New At Keeping Shrimp - Looking For Advise

I have a recently cycled tank, and I am seriously considering dedicating my 10 gallon tank to keeping shrimp, and hopefully breeding them.

Currently I have a handful of ramnshorn snails; 3 Assassin snails, and one KhulI Loach.

I also have a varied amount of plants.

Recently I have been getting 0 ammonia, and 0 nitrites, and I'm hoping after a few water changes Nitrites will come down to an acceptable level.

I was wondering what kind of things would I have to do to make my tank an ideal space for a small shrimp colony. 'm aiming to keep Neo-Caradina yellow shrimp.

I'm planning on adding a sponge to the intake of my filter once I optimize it! but other than that I am not sure what else I should do to prepare the space for the new inhabitants.

I am also looking for advise on ideal foods and routines! I watched a video recently where they mentioned using spirulina powder to supplement the feeding of their shrimp? has anyone else had any experience using it?

I was also wondering what other livestock I can siccesfully keep with a shrimp colonay that won't impede on its growth.

Any and all advise for someone new to aquariums, and new to shrimp keeping would be greatly appreciated!

 

HI there,

Personally I keep my Amano shrimp for their cleaning purposes as they are great algae eaters but if you want to start a colony I recommend adding plants. They love leafy plants that they can hide in and some carpeting plants too. But that’s not really a “need” for them.

They like rough surfaces to grip on in my opinion and do well with types of dragon stone and different types of rough rock and wood. But any hardscape should be alright.

They usually eat algae and clean up the leftovers from other fish but if you have an only shrimp tank I’ve heard of them eating crushed up algae wafers as they are mostly vegetarian.

With stocking I wouldn’t go with anything aggressive that would eat the shrimp such as betas, gouramis and barbs.

Smaller, peaceful community fish do very well though such as Ember tetras which add a nice orange to the tank, dwarf rainbow fish do alright but can be a bit curious and nippy.

Shrimp are very sensitive to changing water conditions so make sure your tank is 100% cycles and I would feed them a little Algae supplements as a new tank would not have that much algae for the shrimp to feed on.

Shrimp mold and when I first started keeping them I thought they were dying but they molt their external skeleton and end up eating it for nutrients so if you see an empty white shell of a shrimp don’t be alarmed.

Make sure the flow is not too strong aswel they are really little and yup I hope this helps.
Let us know what you end up doing with the tank.

 

Do you happen to know your tds, gh, and kh? These are important for keeping neos as they prefer harder water. Amanos are great shrimp but are very hard to breed so I would choose the yellows instead. richie.p has bred plenty of shrimp so maybe he has tried that food. Mine mostly eat algae, shrimp pellets, and cucmber. If you don’t have moss I highly reccomend it as mine spend half their time grazing on the moss

 

Do you happen to know your tds, gh, and kh? These are important for keeping neos as they prefer harder water. Amanos are great shrimp but are very hard to breed so I would choose the yellows instead. richie.p has bred plenty of shrimp so maybe he has tried that food. Mine mostly eat algae, shrimp pellets, and cucmber. If you don’t have moss I highly reccomend it as mine spend half their time grazing on the moss

I don’t know the tdsis , but at the very least I know that my water is very high, and I have been using thriveC in my tank, so that may affect the kh(?)

I know shrimp ar every delicate so I want to make sure I am not going to kill them when I introduce them.

