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New Shrimp Keeper


CurleyJones321

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ok so now im wondering about feeding, with the baby fish i didnt do anything but use a bigger sized pinch and ground it up between my fingers so they could eat it. should i now do a whole stick instead of half or should i start using the Hikari First Bites baby fish food I've got?

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I imagine the new babies live off the tank biofilm for the first weeks at least and doubt they can manage ellet food at that age. The food that comes in pellets I smash up with a hammer, otherwise they all fight over it, they obviously make them in pellet form so it makes it easy to judge how much to use (ie 1 pellet per ?? shrimps) etc.

There are specific baby shrimp foods, I use chi ebi ?? which is in powder form so I dip a pin in the water just the end 2mm or so, then into the powder (very briefly) then into the tank.

Don't get too heavy handed with the food at this stage as I believe they only eat biofilm (usually the baby shrimp food isn't really food but promotes biofilm growth I think). Overfeeding can be worse than under feeding/

Simon

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I personally don't use baby food, they can feed of the biofilm, and when they get bigger, they can start to savage just like the adults.

If you really care, put some Indian almond leaves.

Edited by kms
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Hi Guys

So its been a few day and TDS hasn't really changed only gone up to 288 so i haven't felt the need to do a full water check like I usually do. the shrimplets have about tripped in size and by the looks of things their already starting to colour up. i do have what i think are Indian almond leaves so tomorrow when i clean down the tank ill add like a quarter of a leaf.

Good news, I've managed to convince my GF that i can get 10 extra shrimp at the beginning of June on the basis of 'genetic diversity'. I've looked around and as i mentioned from the reputable shrimp suppliers I've used, I'd recommend Real Aquatics just because i didnt have any die in acclimation as compared to 2 from Pro-shrimp, but alas Real Aquatics are out of stock (let alone really expensive at £3.59 PER shrimp), I got thinking though as i am now in the market i thought why not try Ebay and there were loads on there for less money than Pro-shrimp. I've messaged a guy about his water conditions to see if we match and im thinking of getting them from there if things check out. here's the link:- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-x-Red-Cherry-Freshwater-Easy-aquarium-shrimp-Breeding-size-1-5-cm-Strongcolor/254211577955?hash=item3b3030d863&enc=AQADAAADAFjVrDbVsZ8oH%2F8PNHtt9VX4%2Fw7FZcmMuqsX8uaFEduVWYt2vDCqaMTifHNu2MbHWLk2QKBz4%2BlKYswo2JgMlaAoVVAhZhKpJTq1CKNMrVr35oqynnYOhsBL77CmIe2LBNIYGUOzW6noTAz7T7CVnbKpG9OGgyVaoiLGyTtVOvDLpzdkr4y73AjAg0VU4ro377%2Fq3%2FvblXrt5Av%2BRB6qWJHTW6FHrirWGPfNZf41DMeXvTaAPXPvNd4uUGZG6QfBew%2BbePRNXBZpCSqza1iK2fS5JDulcys1eFDzGhd1dm9GhB%2BBNX3fH1I%2F666GRvsWUkIA12c7w8FqC%2BAQsHiBYdRSI6wD1QVAATDn26RTIUdFkjKiezKW5aChUMY39WEvVVsz6SZzKx4KNKaY7OzXj30d5lJArdVodwNeA%2BUiSQH2x78rIYnIdfOFhpwlqZKvLROfAZr9SV0r93j0mn7bQ7x8Xs2w%2FvfSzjsunubgd9rEohmjrujvE304CVk9O8O7wp%2FYBHY7KmllbQ6jT7hAgPFuqj0Fa3QOrMiHAXVIKeUtP6jW0Q5HcDR4QOBp%2BqvhYpWD6y8sJ9rMW%2BbtZ1%2Bnh4rxsypfu5fBUbXAOso30zQD7RNVzK7zYbpXxAo%2FynNMsqVec2%2BiXeplw%2FUmXN9dLuUqCXHUtIHi0AlgLDQ0reFNCdsxW62B%2BOMxkB37jv8yaS7Kyikp47I8y0aGxSFrEfAGqzlpVYAPzp2tYxpr0YJglgbwX5k42o2xKCiantqiBkT0sCzsvsJr3UEt%2BuL2v98gdJ7GeeVUfm2s2M%2F5aasLpNCpY0D2%2FS0voXFBqtZvLvgkUFrjWvMVRDb3ubLm%2F%2BXYQxdF0rnzmxPvjdT1eIZ7KofVMNO46NrDxE8w66B57JRNvik9nx1dAKKVlPu3oq9zHuCLjtVfxjj6jzAJnIz%2Bw0YHDSFNxJaX0cT0K46GfPK1LYZf47CcB0vlhTVc7YEkAJiO7ENO5KjUpzoIngFA%2FtBSq2Zn9Rm0t0bp6qQVwA%3D%3D&checksum=25421157795576eb352b2c8046549fee6f7ab9366164&frcectupt=true

