Shrimp Newbie

[Bruno]

Just looking for a point in the right direction of a good site etc that will help me learn a little about shrimp keeping. I picked up some Cherry shrimp as I heard they are easy and added them to my 20 gallon, lightly planted, but I would love to learn a little more about them and how to setup a tank for some of the more challenging shrimp. Looking for things like water (ph, ro/di etc), filtering, breeding....

[Ron]

Just ask here, what are you looking to keep?

[Bruno]

Actually looking at your list from Ebiken and checking out what they looked like got me started on this path

Right now I have most of the cherry shrimp I got from you after quickly learning that an AC filter is not good for them. A few got sucked in and didn't fair well but I have a sponge over the intakes now and that solved that.

My first question then is what do you use for filters? I have some sponge filters, would that be a better choice?

Tank mates - the only fish in this tank right now are endler guppies, and they seem to be leaving the shrimp alone, but I am thinking of moving them to a new tank - or are they ok in there?

Regular tap water (dechorinated of course) seems to be ok foro my cherry shrimp from what I have read on here... but is that the case for all shrimp? Or does that depend on exactly what type I want to keep?

[Ron]

I used UGFs hooked up to canisters on my last 2 tanks, so far I love the set up. It buffers the water to my desired pH quickly and uses the entire bed of active soil as benificial bacteria media. My second choice would be canisters with a SS mesh or sponge inlet. I also have sponge filters in my tanks to provide a grazing area for the shrimp.

I've had different tankmates over the years, but now I choose to have none. My shrimp tanks are for shrimp and that's it. Lots of people put ottos in with their shrimp but I'm sure your endlers will be snacking on any baby shrimp they can find. If you have lots of moss, your shrimp population may be able to survive.

Lots of the fancier shrimp require specific water parameters which I find easier to start with RO/DI water and remineralize to the desired levels. Also an active substrate may be required to buffer the pH, currently my 2 PRL tanks are at a pH of 5.1 and 5.5. But it all depends on the type of shrimp you want and who you're getting them from.

Pic of my latest tank:

[Brenda4]

Do you have a diagram for the canister filter system? UGFs ???? i'd like to try something new.

[Ron]

Do you have a diagram for the canister filter system? UGFs ???? i'd like to try something new.

Nope but I can try explain it.

Actually if you have a look at jumpsmasher's thread, mine are similar but I hook it up to a canister instead of an Aquaclear and I use OEM UGF plates instead of his DIY pipes.

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=43585

If you have a look at my pic, you can see the UGF translucent pipe on the left and the canister intake stung into it. Mine then goes into a pre-filter that traps small particles before entering my main filter with biomedia. I hope this will keep my main canister cleaner and reduce the times I have to disturb it.

I'll try and snap a pic of it tonight.

You can also have a look at my build thread

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=42933

Edited February 2, 2015 by Ron

[jumpsmasher]

depends on what kinda of shrimps you are planning to keep; Most dwarf shrimps in hobby are divided into one of 3 main genus; Neocaridina, Caridina and Paracaridina with Neocaridina (neo's) and Caridina being the most popular.

Neo's are fairly easily is that they can tolerate a while range of parameters; generally they do fine with tap water. The main thing about them is most of them are just different color morphs of the same species - Neocaridina davidi (previously Neocaridina heteropoda); Red Cherry, Painted Fire Red, Orange Pumpkin, Yellow, Chocolate, Rilli etc; the various names referinf to their color, quality and patterns. They will interbreed if kept together and most of the time this results in a not so nice brown-ish "wild" form.

Caridina on the other hand is a very diverse genus; with the most common being the bee shrimp family (Crystal Red, Crystal Black, Golden Bee, Taiwan bees etc;). There is also other species such as the tiger shrimps, various wild types from India, and the sulawesi shrimps.

Bee shrimps require soft water and lower ph than neo's. They also require cooler temperatures (26 C max)

There are many ways to set up a tank from simple sponge filters to UG + Canister filters.

A simple tank for neo's would be something like a sponge filter or a sponge prefilter hooked up to an HOB / canister with inert gravel. if you are keeping them with fish, even small, peaceful community fishes will go after a shrimp if they think that is food so you will need lots of plants and ground cover if you want them to thrive because you are basically hoping they reproduce faster than they are disappearing.

As for Bee shrimps; I guess i will have to do an updated "how-to" one of these days but for now the above build journal of both mine and Ron's new tanks show most of the processes. There is also a couple of older threads from a while back that might be helpful

my first shrimp rack from 3 years ago:

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=37999

Setting Up A New Shrimp (Specific) Tank - various techniques (a couple links might be dead though)

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=38042

As for the UGFs - I have tried all three; the DIY, the OEM plates and the Ehiem ones.

• DIY pipes : low costs (~ $5), but would require a bit of work finding adapters and so fore to fit your HOB / canisters. I like tot use larger size lava rock (~ 1") as the base layer between the pipes for better flow.
• OEM / standard UG plates - medium price ($10-20), because of their larger pipes, narrower pipes / hoses (i.e. 12mm ehien intakes) would require a bit of creativity to properly adapt. Ron mention the thicker pipes (16/22mm) works just fine. The modular ones that both me and Ron uses are harder to come by in N. America - most likely have to order it from Asia so it may takes a few weeks or longer to get in.
• Eheim UG kits - high costs ($35-50), made specifically for the eheim classic canister filters (12mm pipes) but is also plug-in compatible with their installation sets. As far as i know, they are not available in North America. I got mine from Germany and Ron got his from me :P

I definitely prefer the UG as a prefilter vs a sponge filter as they are low maintenance (if setted up properly) and provide alot more surface area for biological filtration. the main thing with them have to set them up from the get go and can't really retrofit them on an existing tank. You also can;t use fine gravel with them like sand as these will just get pulled thru the UG filter.

