Shrimp Tank Journal

I have a 20g long that used to be a guppy breeding tank for the past 3 months. I'm turning it into a red cherry shrimp and red ramshorn tank. I'm hoping the background plants cover the heater and filters with time. Tried adding elevation when aquascaping for the first time too. I'm also getting dwarf hairgrass, spider wood to add moss to, and cholla wood. I also want moss pads like the one on the left, but afraid it blocks too much of the tank.
I'll be updating as more is done and as things grow. Shrimp I got are high grade fire reds, but they will all be around 1/3-1/2" so time will tell if they truly are.
Current plants:
2 kinds of crypts
Vallisneria spiralis
Java fern windelov
Water wisteria
Jungle vallisneria
Sword (Forgot the name)
Java moss

Future plants/wood:
Dwarf hairgrass
Spider wood
Cholla wood

Please send thoughts and ideas my way as I would love to see what others think. Even if you think my tank blows, just state why so I can learn and grow as an aquascaper.

 

Think tank looks good! I agree that it will look a lot better once the plants grow in.

Only three things I can constructively say would be...

1. I think having two sponge filters of that size in a 20 long shrimp tank is kinda over kill and not need imo.

2.place the heater straight...might just be my ocd kicking in haha.

3. What is the white circular thing in the tank?

 

Think tank looks good! I agree that it will look a lot better once the plants grow in.

Only three things I can constructively say would be...

1. I think having two sponge filters of that size in a 20 long shrimp tank is kinda over kill and not need imo.

2.place the heater straight...might just be my ocd kicking in haha.

3. What is the white circular thing in the tank?

1. imo its better to have more than less so i agree with having extra lol. also if one fails boom u got another.
3. looks like a feeding dish
another thing, dwarf hairgrass is a bad carpeting plant unless u have co2 high light and root tabs

 

I suppose it doesn’t hurt. Just takes up a lot of space in a already small tank. Also it is kinda of an eye sore considering op was trying aqua scaping the tank. I yet to see or hear of someone having a sponge filter fail.

 

I suppose it doesn’t hurt. Just takes up a lot of space in a already small tank. Also it is kinda of an eye sore considering op was trying aqua scaping the tank. I yet to see or hear of someone having a sponge filter fail.

also i just looked at it closely its how its designed its just built to have two sponges on it but its one unit

 

also i just looked at it closely its how its designed its just built to have two sponges on it but its one unit

There is two separate units. One on the left and right.

 

nope

 

A well scaped shrimp tank with DHG is possible, but in my case I am using (or was using*) injected CO2. Unless you want to invest in a CO2 setup, stay away from most carpeting plants. Dwarf sag or micro swords will still work with a good fertilizer regiment but in my experience almost all "true" carpets require high light and CO2.

My feeding dish is attached to the glass with a suction cup so it doesn't obstruct the carpet or take away from the scape. This is also to reduce mulm buildup in the substrate.

I feel like it won't be possible to create a cohesive aquascape with both cholla and spider wood, personally, so I'd pick one or the other. Given how flat your aquascape currently is, I would go with larger, more dynamic pieces as a centerpiece and frame them with red lava rock (I think you currently have that type in your tank). Bold pieces of hardscape stand out more in heavily planted tanks, with plants framing and accenting pieces rather than hiding them.

(Ignore the 2 random stem plants in front, the were runners that have since been removed.)

*due to a CO2 regulator malfunction, I removed the working CO2 setup on this tank to move to a tank that is more demanding of CO2 temporarily.

 

nope

 

View attachment 685234

Oh my god ur totally right I’m so lazy I didn’t even look there!!

 

1. imo its better to have more than less so i agree with having extra lol. also if one fails boom u got another.
3. looks like a feeding dish
another thing, dwarf hairgrass is a bad carpeting plant unless u have co2 high light and root tabs

The LEDs I just installed are 2W per light. I can always get more if the hairgrass needs it or move it to my 40B with CO2. I do have root tabs on hand. They are under crypts, sword, and vallisneria in tank.

 

I suppose it doesn’t hurt. Just takes up a lot of space in a already small tank. Also it is kinda of an eye sore considering op was trying aqua scaping the tank. I yet to see or hear of someone having a sponge filter fail.

I'm hoping plants grow to mostly cover them, but considering I will be breeding shrimp and may well have 100 or more at a time in the future, I really want filtration. Plus, the shrimp love sponge filters.

 

I agree that I should have one or the other pieces of wood thinking about it. Well I'll see which the shrimp like the most and remove the other. I really want a nice tank, but on top of that I want shrimp to enjoy and breed!!!

 

I agree that I should have one or the other pieces of wood thinking about it. Well I'll see which the shrimp like the most and remove the other. I really want a nice tank, but on top of that I want shrimp to enjoy and breed!!!

they will they love to breed haha. i added some to a ten gallon recently and i have a prefilter sponge on ny hob and they love it a bunch of shrimp have eggs!!! its great to see

 

Here's my tap water parameters and my current tank parameters.