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A tip with ebay and sellers on social media is to get them to send a picture of the actual shrimp being sold. 

The pictures on ebay are not necessarily the ones you will be getting.

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I have bought ALL my shrimp through the post, and majority from ebay and not yet had any problems at all.

As JayC states you have to almost assume the shrimps in the pictures are stock photos off the internet, though the ones on this advert are at least all the photos are taken from the same tank so chances are they are likely to be from the sellers tank.

Make sure they are sending them 'next day by 1pm (TM) signed for Royal Mail' which is usually around £8-£10 cost, this advert will but you have to choose that postage at £8.50, so only £2 extra over the standard 1st class.

Probably the only area where we are luckier than the large countries like USA and Australia is that because we are so small it is easy to order these through the post and get them next day! There are a lot of people selling shrimps through ebay as well over here. Here is my usual search:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Pet-Supplies/1281/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=shrimp&_sop=12

The ones you have picked out may of coarse be sold by June , but there are always plenty, but as per JayC be cautious over the photos as they may not be theirs, OR they may be enhanced. You also MAY loose a couple due to the stress etc (being packed away, thrown around etc), but you are not as likely too as you know what you are doing - I used to assume I would loose 2 of 10 and then was delighted if they all survived.................

Also, by June you  may not need a heater pack (hopefully) but if it is cold , as now, make sure they will be sending a heater pack (some people will charge extra for that).

I have read several places (and believe it to be true from what I have seen), that baby shrimp grow 50% with each molt at the start, and as they do grow so fast they must molt very often!

Simon

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I suddenly remembered this supplier from many years ago when I got my red cherry shrimp, so it is worth considering him as I know the colour is good and price reasonable, £2.50 each or 15 for £30. All his stock is showing as out of stock, but I believe this is because he is working on his  new website (it is completely different from the one when I bought my shrimps) so you could 'contact' him if you are interested, or it may be up and running anyway by the time you are ready to buy?

http://www.shrimpland.co.uk/default.asp

There is a video linked to the bloody mary shrimps which is on youtube which is of his bloody mary shrimps, ie he posted the video!

Simon

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the babys are doing great and growing an coloring up quickly (i was worried the grades of them would go down but they havent) and i did a 10% - 15% water change yesterday at 200TDS and checked my conditions:-

TDS - 288
Temp -23-C
PH - 7
NH4 - Unreadable
N03 - 15PPM
N02 - 0.025PPM
P04 - 0.25PPM
dKH - 4
dGH - 10

so because im reading some nitrite and i was reading quite high nitrate I decided to do another change today and at around 33 liters through the jug and the filters reading 009TDS so ive got some extra filters in the post and spare filter in the kit in the jug, even though there is no smell. that puts the price of the water at roughly £0.61 per liter of water which is cheaper than buying distilled water in the shops or online. I do have to say though at 1 drip per second it takes longer to add to the tank than it did waiting for water to heat up in the airing cubourd naturally. I've also seen Mark from Mark's Shrimp tank suggest 3 drips per second is fine so im switching back to that.