As for the tank setups; you only want the plates to cover around 1/2 or 1/3 of the back side. Add your biological media on top of the UG filter. For the part that is not covered by the UGF, layer the bottom with "old sea mud" / mineral powder and some bacteria additives, add 1/2 of the substrate, add some more mineral and bacteria powder and than the rest of the substrate. Let it run for 4-6 weeks until it is fully cycled and than add shrimps : )

Edited February 3, 2015 by jumpsmasher

[jumpsmasher]

FYI here is a photo of the two type of UG plates mentioned above:

Eheim on the left (grey), OEM on the right (white)

these came from the tanks on my first shrimp rack that I broke down recently

Edited February 3, 2015 by jumpsmasher

[Ron]

I knew jumpsmasher would contribute a great write up. Even shrimp that were once considered challenging are now pretty simple if you take the time and set the tank up properly and don't cut corners.

[Bruno]

Awesome, thanks guys

[jumpsmasher]

np, I have helped several shrimp newbies over the last little while and once the tank is populate with shrimps it all comes down to the details;

1. Overfeeding - like with fish, overfeeding is very common; shrimps require very little food as they feed off the biofilm in the tank
2. Stable parameters: Have an active buffering substrate helps greatly
3. Temperature: keeping them in range and avoiding any fluctuations i.e. heat from light sources (i.e. T5), seasonal (i.e. summer)
4. Topping up with RODI water to compensate for evaporation & regular water changes (to keep nitrate levels low)
5. Dripping in water slowly for top ups and water changes
6. Keeping an eye out for bacterial infections

Some people prefer to do no water changes and just top up for most people starting out I recommended regular weekly water changes to keep your nitrate levels down, at least for the first little while.

One of the most common mistake (other than overfeeding) is that people do not account for evaporation when doing water changes so their hardness (gH) increases over time until they get too high and shrimps start to die off when they molt. To prevent keep your water level the same by topping up with pure RO or use less minerals for the new water so that the GH remain the same after the water change

[Bruno]

great info, I really appreciate it! So I have removed the guppies from the tank, I love the UGF idea but will leave my substrate for now. I have them in a 20G, eco-complete substrate, a few plants, LED lighting and 2 x AC50 filters, now with sponges fit over the intakes to keep any more shrimp from being sucked up. I am stright tap water, declorinated.

So next questions:

1) Water changes - how much do you recommend? Can I stick to tap water for now? I am thinking I will look at RO water, at least for top offs to keep gH stable. I see you mentioned, and I read in one fo the links you sent, dripping water in after a WC - how slow/quick does water need to added?

2) Food - I have some NLS food for shrimp, how often should I feed them and how much. I cant see them eating in a couple of mins like my fish, and the food seems to settle to the bottom quickly.

Thanks for the help.

[jumpsmasher]

For Neo's they are more tolerate of higher temperatures so if you have a tight lid or glass top it will really cut down on the amount of water that is evaporating so it might make topping up unnecessary. Just make sure if you are using T5 or CF lighting that the lights are not heating up the water.

For water changes I usually do around 10-25% weekly and let it drip in over the coarse of a couple of hours. I use a float valve with RO tubing and a control valve to do my water changes but easy way to do it is to drill a tiny hole at the bottom of a bucket and sit on your tank. You just have make some calculations and observe to make sure you don't overfill.

Again, for neo's they are pretty tough so it probably won't make a difference but if you ever want to move up to bee shrimps it is good to get yourself into the habit of "best practices"

Not familiar with the NLS shrimp stuff but if they small micro pellets like most of the NLS stuff is (~0.6mm) I would say around 1 pellet for every 2-3 shrimps.

Most of the shrimp specific brands come in pads or pellets that you can cut up - with those, I usually recommend no more than 3mm for 10+ shrimps

[Bruno]

The feeding bowls you have - assumign you have pads or something you can place into bowls for them? Any reason that is better then letting it sit/fall onto substrate?

[jumpsmasher]

The feeding dishes are mainly there to contain the food within the dish and for easy removal if needed.

On my more established colony uneaten food is rarely an issue as the shrimps readily accept the food and is is usually gone within 10-15 minutes. I still use the dishes for foods like Barley pellets they tell to make a mess if not contained.

For new shrimps or smaller populations the feeding dishes makes it easy to remove any uneaten food with something like a turkey baster. I try not to leave uneaten food for more than a day. You will find it might take a few weeks or longer sometime for shrimps to get settle in before they start eating all the food; same with new food so it is important to remove any old food to prevent fouling the water.

I don't really worry too much about food falling into the substrate because I like to use a finer substrate as my top layer: ADA powder type for bee shrimps and fine sand / gravel for neos / tiger shrimps. Even if it does do down into the substrate it won;t get very far and the shrimps are constantly picking away at the substrate. Some of my favourite food break down into powder like Benibachi Red Bee Ambitious and Kale tablets; I actually perfer them over more solid food as they spread all over the tank and give all the shrimps a chance to get at it; usually when a "shrimp ball" forms, the younger / smaller shrimps have a very hard time getting in there to get the food. Also I like to think little bits of food all over the tank and in the substrate encourage their natural feeding behaviour. But that being said you will have to be careful with the quantity with powder type foods; it is something you learn from experience so I also encourage people to start small until you get a good gauge of who much your shrimps will eat in a short amount of time.