18g shrimp tank biweekly changes?

I moved my 60+ shrimp colony out of my 5.5g tank to an 18g tank. In the 5.5g tank, I was changing the water once every week. I was wondering if I could change it to every two weeks because I know that people definitely do that. Is there any harm in changing my water changes to biweekly?

If there isn't harm in doing that, is there anything I need to be watching out for or working up the tank to be changing biweekly (as in slowly put more time in between changes?) Or do I just go ahead and start changing it every two weeks without any break-in period?


I should mention that I don't have the abilities at this moment to use RO/DI water, and as a result I do not use shrimp minerals. I'm saying this because I want to make sure the calcium that's already in my water won't get depleted from changing the water biweekly instead of weekly. I would think that's not a problem though since I don't think they use up nearly that amount of calcium.

 

Do you know your water sources kh and gh? Also your ph should hopefully be 6.8 on the lower side(yes I know they can tolerate less, and much higher, but they prefer closer to neutral). If your water is hard, it should be fine without remineralizing. What are you feeding your shrimp? I believe most of their shells minerals are from food anyway. Most shrimp foods should have some minerals. Blanched vegetables like spinach and kale are fairly high in calcium. As for water change frequency, depends on nitrate levels. After your next water change, test every day or so until you hit 15-20ppm nitrates. That's about as much as most shrimp will be ok with. Repeat another time, should give you a good idea how often between water changes you can go.

 

If the only thing changing is going to the larger tank, and they've been doing okay in the smaller tank, then I don't think you will have any problems with going to bi-weekly water changes.

Is this 18 gallon tank new? If yes, I'd encourage you to let it run for a few months before moving the shrimp into it. I've never had much success with moving shrimp into a brand new tank, even with a well seasoned sponge filter and ample live plants.

 

What species of shrimp are you asking about fishietank? Cherry shrimp?

 

Do you know your water sources kh and gh? Also your ph should hopefully be 6.8 on the lower side(yes I know they can tolerate less, and much higher, but they prefer closer to neutral). If your water is hard, it should be fine without remineralizing. What are you feeding your shrimp? I believe most of their shells minerals are from food anyway. Most shrimp foods should have some minerals. Blanched vegetables like spinach and kale are fairly high in calcium. As for water change frequency, depends on nitrate levels. After your next water change, test every day or so until you hit 15-20ppm nitrates. That's about as much as most shrimp will be ok with. Repeat another time, should give you a good idea how often between water changes you can go.

Yes, my water sources are about 6 KH and 7 GH naturally.

The pH of the tank seems to be about 7.9. However I do have pecan wood in the tank so that should help lower the pH over time. I don't have any almond leaves or such things, are there any other ways I can lower the pH (obviously without lowering it too quickly)? My tap water is about 7 pH so it's pretty neutral. I can test the pH after I do a water change and see what it is.

Oh I forgot to mention, I have what seems to be a real coral chunk in the tank too. Technically, I'm not 100% it's real, but I'm quite sure. It seems to grow algae and diatoms very well so it appears to be real. They also love to graze off of it.

I feed my shrimp maybe once a week - once every two weeks. They don't seem to hover around the food when I give it to them so they don't seem to really need a lot. What I feed them differs though. I sometimes will give them a blanched zucchini piece, sometimes a Tetra algae wafer, and the store-bought shrimp food that I give them is Fluval Shrimp Granules.

Thank you so much for the very helpful advice

If the only thing changing is going to the larger tank, and they've been doing okay in the smaller tank, then I don't think you will have any problems with going to bi-weekly water changes.

Is this 18 gallon tank new? If yes, I'd encourage you to let it run for a few months before moving the shrimp into it. I've never had much success with moving shrimp into a brand new tank, even with a well seasoned sponge filter and ample live plants.

This tank is somewhat new, but I'm not instant cycling. I had it set up for a little over 2 weeks with a goldfish to help jump start the cycle, also I had been seeding the tank at the same time with a lot of different sources. When the tank was cycled, I then put some shrimp in until it had been set up for a little over 3 weeks to see how they would fare. They did alright and settled in very nicely so I added some more yesterday.

I'm testing the water parameters every day and every thing looks to be doing very well. I dosed quite a bit of BacterAE before they got in, to establish their food source and they seem to be happy with the amount of food.

What species of shrimp are you asking about fishietank? Cherry shrimp?

Yes, Red Cherry Shrimp are what I'm talking about.

 

Cherry shrimp can put up with a lot of practices that would kill caridina shrimp.

My experimentation suggests to me with my water changing water once a month is not as productive as once a week/ not as many offspring. Once a fortnight should be ok?

My conclusion was the longer between changes the more chances of shocking with different parameters.

