Planted Shrimp Tank Filtration

[Curtis Rouse]

My wife loves freshwater shrimp so I want to set up a 29g for her. It will have driftwood with moss's and ferns and a sand substrate. I wanted to stock it with Bamboo shrimp and CRS. I just don't know what type of filtration I should use.

I have an extra AC30 at my disposal. Should I throw a prefilter on that and run with it or should I get some of those Azoo Oxygen Plus Bio-Filters? Our should I do something completely different?

Any help is greatly appreciated as I've never kept shrimp before. If I need to make some changes to my plans please let me know. Thanks in advance.

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[Fat Homer]

A lot of shrimp keepers i know have been able to pull of shrimp tanks with little more than a sponge filter with lots of mosses etc... but if you do use a normal type of filter, just make sure the intakes are covered with a sponge or something similar so that it doesn't suck up any of the adult / baby shrimp...

As for Bamboo shrimp, since they are filter feeders, its probably best to place them into a tank once its well established to ensure they can get enough food, and for the CRS, as long as your water quality is stable and clean once cycled, then you just have to make sure to keep the water preferably below 25'C to keep them happy, normally i think around 18'C - 20'C is optimum for them, and over 25'C you have to keep an eye on them, as they don't tend to fair well in tanks that are too warm...

With all that said, if you or your wife aren't 100% set on getting CRS, you could try with the easier Cherry Red Shrimp, they tend to be more forgiving with temps, and breed readily even without much effort, although the downside is you don't get any variety in patterns like CRS...

 

[Curtis Rouse]

A lot of shrimp keepers i know have been able to pull of shrimp tanks with little more than a sponge filter with lots of mosses etc... but if you do use a normal type of filter, just make sure the intakes are covered with a sponge or something similar so that it doesn't suck up any of the adult / baby shrimp...

As for Bamboo shrimp, since they are filter feeders, its probably best to place them into a tank once its well established to ensure they can get enough food, and for the CRS, as long as your water quality is stable and clean once cycled, then you just have to make sure to keep the water preferably below 25'C to keep them happy, normally i think around 18'C - 20'C is optimum for them, and over 25'C you have to keep an eye on them, as they don't tend to fair well in tanks that are too warm...

With all that said, if you or your wife aren't 100% set on getting CRS, you could try with the easier Cherry Red Shrimp, they tend to be more forgiving with temps, and breed readily even without much effort, although the downside is you don't get any variety in patterns like CRS...

Thank you for the advice. After reading more and hearing from you I think we'll go with the Red Cherry Shrimp and Bamboo's for at least the time being. I heard Bamboo's need water circulation because they are filter feeders. Is that true and if so would I get enough water movement for them with just sponge filters?

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[Fat Homer]

^ Thats a very good point i forgot to address, so let me apologize...

From what i've heard from LFS' that i know, and seen, the bamboo shrimp do tend to like hanging out at the water outlet of filters with their "hands / fans" waving in the current to pick up any food that gets caught in their "hands / fans", so will they work with a sponge filter? that i guess is debatable, since i'm not sure if there would be enough current and micro-organisms coming off the air bubbles from the sponge filter for them to eat, although in theory i would guess it should be okay if the tank is established enough?

So maybe wait for some one else on here with more experience with Bamboo shrimps to answer that question, since i don't want to steer you wrong with info on them as i personally am more of aCRS / Cherry Red Shrimp keeper personally...

 

[Curtis Rouse]

Thank you for the honesty.

If I do go with the AC30 that I already have will I be ok as far as sucking up baby red cherry shrimp if I put on a prefilter sponge on it?

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[Fat Homer]

As long as you have a pre-filer sponge you should be okay given its thick enough, or as long as the holes are fine enough to prevent them being sucked in... most shrimp tanks i've seen tend to use pretty thick pre-filter spongers over the intake, i would say with a wall around 1"-2" thick... so might be worth looking into using one of those...

Here is an image of the ones i commonly see being used over here in Hong Kong if its any help... as you can see, its a pretty fine sponge, so it will prevent any babies from getting sucked in...

 

[Koji]

I attach the whole of the sponge filter to my canister's intake pipes.

I'm using the largest I can find here in singapore and 2 are running on airpump while the center 2 are connected to the canisters.

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[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

I have run mini canisters with good luck on 10g. I just set up a 35g for some shrimp and am running a sponge filter this time. Works well. I always stick micro fish in with my shrimp. Without them, iv always had planaria which can kill shrimp.

 

[Andrewtfw]

I agree that a sponge filter would suffice just fine. If you go with the AC, as Koji and FatHomer suggested, you will want a sponge filter on the intake. I suggest a large sponge filter, as smaller ones tend to clog quickly. Bamboo shrimp are filter feeders, and so benefit from some current. They are also great at escaping. Mine climbed the heater cord and found their way (3 followed each other) to their demise.

 

[davey_c]

sponge filters all the way and if needed just hook it up to a canister full of bioballs or something... the likes of algae etc i wouldn't worry about because thats all a place for infusorians to grow, same with the moss, some even like a lower ph which can be achieved with a substrate like ADA amazonia or similar. put some shrimp tubes in the tank as a home and make sure what ever ferts you use are shrimp safe...
best of luck with them