The Guy on Ebay said he just uses Tap water for his shrimp and couldnt tell me exact readings just that it was 'tap water'... do i trust him?

Edited by CurleyJones321
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3 hours ago, CurleyJones321 said:

The Guy on Ebay said he just uses Tap water for his shrimp and couldnt tell me exact readings just that it was 'tap water'... do i trust him?

I cannot comment on whether you should or shouldn't trust the seller. however, if you decide to buy from someone that doesn't know their water parameters ... make sure you test the water the shrimp come in before throwing that out. It will give you an indication of how far your our parameters are out by, and you can take appropriate action from there.

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Good to hear the babies are doing well and a good colour with it, you may not need to buy any new shrimps next month after all?

I hope you used the TDS meter that came with the zerowater jug, as your other one had a 006 reading at zero if I recall? Also you should use a clean dry jug/container after the water is filtered. When I started I filled a jug with water, poured it into the zerowater jug, then poured it back into the jug for taking to the tank and there was obviously a bit of tap water (very little) in the jug still so that will give you a small reading?

At least you have the dripper to use if/when you get new shrimp to acclimatise them. The slower dripping had little to do with temperature, it was a slower adjustment to the water parameters. I tend to take most of a day to put the new water into a tank after maintenance, but once the dripper is in place it is just left to do its thing, but if you prefer doing it quicker and it seems to have been fine so far then go for it, cherry shrimps are much hardier so you should be fine either way.

As regards the seller of the shrimps you were considering, as JayC states is best, just remember my tap water is 170 and yours is 330 so it could be vastly different depending where he lives. My guess though is that his TDS may be high as if he is topping up with tap water the TDS will gradually rise over time with evaporation.

Simon  

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So its been a few days and the baby's are getting bigger by the day. I'm still thinking im going to get 10 more RCS at the beggining of the month simply because Im only seeing between 3 & 5 adult shrimp and 2 - 6 baby shrimp at any one time, so im worried that:-
1. my colony will take ages to mature to a size I'm happy with
2. over the course of 2 years or so i may start to get problems with genetic's and start to get deformity's especially when I've got my 2nd tank set up and I'm doing culling in my main tank.
3. so i can test drip acclimation properly so i am better able to do it and can advise others.

although i haven't read all the readings, i have just checked TDS and my tank is reading 290. i made the agreement with my partner that i had to get the TDS to below 250 to get the shrimp, can i do a 0TDS water change? and if so how often can you do that 1 in 3 or what ratio? 

On 5/13/2019 at 2:18 AM, jayc said:

It will give you an indication of how far your our parameters are out by, and you can take appropriate action from there.

What action can i take if the TDS, dKHdGH are miles out?

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I use the spreadsheet (I think I have attached before, but if not ask and I will attach it again) when ever I do maintenance/water change, which is once a week. I only use pure RO water for topping up. It is easy to use the spreadsheet as all you need to do is change the blue numbers and that way you can work out what will be the after effect. If your tank has 14L of water and you change 1L of water for pure RO it will take the tank to about 275, but that drop from 295 is fairly large (20TDS) so I would drip it in over a long period?

I did exactly the same with the 15L tank when it was running, 2L water change once a week, using the spreadsheet to calculate what TDS to mix the new water too 'roughly' to get it to near the figure I want to get too, though obviously no single large change. 

Tomorrow is my shrimp day and I have calculated (using my spreadsheet) the new water needs to be about TDS 140 to take the tank down to 160 which is where I aim for (it is about 165 at the moment). The figures may look dramatic, but the overall drop is only 5TDS! If you don't know what the end result is I think you will be wasting a lot of time and money with trial and error and it could all go horribly wrong, so please try the spreadsheet and once you have worked out how to use it (I can give more help if needed) it really is so simple you will wonder why you didn't use it before? Using the specific shrimp products as you are you don't need to keep checking the Gh and KH at this point, just every so often will be fine.

