potential shrimp tank?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
epic post lol. thanks for the info. i got some black gravel so that should help bring out the colors. im worried about gravel vaccing the babies but o well. i was never a fan of the bare bottom tank so gravel it is. i think im gonna try most of those plants u meantioned like the java moss and fern and anubias.

o the 20L was meant as a 20g long tank not a 20 liter... so i got a whisper 10 which is meant for 10 gallons to keep the current down. i think it should work well.

lookign at gettign some red cherries... will they take care of algae or should i get an oto or two?
 
they keep the algae down for me, but I dont use a lot of light on shrimp tanks I shoot for about 1-1.5 wpg 6700k since the shrimp dont seem to like it too bright and the plants are all low light. I also do not use ferts in the shrimp tanks. they do eat algae but I have heard they do not eat certain types like hair algae. I have not had hair algae in a shrimp tank so I cant say from personal experience. otos would not eat the hair algae anyway.

in my experience otos are only good for soft green and diatom algae and I can vouch that the shrimp will definitely eat both of those. as well as thread algae which otos wont. i guess it just depends on the level of light and the number of shrimp. they will eat the stuff, but they prefer food you give them usually. it would just depend on which was faster, the shrimp eating or the algae growing.

another issue to look at is the growth of your colony and the waste. the shrimp are more sensitive to ammonia and nitrates than most fish, so adding otos would limit the size of your colony to smaller than it could be without them. I think it would just depend on your personal preference, and the level of algae you are experiencing. If you are shooting for having the biggest colony you can I'd leave out the otos and control the algae by reducing the amount or length of time on the lights. If want a fish+shrimp setup where the shrimp can breed in peace then the otos are probably the best possible choice, just your preference.

edit: I also like your idea of using the smaller power filter + a sponge, that sounds pretty good.
 
updates... tank is setup with some plants and i got a new light for my one fixture... i got the life-glo 6700k... i hope thats good for plants. picked up an oto as well. shrimp are coming on sunday. my lfs has red cherries and jsut orders some zebras. so come sunday. shrimp time except no cocktail sauce for them. :)
 
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i tried to get java moss tonight but every tank with it at my lfs was covers in snails so i stayed away from it. but java moss and driftwood coming soon to my future shrimp tank
 
lookin good! speaking of snails I almost forgot! two of my tanks accidently got pond snails in them :( they dont seem to bother the shrimp at all, I just dont like them in there though. the upshot is, one of my shrimps most favorite meals is es cargot lol. for a long time I was picking them out. I know I probably cant ever totally get rid of them, but I wanted to keep them to a minimum. The shrimp dont seem to bother with them at all while they are alive, but I eventually found out that if I just reached in and squished them with my finger, within minutes the shrimp would be all over them, even if they had just recently eaten so I can only guess that means that they really like the snail meat. I wouldnt put snails in there on purpose, but it does have a bit of a bright side. maybe one day I'll squish enough snails and the shrimp will eat all the eggs and I will be totally shed of them.

edit: also I agree with cory, some mopani wood and/or some nice flat rocks like slate or something right under that light will grow you some nice algae for your shrimp and otos also the otos seem to like scraping at wood I think they get fiber or something from it. It doesnt grow very good on substrate and my plants only seem to get thread and hair algae which the otos wont eat. If you can get it closer to the light it grows all the stronger, like using long slivers of slate and setting them diagonally up toward the light, or putting the wood angled upward. That also could make a nice centerpiece for the aquarium and give your shimp a shady place to hang out when they want to be out of the light -- your tank, just throwing options out there, I'm sure there are a million ways you could make it work. I have never had otos in a tank without a lot of algae in it, but I have heard they are harder to keep alive on just algae wafers and stuff.
 
Great start!

To answer your question about siphoning, I have a couple different methods that I use. 1. Use airline tubing, its small diameter makes for a week suction and its easy to avoid shrimp this way. 2. I use a small siphon for the same reason, you can put a net or media bag over the end, but I have found you don't get the mulm very well this way. 3. I put a sponge designed for an aquaclear into the siphon tube at the very end, the mulm goes through, the shrimp stay out. Regardless, just check your bucket (if using buckets) carefully before dumping. They don't seem to mind a little rollercoaster ride on occasion.
 
so everything on there sounds good. what would you guys think about maybe a 5gal tank to breed a few shrimps? Too small? what would i use to filter??
Thanks
 
5 gal is good, you just wont be able to get as many. I'd use sponge filter or filters, the kind that you can hook an airstone up to rather than the kind that just makes big bubbles. You will have to pay close attention to water parameters in 5 gal, not as much room for error.

On the water change subject...I have sort of an unusual way of doing it. I have a pitcher that holds about 3/4 of a gallon and instead of siphoning out water, everyday I dip the pitcher in the tanks to fill it and pour it back out into the tank a few times. This stirs up the sediment at the bottom, most of my tanks dont have gravel, the bottom is covered with plants and larger rocks so no worries about making a hole in the gravel. After that I just scoop out a few pitchers of water and refill with pitchers of dechlorinated lightly salted water. I do 2 pitchers in 10 gallon tanks and 4 in 20 gallon tanks (about 15%) daily.

doing it this way doesnt get as much of the sediment off the bottom, but a little sediment doesnt seem to hurt them. Stirring it up lets me get some of the sediment and the filters to get a lot of it too once its stirred. The best thing is, dipping with a pitcher like that takes water off the top so I can rest assured I'm not getting any babies. The pitcher is clearish white so even if I did get a baby it would be easy to spot.

not saying this is the best way to do it or anything, just thats how I do it. i like to sit and watch my shrimp so it doesnt bother me to mess with the water a little bit every day.
 
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