Planning A Planted Shrimp Tank

New to shrimp and planted tanks. (Been doing fish for 7ish years).

Planning to do a shrimp tank and looking for recommendations: (thinking about having large rock and some drift wood combo)

1. Tank size
2. Substrate
3. Snails or no
4. Type of filter
5. Foreground/carpet plants and other plants.
6. Anything I'm not thinking of.
7. Types of shrimp, was thinking colorful neocaridina types. (Maybe a dwarf cray if compatible ‍♂️)
8. Type of driftwood?
9. Anything I should keep in mind or should definitely do?

 

A dwarf crayfish would prey on small shrimp.
Some people think that snails are good to have with shrimp and that they form a symbiotic environment.
Any filter would have to have either a sponge or fine netting like a nylon stocking over the intake.
Any substrate would work but sand will prevent uneaten food from going where the shrimp can't reach it. This is where snails like MTS can help since they burrow in the substrate and keep it clean. The shrimp will also feed on the snail waste.

 

Tank size I guess depends on how many you want to keep and if you will add fish, Substrate u could use any for a planted tank, I use dirt/topsoil and rock top layer. Type of filter I’d go with sponge, they will be on it a lot picking and eating. Plants you could look into are hornwort-grows fast and also acts a a filter so the shrimp will use it to hide and feed, water sprite grows fast and easy to propagate so you can get it thick for them. Water wisteria is another good low light plant. I haven’t been able to find it at any of my stores but pearl weed is a good plant that you can make a carpet with and doesn’t require high light. The shrimp and driftwood is up to you as to each person finds things more attractive than others.

 

I started a shrimp tank 2 weeks ago and so far it has a Java Fern,Christmas Moss, Hornwort, Anacharis, and two small pieces of Marimo moss. All are growing. The filter is a power filter with some nylon stocking around the intake tube. There is also a piece of wood, some pieces of a broken flower pot, and 2 small twigs from trees outside here. It's only a 3.5 gallon tank. There are 12 shrimp and a Nerite snail in it.

Wood

• Dch48
• Sep 11, 2018
• 1

 

Tank size I guess depends on how many you want to keep and if you will add fish, Substrate u could use any for a planted tank, I use dirt/topsoil and rock top layer. Type of filter I’d go with sponge, they will be on it a lot picking and eating. Plants you could look into are hornwort-grows fast and also acts a a filter so the shrimp will use it to hide and feed, water sprite grows fast and easy to propagate so you can get it thick for them. Water wisteria is another good low light plant. I haven’t been able to find it at any of my stores but pearl weed is a good plant that you can make a carpet with and doesn’t require high light. The shrimp and driftwood is up to you as to each person finds things more attractive than others.

Do you let the hornwort just float around. I always have needles coming off and making my tank look like my house after I take the Christmas tree down.

 

Do you let the hornwort just float around. I always have needles coming off and making my tank look like my house after I take the Christmas tree down.

Mine is weighted and near the bottom and has grown around my driftwood, it sometimes has dropped needles but they come out with my water change, I’ve upgraded my light and noticed that the Hornwort hasn’t dropped as many needles, also be sure you don’t plant the “root” if you want to call it that, it will cause the area near the substrate to die and drop needles.

 

New to shrimp and planted tanks. (Been doing fish for 7ish years).

Planning to do a shrimp tank and looking for recommendations: (thinking about having large rock and some drift wood combo)

1. Tank size
2. Substrate
3. Snails or no
4. Type of filter
5. Foreground/carpet plants and other plants.
6. Anything I'm not thinking of.
7. Types of shrimp, was thinking colorful neocaridina types. (Maybe a dwarf cray if compatible ‍♂️)
8. Type of driftwood?
9. Anything I should keep in mind or should definitely do?

1) 5-10 gallons would be ideal
2) They don't really care too much about substrate however plants do. If you do a planted tank you will need to consider substrate.
3) Snails are great but you don't have to have them.
4) Sponge filter is best. They can't get sucked into a sponge filter and they like to pick bits off the sponge.
5) ?
6) What Ph is your water and how hard is it? This will massively affect what kind of shrimp you can keep. Crystal shrimp need soft acidic water but neocardinia shrimp need hard alkaline water.
7) depends on what kind of water you have.
8) doesn't really matter
9) Shrimp need mature tanks. They like to feed on the biofilm and algae. They also need stable parameters that new tanks often don't have.
Also make sure to acclimatize them for a lot longer and slower than you would with fish.

 

Hello, quickbarn,,,,I really like the fact that you are doing research and reaching out for help before jumping into shrimp keeping. I started a 10 gallon planted tank in 2017 with 7 neocaridina shrimp. About 8 months later I decided to move them all to a 40 gallon tank. There were 157 shrimp in that 10 gallon tank. OMG, I couldnt believe it. The 40 gallon tank has been a bust from the start. My colony is now down to about 60 and it's just not a happy place. My suggestions would be 1. A 20 gallon long. 2. Eco Complete black. It's great stuff. 3. Spider wood is interesting. 4. Japanese Okho stone is great stuff too. Be careful of rocks that leach calcium. 5. Keep a journal. 6. Get a good test kit including KH and GH. 7. Get a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter. This will help you to know when a water change is needed. 8. Finally, check out Marks Shrimp Tanks on YouTube. He is a master shrimp keeper and a great guy. Join Shrimp Keepers. They are a very dedicated group that will help you with any questions or issues you may have. Check out George Farmer on YouTube. His aquascapes are incredible. Happy shrimp keeping!

