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Ideal size tank for breeding shrimp?


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I'm planning a new rack system, it will hold about 1000L of water including the sump.

At this stage I'm looking into building the tanks from plywood with a glass front so I can pretty much make them any size I want.

I would love some opinions on tanks size. The smaller I go the more tanks I can fit, giving me more freedom to selectively breed.

I don't want to go to small tho. So what do you all consider the ideal tanks size for selective breeding?

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I think 30cmx30cmx15cm is a good size to breed in & the 60cmx60cmx30cm would be a great size ti grow the shrimplets out in. My set up has ten 2ftx1.5ftx1.5ft & they have a great footprint :encouragement:

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depends on if you want to breed a huge amount to select from or breed small amounts and select the best from them to continue furthering the lines?

the smaller the tank the less surface area for natural biofilm which is one of the most important things for juvi shrimp.

i would say no less then 40x40x40 as you could house comfortably 2-3 breeding females and there 1 batch of babies. any more than that and you will start to have lower juvi survival rates from lack of natural food. depending on the type of shrimp also. cherries have huge amounts of babies but TB have only half that amount.

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I like the idea of giving them more ground space, the tanks don't really need to much height. I have been thinking of 40x40 by 20 high but wasn't sure how large of a colony a tank this size would support. maybe around 100?

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It's really about water quality. You can breed up to 10+ shrimps per litre ( not recommended ) if all WQ issues are met...but i'd suggest 5 shrimps : 1 litre. I think what needs to be considered is the maximum number of shrimps you intend to keep in each tank. i.e. if your end target is say max 200 shrimp of a certain variant, then a 40 litre will do. I would suggest a more conservative approach and have a 3 : 1 Ratio, so 200 shrimp to 65'ish litre. One of my breeding racks have 60litre tanks, and the other 45 lt... For some reason, the 45 litre looks crowded with half the shrimps the 60 litre has ?

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Thanks dean I had not taken the biofilm into consideration... gives me more to tic over!

what size are the tanks in your system?

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smallest tanks in my system are (WxDxH) 50x45x45. i use these for selective breeding crystal and TB and have larger tanks 1050x45x45 as growout tanks.

the new system just finished for cherry varients are all 80x45x45 & 90x45x45.

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Ok so all 3 of you feel 50-60l is about optimal for a breeding tank. And I'm thinking a short tank will give them more ground space witch will lead to more biofilm (am I right in assuming I will get more biofilm on the substrate then on glass tank walls?) Im considering 40cmx40cm by 20cm high that works out to 50L

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spoke to soon, wow you have some good size tanks in your system dean!

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I guess the solution is simple... I need more then 1 new rack! haha

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20cm high is too low. You want about 5cm of no water because they jump and climb out. Lids are hard to fit with breeder boxes airlines filter hoses hanging on the side.

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If you have the brains the size of watermelons and understanding of water parameters like Mr Bluebolts then small is easy :)

If your a little like me and lazy and like things simple then larger volume = less hassels :)

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You guys have given my manic brain alot to think about! Thanks jonX good point. 22.5cm hight!

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My tanks are 300mm (H) with 80+mm of substrate, filled to 95%, with a glass lip, and never had a Shrimp jump/escape...

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4' tank here for my yellow cherries. No problems breeding but culling is a lot harder.

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One other thing to consider is how u are going to build them. I have build ply wood tanks fibreglassed with perspex fronts myself and I can tell u it sounds easier than it is and im a builder. Im sure u will be fine but when u are designing the tanks fibreglass a small return to the main tank so that the glass can sit behind it so you dont have the silicon letting go on you. The other thing id mention is that u will still need the nomal tank reinforcement on the top to help hold everything square. I used two Coates of 225GM mesh and a flow coat finish.

If u like I can send u some pics of what I did. Might be able to learn from my mistakes

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One other thing to consider is how u are going to build them. I have build ply wood tanks fibreglassed with perspex fronts myself and I can tell u it sounds easier than it is and im a builder. Im sure u will be fine but when u are designing the tanks fibreglass a small return to the main tank so that the glass can sit behind it so you dont have the silicon letting go on you. The other thing id mention is that u will still need the nomal tank reinforcement on the top to help hold everything square. I used two Coates of 225GM mesh and a flow coat finish.

If u like I can send u some pics of what I did. Might be able to learn from my mistakes

Thanks for the tips, I was planing on recessing the glass on the inside of the tank and bracing the top of the tanks with a plywood lip even though that might be overkill for such small tanks (30-50l). I understand plywood tanks can be quite difficult (especially large fiberglass ones!) so I made a small tank for practice. After a bit of research I found an alternative to fiberglass: Bitumen Rubber. It has worked out very well and very cheap. Easy to work with (no fuems) and has nothing nasty to leach into the tank after set (its used to seal fishponds)

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I've had all my shrimp breeding success so far in 10L tanks, they are 25cmx25cmx15cm, I built them for breeding Bettas but they have come in handy for shrimp. I agree, you do have to keep an eye on the WP but vigilance will bring results :encouragement:

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  • HOF Member

Squiggle what filtration do you use on them, I'm still thinking to take the sump area out of my cubes I'm have escapees all the time into the sump and I can't lower the water.

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I use the smallest sponge filter available, I have tight fitting lids & I use a bit of gaff tape in the corner to seal the airline escape route, lost a few through that little hole :victorious:

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  • HOF Member

Is that the only filter you use? Are sponge filters enough on their own. I have them in my tanks but in conjunction with other filters. If a couple of sponge filters are enough I'm definitely pulling the sumps out

sorry just realised this is not your thread:redface-new:

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Squiggle how often do u do wc and do u have to manually use a syphon in each cube or are they plumbed in with some form of drainage.

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Squiggle how often do u do wc and do u have to manually use a syphon in each cube or are they plumbed in with some form of drainage.

I do 5% once a week & I use a piece of airline to syphon the water out & reverse the process to fill the tank back up, that way I don't disturb the substrate too much :victorious:

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  • HOF Member

I do I have a good technique from years of practice- not that:redface-new: - I worked in a petshop and we had heaps of tanks and that was how it was done:cheerful:

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