 

If you don't want to kill them it would be a good investment to buy the API gh/kh test kit familiarize yourself with it test your water and post back here, as for food there's tons out there just get a shrimp complete food and subsidise with cooked broccolI stem, spinach kale,mushroom there's loads to choose, here's a photo of the food I use if you can find any of these use them, this stuff can be expensive so I'm in the middle of developing my own food which should get rid of 90% of what I use if successful, hopefully more on that later. Thrive c I'm not familiar with so just make sure its shrimp safe FishRFriendz should be able to help there much more knowledgeable than me there, Ammanos mix well with any shrimp but their size is used to bully other shrimp for food they won't kill them just feed them first and when they run off feed the others, as for fish tank mats there isn't although some do it successfully but if they get a taste for shrimp they will hunt them down, baby shrimp are at risk from any fish but the choice is yours, Jarvis moss/Christmas moss are good it gives the shrimp security they look for when moulting or hatching babies, another photo of a basic tank in rush mode which is 24ltr with jarva moss tied to some wood but an ideal setup and will mature very nice, finally make sure your tank is fully cycled and 2 to 3 months old before you attempt to put shrimp in

 

Others here have covered the basics, but I will just say that if your tank just recently cycled, let the tank mature for at least another month before adding shrimp. You'll have more stable water parameters and also more biofilm for them to graze on.

 

I was wondering what kind of things would I have to do to make my tank an ideal space for a small shrimp colony. 'm aiming to keep Neo-Caradina yellow shrimp.

Just get some moss. Anything similar to java moss is fine, the more the better.

I am also looking for advise on ideal foods and routines! I watched a video recently where they mentioned using spirulina powder to supplement the feeding of their shrimp? has anyone else had any experience using it?

See the comment on this

I was also wondering what other livestock I can siccesfully keep with a shrimp colonay that won't impede on its growth.

You need to wait till you have a big colony of shrimp before adding fish. Look for cold water fish since the shrimp are best kept at 72F. Any of the rasboras are fine. You can practically get a list from Aquatic Arts for a list of shrimp 'safer' fish.

 

I'm going to second rasboras for fish. There's a bunch of options that are supposed to be extremely shrimp friendly. I have chili/mosquito rasboras, which are some of the smallest available. I don't have any baby RCS yet, but they've left my baby ghost shrimp alone so far.

 

I'm going to second rasboras for fish. There's a bunch of options that are supposed to be extremely shrimp friendly. I have chili/mosquito rasboras, which are some of the smallest available. I don't have any baby RCS yet, but they've left my baby ghost shrimp alone so far.

I checked these out! they're so cute! I'll consider them for sure!

 

If you have you 10 g just for shrimp it’s so easy. Just buy about ten and it’ll take 1-3 months depending on size to start breeding and seeing babies. I have a 10 g been up since 11/26, started with two females and four males no I have easily 300 rcs. When I first started I was worried but it’s so easy they breed themselves

 

Another thing is the warmer the water the faster they reproduce my 10 g is at 77 Fahrenheit stay below 80 and feed them good with any sinkable pellet or tablet. And they more algae the better for them but if you don’t want to let algae grow just feeding them is good

 

If you don't want to kill them it would be a good investment to buy the API gh/kh test kit familiarize yourself with it test your water and post back here, as for food there's tons out there just get a shrimp complete food and subsidise with cooked broccolI stem, spinach kale,mushroom there's loads to choose, here's a photo of the food I use if you can find any of these use them, this stuff can be expensive so I'm in the middle of developing my own food which should get rid of 90% of what I use if successful, hopefully more on that later. Thrive c I'm not familiar with so just make sure its shrimp safe FishRFriendz should be able to help there much more knowledgeable than me there, Ammanos mix well with any shrimp but their size is used to bully other shrimp for food they won't kill them just feed them first and when they run off feed the others, as for fish tank mats there isn't although some do it successfully but if they get a taste for shrimp they will hunt them down, baby shrimp are at risk from any fish but the choice is yours, Jarvis moss/Christmas moss are good it gives the shrimp security they look for when moulting or hatching babies, another photo of a basic tank in rush mode which is 24ltr with jarva moss tied to some wood but an ideal setup and will mature very nice, finally make sure your tank is fully cycled and 2 to 3 months old before you attempt to put shrimp in

Thank you all so much with all your replies! they have helped me in my research!

