Idea: Shrimp tank

[taxidermynerd]

So I have my little 5 gallon setup. I've been getting the itch for a new pet lately, I looked into insects (I suggested Madagascar hissing cockroaches or millipedes, but my dad said no), that's a no-go. No rodents or anything of that sort. So it comes back to fish (it always comes back to fish... ) and with my last fish purchase (platies!) I got a hitchhiker ghost shrimp... and I absolutely adore him. Kind of ironic, considering that I'm deathly allergic to shellfish.

So what I'm considering is starting up a shrimp tank. I'm thinking of getting Neocaridina denticulata, which are basically cherry shrimp without the red coloration. I'm going to be getting a small sponge filter, so no babies will get sucked up. I have plenty of tank space for extra babies (2 10 gallons and a 40 breeder) so that's not an issue.

I'll probably throw the baby glofish I have in there, because I feel real bad just watching him sit in a tiny breeder net. Once he grows up, he can go to the big tank. I'm also considering putting in my pygmy cories from the platy tank, since I'll be able to put a thin layer of sand on the bottom without worrying about destroying a filter (again, sponge filter). I also tend to have a heavy hand when it comes to feeding, so they'll be helpful in cleaning up excess food.

There are currently some java ferns tied to a piece of SS mesh in there, and terra cotta chips (broken flower pots) in a container breeding beneficial bacteria. I have some decorations ready, I'm currently soaking some cholla wood, and I'm gonna get some more aquarium silicone to make the inside of some decorations nice and smooth and safe for the cories.

Thoughts??

 

[faislaq]

You have the neatest ideas. I can't wait to see it!

 

[AkasyaEllric]

I love all of this! You definitely know what you're doing. It sucks about the insects though, they can be pretty awesome and super low maintenance. A friend had a hisser for years that barely required much. I use to keep a whole colony of dubia roaches for my beardies when I had a ton of them too and still, with those in the thousands, not very hard. I'm excited to see the set up, I always love sand tanks!

 

[finchly]

Fun - fun - fun. I’ve had ghost shrimp, cherry shrimp, and yellows, tigers, and a marmorkreb. They adore plants and moss.

It’s also important to keep the cleanest water, cleaner than you ever have before.

And here’s a guy that I think sells the best shrimp foods, plants etc. Shrimp Foods, Additives & Supplements - Page 1 - Han Aquatics

 

[taxidermynerd]

The 5 gallon set-up idea turned into a 10 gallon set-up idea. So it's up, with the water from the 5 gallon in there as well as fresh tap water. The heater is warming up the water. Right now I'm running a HOB on it, and I have a thin layer of sand on the bottom. The filter media is still the same, and I transferred the terracotta chips, so the bacteria colony is still stable. More than anything, it was just like a water change.

I'll be ordering the shrimp and sponge filter in a bit. Once the tank is warmed up, I'll move in the pygmy cories and my baby glofish.

Excited!

 

[finchly]

That is awesome. You know we’ll want photos.

 

[Begone]

A little advice. Never put shrimps in a new started aquarium. Put in some smaller fish and some shells and let it be ready for at least 2 or more months.
You need a functional cycle as shrimps can't handle nitrite or ammonia well. And they also need a stabile PH and GH.

This is one of my shrimp tanks. (Cocoon 37 L/9 gallon)

And some of my shrimps:
Caridina cf Cantonensis "Blue Tiger"

Caridina cf Cantonensis "Red Tiger"

Neocaridina cf. zhangjiajiensis var. blue (Blue Pearl)

Caridina multidentata (Amano shrimp)

Neocaridina heteropoda var. yellow (Yellow Fire)

And my beautiful Boraras brigittae (Mosquito rasbora/Chili rasbora) that don't eat shrimps

And I also have pink Planorbidae, very good cleaners.

 

[finchly]

@Eloy oh my GOSH how gorgeous! You care For your shrimps as well as you care for your Pionus girls, i can tell!

I’m quite envious. Hubby said NO to me getting another tank. I sold all mine as I got more birds.