I understand the wish to get more shrimps but you should consider that the babies will grow quite quickly and each time the female has eggs it will be about 30 which will hatch about a month later and you only have a tiny tank. I started with a 15L tank and within months I had 100 shrimp, way too many for that tank to sustain! As for the genetics and gene pool etc that is a way off yet that you need to worry too much about that. When you get a larger tank it is likely to be at least a month before you can transfer the shrimps to it as well! Babies will be almost full size after 3 months also, as you have witnessed yourself how quickly they grow!

Wow, this is a long post and hopefully it makes sense and I don't mean it to sound negative in any way! Hopefully you are getting on top of the duckweed as well and pleased it is going so well.

Simon

ps I have decided to attach the spreadsheet anyway! I assume 14L of water?

TDS Calculator.xlsx

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Yeah i have been using the Spreadsheet but i was wondering of adding water that had no minerals would stress the shrimp or not? also because you recommended to do it before i was wondering how often it could be done or does it really not matter?

Duckweed wise i've kind of left for the time being, although its not growing as quickly i'm kinda experimenting to see if it gets rid of Nitrate as well as it gets rid of Nitrite.

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There are different approaches and you can use any method really, depending on what you want to achieve?

Initially you are wanting to reduce the overall TDS, but not too drastically so I would do 10% (1.5L) water changes with new water of about 100TDS, ona SLOW drip and that will take you to 275 from 295 first change and take it from there. The TDS will increase over a period from evaporation unless you top it up with zerowater between changes. At this stage you then have to decide upon how often you do a water change and to start with I would try 2 per week at 1.5L of TDS 100 slow dripped. After the second change you should be about 255 so virtually there  so I would then go to NORMAL maintenance regime (next paragraph). INCIDENTLY YOU WILL GET THE EXACT SAME FIGURES IF YOU DO THE SAME CHANGES AS THIS, BUT JUST 1L CHANGES WITH JUST ZEROWATER, which is what I think your question is so it is up to you which you do? As you have some nitrate readings I would probably do the 2 x 1.5L TDS 100s personally. Do slower dripper though than you will normally as you are ending with 20TDS change in water!

I am assuming 2L once per week, when the spreadsheet will be more useful for better accuracy. First 2L waterchange of TDS200 will take you to 248, and as long as you keep topping up with zerowater in between changes from then on you change with about TDS250 new water, so you should be all set from then anyway! As the old and new waters are virtually the same you can do faster dripping than when doing bigger TDS changes.

This is of coarse based on variables such as 'have you kept the tank topped up', sometimes I get lazy nearer  water change time so end up taking out less than I add new water but that can be worked out using the spreadsheet to work out what you need to mix the new water too, to get it right, hence tomorrow I will be removing 2L of TDS 165 water and putting in 3L of TDS 140 new water to get it back to TDS160 and at the right fill level for the tank.

I think I would do as you are and leave the duck weed in this tank as it is probably absorbing some nitrates as you say so forming part of the cycle. I wouldn't use it in the new tank at all though, just use the water lettuce etc which is much easier to deal with.

Hope this helps and you should be running as a normal parameter tank with a regular regime to make life easier and straightforward in a week!

Simon

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I'll be honest when it comes to water levels, on a usual water regime of once a week i usual just top up to my assigned maximum level and it wont usually evaporate more than to the tank minimum mark before the next water change where i take out slightly less water than i put in.