Tap: pH = 7.6, KH = 5, GH = 8, Ammonia = 0ppm, Nitrites = 0ppm, Nitrates = 5ppm, TDS = 151ppm.

Tank: pH = 7.4, KH = 4, GH = 9, ammonia and nitrites same, nitrates = 10ppm, TDS = 191.

How do these numbers look? From what I know from previous shrimp, I will do water changes if my TDS is over say 250-275ppm. Does that seem good? I don't want nitrates past 20ppm so if I do need water changes, maybe 30% twice a week and adjust as needed? I do dose macro and micro fertilizers on opposite days and iron with micros. If I have enough nitrate in the water I can skip my macros as long as I have enough for plants, correct??

 

A well scaped shrimp tank with DHG is possible, but in my case I am using (or was using*) injected CO2. Unless you want to invest in a CO2 setup, stay away from most carpeting plants. Dwarf sag or micro swords will still work with a good fertilizer regiment but in my experience almost all "true" carpets require high light and CO2.

My feeding dish is attached to the glass with a suction cup so it doesn't obstruct the carpet or take away from the scape. This is also to reduce mulm buildup in the substrate.

I feel like it won't be possible to create a cohesive aquascape with both cholla and spider wood, personally, so I'd pick one or the other. Given how flat your aquascape currently is, I would go with larger, more dynamic pieces as a centerpiece and frame them with red lava rock (I think you currently have that type in your tank). Bold pieces of hardscape stand out more in heavily planted tanks, with plants framing and accenting pieces rather than hiding them.

(Ignore the 2 random stem plants in front, the were runners that have since been removed.)

*due to a CO2 regulator malfunction, I removed the working CO2 setup on this tank to move to a tank that is more demanding of CO2 temporarily.

A feeding dish on the side of tank would be cool. I don't have one at the moment, hence the cup to keep things contained for the time being.

 

Recent update and changes coming. Thoughts?? Pretty red little one! Could you tell what grade yet or too young?

I'd like some more opinion on this based on new picture. I'm thinking of moving dwarf hairgrass to left side and putting spider wood where hairgrass is now with java moss on it. I have 5 more pieces of cholla wood too and thought about a small pyramid of them with some java moss or some small plants. What do you think?

 

Tank: pH = 7.4, KH = 4, GH = 9, ammonia and nitrites same, nitrates = 10ppm, TDS = 191.

How do these numbers look? From what I know from previous shrimp, I will do water changes if my TDS is over say 250-275ppm. Does that seem good? I don't want nitrates past 20ppm so if I do need water changes, maybe 30% twice a week and adjust as needed? I do dose macro and micro fertilizers on opposite days and iron with micros. If I have enough nitrate in the water I can skip my macros as long as I have enough for plants, correct??

I like the start of your tank.
I had a Planted 10g shrimp tank a few years back. Similar parameters, and it flourished. I also used a dual sponge. I used ferts very lightly and due to the low bio-load with the shrimp only changed water at 1-2 gals every 2 weeks or so with aged water when the nitrates got higher than 10 .
Just my .02, I would let your tank grow in a bit and see how it goes. I began with 10-20 RCS and over the course of 5-8 weeks had 50+ then it took off to well over a hundred. Here are a few pics of the progression. Since taken down.







Have Fun and Good Luck!

Learning all the Time.

 

A thousand sounds good to me haha. Really nice tank! Did you cull yours at all?

 

No culling for me. I wanted to see if I could keep and raise them. I just let them propagate to well over a few hundred. Then had an idea to sell, but the auctions I attended were saturated at the time. They were going for less than $1 each.
It was mentioned to add fresh lines to keep the colony healthy. Over time I did add some Blue Dream and Bloody Mary. And ended up with some beautiful colors. I was surprised to find this Purple one day.




I ended up taking the tank down after almost 2 years and added them to other tanks. They became snacks for my other fish.

Good Luck!

Learning all the Time.

 

What an awesome color!! I cannot throw them away when I cull so I'm setting up 5.5 gallon that will be heavily planted and they can live lives in there. If anyone wants culls I'll sell, but otherwise I'll just have a 2nd shrimp tank hehe. I bet they were a tasty treat for sure.

 

5/5 update: I moved the hairgrass and added moss to the spider wood. I also made the cholla wood into a pyramid and added moss. Just waiting for the moss to cover the visible super glue. Fed a green bean yesterday and it was covered by 4 snails and 6 shrimp in 5 minutes. Within the next half hour it was gone. Tonight's feast is a spirulina veggie wafer and it looks like everyone is happy!

 

Shrimp and snails are loving the NLS Algaemax wafers im feeding. They have a good stinkiness to them, but have very high quality ingredients. Shrimp are growing nicely and I am seeing molts all over the tank which is also good. Moss is growing like a weed in the tank and covering all the cholla and spider wood very nicely. Hoping I see eggs and eventually babies. Pictures to follow.

