Shrimp Tank Set Up

Hi,

So here is my shrimp tank, so far.

I've put four of my glow-lights in to keep the filter ticking over but I intend to have ottos in with the shrimps eventually and the GL's will go back home to the bigger tank.

It is Stanley's old tank, which has been cleaned so the tank, the gravel and the ornaments are all clean and sparkly. The water and the plants are all from the bigger tank and the filter has been running in the big tank since Stan died, but I did remember as I was typing this that I mutilated the cartridge in the filter and fitted in new sponges but kept as much of the old filter material as possible to help it seed and this was done about a month ago (more about my filter later!!!) Of course, I'll need to keep an eye on my water parameters to make sure this new-ish filter can cope with the four fish living in there.

I also have some plastic tubes (like you get in the middle of a mini roll of tape), that have been surrounded with moss and then mesh to hold the moss on (that's what the shiny sliver bits in the photo are!) Need to wait for the moss to grow through the mesh and this should hopefully look quite nice. There are also a couple of moss/mesh pads on/in the gravel that should grow into a nice carpet and moss/mesh attached to the top of the cave. Also moss balls that have been 'matured' in the big tank.

I intend to get some more plants, I did try moving some of the ones from the big tank but they are all so snail chewed and yellow it looked terrible!! I was also conscious of leaving the big tank with gaps!! I quite like the idea of getting one of the carpeting plants to go with the moss so will look into that.

So, that's the basic set up but I have a few questions;

How long should I wait until I put my shrimps and ottos in. Obviously, I need to wait for some algae to accumulate and for the filter to mature a bit more first. Would two months be about right??

Does anyone have any suggestions how I can improve the layout? I am not that imaginative when it comes to fish tank design and kind of had visions of attractive slate caves and the toppled Budda figure amongst rocks but now I've done it I can't help thinking it looks a bit lame!!!

Will shrimps be scared of ottos? I know they are very shy because they are easy prey but I didn't know if Ottos would present a threat as they are quite quiet and small?

I've blacked out the back and one end of the tank with cardboard. Do you think this is over kill?

How can I dim my lighting without buying a new bulb? I'm aware that shrimps do not like bright lighting and I feel that this light is very bright for such a small tank. Any opinions on this would be gratefully received.

EDIT - I have since thought that floating plants might be the best answer for this. Any suggestion??

Last thing!!   I'm not sure if my filter is working properly. It's a Hagen Marina i25and originally came with a cartridges and for those of you who are not familiar with it's mechanics - and I quote "Its unique design forces the water to enter through the centre of the cartridge. As unfiltered water enters the two-chamber cartridge, it first passes through the zeolite chamber, which removes toxic ammonia. The water then enters the activated carbon chamber, where pollutants and odours are removed. The water then enters the floss layer, which traps dirt and debris. This unique flow of water results in a crystal clear water."

I have cut the original chambers out as they got dirty very quickly and have replaced them with bit of foam, while maintaining the mesh/wool bit that originally covered the chambers (hope this makes sense!) however, I have now noticed that if the cartridge is pushed fully into the filter housing the out-flow almost stops. I assume this is because it cannot get through the sponge as easily as it's original chamber contents. I have remedied this by lifting the cartridge slightly so it doesn't sit firmly on the water inlet point. Do you think this will make the filter less effective and should I actually put it on properly to reduce the flow so the shrimps (when they go in) do not get blown away, or sucked up!!??

Sorry for this incredibly long post!!!

FC76

I agree, otos should be fine with shrimp. I have pygmy cories and Sundadanios in with my cherry shrimp and they certainly don't hide all the time. These shrimp also don't breed if they feel threatened - I have to empty my water change bucket with a jug to rescue the baby shrimp I've hoovered up. I have shrimps from fully grown to tiny babies fighting the cories over the food.

I too use Hikari shrimp cuisine, I grind it up small with a pestle and mortar so the particles are small enough for the babies. Mind you, they also eat the ground up sinking pellets (cory food) and crushed flakes (Sundadanio food) and the fish eat the shrimp food as well.

My shrimps are in my 50 litre tank. At one end is a piece of redmoor wood festooned with hornwort. This is a nice feathery plant that can also be used as a floating plant. The downside is that the old stems tend to shed leaves so I have what looks like pine needles on the floor of the tank. I have to fight the shrimps to hoover them up, they run round with the 'needles' in their pincers  In the middle of the tank is a plastic tangled root with java fern and a dwarf form of anubias, and by the filter is a piece of bog wood with deep grooves and bolbitis pushed into those grooves.

Shrimps don't seem to be bothered by the filter. Mine graze on slits in the casing of their filter without trouble. I might hoover up shrimp (usually half a dozen per water change) but that is because they aren't afraid of the siphon tube. If I pinch the tube and poke them out of the way they are pretty good at jumping several inches so filter suction shouldn't harm them.

Hi FC,
Sorry to hear about big mama, but the tank looks great! I think your shrimp are going to love it! 3 bits of advice and I'm sure the shrimp will be fine. 1. Don't over feed. 2. De chlorinate. 3. Avoid copper.