Some of my most prolific shrimp breeding tanks have been with small fish fry grow out tanks that are being fed multiple times per day. With multiple water changes each week.

You ask for what to look at for.
I suggest the thing to look out for is forgetting when you last changed water. Then becoming slacker and slacker.
I have tried once a month water changes in a cherry shrimp tank. Enough shrimp stayed alive to say it was ok but I was not seeing many young offspring. Not many at all.

 

My conclusion was the longer between changes the more chances of shocking with different parameters.

That's a really good point

I used the shrimp/crawfish water clarifier for a while, they seemed to like it.

I use a fishnet during my water changes for shrimp...I'm sure many baby shrimp met an untimely death due to water changes because I goofed up.

 

Cherry shrimp can put up with a lot of practices that would kill caridina shrimp.

My experimentation suggests to me with my water changing water once a month is not as productive as once a week/ not as many offspring. Once a fortnight should be ok?

My conclusion was the longer between changes the more chances of shocking with different parameters.

Some of my most prolific shrimp breeding tanks have been with small fish fry grow out tanks that are being fed multiple times per day. With multiple water changes each week.

You ask for what to look at for.
I suggest the thing to look out for is forgetting when you last changed water. Then becoming slacker and slacker.
I have tried once a month water changes in a cherry shrimp tank. Enough shrimp stayed alive to say it was ok but I was not seeing many young offspring. Not many at all.

Ok that was some really helpful information. Thanks so much

Yes, I once knew that I was changing it weekly so I wasn't shocking the shrimp and the water in the tank would be closer to the water I've was using to replace. Thanks so much for reiterating that for me.

When you were changing the water once a month, were you using RO/DI water and shrimp minerals or not?

Because of all you said up there, I'm thinking of staying with the weekly changes at least for now.

 

My town water supply is low in minerals . But has enough for soft water species. Cherry shrimp survive in my towns water.

I do not use RO /DI water or need to.
I do not need to add any minerals ether.

 

My town water supply is low in minerals . But has enough for soft water species. Cherry shrimp survive in my towns water.

I do not use RO /DI water or need to.
I do not need to add any minerals ether.

Oh I'm glad to hear that.

For a while, I've heard of people touting RO/DI water as basically the only way to keep shrimp but then they say that it's a small chance that not using it will cause any harm. I'm glad to hear someone else not using RO/DI or shrimp minerals and their cherry shrimp doing fine.

I know that RO/DI and shrimp minerals seem way more important with Caridina shrimp but still I've heard so many people acting like it's a necessity for Neocaridinas even though I know it's not.

How long have you been keeping cherry shrimp?

 

Yes, my water sources are about 6 KH and 7 GH naturally.

The pH of the tank seems to be about 7.9. However I do have pecan wood in the tank so that should help lower the pH over time. I don't have any almond leaves or such things, are there any other ways I can lower the pH (obviously without lowering it too quickly)? My tap water is about 7 pH so it's pretty neutral. I can test the pH after I do a water change and see what it is.

Yes, Red Cherry Shrimp are what I'm talking about.

I wouldn't bother trying to lower the pH. Mine do just fine in 8.2 pH water, and I've seen numerous posts from other shrimp keepers who report the same thing.

 

I have a lot of respect for anyone keeping caridina shrimp. They have greater needs and limitations on water parameters.

i brought a handful of cherry shrimp around 4 years ago. i have had shrimp only tanks in the past. Now I consider them to be just another live food culture. They are at times in pest numbers.

I add cherry shrimp to all tanks. They turn up in all kinds of unexpected places.

 

. . . I add cherry shrimp to all tanks. They turn up in all kinds of unexpected places.

I have them in all of my tanks and tubs also. There are mixed/cull shrimp in three tanks at home and the tank on my desk at work, and single strains in four tanks and three tubs at home.

 

I have them in all of my tanks and tubs also. There are mixed/cull shrimp in three tanks at home and the tank on my desk at work, and single strains in four tanks and three tubs at home.

Do you use RO/DI and shrimp minerals for your tanks? Probably not since they're in tubs right?

I have a lot of respect for anyone keeping caridina shrimp. They have greater needs and limitations on water parameters.

i brought a handful of cherry shrimp around 4 years ago. i have had shrimp only tanks in the past. Now I consider them to be just another live food culture. They are at times in pest numbers.

I add cherry shrimp to all tanks. They turn up in all kinds of unexpected places.

When you change the water, do you dump the new water right in or do you do a process similar to drip acclimation whenever you change the water for sake of not shocking them?

 

Do you use RO/DI and shrimp minerals for your tanks? Probably not since they're in tubs right?

No, I don't. Just water straight out of my well for all tanks and tubs. TDS around 300 ppm and 8.2 pH.