Water change in shrimp tank

[Matt Warner]

Hi all, I was just wondering what water change schedule is best in a shrimp tank. Is it better to do several smaller water changes during the week. Or just the normal 50% water change once a week. Or does it not really matter or does it depend on the species. Mine are yellow (Neocaridina heteropoda yellow).

 

[johnski]

I do about 30%ish a week, slowly siphoned through some airline tubing.

 

[tim]

i do 30%ish twice a week on my nano in my sig mate tried 50% once a week and the shrimp seemed to go a bit scatty seem ok with the approach im taking at the moment try and find a routine that works for you and your tank is the advice i'd give

 

[KittyKat]

Larger water changes will affect the parameters more than smaller ones. That is both why they are good and bad.

 

[Iain Sutherland]

About 10% a week especially with more sensitive breeds. Shrimp dont like fluctuating parameters. Yellows they should be fine with larger changes though.

 

[LondonDragon]

On my yellows 30l tank I do a 30% change every week, sometimes only every other week.

 

[Westyggx]

In my RCS and CRS nano i have sometimes only been topping the water up with no ill effects.

 

[Matt Warner]

Thanks for all the advice. I take it EI dosing is out of the question then because of the 50% water change. Would I be better off using something like tpn+ or just dosing trace every other day. It's a fluval flora so light isn't that high but I am running co2.
Cheers

 

[Ady34]

Thanks for all the advice. I take it EI dosing is out of the question then because of the 50% water change. Would I be better off using something like tpn+ or just dosing trace every other day. It's a fluval flora so light isn't that high but I am running co2.
Cheers

Hi there,
the water changes we carry out are to remove organic waste build up as a by product of plant growth, fish load, shrimp loads etc, not due to ei dosing....the most important factor with ei dosing in shrimp tanks is its effect on TDS which some of the more sensitive shrimp are fussy about.
With the reduced lighting you say your running you could reduce fert dosing to say half or even a quarter of the recommended dosage as plant growth will be slower and therefore require less food. TPN+ contains all the same ingredients as ei fertilisers so it makes no difference other than cost wise which you use. You may get away with dosing just trace, but with c02 id keep up with macro and micro dosing, just reduce it down so as not to effect TDS too much. If you see any deficiencies, just up it a little.
Your yellow shrimp are a hardier species so 30% water changes/week will be ok, you could get away with less most likely as with low lighting, plants will grow slower and produce less organic waste so 50% water changes are less necessary. Do you use a tds meter at all or have access to one as this will tell you the tank and tap water perameters so you can see if the two are similar and adjust with buffers/ro water if there is a huge disparity.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Matt Warner]

Thanks very much Ady! I have been dosing macro and micro but only very sparingly. Plants all seem to be growing well. I do have a TDS meter and I measure the TDS of the water adlfter adding ferts so as not to make the reading go up too drastically. I'm slowly learning how to keep shrimp happy as I haven't had much luck with them in the past!
I think I will do what in doing now with a small 30% water change each week. I think the shrimp are happy though as they have all doubled in size in just over a week, and the females saddles are growing by the day so hopefully will have some berried shrimp soon

 

[Ady34]

All sounds good, so "if it ain't broke, then don't fix it!" hopefully you'll have some shrimplets soon
Cheerio
Ady.

 

[basil]

As others have said, stability is the key with all shrimp. IME i've found yellows a little more fussy that standard cherries. 50% wc is deffo too much though, and personally i do 20% wc, dropping to 10% every 2 weeks when i have new born shrimplets in the tank. Would also suggest dropping a simple air stone in......this will help loads with your adult breeding and also shrimplet survival rates.

My best breeding tanks all contain round pelia.....maybe coicidence though, but i'm convinced it makes perfect dinner plate sized pads for micro bacteria growth.