I actually went out this weekend and found myself an API KH test, so here are my numbers as requested!
20 Nitrate
0 Nitrite
40 Alkalinity
~7.0 PH
150ppm Total GH
71.6 ppm GH/KH

I am having a bit of trouble understanding the last two numbers. The Total GH number is part of the test strip test, but the API GH/KH test turned yellow after 4 drops, which on the chart equates to 71.6ppm. I'm assuming there is a different between total GH, and KH?




I also wanted to include a picture on my tank in progress! Hoping to get a lot more plant growth before the new residents come in! If anything looks concerning with my tank or my numbers please let me know!

 

I have a 5.5g with,
30 - 40 Yellow Neocaridinas - started with 15 and they have been breeding well.
8 ChilI Rasboras

Temperature: 25-26 degrees.
Food: shrimp snowflakes, HikarI Shrimp cuisine, HikarI algae pellet, blanched zucchini/ spinach, frozen bloodworms/daphnia.

The chilI rasboras are perfect tank mates for the shrimp as their mouths are so tiny, even the newborn shrimplets are safe. Some pics and video below.

 

I have a 5.5g with,
30 - 40 Yellow Neocaridinas - started with 15 and they have been breeding well.
8 ChilI Rasboras

Temperature: 25-26 degrees.
Food: shrimp snowflakes, HikarI Shrimp cuisine, HikarI algae pellet, blanched zucchini/ spinach, frozen bloodworms/daphnia.

The chilI rasboras are perfect tank mates for the shrimp as their mouths are so tiny, even the newborn shrimplets are safe. Some pics and video below.

What a beautiful tank! how long have you had your plants for? do you dose any fertilizers?

 

What a beautiful tank! how long have you had your plants for? do you dose any fertilizers?

1 year now, it used to be a betta tank.
I dose 0.5ml of Seachem Flourish once a week, after a water change.

 

I have a 5.5g with,
30 - 40 Yellow Neocaridinas - started with 15 and they have been breeding well.
8 ChilI Rasboras

Temperature: 25-26 degrees.
Food: shrimp snowflakes, HikarI Shrimp cuisine, HikarI algae pellet, blanched zucchini/ spinach, frozen bloodworms/daphnia.

The chilI rasboras are perfect tank mates for the shrimp as their mouths are so tiny, even the newborn shrimplets are safe. Some pics and video below.

I also use and reccomend the HikarI shrimp pellets, algae pellets, and blanched zucchini/cucmber. It’s super fun to feed shrimp the blanched food because they attack it like crazy. Meldyran if you decide to go with yellow shrimp find some that look that good!

 

One thing I want to throw out is that assassin snails may not be 100% shrimp safe. I know Flip Aquatics posted a video where he saw one of his assassins in the process of eating a shrimp. I don't have any experience with assassins, I only have nerites in my CRS tank.

 

One thing I want to throw out is that assassin snails may not be 100% shrimp safe. I know Flip Aquatics posted a video where he saw one of his assassins in the process of eating a shrimp. I don't have any experience with assassins, I only have nerites in my CRS tank.

Theres nothing to worry about with assissin snails the only reason you would see one eat a shrimp is because its ether dead or dying, in 10 years I've never witnessed one even try to attack a healthy shrimp,

 

Thank you all so much with all your replies! they have helped me in my research!

I actually went out this weekend and found myself an API KH test, so here are my numbers as requested!
20 Nitrate
0 Nitrite
40 Alkalinity
~7.0 PH
150ppm Total GH
71.6 ppm GH/KH

I am having a bit of trouble understanding the last two numbers. The Total GH number is part of the test strip test, but the API GH/KH test turned yellow after 4 drops, which on the chart equates to 71.6ppm. I'm assuming there is a different between total GH, and KH?

View attachment 549949

I also wanted to include a picture on my tank in progress! Hoping to get a lot more plant growth before the new residents come in! If anything looks concerning with my tank or my numbers please let me know!

