survive - Don't put a CO2 system in - it leads to a very high mortality rate in the shrimplets.

Cycling - many will argue here but most breeders I've spoken to only cycle for a week as long as sufficeint starting bactieria is present (Mosura Stuff) and the pH of the tank is low enough. Whats more important is the time needed for a layer of micro-organism to populate the plants etc that the shrimp feed off.
 
  • + 1 for most of the stuff above. you can get tanks much smaller and you will see very successful tanks as low as 30L or less with internal, HOB or external filters, just make sure shrimp can't get into the filter and stay ontop of maintenance of filters and water changes the smaller the tank volume you go.
  • substrate wise i'd recommend EBI gold - sets the params perfectly.
  • stick to wood, inert rocks (or stay away from rocks if your unsure) moss and plants, the more plants the more secure they will feel but the less you will see of them but recognise that they constantly graze on the microfilm that exists on plants, wood and moss so without it they'll just have the stuff that grows on the substrate and tank parts and where is the fun in that......
  • i would recommend RO water but lots of people are very successful without it (see ady34 for a start).
  • for RO get 2 25L canisters and this will last for circa 4 weeks if you do a 10-20% water change each week...it costs me 5.50 - a month pint and a half where i live now :)
  • do use a GH + supplement to re-mineralise the RO i use salty shrimp (salty shrimp gh+) and its great
  • do get a TDS meter and keep TDS between 130-180 (again others are successful with other params here but this is what has worked for me)
  • keep temperature stable - ideally circa 21
  • you don't need CO2, only if you are going to attempt to really grow on plants but it can be deadly if it runs off (came home one night to find 150+ shrimp and all the fish on their backs as the CO2 timer had broken and it had been dumping into the tank for 36hrs. fortunately i foudn it just in time and lost just 20 or so but would have been devastating if i had lost the lot (which has happened before but for a different reason)
  • get it set up and cycling, throw some in there and watch yourself as you find yourself looking for berried CRS all the time, immensley satisfying when it happens and highly addictive....
 
Hi Roly,

A few minor pointers for you if you are interested:

Dennerle Spares and pads for the filter can be expensive in the UK - An option is to import them and other fish bits from Amazon.de the shipping is £5 for the entire order regardless of size.

Mosura Products are very good for CRS & remineralising the RO water - You can buy a Dennerle RO machine to save going to the LFS.

Sponge filters are the way to go as they pose little threat to baby shrimp.

Best of luck with your efforts :)

Murray
 
Get an airstone in there. Quite often overlooked, and took me a while to latch onto this, but I wouldn't have a shrimp tank without one now. Just make sure you pick a quiet air pump. I like Eheim and Tetratec as they are both nice and quiet. Shrimps natural environment is quite often shallow mountain streams, rich in O2. You'll notice your shrimp are more active and breed better for you :)
 
Blimey. Overwhelmed with the tips. Thank you.
nduli - A pint and half!!!! Blimey you have a very favourable pub near you. Hmm TDS meter that is a new one on me. Will have to look into that one.
Murray - Cheers for the tip on Dennerle and pads. I have no clue as what brands are good in the fish/shrimp keeping world. Clearly ADA is the designer stuff. Eheim appear to be at the top as well. So I am seeing a trend that Germany appears to be corning the market on Fishkeeping as they do with cars.
Big Clown - Thank you yes, I had read somewhere on my travels about LC being toxic. I would rather not use LC as it adds to the cost. But sure I need to get CO2 to the plants somehow?
Basil - Ah ha airstone. That is not one I had thought of. Seems like I might be having to get a new power strip even for a small tank.

One thing is how do I work out the litre's on the tanks that just give dimensions. ie. the do!Aqua 36 x 22 x 26 does not show how many litres. Which is odd, as I read half the people on the forum talk in dimensions and the other half talk in litres.

I shall start to revise my shopping list and come back. Perhaps it is going to cost a bit more money that a couple of hundred quid.

Thanks all
Roly
 
Blimey. Overwhelmed with the tips. Thank you.
nduli - A pint and half!!!! Blimey you have a very favourable pub near you. Hmm TDS meter that is a new one on me. Will have to look into that one.
Murray - Cheers for the tip on Dennerle and pads. I have no clue as what brands are good in the fish/shrimp keeping world. Clearly ADA is the designer stuff. Eheim appear to be at the top as well. So I am seeing a trend that Germany appears to be corning the market on Fishkeeping as they do with cars.
Big Clown - Thank you yes, I had read somewhere on my travels about LC being toxic. I would rather not use LC as it adds to the cost. But sure I need to get CO2 to the plants somehow?
Basil - Ah ha airstone. That is not one I had thought of. Seems like I might be having to get a new power strip even for a small tank.