 

[Love My Zons]

WOW!! I love that green tank! I have never kept shrimp, just a few ghost shrimp that were food for my green spotted puffers. They have been gone a few years now but I currently have a really cute 3.7 gal cube tank that has LED lights. Just a few neons, zebra Danio's and an Emerald Corydoras.

I do have a 55 Gal tank with African Cichlids. Some are years old like very old! I want to upgrade that to a 75 Gal looking into a new tank set up for them.

I love that tank and those snails I suppose that is what they are are pretty!

 

[finchly]

WOW!! I love that green tank! I have never kept shrimp, just a few ghost shrimp that were food for my green spotted puffers. They have been gone a few years now but I currently have a really cute 3.7 gal cube tank that has LED lights. Just a few neons, zebra Danio's and an Emerald Corydoras.

I do have a 55 Gal tank with African Cichlids. Some are years old like very old! I want to upgrade that to a 75 Gal looking into a new tank set up for them.

I love that tank and those snails I suppose that is what they are are pretty!

Do you do planted tanks? That’s what I like. Underwater gardens. When I moved to FL the water was different.... tons of phosphates.... made it difficult. Plus, birds everywhere. Had to choose!

 

[Love My Zons]

Do you do planted tanks? That’s what I like. Underwater gardens. When I moved to FL the water was different.... tons of phosphates.... made it difficult. Plus, birds everywhere. Had to choose!

No real live plants here. I have in all my years of fish keeping I have never been successful in planted tanks. When I had large Central Am. Cichlids they ate them! Uprooted them, ate them. So I stuck plants in for consumption really. I had luck with banana plants. But I have seen the little moss balls if you would call them that at the store listed as Betta Buddies.

Just and art honestly of beauty. I LOVE real plants and keep some beautiful stuff in my yard come spring/summer! I do well with this, but really no talent for the fish tanks unfortunately...it's not like I don't have alot going on with my life to care for one more thing. Between working full time in sales, my store, my dogs, my cats, my birds, my house, my Mom, my Man..............not enough time in the day honestly!

 

[finchly]

No real live plants here. I have in all my years of fish keeping I have never been successful in planted tanks. When I had large Central Am. Cichlids they ate them! Uprooted them, ate them. So I stuck plants in for consumption really. I had luck with banana plants. But I have seen the little moss balls if you would call them that at the store listed as Betta Buddies.

Just and art honestly of beauty. I LOVE real plants and keep some beautiful stuff in my yard come spring/summer! I do well with this, but really no talent for the fish tanks unfortunately...it's not like I don't have alot going on with my life to care for one more thing. Between working full time in sales, my store, my dogs, my cats, my birds, my house, my Mom, my Man..............not enough time in the day honestly!

Me too, or me neither. haha. I’m working diligently at cutting back. Apparently I think I can do 4 days’ worth of activities in one day!
I bought some plants for the yard 2 days ago (it’s in the high 80s here). Forgot to plant them. They’ll die before I ever get them planted!

 

[Love My Zons]

Me too, or me neither. haha. I’m working diligently at cutting back. Apparently I think I can do 4 days’ worth of activities in one day!
I bought some plants for the yard 2 days ago (it’s in the high 80s here). Forgot to plant them. They’ll die before I ever get them planted!

I used to live in SFL West Palm Beach from 1994 then moved to NC in 2006. I do miss some aspects of being there. My Friends mostly but like to visit every year or so. Plants oh yeah miss the orchids that would grow, miss the tropical things. But I get snow here so that's cool too!

It's funny been in the upper 70's here the last few days. Some trees are already flowering. I want winter back for alittle longer! But I burn the candle on both ends every day, every week. As I type I am coughing, coming down with something! Sickness is going around and I will blame my co-workers!

 

[finchly]

I used to live in SFL West Palm Beach from 1994 then moved to NC in 2006. I do miss some aspects of being there. My Friends mostly but like to visit every year or so. Plants oh yeah miss the orchids that would grow, miss the tropical things. But I get snow here so that's cool too!