I would seriously reconsider getting a variety of different coloured neocaridina. I've heard that they quickly return to their natural brown colour when mixed, which aren't that attractive. If you stick to the one colour and have a large enough group to have a decent gene pool you would get offspring that you may be able to sell for a decent return. In a tank that well planted I'm certain plenty of little ones will make it to adulthood. I would have forked out some extra cash for blue, orange or yellow shrimp over my red cherries if I could have picked up locally. If you wanted a mix you could add some other shrimp varieties once you feel a bit more confident. Here's a compatibility chart if you'd like to see your options http://www.theshrimptank.com/shrimp-compatibility-chart/.

I love it my shrimp and I'm sure you will too!

Another quick update.

Did a water test last night and found ( da da daaah!) AMMONIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    Only a little bit (0.25) but it's still there!! I've done a smallish water change today and taken a piece of my media from my big tank filter and swapped it with a piece from my shrimp tank filter, just so I've got a few more bacteria doing their thing!!!

The only other concern I have currently is whether my filter is causing enough surface agitation and how I can increase it.

My original problem with my filter was thus - taken from my first post on this topic;

"I have cut the original chambers out as they got dirty very quickly and have replaced them with bits of foam, while maintaining the mesh/wool bit that originally covered the chambers (hope this makes sense!) however, I have now noticed that if the cartridge is pushed fully into the filter housing the out-flow almost stops. I assume this is because it cannot get through the sponge as easily as it's original chamber contents. I have remedied this by lifting the cartridge slightly so it doesn't sit firmly on the water inlet "

I have solved this issue by taking out the original cartridge wool that I had shoved in as it when I changed the original media to sponge as this was totally blocked up. I've also given the impeller chamber a quick clean and got quite a large chunk of dirt out of there. I now have a better water flow and can see movement on the surface of the tank. However, there is still not much surface agitation and I have the oily film problem again, which I worked out was due to lack of surface agitation when I had the same problem in the big tank (as soon as I increased my filter flow it disappeared.)

As far as I can see I have two options. 1) give it a couple of days and see if now the filter is cleaner it clears it or 2) change filters to a more powerful one. My issue with option two is that my other two filters are too strong for my little tank and I have no means of decreasing their flow rate.

Sorry if this is all a bit confusing, it's hard to explain what I mean and what I've done to try and remedy the problem already. I may have gone round the houses a bit!!! 

If anyone understands what the hell I'm going on about then please let me know the answer. You'll find me fiddling with me filters in a bucket of water!!!!!

FC76

Thanks Sue!!

I have been absolutely forbidden to spend another penny on the fish!!!!!! However that filter does sound good so I may get one in future ( and I've just remebered that I have a £7 credit from when I took the poorly phantoms back!!)

I have rigged up a temporary fix for the filter. My pets at home VIP card clipped to the out let is causing the flow to go diagonally across the surface and has dispersed the film, so this will do for the moment!!

FC76

Hi!

Thanks for the tip Sue but I'm being a bit blonde and can't picture what you mean or how it will work. Can you explain it as tho I am a complete idiot (which I am in this instance!) 

I've been reading up on shrimp and how to keep them happy and healthy and I have two questions that have struck me during my research.

Firstly, I bought some Hikari Shrimp cuisine and on reading the ingredients noticed it has copper in it, I thought copper killed shrimps, so how come its in a food specially designed for them?

I am considering leaving my 4 Glow Lights in the shrimp tank until I am allowed to buy some ottos. Do you think they will eat the shrimp or harm them in anyway or will the shrimp live in terror of them??

Thanks folks!

FC76

Hi FC76,

I'm sure I read somewhere that a very small amount of copper is beneficial to invertebrates, though I can't remember where. The Hikari food is widely used and recommended for shrimp and I've also used it without any problems (though since moving my shrimp back into the main tank I'm not sure they get much as my platies seem to munch them first!).

The shrimp will be fine with the Glowlights. I have them in with Xray tetra and Platies and while the smaller ones are a little shy, the adults aren't nervous at all. They will probably hoover up a lot of the babies though...

Sue - that plastic bottle tip is pretty cool. Any tips for an aquanano without a spraybar? I just have a jet of water shooting out of my pump outlet at the moment!

"Sue - that plastic bottle tip is pretty cool. Any tips for an aquanano without a spraybar? I just have a jet of water shooting out of my pump outlet at the moment! - "

I too have an aquanano tank, albeit the very small 22/30 and it didn't come with a spray bar.

The overize powerhead is so fierce that it reduces the water level in the back part (unless you raise the filters- which to my mind defeats the object of a filter) so the pump was very noisily trying to suck non existent water through.
The spray bar has reduced the force at which the water goes into the tank therefore keeping the level at the back raised
Mine is a home made job as I wasn't able to track down one.  Aquanano parts say they are out of stock and they have been since January.

I have, however, managed to order one from Ebay but it's from Hong Kong so not likely to be here yet.  I don't even know if it will fit but it seemed worth a try.

My home made one does the job but I would like it to be neater.

 My shrimps are here!!!!!!!!!!

They are totally amazing, engaging, fabulous little critters!!

They arrived in two batches. The first via Royal Mail and the second via UPS.

The first to arrive were the red and yellow Sakuras. Three of each and All alive and well after their journey and acclimatised over a four hour period before going into the tank.

The second to arrive were the Blue Velvet Dreams and the chocolate Sakuras. Again three of each but sadly one of the chocolates had died in transit but the shop have said they will refund me for him. Acclimatised over a three hour period before going into the tank.

Here are some pictures, so you can all say how gorgeous they are.

FC76

How beautiful they are. Lucky you.
I bet they'll give you a lot of pleasure.