One thing is how do I work out the litre's on the tanks that just give dimensions. ie. the do!Aqua 36 x 22 x 26 does not show how many litres. Which is odd, as I read half the people on the forum talk in dimensions and the other half talk in litres.

I shall start to revise my shopping list and come back. Perhaps it is going to cost a bit more money that a couple of hundred quid.

Thanks all
Roly
 
Nduli and mafoo thanks.
Of course I had forgotten that simple calc.
How reliable are these monitor things (the TDS)?

Also 60l was mentioned as a minimum. Is this a preference, a realisation that I'm a noob and that I need the larger tank as a safety buffer or the bigger the tank the more shrimp?

Thanks.
R
 
How reliable are these monitor things (the TDS)?
I guess it would depend on the model you get but they are fairly reliable.


Big Clown - Thank you yes, I had read somewhere on my travels about LC being toxic. I would rather not use LC as it adds to the cost. But sure I need to get CO2 to the plants somehow?

Have you thought of a Walstad tank, with normal soil beneath the substrate you'll use for a cap? CO2 is created via decomposition in the soil itself from organic matter in the soil and future deposits from the fish and food. Have a look at Big Tom's and Alistairs low tech tanks on the links below for the perfect low tech tanks and possibly one of the best, if not the best I've seen regardless of the method. The only problem I see is that depending on the soil used you may not be able to get the TDS where you want it, so that would be the hardest choice if you are aiming at soft water. But either way if you are not using RO water, then there's hardly an easy way to get lower readings. I haven't kept CRS so I can't tell what their optimum conditions would be, but as any shrimp they'd appreciate the most stable ones regardless.

Tom's Bucket O' Mud - new riparian stuff | UK Aquatic Plant Society
A 'little' box of chocolates, licorice n all sorts short video | UK Aquatic Plant Society

And I've got two low techs setup this way myself, not nearly as good as the above tanks but plants really grow well.
The links are in my signature.
 
Hello Roly,

Hope you are well and thanks for the comment!

Germany seems to be much more shrimp orientated than in the UK.

Another good source for ordering bits is (Cant work out how to link properly) :)

Dennerle | aquaristic.net

The Dennerle 60L tank is very nice and comes with all the parts required - All you would need to add is a heater (I have the 100w in my 60L) plants / shrimp and water.

Dennerle NanoCube Complete PLUS - 60 l 60 l | aquaristic.net

You can toggle between German & English on that shop to make life easier.

I will monitor the thread and try to assist when I can.

Best wishes,

Murray
 
I would also recommend the calcium blocks, mineral stones, alder cones, indian almond leaves, gauva leaves.
Moss balls are great for shrimp and are very cheap if you search for the right seller on ebay.
I have Very hard water and find that adding alder cones and indian almond leaves helps alot.
Have kept sulawesi cardinals in the past In hard water without any problems.
I would also suggest buying your shrimp locally from a breeder, that way the are bred in your local water.
There are plenty of FB breeders pages, and they will be able to point you in the right direction.
 
Thanks Gill. Great tips, especially the hard water and breeder suggestions. Thanks. I actually quite like the Cardinals you mentioned. Although are are they as trendy as the various strains of bees? I think they look like some f the sea water shrimp.

However I get the impression that I will have to go RO. Due to the mega hard water on the south coast of England.

More stuff to add to the shopping list.

How does the dennerle tank fair against a Do!Aqua or TMC, or even ADA. Not that I am in the market for the latter?
R
 
Some good advice given.:thumbup:

I only keep CRS in tanks specifically meeting there needs as i enjoy breeding them.

Over the years, i have tried various ways of keeping them.
But this system works successfully for me.
And I'm terrified of changing anything.:)

Basically.
A very MATURE, STABLE, tank/filter.
RO re mineralised to a TDS of 130.
Temp 71
ADA Amazonia.
No carbon.
Wood/mosses/floating plants.
Leaves/cones/ bark.
Monsura additives.
And feeding ever few days, as there is plenty of bio film in the tank.

My 50ltr tank has a Eheim 2224 external with a spray bar positioned above the surface, and a eheim pre filter.
It contains 12 adult CRS, S-sss grades and runs with around 100plus shrimplets at the moment, of varying sizes.

Cheers.
 
Back
Top