It's funny been in the upper 70's here the last few days. Some trees are already flowering. I want winter back for alittle longer! But I burn the candle on both ends every day, every week. As I type I am coughing, coming down with something! Sickness is going around and I will blame my co-workers!

I went the other way - moved from E. TN to SW Fl!

Get well! Take herbs, try sambuco (sp?) from the pharmacy.

I’m off to bed - talk tomorrow.

 

[Aubrey]

I think these shrimps like Indian almond leaf (ial) in their tank and it also help give them the ph they like.

Are you on Instagram? I know this awesome shrimp person on IG.

 

[Love My Zons]

I went the other way - moved from E. TN to SW Fl!

Get well! Take herbs, try sambuco (sp?) from the pharmacy.

I’m off to bed - talk tomorrow.

Me too, working tomorrow thank you sweets for being you! I appreciate your kind words so very much!!! Oh but one funny before you go to sleep- they call me a half back here. Left CT for FL, came to NC so the locals call me a half back.

 

[Aubrey]

A little advice. Never put shrimps in a new started aquarium. Put in some smaller fish and some shells and let it be ready for at least 2 or more months.
You need a functional cycle as shrimps can't handle nitrite or ammonia well. And they also need a stabile PH and GH.

This is one of my shrimp tanks. (Cocoon 37 L/9 gallon)

And some of my shrimps:
Caridina cf Cantonensis "Blue Tiger"

Caridina cf Cantonensis "Red Tiger"

Neocaridina cf. zhangjiajiensis var. blue (Blue Pearl)

Caridina multidentata (Amano shrimp)

Neocaridina heteropoda var. yellow (Yellow Fire)

And my beautiful Boraras brigittae (Mosquito rasbora/Chili rasbora) that don't eat shrimps

And I also have pink Planorbidae, very good cleaners.

JT these plants, inverts, and rasboras are beautiful. I didn't know you were a fish keeper We are such kindred spirits!

 

[faislaq]

Take herbs, try sambuco (sp?) from the pharmacy.

Sambuca? Like @Macawnutz's bird? I'm pretty sure that all of her birds are named after booze, not herbs. Doesn't mean it won't cure what ails ya, though!

EDIT: Ah, Sambucol! An herbal cold medicine. I still think the Sambuca might do it.

 

[taxidermynerd]

A little advice. Never put shrimps in a new started aquarium. Put in some smaller fish and some shells and let it be ready for at least 2 or more months.
You need a functional cycle as shrimps can't handle nitrite or ammonia well. And they also need a stabile PH and GH.

This is one of my shrimp tanks. (Cocoon 37 L/9 gallon)

And some of my shrimps:
Caridina cf Cantonensis "Blue Tiger"

Caridina cf Cantonensis "Red Tiger"

Neocaridina cf. zhangjiajiensis var. blue (Blue Pearl)

Caridina multidentata (Amano shrimp)

Neocaridina heteropoda var. yellow (Yellow Fire)

And my beautiful Boraras brigittae (Mosquito rasbora/Chili rasbora) that don't eat shrimps

And I also have pink Planorbidae, very good cleaners.

Those pictures are gorgeous!

I am familiar with the cycling process, I moved all the decorations, filter media and bacteria media over, as well as all the water from the cycled 5 gallon. So it was more akin to a water change.

I've had bad luck with live plants, but I have some java fern in there and I'm considering some marimo moss balls. I've heard shrimp aren't really that hard on plants. I had some plants in my 40 breeder at one point, including the java fern. Those were the only ones that survived. My group of mystery snails (at the time I had 21!) mowed them down fast. Marimo, java moss, hornwort, duckweed... All gone in a manner of 3 weeks.

I have both ramshorn snails and malaysian trumpet snails I could put in, but the ramshorns make a huge mess and breed like crazy, so they're a no-go. I'll move some MTS to my shrimp tank, since I like them a lot more and they're slow breeders (they give live birth to one baby at a time)

 

[taxidermynerd]

Shrimp got here this morning! I acclimated them and put them in, and they're super happy! Little cuties!