DevonCichlid Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I've become fascinated with the idea of starting up a small RCS tank and wanted to get some feedback to see if what I have would be suitable. I have a 20G Long hospital tank setup right now that includes Substrate - 2.5" Playsand Filter - Sponge Filter running off a Marineland Maxi-Jet 400 rated for 110gph in powerhead mode with Venturi Lighting- Single Bright 24" LED Air - I also have an air pump setup on it split to two air stones (kinda overkill) Driftwood is also mature in the tank The sponge filter and substrate are going on 6 months now where at the minimum there have been small BN Pleco's in there and at the max a few cichlids for a few days for QT from the LFS. Obviously test levels are all good on ammonia, etc. As far as plants I'm only planning on getting some easy plants where I preferably won't have to dose ever, ie. Java Moss, Java Fern. That's the plan at least until I get the planted tank bug where I would eventually get into CO2 setups and lighting. Does that powerhead generate too much flow for a shrimp tank? If so I have the air pump that would be more then capable for the sponge filter. Is the LED lighting going to be enough for the Java Moss/Java Fern? Any additional feedback would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigs Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I've become fascinated with the idea of starting up a small RCS tank and wanted to get some feedback to see if what I have would be suitable. I have a 20G Long hospital tank setup right now that includes Substrate - 2.5" Playsand Filter - Sponge Filter running off a Marineland Maxi-Jet 400 rated for 110gph in powerhead mode with Venturi Lighting- Single Bright 24" LED Air - I also have an air pump setup on it split to two air stones (kinda overkill) Driftwood is also mature in the tank The sponge filter and substrate are going on 6 months now where at the minimum there have been small BN Pleco's in there and at the max a few cichlids for a few days for QT from the LFS. Obviously test levels are all good on ammonia, etc. As far as plants I'm only planning on getting some easy plants where I preferably won't have to dose ever, ie. Java Moss, Java Fern. That's the plan at least until I get the planted tank bug where I would eventually get into CO2 setups and lighting. Does that powerhead generate too much flow for a shrimp tank? If so I have the air pump that would be more then capable for the sponge filter. Is the LED lighting going to be enough for the Java Moss/Java Fern? Any additional feedback would be appreciated. The LED should be fine. I've previously had a 10Gallon setup with a very small LED light (4"x4" with multiple leds') and the java fern in there did just fine, and grew to the point I had to prune it back. cheers and have fun Antonio PS airflow might be too much, I'm not familiar with powerhead units but even a good HOB filter would be too much for the shrimp if you plan on breeding them, babies will get 'stuck' to the filter media or sucked up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 A couple sponge filters - one on either end - will do just fine. Everything else will work great. Start with 20 or so shrimp and you'll have more than you can count in a few months or so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Shrimp really are fascinating! I love hearing about more people getting into it, just means there's more people to swap with! Sounds like a good setup you've got there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonCichlid Posted January 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Awesome guys. Thanks for the quick responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I have a dedicated planted 75 gal to cherry shrimp and they are thriving. I use my old fluval 305 and wrap a bit of pantyhose around the intake and it works perfect fine to stop the little shrimp to be given the suck of death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I have a dedicated planted 75 gal to cherry shrimp and they are thriving. I use my old fluval 305 and wrap a bit of pantyhose around the intake and it works perfect fine to stop the little shrimp to be given the suck of death. I once had a heavily planted 90 with an XP3 on it. I didn't cover the intake with anything special and when I'd do maintenance on the filter, I'd find a thriving colony of shrimp of all sizes (even ones that were too big to be sucked up) in the filter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hackerberry Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I added some RCS in my Discus tank with a Rena XP3. Everytime I clean the filter, I find dozens of RCS inside alive and eating away. I just throw them back in the tank, these guys are very hard y.. hb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I have a dedicated planted 75 gal to cherry shrimp and they are thriving. I use my old fluval 305 and wrap a bit of pantyhose around the intake and it works perfect fine to stop the little shrimp to be given the suck of death. I once had a heavily planted 90 with an XP3 on it. I didn't cover the intake with anything special and when I'd do maintenance on the filter, I'd find a thriving colony of shrimp of all sizes (even ones that were too big to be sucked up) in the filter! interesting! Just think tho @ the environment for the shrimp in the filter...huge water flow, zero light they must have been wondering what crazy vortex they were just sucked into...one sec light the next dark! heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) I wonder how many dead shrimp you had go through the system feeding your plants! that's pretty awesome. "Ferts? I don't need no stinking ferts. I've got shrimp." Edited January 31, 2013 by cainechow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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