ShrimpChick

Yep the sponges pictured are the same as above and give me 50gall filtration with very gentle flow and allow for high O2 even though I maintain reasonable CO2 on both. The babies eat off it and hide in it and my water clarity is high. The Pretty Plant: Common: Susswassertang Scientific: Lomariopsis cf. lineata Would you like some for your tank? As your in Calgary if you would like to meet up and I take you through my set up I can give you some plants and help you get up and running. Just PM me if you would like that.

Ooooo verry nice! Want!

Hey Little One this is my set up attached for my two shrimp tanks. I started with 50 CRS and now I have over 200 with the babies. Hopefully it will be the same with the Cardnials.

Little_One, I will post some pictures tonight of my two set ups. I have one tank with s/ss/sss CRS and another I have been preparing for the Sulawesi Cardinal Shrimp I plan on putting in it both using the above filter. I also have a High Tech planted aquarium in my home as well.

Thats right! I know Riverfront has my favorite kind coming in this Thrusday (one filter is $7.50). Its the 45 series which I then stack into 2 45s. This means my 10 gallon of overstocked shrimp have great filtration equalling 60-80 gallons for the same floor space as one unit. I utilize this as I heavily plant my tanks and sometimes can tend to overfeed a little and know I am good for filtration; that and more surface area for the babies to feed off of.

If you would like to do fish and shrimp with concentration on the shrimp I would recommend the following: Otocinclus catfish - Great little algae eaters to Dwarf Corydoras do well - may eat some of the babies so i would recommend letting the shrimp population boom a little first prior to adding these. Along with some of the ones mentioned previously. Provide some low light plants, moss, wood and hiding places and the shrimp will thrive. The Cherry Shrimp are pretty and cost effective as well. If you do not go with betas you could bump up to CRS with the above fish. Key thing I would recommend with shrimp is go for a couple of sponge filters so the babies survive. Riverfront sells some nice stackable sponge filters for cheep which can give you great filtration with lower flow as well which will make the shrimp happier and are super easy to maintain. The shrimp will eat off of the filters as well.

Ribber I have just the one diffuser for my CO2 near my intake. I have found that the one is enough for a high light, hight CO2 and meets the demands well. Just ensure you get a CO2 level checker (these are cheep) and then you can ensure you do not have to much going in and killing off your fish especially at first until things are established. I also believe in two canisters vs. one large one as I have found over the years if one goes down for some reason you have a back up to keep things going. You also get better flow through out and less dead spots which will help with the collection of detritus in these areas. Your flow will still be great but not turbulant this way as you won't have a single jet stream as with the FX6 (even though this one has a flow control I would recommend that should you go with this filter use the spray bar and just keep the bar in the water to prevent high loss of CO2). This also alows the plants to not get pushed around heavily as well. These are just the things I have found helpful with my planted tank. I have some easy plants as well that when I do some trimming would be happy to pass your way when I do my some trimming. Just let me know when your set up some.

Hey Darryl sorry for the late reply as it was a busy Christmas season. I have found that the soil lasts and lasts with no issues. Remember though that when planting with it should you need to root up things to rearrange take time and have patience to not cause a large stir up of particulate. On my 33g allon I have a 3" bed of the Flourite Seachem as well in an established tank for 6 years now. I found that I liked the soils more as it is lighter than the Flourite allowing the shrimp to pick up the particals to feed off of them and dig around some and the cost is significantly lower. In perspective I 15lbs bag will fill a 10gallon for 1" approx. It is sad to hear about what happened with your heaters as I can feel for you, 3 years ago due to a malfunction I lost $1500 in discus, loaches, higher end plecos and the like. I found that for my small shrimp tanks the Marineland heaters were of good quality, the heater length is shorter than most thus is more versatile, showed the temp setting you are set at and of decent durability. Just a thought if you need another. As you are in Lethbridge and I have family out there that I visit frequently enough I would love to perhaps meet up and contribute a little to your collection with perhaps some Chrystal Reds S though SS+ if you would like. My collony is now fourishing and last night I counted 68 babies of various sizes from the ittty itty bitty to 8mm with still 9 more berried females. PM me if your interested as I plan to be up next month which would mean that they will me juviniles by then. I have a few awsome shrimp plants as well that I would be happy to bring with me as well if you like. Good luck in the obsesion my friend! :thumbs:

:thumbs: That is one of my tanks!!! :tongue: I have two more as well that I will post on later. Tortis if your going to post pics of my tanks post current ones as there have been many changes since this.

I use the Fluval Shrimp Soil as substrate or the Fluval Plant Soil. The shrimp love it as they are able to pick it up and eat off of it as well; this is not a messy substrate either and is easier to clean than sand. Plants work well in this substrate too. For cherry shrimp Elodea canadensis also known as Anacharis is awsome for these kinds of tanks. It easily takes up nutrient, requires low light, and you can just let it float and look pretty if you want to. Panda Loaches are just fine with shrimp as are Otocinclus as they both are a small sucker mouthed fish. Be warned though that Panada Loaches do not like temperaturs above 75°F/23.9°C. I accidently during Calgay's heat wave last summer killed mine off as the ambient temperature in my home in the basement rose to 84°F. Optimal range is 68 – 75°F/20 – 23.9°C with a PH range of 6.5-7.5. These are a little more sensitive than most. If you are looking to keep a shrimp safe fish in your tank get a trio of Otocinclus; they are veggitarian and will not harm your young shrimp. Great at keeping alge off your tank walls as well. Should you be in Calgary at any point I would be happy to share some plants or tips. Cheers!

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Hey everyone, I am from Calgary and have been in the hobby primarily for the last 7 years. I am heavily into planted tanks with red plants and shrimp! I currently keep SS-SSS CRShrimp and will soon be aquiring some pure line reds. Just looking to share info, plants or critters and anything else that might come up. Talk to you all soon! ShrimpChick