Ok so its been a few days and I just counted 5 adult shrimp and 10 baby's varying in size from about 3mm to 6mm so im thinking I've had at least 2 berried females successfully give birth and obviously they hide in the plants when their pregnant because i have not seen a berried one since the one about a month before i started this thread in March. i have however seen a whitish mark on one of the fish and couldn't determine if it was an infection, fungal growth or just a discolouration on the fish. My TDS was reading around 290 and i realised i did have some Nitrate levels in the tank the last time i checked the conditions . I decided to do water changes, I've done 6 water changes between then and now, first 2 at 0TDS next 3 ranging between 250 & 150 then the last one at 0TDS. i added bioboost (friendly bacteria) during the last change. Ive been dripping it in at about 1 - 2 drips per second.

My current readings are as follows:-
TDS - 233
Temp - 23C
PH - 7
NH4 - Unreadable
N03 - 10PPM
N02 - 0.025PPM
P04 - 0.5PPM
dKH - 2
dGH - 6

i did use the TDS conversion chart and wasnt getting what i call accurate enough TDS measurements untill i changed the tank literage to 17.5 liters so my guess is i actually have that and seeing as you cant really tell without actually physically taking out the water from the tank & measure how much water you have.
Shrimp wise i estimate i have probably around 12 - 16 adults and 15 - 20 baby shrimp in the tank so that's as this forum goes it is entirely successful, but i may have a problem with the fish and my argument is people like me will want to keep community tanks with shrimp & fish & so can i ask about fish keeping on this forum?
The fish in question is a sunburst Viratus Platy, since finding the spot on Thursday, it hasnt gotten any bigger nor do any other fish have it so im thinking its just the fish had an accident and damaged itself somehow? The Nitrate level is still slightly high (for the shrimp i thought) so im going to keep an close eye on it. That does however tell me that the Duckweed does nothing to N03. According to what I've also researched on keeping fish they prefer it ifyou have dKH at between 4 & 8 and dGH at between 12 & 18, but does that really matter?

Kind regards

James

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1 hour ago, CurleyJones321 said:

so can i ask about fish keeping on this forum?

Absolutely !!

 

1 hour ago, CurleyJones321 said:

According to what I've also researched on keeping fish they prefer it ifyou have dKH at between 4 & 8 and dGH at between 12 & 18, but does that really matter?

Unfortunately yes, it matters. A Platy is not the right type of fish to keep with shrimps from a water parameter point of view.

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Hopefully the fish has just damaged itself as you say, mine do that sometimes, although the changes in the water will undoubtedly have caused them stress and the water they prefer was the water you started off with? There are sections on this forum dedicated to fish, I used it when I decided to try a Betta and got great advice from JayC and this Betta is doing way better than any I have tried before because of all the different things I did/do this time!

https://skfaquatics.com/forum/forums/forum/116-fish-keepers/

Great to hear that the shrimps are doing so well. I think it is natural for the berried shrimp to hide away when they are near to birth as it protects the newly hatched shrimps when they are born, and the babies don't move far when they newly hatched either. There would be little to gain at this stage in getting more shrimps before getting a bigger/new tank, it may even be detrimental?

I admit to being lazy sometimes and not topping up the tank between weekly maintenance/water changes (disgraceful really as I keep a 1litre bottle of RO water right next to the tank anyway), in which case I end up taking out 2litres and putting back 3litres at the next change, but need to make an allowance for the fact the TDS will change. When I set up the new Taiwan bee tank I measured the water I put into the tank at the start (assuming the measuring jug is anywhere near accurate) so that is how I know there is 28litres in the 35litre tank - it is a good idea to do this WITH A NEW TANK (but with everything in the tank, heater, filter substrate etc) as it is so much easier to do at that point anyway. I did the same with the Betta tank and that has 20litres in a 25litre tank (the one you were thinking of getting at some point). Without the exact figure to put in the spreadsheet then it won't be 'accurate (can still be used to give you as near an idea as needed though)', especially on a small tank! It works to the digit with mine. Even if you empty the tank and refill it probably won't be that accurate as the soil will have absorbed some water, so best do it first fill of new tank.

