New tank and shrimp

[jayc]

8 hours ago, DEL 707 said:

I plan to do 20l on Saturday and 20l on Tuesday

If there are no shrimps in the tank, you can do a 100% water change with water that is adjusted to your liking with Salty shrimp GH/KH+.

[sdlTBfanUK]

That sounds great and pleased you have decided to go ahead.

As you don't have any occupants in the tank at the moment it should be easy to get the tank parameters right by doing the planned water changes and add very little of the GH/KH+ until you have done the last large water change on Tuesday, that way it is easier to add the GH/KH+ to the level you want directly into the tank then - easier than finding it is over and having to get it down? 

IF you were thinking of getting the shrimps from ProShrimp, they have quite a variety, bear in mind that there is postage cost only to a certain value (I think it is £35) so it may be better value to order a few more shrimps instead of paying the postage - if that makes sense??? If you are having them delivered Prohrimp or ebay you need to be home to sign/receive them obviously and IF using ebay MAKE SURE the seller is sending 'Express Delivery (Royal Mail Special Delivery (TM) 1:00 pm)'!

Hopefully we will hear that everything has worked out well and all the hassle hasn't marred the experience. 

Simon

[DEL 707]

Thanks again.

Going to do a big water change tomorrow then see how I go.

Shrimp wise, there is a maidenhead aquatics near me that sell neocardina, so I was just going to use them to get 5 or so, to quite litterally test the waters.
I've ordered a drip kit to help with acclimitising, I'm also going to turn the CO2 off, then slowly turn it on after a day or 2, to see how they do.

When it comes to neocardina, is their care the same across the board, or are certain "colours" harder to care for? Would love a mix or reds and blues.

Also food wise, what do you recommend? I was just looking at Shrimp King Complete.

 

[sdlTBfanUK]

I'm pretty sure all the different colours of neocaridina shrimp are easy to care for! The only problem with mixing colours is them cross breeding which will speed up the reverting to wild or brown shrimps if they do cross breed. I say speed up as in my oldest tank I got a group of red  cherries 5 years ago and never had any others and they are mainly brown (75%) now. I have a densely planted tank and have been very lazy so have not removed/culled any browns ones over the years so at this point it would be very difficult to correct this without emptying the tank and starting again!!! Best to keep on top of it as you go. I would start off with just the one colour and get some experience with those first and come back to other/mixing colours a bit further down the line?

With just 5 shrimps to start with you shouldn't need any food so see how it goes with them for a while before buying any. There will be more than enough biofilm in the tank for so few shrimps. If it all takes off and goes well then the 'complete' I would think should be sufficient when you have lots of shrimps though you should feed less than they recommend always? You can also use blanched ORGANIC peas and spinach and other plants etc which you can find out about on here?

If you are going to use the CO2 then you will certainly have more luck with the lesser the CO2 I'm sure! If you can leave the CO2 off for a few weeks, that is what I would do, as you will then know whether the plants even need it AND it will be one less thing to eliminate IF you do start having problems with the shrimps?

Good luck with getting the shrimps this weekend, drip acclimate for a couple of hours and ending up with at least 3 times as much tank water to the quantity of water they came in when you start off (or more). Don't panic if you lose the odd one in the first few weeks either, I always expect that to happen as they have been through a lot, breeder to shop and then shop to your tank etc and are more fragile than fish.

Simon

[DEL 707]

Did a big water change today using the Salty shrimp GH/KH+.
Followed the direction for 1 scoop for every 10 lts.

PH 6.52, GH is 7, but my KH is only 2!

Why is my KH so low?
I was hoping to get some shrimp tomorrow, is my KH too dangerous to attempt it?

I do have Seachem alkaline buffer, but I understand that'll raise my PH as well.
I do also own the acid buffer. But I want to avoid confusing matters if I can

Edited October 19, 2019 by DEL 707

[DEL 707]

I've been asking around.

Could my Tropica Aquarium Soil be messing with my KH?

[jayc]

9 hours ago, DEL 707 said:

PH 6.52, GH is 7, but my KH is only 2

Those parameters are fine.

I don't see KH of 2 being a problem with shrimp. 

[sdlTBfanUK]

GO FOR IT!

As I wrote earlier mine are kept in KH2 and KH3 and do fine so I would think yours will be as well but just stretch out the acclimating as a precaution. My KH3 I use KH elixir which I got from ProShrimp but that was for the betta - incidentally using the elixir also increases the TDS, but I would go get those shrimps and see how you go first before trying to complicate things as I think they should be fine, so see how they go and expect maybe 1 or 2 may die in the first couple of weeks (expect that and if they don't you will be happier).

As you say the soil is probably softening the water and that will stop eventually, so over time it will probably increase slowly, but my shrimp have lived for 5 years in KH2!

Do you know what the TDS figure is now?

Simon

[DEL 707]

Thanks.

I've got them drip acclimatising at the moment, 5 shrimp and 2 nerrite snails.
CO2 is turned off, will keep it off for a few days.

My TDS is 253.

With my soil, is it worth switching to Salty Shrimp GH+, or should I keep using the GH/KH+

[sdlTBfanUK]

You're fine as you are, you want some KH!

You can slowly reduce the TDS by topping up the tank with just RO water, it is ok at 252 but that is pretty much regarded as the upper level (150-250). From here in you don't need to do ALL the tests every time just use the TDS when preparing new water and I would aim for about 200-220 when mixing new water as that way you have quite a margin for inaccuracy as it will probably be difficult to get it spot on anyway with the powder GH/KH+. As you are using the salty shrimp mineraliser that means the GH will tie in with the TDS anyway. Probably do fortnightly set of tests for the first few months just so you can be sure all is well?