 

I would definitely add some type of moss and let it grow out so they have a place to hide and also the babies will hide in it while they are small. Cholla wood is supposed to be good for them as well although haven't used it in my tanks. They also love marimo balls. They can pick the food off of it. So basically, any type of plants or wood is going to be food for them and a nice patch of moss that you let grow for hiding and maybe some caves. I have a sponge filter and HOB in both of my tanks. I put a pre-filter over the int-take that keeps them safe. They actually like eating on the pre-filter.

Make sure you understand your water hardness (both kH and gH). I buffer my water with Seachem Equilibrium and Seachem Alkaline Buffer because my tap is almost RO water. I keep my tank at 5kH and 7-8 gH. That seems to be a good number for both snails (I would add them for sure) and the shrimp. Both my Bloody Marys and Rili's have bred so I have new babies that I can barely see.

They are a lot of fun and pretty easy to care for. Good luck

 

I would definitely add some type of moss and let it grow out so they have a place to hide and also the babies will hide in it while they are small. Cholla wood is supposed to be good for them as well although haven't used it in my tanks. They also love marimo balls. They can pick the food off of it. So basically, any type of plants or wood is going to be food for them and a nice patch of moss that you let grow for hiding and maybe some caves. I have a sponge filter and HOB in both of my tanks. I put a pre-filter over the int-take that keeps them safe. They actually like eating on the pre-filter.

Make sure you understand your water hardness (both kH and gH). I buffer my water with Seachem Equilibrium and Seachem Alkaline Buffer because my tap is almost RO water. I keep my tank at 5kH and 7-8 gH. That seems to be a good number for both snails (I would add them for sure) and the shrimp. Both my Bloody Marys and Rili's have bred so I have new babies that I can barely see.

They are a lot of fun and pretty easy to care for. Good luck

That is such a great point about knowing your tap water parameters and making your shrimp type decision on that. How lucky are you to have such nice soft tap water. Mine comes out of the tap at nearly 7.6!

 

I used the crafty plastic grids to build java moss wall. I have the fluval ebI shrimp setup which is pretty small so I made it in the corner so there would be plenty of hiding places. I planted mine with an anubias, dwarf hairgrass, and dwarf baby tears. I added an almond leaf and a piece of cholla wood as well. My lfs accidentally dropped a single baby shrimp into my bag when I bought some fish so I added it and it is so happy. It just molted yesterday!

 

That is such a great point about knowing your tap water parameters and making your shrimp type decision on that. How lucky are you to have such nice soft tap water. Mine comes out of the tap at nearly 7.6!

Same. My tap is 7-7.5ish. My community tank had amanos in it, and I enjoy them so much I wanted to have a strictly shrimp tank. I wish I had that soft of tap too. That being said.. I'm assuming since my amanos do well with what I have, neocaridina will do well also?

 

I guess I'm just lucky because I have never tested for GH, KH, or TDS and everything does great in my tanks. Judging in other ways, I'm sure the water is slightly on the hard side. My housemate thinks it's very hard but she has never been in Yuma, Arizona lol.

 

Your best bet is to get the API kH and gH test kit, as well as a TDS meter. This will give you a solid idea of exactly where your water parameters are, and from there you'll be able to decide both the type of shrimp you want, as well as whether you need to consider mixing in some RO water or straight up using remineralized RO water. Neos are certainly less demanding than other types of shrimp, but they can still experience molting and reproduction issues if their parameters are off in ways undetectable in the standard API test kit.

 

Hello, quickbarn,,,,I really like the fact that you are doing research and reaching out for help before jumping into shrimp keeping. I started a 10 gallon planted tank in 2017 with 7 neocaridina shrimp. About 8 months later I decided to move them all to a 40 gallon tank. There were 157 shrimp in that 10 gallon tank. OMG, I couldnt believe it. The 40 gallon tank has been a bust from the start. My colony is now down to about 60 and it's just not a happy place. My suggestions would be 1. A 20 gallon long. 2. Eco Complete black. It's great stuff. 3. Spider wood is interesting. 4. Japanese Okho stone is great stuff too. Be careful of rocks that leach calcium. 5. Keep a journal. 6. Get a good test kit including KH and GH. 7. Get a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter. This will help you to know when a water change is needed. 8. Finally, check out Marks Shrimp Tanks on YouTube. He is a master shrimp keeper and a great guy. Join Shrimp Keepers. They are a very dedicated group that will help you with any questions or issues you may have. Check out George Farmer on YouTube. His aquascapes are incredible. Happy shrimp keeping!

How do I know if rocks will leak calcium?

 

I used the crafty plastic grids to build java moss wall. I have the fluval ebI shrimp setup which is pretty small so I made it in the corner so there would be plenty of hiding places. I planted mine with an anubias, dwarf hairgrass, and dwarf baby tears. I added an almond leaf and a piece of cholla wood as well. My lfs accidentally dropped a single baby shrimp into my bag when I bought some fish so I added it and it is so happy. It just molted yesterday!View attachment 477957

I love it!