Your water parameters are looking good and pretty much there now so all else being well you should be able to go back to once a week maintenance/water change. I don't know much about Nitrite/Nitrate as I have never had any readings, apart from the old fish/cherry shrimp tank which has always been 50 nitrate for years, probably because there are too many fish but there has never been a problem in that tank? PURELY AS A GUESS I would think the duckweed may have caused the problem/imbalance, but that is ONLY a guess based on I used it once and swore never again, I use water lettuce now, though that isn't perfect either as the routes grow so quickly that I have to trim those every week, but still a lot easier than duckweed. 

Simon

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Ok, so its been 4 days and ive been doing a usual feeding regime of half a stick of shrimp food and a pinch of fish food that they eat withing 2 mins and i've been checking TDS and it has slowley been going up to, yesterday when it was reading 245 and then today it read 275. i did 2 water changes at 50TDS & 100TDS and my water perimeters are as follows:-

TDS - 238
Temp - 27C
PH - 7.5
NH4 - Unreadable
N03 - 15PPM
N02 - 0.1PPM
P04 - 0.5PPM
dKH - 3
dGH - 7

im currently in the process of a 0TDS change and obviously my heaters broken because my temperature has shot up and i now have my reserve heater in the tank. the old heater was just going through all the temperatures it could read and switching itself on and off which is why my tanks so hot, but would that have an impact on TDS potentially from greater heat generating greater biological activity? Also im in the market for a new 50W heater that cant be any bigger than 125mm x 25mm x 110mm (5' x 1' x 4.5') any recommendations?

I just counted and i counted 5 adult shrimp and 9 shrimplets and the fish are fine so i dont think anythings dieing. i was wondering if i should increase the food i put in the tank but im obviously starting to have problems im thinking that would be a bad idea. im getting although not dangerous but certainly readable Nitrite spikes. Am i at the point of adding Nitrate Minus? and if so how should i dose it? as per the label? it doesn't say anything about containing Copper.

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OMG how spooky is that, your heater failing at the same time as mine, at least you caught it on time?

You don't really sound like you have too much of a problem by the number of shrimps you have and you haven't seen any dead ones. I don't believe in too many chemicals so wouldn't try the nitrate Minus myself. Your shrimp seem to fine with the 15 reading, and my cherries are fine in 50 reading.

Are you doing any vacuuming of the substrate as the fish maybe causing the TDS to increase as they produce a lot of waste I believe and it is a small tank?

Again, as everything seems to be going ok I wouldn't alter the amount of food as that can make things a lot worse.

I assume you are keeping the tank topped up with pure RO water as the TDS will otherwise increase with the water evaporation.

Sorry this is so quick but I think I have covered everything. Now I need to carry on sorting my own shrimp disaster........................

Simon

ps I may not be on here much today, as I say I have my own disaster to sort out.

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9 hours ago, CurleyJones321 said:

Am i at the point of adding Nitrate Minus?


Depends on what sort it is. If it's a powdered chemical, then ... NO!

If it's like the Seachem purigen pellets you put in an aquarium sock somewhere in the filter, then ... ok. Purigen can be very effective at reducing Nitrates, but it doesn't cure the problem. 

Water change is the only safe and recommended way of reducing nitrates.

 

What sort and how many fish do you have in the tank?

 

Edited by jayc
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2 hours ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

OMG how spooky is that, your heater failing at the same time as mine, at least you caught it on time?

You don't really sound like you have too much of a problem by the number of shrimps you have and you haven't seen any dead ones. I don't believe in too many chemicals so wouldn't try the nitrate Minus myself. Your shrimp seem to fine with the 15 reading, and my cherries are fine in 50 reading.

Are you doing any vacuuming of the substrate as the fish maybe causing the TDS to increase as they produce a lot of waste I believe and it is a small tank?

Again, as everything seems to be going ok I wouldn't alter the amount of food as that can make things a lot worse.

I assume you are keeping the tank topped up with pure RO water as the TDS will otherwise increase with the water evaporation.

