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By sdlTBfanUK
I have now pretty much set up the shrimp tank afresh. The layout isn't 100% yet as I am testing a piece of rock for the week which I will test if it has any affect on Ph at the weekend when it has been in its tub of water for a wee? I set the heater going yesterday and as per JayC have turned it up for the cycle, and the 2 filters are running with sponges from other tanks. Most of the plants/wood are from before in the same tank. I put a small amount of Bacter AE and fish food into the tank as well today.
Parameters today, TDS 213, ammonia 1, nitrite 0, nitrate 25 (these are the only tests I have done as it is just day 1 of running. As I am using RO water remineralised I don't expect I will test GH, KH, Ph at this early point but I can adjust those easy enough later down the line once cycled should they be out of sync, though they shouldn't (in theory), and adjusting the TDS is easy.
I am planning to rinse the betta fish sponges in 4L of used betta water and dumping that in the shrimp tank on friday, tanks are next to each other so that will be soooo easy! That actually shouldn't affect the parameters much anyway? I will then run it as a set up tank and do 2L water change/maintenance each thursday (back to my old shedule) - tank will have about 26L of water in it (more substrate this time so 2 litres less water).
If I am doing anything wrong or have missed/forgotten something I will be pleased to hear from anyone?
Oh! and I will be getting at least a fixed thermometer this time, and will look into the device that JayC and KMS have recommended at some later stage when it is all up and running, though I did take a quick look and haven't seen any in the UK yet. I plan to get a strip thermometer that you stick on and it changes colour to show what the temperature is, as these are inoffensive to look at and I should be able to view them easily/often from where I normally sit and they can be stuck on the side instead of the front (which I see from my normal seat). I don't know how good/accurate they are though but it is only to indicate a problem so I don't have to go through this devastation, mine and the shrimps, again?
https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/aquarium-thermometers/1072-jbl-digital-aquarium-thermometer-4014162614063.html?search_query=thermometer&results=44
Simon
Day 2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 25
Day 3, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 50 tds 221
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By Aquahobby
Hey guyz, im cycling a 30l tank to get some rcs in it. The tank is almost cycled and im thinking of getting them next week.
I have tested the water and the kH is at 9 and ph is 7 (i have yet to buy a gh test as i bought the jbl pack and didnt realise it does not include gh). I have read about parameter for neo carodina and they say that the hardier the water the better. But i have also read that the water can be too hard which will make it hard for them to molt.
What would you recommend for the parameters ? And how much should i start as a basic colony?
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By TotalNewb
Help please!
I bought a rack set up with 9 tanks and a sump. It is full of stock, neo-cardinia, cardinia and sulawazi shrimps + a tank of endler guppys.
I am collecting it tomorrow with help from friends and a borrowed van.
Has anyone moved a rack before and what tips can they share please?
We were thinking of lowering the water level right down and then moving them very gently in the cars - with the water in 25L drums in the van cause I don't have that much RO water spare so it will be going back in as soon as we can set it up.
They are moving less than 2km down the road and I will have my heating on full blast to keep the house warm - current temperature here is about 10 degrees celcius.
I am worried about the Sulawasis but I reckon if we keep them plugged in with the heater for as long as possible and put them back ASAP they "Should" be ok...fingers crossed.
I just read that tanks should never be moved with water in them but it will take HOURS to catch all the shrimp as there are literally hundreds of them
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By ohaple
Hello,
I have recently started working towards keeping shrimp. We keep other terrestrial invertebrates (isopods, mantises, and cockroaches) and thought that shrimp would pose an interesting new challenge.
With our mantises, we have focused on bioactive vivariums that include a cleanup crew, microfauna, and plants. That isn't the norm for mantises, but it is almost a necessity in the shrimp-keeping hobby from what I have seen. We intend to take the same approach, including heavily planted tanks, shrimp, snails, and possibly some mosquito rasboras if we are able to establish our shrimp well.
I have some experience with aquariums through helping my dad, who has had several freshwater and saltwater aquariums. That said, shrimp are completely new to us.
My goal is to establish two shrimp tanks, a 7 gallon and a 1 gallon. I understand that smaller is harder.