I'll keep my fingers crossed it is all plain sailing now!

Enjoy watching your new shrimps and snails.

Simon 

Edit - suddenly realised what I wrote! YOU SHOULD ALWAYS top up with RO water as evaporated water leaves everything in the tank water anyway.

To get the TDS down you can mix the new water to TDS 200-220 when you do a water change, or even use just RO water for the water change if it is very small and dripped into the tank!

Edited October 20, 2019 by sdlTBfanUK

[DEL 707]

Put them into the tank over 2 hours ago.

Turned the light on quickly to have a look, no visible corpses and they seem to be enjoying themselves picking away at the wood.
Fingers crossed, no major diasters yet.

I know I shouldn't have, but I tipped them in, along with the water when I was acclimitising them in.
Was bloody hard to net them in the bottom of the bucket.

Edit - Even in the dark, its great to final see some life in the tank ?

Edited October 20, 2019 by DEL 707
happy

[sdlTBfanUK]

Great news and hopefully you SHOULD be ok as you have at least got the tank/water sorted before getting the shrimps!

There are a lot of jaw dropping aquascapes out there on youtube but as  you have said it is so much more interesting to see movement/life in the tanks? Even in small quantities, it just adds so much more?

The shrimps may well moult due to the changes in the water so don't panic if you see a 'Ghost' or 2! Were the shrimps big enough that you can tell whether they are male or female?  Also they may hide more than you expect, until they are 'comfortable' with their new home.

Simon 

[DEL 707]

10 hours ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

The shrimps may well moult due to the changes in the water so don't panic if you see a 'Ghost' or 2! Were the shrimps big enough that you can tell whether they are male or female? 

 

I'm no expert, but 1 does seem a fair bit "chunkier" then the rest.

Got a bit of a new problem though.

I saw 1 of the shrimp cleaning away near the filter intake grill last night. He did look like he might have just been small enough to slip through.

I was thinking of buying some filter sponge to jam behind the grill to stop them getting in.

[Crabby]

Definitely go the sponge. 

[jayc]

+1 for the sponge. 

[sdlTBfanUK]

Agreed! I had a tank with this setup but it came with the sponge behind the slits. Try not to get too fine sponge as that will restrict the flow and block too quickly. You will need to keep clearing the sponge every now and again as well!

Simon

Edited October 22, 2019 by sdlTBfanUK

[DEL 707]

I managed to buy some kind of filter replacement kit at my LFS.
Handy thing was that it come with a grill, so I just cut it to shape and shoved it in.

Love the lil guys.

Was thinking of giving it another week, then maybe ordering some cheery and amano shrimp from Pro-Shrimp. None of my LFS sell amano unfortunately.

[jayc]

10 hours ago, DEL 707 said:

Handy thing was that it come with a grill, so I just cut it to shape and shoved it in.

That's great!

[sdlTBfanUK]

I think that the shrimp in the photo is a female!

Great you got the slots sorted so quickly and easily.

The good thing with the amano is that they won't breed so you will never get more than you buy. Don't get too many though (may be the 5) as they are bigger and will out compete the cherry shrimps for food. Don't forget that there is postage cost with ProShrimp below £39 (I think that is the figure??) so bear that in mind as if you are close to that and you buy a few more shrimps you will get more shrimps for the same cost by not having to pay postage - f that makes sense? The other option is the tangerine tigers as they won't cross breed with cherry shrimp but you get a different colour - those are out of stock at the moment though! You need to be at home next day to sign for the package.

https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/tiger-shrimp/563-tangerine-tiger-shrimp.html

Simon

[DEL 707]

Thanks again for all the help.

I was only really getting the amanos to help with algae and plant maintence, but maybe I should just get a few more cherries.
If I got another 5 this weekend, should I look into getting some shrimp food?

Thinking about fish in the future (another week or 2), what would you suggesting stocking.

I was thinking about a few green neon tetra's and maybe 2 otos.

[jayc]

2 hours ago, DEL 707 said:

I was only really getting the amanos to help with algae and plant maintence, but maybe I should just get a few more cherries.

Cherries don't do much, if anything, to help with algae clean up. Amanos are much better here. So get a few for the tank, maybe 4 for the size of your tank.

[DEL 707]

Thanks.

Think I'm going to order from Pro Shrimp, get 5 cheeries and 3 amano, just to play it safe.

[sdlTBfanUK]

Even with the new proposed new shrimp you are only lightly stocked so you don't really have to worry too much about a commercial food! Maybe get some of this for when you get babies, though I expect adults will benefit as well:

https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/shirakura-mironekuton/136-shirakura-chi-ebi-20g.html?search_query=chi+ebi&results=4

With all commercial products use less than they say. The following is used a lot by people but it isn't a food just good for the bacteria/biofilm:

https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/glasgarten/88-glasgarten-bacter-ae-38g-4260361270047.html?search_query=bacter&results=358

There are so many commercial foods it is difficult to recommend a certain one but I would try and get a 'complete' one if you want to get some ready at this stage?

Fishwise the ones you want will be fine, they may get the odd baby shrimp but shrimps are quite fast and naturally hide when they are young so it should work ok. I have a betta in one tank, and neon tetras and ember tetras in another with cherry shrimp! Tetras tend to spend most of their time mid tank depth.

Simon

[DEL 707]

Thanks for the suggestion on that bacter AE, I've ordered some, along with complete shrimp food.

If I was to go down the road of 2 otos and some neons, what would be the number I could have without overstocking?

[Crabby]

What size is your tank again?