Those perameters are great for shrimp except the Nitraits at 20 you need to get some more plants to help reduce them the lower the better

 

I also use and reccomend the HikarI shrimp pellets, algae pellets, and blanched zucchini/cucmber. It’s super fun to feed shrimp the blanched food because they attack it like crazy. Meldyran if you decide to go with yellow shrimp find some that look that good!

Maybe it's worth mentioning that I got my first 7 shrimps from one breeder, and the other 8 from another breeder about 2 weeks apart when I stocked this tank. Keeps the gene pool strong,

 

Plants I use are hornwort and anacharis. Started with 7 have hundreds now. Lowered the temp to slow down there breeding. From this tank I have started 2 colonies in 2 of my other tanks .

 

I have a 5.5g with,
30 - 40 Yellow Neocaridinas - started with 15 and they have been breeding well.
8 ChilI Rasboras

Temperature: 25-26 degrees.
Food: shrimp snowflakes, HikarI Shrimp cuisine, HikarI algae pellet, blanched zucchini/ spinach, frozen bloodworms/daphnia.

The chilI rasboras are perfect tank mates for the shrimp as their mouths are so tiny, even the newborn shrimplets are safe. Some pics and video below.

This is pretty similar to my tank. I have a 5.5g with 9 RCS and 13 chilI rasboras. I have anubias nana petite, anacharis, bucephelandra, java moss, java fern, a marimo ball, riccia fluitans (floating), water lettuce, salvinia minima, dwarf hairgrass (though it seems to be doing nothing), and a dwarf lily that basically covers the entire tank.

 

This is pretty similar to my tank. I have a 5.5g with 9 RCS and 13 chilI rasboras. I have anubias nana petite, anacharis, bucephelandra, java moss, java fern, a marimo ball, riccia fluitans (floating), water lettuce, salvinia minima, dwarf hairgrass (though it seems to be doing nothing), and a dwarf lily that basically covers the entire tank.

I like the colors in your tank! and I know its weird to mention but for some reason you wall color also works well with the colors of the plants!

 

I had two or three die outs in the beginning but my 5 gallon with 6 black neons and mixed neocardinals are doing good. In fact I left four days out of town and my roommate took descent care of the tank,so it all comes down to acclimation of shrimps to your parameters....!

 

I like the colors in your tank! and I know its weird to mention but for some reason you wall color also works well with the colors of the plants!

Thanks! I wasn't aiming for so much red, but it seems to work and I like it. I never paid attention to the wall color, but you're right! I think it's an unintentional background...lol

 

I am pretty new to shrimp keeping, but there are a few things I've learned so far. You need to move your loach; it will eat young shrimp. In fact, there really aren't too many shrimp safe fish. The only one I know of directly is the Otocinclus catfish which is a scavenger. As for foods, here are some that my Neocaridina Blue Dreams enjoy: Glas Garten Bacter AE- builds biofilm and can be used for cycling the tank; Pure Nordic Raw NutrI Dust- great baby food; HikarI MinI Algae Wafers; Shrimp King Complete; HikarI Shrimp Cuisine. Also, it is better to buy homebred shrimp rather than imports. Imports tend to bring in more diseases, and homebred just acclimate better. I think the Imports bring in that green fungus that can kill shrimp.

 

I am pretty new to shrimp keeping, but there are a few things I've learned so far. You need to move your loach; it will eat young shrimp. In fact, there really aren't too many shrimp safe fish. The only one I know of directly is the Otocinclus catfish which is a scavenger. As for foods, here are some that my Neocaridina Blue Dreams enjoy: Glas Garten Bacter AE- builds biofilm and can be used for cycling the tank; Pure Nordic Raw NutrI Dust- great baby food; HikarI MinI Algae Wafers; Shrimp King Complete; HikarI Shrimp Cuisine. Also, it is better to buy homebred shrimp rather than imports. Imports tend to bring in more diseases, and homebred just acclimate better. I think the Imports bring in that green fungus that can kill shrimp.

I dIsagree On the Loachs- khulies are fine ime.
I believe that you need more khulies as they like the company.