What should I do now?

[Zolanski]

Yesterday, one of my RCS gave birth (thank God), and i've had the filter off since they were born. The filter is covered in a bag, since the intake is fairly big. The bag also has tiny holes in it. Should i turn the filter back on and hope that the babies don't get sucked in, or should I change the water everyday?

Edited February 13, 2015 by Zolanski

[revolutionhope]

i think that depends on your situation but do you have any airpump running at least?? you really need to get a cheap nylon stocking over the filter as a quick fix in my opinion! I have kept a bunch of cherries breeding successfully with just an airstone running for the last month or so due to a combination of laziness, poverty and space constraints :-)

hope that helps!

love n peace

will

[revolutionhope]

oh and I havent changed the water in that time. I dont believe water changes are required very often unless your bioload is large and poo is accumulating. I may be wrong about this but I'm led to believe that constant water changes will change the water parametersand stress the shrimp resulting in less breeding

edit- im assuming you're keeping an eye on ammonia and nitrites. shrimp are very sensitive to these but as long as there isnt any of either then I wouldn't stress about not having filtration - just get a nylon stocking when u can and use that as a temporary measure to ensure the shrimplets dont become shrimp paste

Edited February 13, 2015 by revolutionhope

[Zolanski]

i think that depends on your situation but do you have any airpump running at least?? you really need to get a cheap nylon stocking over the filter as a quick fix in my opinion! I have kept a bunch of cherries breeding successfully with just an airstone running for the last month or so due to a combination of laziness, poverty and space constraints :-)

hope that helps!

love n peace

will

I currently don't have an air pump in my tank, although I do have one lying around my house from my older tank. Should I use that, and what are benefits of it? I couldn't really choose what filter I could get for my tank, since the tank I bought came with it's own filter.

[smicko]

You could run a sponge filter. Most people with shrimp use these as they can't suck in the babies and the they eat the biofilm on them. I would never recommend turning off a filter as the bacteria in it will start to die. If it's been off for a while and you turn it back on it can release ammonia and nitrate in the tank.

Cheers mick

[kizshrimp]

Not to mention hydrogen sulphide Mick, yuck. Zolanski, the dirtier the filter the quicker it goes bad, but you only have a few hours at best. If it's been off longer best to remove it from the tank and clean the media in aquarium water before you turn it back on. 

[Zolanski]

You could run a sponge filter. Most people with shrimp use these as they can't suck in the babies and the they eat the biofilm on them. I would never recommend turning off a filter as the bacteria in it will start to die. If it's been off for a while and you turn it back on it can release ammonia and nitrate in the tank.

Cheers mick

 

 

Not to mention hydrogen sulphide Mick, yuck. Zolanski, the dirtier the filter the quicker it goes bad, but you only have a few hours at best. If it's been off longer best to remove it from the tank and clean the media in aquarium water before you turn it back on. 

 

 

oh and I havent changed the water in that time. I dont believe water changes are required very often unless your bioload is large and poo is accumulating. I may be wrong about this but I'm led to believe that constant water changes will change the water parametersand stress the shrimp resulting in less breeding

edit- im assuming you're keeping an eye on ammonia and nitrites. shrimp are very sensitive to these but as long as there isnt any of either then I wouldn't stress about not having filtration - just get a nylon stocking when u can and use that as a temporary measure to ensure the shrimplets dont become shrimp paste

I've turned the filter back on and replaced the media so hopefully things don't turn out bad. But i've also made an observation, I removed the bag covering the filter and instantly I spotted two of my baby shrimp. And two my surprise, they haven't gotten sucked into the filter intake. I'm not sure what to think of it. They swam around the filter with no problems, but I'm scared that maybe another time when they swim past they'll be sucked in and be gone. Here's a photo to show just how close on of them is, although should I be worried?

 

http://i.imgur.com/NQpZ3ZL.jpg

[2OFUS]

Your shrimp will 100% get sucked up in tht inlet

[jayc]

What's was this bag covering the filter intake?

It might be better than nothing over the filter inlet.

Edited February 14, 2015 by jayc

[Zolanski]

What's was this bag covering the filter intake?

It might be better than nothing over the filter inlet.

It was a bag that came with the bionood I bought. I had no use for it, so I used it to cover the filter intake

[Zolanski]

Your shrimp will 100% get sucked up in tht inlet

The intake of the filter isn't even that strong to be honest. I see objects that swim right next to the filter, and they don't get sucked in. Also today I saw the little baby shrimplet right next to it, and there wasn't even a slight sign of struggle to keep away from the filter. 

[kizshrimp]

I agree with the comments from 2OFUS and JayC. It doesn't matter if the current is strong enough to suck shrimplets in, some will choose to migrate up there anyway. In my current system the sump is full of little bee shrimp who decided to move out the overflow pipes. 3 tanks have good fine strainers and 2 others do not - those have obviously less shrimplets. At least I know where the guys in the sump are from. 

[ineke]

As a quick fix a nylon stocking and rubber band works well as long as you check it daily to make sure it doesn't get clogged with debris.

[jayc]

Check with the wife first if you use her stockings lol .

[revolutionhope]

if you do use nylon stocking method u should probably use new. black and gold/homebrand is fine doesnt need to be razzamatazz ;-)