Sorry this is so quick but I think I have covered everything. Now I need to carry on sorting my own shrimp disaster........................

Simon

ps I may not be on here much today, as I say I have my own disaster to sort out.

You need to get yourself a temperature control, if you treasure your priceless shrimps.

Something like this, they are pretty cheap, and you are luck the heater just flapup, and not boil the water.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/AC-110-220V-Digital-Thermostat-Regulator-Temperature-Controller-Microcomputer-Socket-Outlet-50-110C-NTC-Sensor-KT3008/32898240902.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.220.d8573fc4jlXPmP&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_9_10065_10068_319_10059_10884_317_10887_10696_321_322_10084_453_10083_454_10103_10618_10307_537_536,searchweb201603_53,ppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=210d5ffa-2520-4dd5-b1d2-87307591faf6-33&algo_pvid=210d5ffa-2520-4dd5-b1d2-87307591faf6&transAbTest=ae803_3

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The tank has 3 adult platys, and about 10 - 14 babys... im thinking about rearanging my steps and get the new tank before i get anything else.

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I think that is a very wise decision and will make life so much simpler once up and running!

All those fish producing waste has to have a negative affect on a small tank, but kudos should be given that you are managing to keep everything alive in such a small tank. Until you get the new tank you will probably have to keep doing water changes as you are at the moment?

My postman has been and 'announced' parcel is here so that must be the stuff from ProShrimp that I ordered yesterday afternoon for the restart of my shrimp tank............ oh well, no rush now I guess..........

Simon

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yeah i read your disaster, part of my tolerance range for my shrimp states they can only survive in ranges of 17C - 30C im just glad i got to it before it got too bad. you have other tanks to keep you happy, id lose one of my favorite pass times whilst i built my new tank. but that gets me thinking about substrate and the like... i should have enough left over from the other set up to do the new one but im wondering if i should get some more and what type. what heater do you have in your Betta tank?

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Not sure if you have been following but my disaster was a total loss of all 100+ shrimps, very sad! Oh well, these things happen and the weather is at least warm enough now that it isn't such a drag messing about with water as it would be mid winter.

I have gone for the shrimp king substrate this time, it says to just put it in the tank and ready to go, no washing needed or ammonia spike or anything. We will see how it goes but as I plan to start with ALL new water I will need to give the tank some time to 'cycle'? The packing says 3-5 cm so I don't yet know whether 1 x 4L or 2, but I bought 2 anyway so will aim for the upper limit in the hope that the more that's in there the longer it will do its PH buffering thing? 1 packet of 4L looks a lot smaller than I thought it would though.................

I like the new heater I got as a spare, the shrimps will think they are Las Vegas, the first few lights are blue, then green then red, and it shows you what the temperature of the tank water is by flashing on top of the lights showing what temperature the heater is set at. I have got a thermometer as well for this time! This is the link:

https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/aquarium-heaters/3293-aquael-ultra-heater-50w-5905546314701.html?search_query=aquael&results=98

I like these black flat heaters as they are less fragile (though they do still break) than the glass ones, and I have black backgrounds to the tanks so you can't really see the heater, only the lights when it is on!

I had to turn down the betta tank heater this morning as well, I don't understand why I have to do that every year between summer and winter as you would think 26 degrees is 26 degrees winter or summer, but although set at 26 it was actually 29 degrees this morning, same setting in winter and the tank runs at 26 degrees??????????????? The temperature of 29 would be fine for the betta but there are cull shrimps in the tank so would rather not cook those if I can help it.

With the new tank, don't forget you will need a height clearance of about 70 something (from the base) if you go for the one we were discussing before, 25L. If you are still getting that I can send you the video on how to remove the internal box if that is something you want to do, it is in german but you can see all you need to know to do it etc. If you are getting this tank then 3L of substrate is perfect quantity!

Really pleased to hear you caught your heater early enough and didn't have to go through the devastation I have!

Simon

Edited by sdlTBfanUK
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