7-Gallon Tank
Started with the Imagitarium 6.8g rimless tank from Petco. Modified the filter system to include more biomedia and a more powerful water pump. Using Eco-Complete for substrate since it is widely recommended for planted tanks and shrimp look better on dark substrate from what I read. Using Mopani wood as our primary hardscape. We soaked it for several days prior to adding to the tank, but it continues to leech some tannins. We are trying to stay fairly focused on plants, especially in the beginning. No CO2, but we are dosing ferts and Excel. Our plants include: Bacopa as a background plant. S. repens as a mid-ground sort of plant. I plan on letting it create bushes more than creating a carpet. Micro-sword for a foreground carpeting plant. Anubias nana for mid-ground/background. I would like to add a little dwarf water lettuce but haven't yet found a source. Our plants are notably lacking moss, which I read is preferred for shrimp. We may end up adding a little java moss but I am hoping the micro-sword will give them enough surface area to be happy. Once cycled, we will be adding shrimp. We are likely going to get blue velvets, starting with 10-15. Once the shrimp are added, the fish will be moving out. To start out, we are working on cycling the tank. We used some stuff from an established aquarium and added Safestart+ to kickstart the bacteria. Keeping the tank at about 78F with a few Zebra Danios and two mystery snails to keep ammonia going while the bacteria gets established. We are dosing Prime and doing daily water changes to keep the temporary inhabitants happy. It was started about a week and a half ago, and while we aren't seeing ammonia dissipate like we want, it is steadily working. We don't plan to add shrimp until we have 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrite.
Here are some photos of the process and where we are now:
First setup, keeping plants in as we get the hardscape ready
After setting up wood and the rest of the plants
1-Gallon Tank
Started with a one gallon vivarium style container from Michael's Originally planned on it being a no-tech tank, but decided I would be happier with some water movement and filtration. I designed a custom water pump sponge filter. Used Eco-Complete for Substrate Using Malasian driftwood for hardscape. Sticking to fewer plants for this build to stay more organized. Monte carlo planted in substrate for carpet, and a monte carlo mat to cover up the filter. A little bush of s. repens. A small bit of anubias nana. Would like to add a floating plant, but havent been able to source any. Once cycled, I will be adding shrimp. Planning on 5 RCS or orange rili to start. Cycling this tank has been much harder so far. We added some Safestart+, but have not seen any real progress yet. I am keeping two small nerite snails in here to create the ammonia, feeding them since algae hasn't established. This tank will be much more of a custom project for us. I designed and built a 1"x2"x3" large water pump sponge filter to help the water stay a little more clear and give the bacteria some flow to process the ammonia. For the lid, we are also going completely custom, designing an acrylic and wood lid with built in lighting and containment for floating plants. We have a laser cutter and CNC so it is fun to have the lid be a separate design project. My goal with the lights is to have too much light available, and the ability to dim. That way we can grow the plants but turn down to reduce algae problems as needed. This tank will eventually go on my desk at work. Since it is a pretty professional environment, it is important that this tank isn't noisy or technical looking, and is attractive for client meetings in my office. There is a rather small available footprint which is why we went with the 1-gallon, even though it will be more challenging. So far, it looks like we are getting a little nitrite, but its slow going. Doing daily water changes and dosing Prime so we don't kill off the snails.
Here is the custom filter. The sponge media goes in the acrylic cage, and water is pushed out the grated hole. It fits neatly behind the driftwood and is not visible except from directly in the back. The top is covered in a monte carlo mat to hide it better.
Here it is set-up and slowly cycling. We are temporarily using a CFL hood for the light to keep the plants going well. It also raises the water temperature to about 75F, not very high for establishing bacteria.
I already received some good advice from @jayc regarding how the temperature needed for Zebra Danios is lower than the recommended temperature to get bacteria growing quickly. I am hopeful that with some patience and careful monitoring, the danios will stay healthy and the bacteria will get going. I have read many articles about fish/fishless cycling and do not plan to change to fishless for this build.
Any comments or advice appreciated. We are taking it slow, but are getting excited for cycling to complete so we can start adding shrimp.
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By Zoidburg
Short info...
I'm in USA
I got these from a pet store
They were being sold as something they clearly are not
Larger than cherry shrimp, smaller than amanos (as in, at best, females get to the size of an adult male amano, but not female from what little I can see)
*NOT* Neocaridina
*LARVAL STAGE of 1+ weeks*
I've been told these are 4 different species (well, 6 or 7 if we count the ones I know aren't true) so I'm looking for some second opinions on what they might be... what I do know is that after a week or so, the larvae have not transformed into miniature adults. These are some of the more colorful shrimp, some have less colors but they all mainly share the dark "band" midway down their tail, except males which may appear very bland. (I'm not entirely sure it's only one species of shrimp...)
Female
Male
And a 5+ day old larvae/zoe (younger zoe don't show as much color - more clear)
And just to throw a curve ball in there... here's another shrimp that was mixed in with the type above! (clear shrimp, appears more yellow than he really is... this is also a relatively small shrimp, hardly any bigger than an adult cherry shrimp. He's the only one...)
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By sdlTBfanUK · Posted
As JayC states, that may not be suitable substrate for shrimp so you should probably consider changing it for a different substrate. he Ph of 7.5 is fine as cherry shrimp are suited to that and under normal circumstances salty shrimp Gh/Kh+ is the one to use with cherry shrimp, but the combination of the substrate and the salty shrimp is compounding the parameters to go so high. The increase in the TDS during the week may be part down to evaporation as you should top up evaporation with RO non-mineralised water. Both your sets of TDS numbers though should be ok with cherry shrimp! In the meantime I would try not using the GH/KH+ which should help bring your parameters down a bit more towards the requirements of the shrimp (though the GH/KH+ has all the ingredients that shrimp need obviously?). You will want to slowly reduce the figures anyway even if you change the substrate so that the parameters are closer together You may want to watch this video as it is very informative and may help you decide on where to go from here???? https://skfaquatics.com/forum/forums/topic/14161-basics-for-shrimp-keeping-video/ You should be ok using distilled water but I would do the full set of tests on some to start with just to double check, in theory it should be 0 TDS/GH/KH etc as I am sure you know? The choice of substrate is dependant on what you are hoping to keep in the tank, soil substrate if you are keeping lots of plants (though that in itself will alter some parameters), but you can use an inert substrate with cherry shrimps as they don't need the buffering effect of the soils as bee shrimps do! My cherry shrimp live in dechlorinated tap water, but as he states in the video RO water remineralised is better as it has everything in it the shrimp require? Simon -
By jayc · Posted
That's due to the salty shrimp GH/KH+ which is doing what it is supposed to. If you don't want pH to rise you need to use Salty Shrimp GH+. That fluorite substrate needs to go. Depending on which version of Fluorite you bought, the red or black version, flourite has iron, potassium and magnesium and high levels of calcium and sodium present. -
By Felenah · Posted
I have a ten gallon aquarium with bloody mary shrimp. I have been using fluorite gravel and it keeps pushing up my GH and KH. I am now changing 20% of my water every week in order to try and slowly adjust it. My GH had been 15 and my KH about 10. I now have it down to GH of 14 and a KH of about 7. I have researched this on other sites and it seems that the Fluorite gravel will gradually stop leaching calcium. I have also been reading that a KH of 8 and above can cause problems with neocardina secondary to their shells getting too hard and the resultant white circle of death. My TDS can run anywhere from 230 or 240 after a water change up to 280 to 290 at the end of the week. Ph is 7.5 and above. I am no longer adding any supplements to the water. One more question. I am using salty shrimp GH/KH premium aiming for a TDS of 100 after off gassing as the water I change with. I am adding it slowly over 6 hours. The distilled water has a ph of about 6.4 before I add the salty shrimp. After I add the salty shrimp to a TDS of about 100 my ph increases to about 7.5. Suggestions? -
By kms · Posted
Those are some healthy discus, I used to breed them about 18 years ago, I had ultra high body and high fin, but those a really rare these days if you are after some good quality ones. -
By Andrea Eliasdottir · Posted
I just got onto this forum as I'm just looking to start keeping Cherries... You have just blown my brain! Just... WoW. o.O
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