 

Updated picture to the tank! Shrimp are growing nicely and I have only seen 2 deaths out of 55 I put in at the beginning. Managed to only find 20 and got scared and then I fed New Life Spectrum Algaemax wafer and I was able to count 53 so that made me happy. Seen lots of molting so I'm hoping they are breeding like crazy!

 

Just saw 4-5 berried females today and have at least 25 shrimplets ranging in age from 3-14 days old. Algae is starting to grow on the glass and moss is covering things nicely. So far so good. I have only had to change the water twice and I only did about 15% each time.

 

Only lost 2 shrimp during the move and the rest are mating and having little ones like crazy so that is great news. More pictures of tank in the next few days!

 

So I tried my hand at catching shrimp today and it was a success, but it took 90 minutes for 15 shrimp. I'm making a DIY trap out if a pop bottle and will put in NLS Algaemax wafers and then unscrew the cap and let them into a specimen container. This way I can cull and grab younger shrimp easier. I will be moving shrimp to a new tank eventually so I can drain current tank and drill it. I will also be putting in a sponge divider so on one side I will have fire reds and other side the low Sakura/plain cherry culls. I will be getting in blue dreams soon too and they will be added to this journal as well in the coming days. I hope to have 6 awesome 20g longs filled with colorful shrimp by late fall aka late November, early December and each tank will be discussed as part of the journey. I will scape each side of tank, but will attempt to keep plants to the outside with a nice opening in the middle to get DIY trap, net, and other tools in the tank as needed. I want to be able to sell people shrimp that otherwise don't have access or it costs way too much. I will have jade/emerald green, blue dream, fire reds, golden yellow backs, and orange pumpkin neocaridinas. I will have a backup tank of reds and blues because they seem to be the most popular.

Goals: Sell Blue dream and fire reds by mid August.
Acquire orange pumpkin neos by end of September.
Acquire golden yellow backs by end of October.
Acquire emerald/green jade by Thanksgiving.
Spring 2021 have all 5 colors ready ready to purchase with hundreds in each tank.

Are these doable goals? I sure think so, but would love everyone's opinions.

 

Yep, those little buggers are "Crazy" fast jumpers and swimmers when they are evading predators (Us and Fish). I used a 2 shrimp net method and still tough.

What a plan, no real help here on the goals, but...
As far as what will sell, I attend "Fish" auctions put on by Local Fish clubs, I can say that the more "Exotic" colors do sell better for more $'s.
Let's tag Mcasella and FishRFriendz they are "Breeders" I have purchased from both.

Good Luck with you plan.

 

So I tried my hand at catching shrimp today and it was a success, but it took 90 minutes for 15 shrimp. I'm making a DIY trap out if a pop bottle and will put in NLS Algaemax wafers and then unscrew the cap and let them into a specimen container. This way I can cull and grab younger shrimp easier. I will be moving shrimp to a new tank eventually so I can drain current tank and drill it. I will also be putting in a sponge divider so on one side I will have fire reds and other side the low Sakura/plain cherry culls. I will be getting in blue dreams soon too and they will be added to this journal as well in the coming days. I hope to have 6 awesome 20g longs filled with colorful shrimp by late fall aka late November, early December and each tank will be discussed as part of the journey. I will scape each side of tank, but will attempt to keep plants to the outside with a nice opening in the middle to get DIY trap, net, and other tools in the tank as needed. I want to be able to sell people shrimp that otherwise don't have access or it costs way too much. I will have jade/emerald green, blue dream, fire reds, golden yellow backs, and orange pumpkin neocaridinas. I will have a backup tank of reds and blues because they seem to be the most popular.

Goals: Sell Blue dream and fire reds by mid August.
Acquire orange pumpkin neos by end of September.
Acquire golden yellow backs by end of October.
Acquire emerald/green jade by Thanksgiving.
Spring 2021 have all 5 colors ready ready to purchase with hundreds in each tank.

Are these doable goals? I sure think so, but would love everyone's opinions.

The biggest thing is plans never survive the first encounter. Shrimp are going to be unpredictable and I am not sure even a sponge divider will keep the fleas on the correct sides. You may have hundreds by then or you may end up with a struggling colony that barely is there. Or you may experience one color just absolutely hates you water no matter how many times you purchase excellent colored shrimp with a high price tag that should be healthy.
Jades are going to be the hardest to keep good color going as it doesn't seem to be set, you could get any various shade of green or even brown, not always dark and pretty.

Yellows don't seem as popular as other colors.

It is a start of a plan, but you cannot say how the shrimp will act. I would have a cull tank for all the shrimp that do not meet your requirements for color and keep them together and sell those cheap or cheaper than the others - this will be easier than dividing tanks.

 

The biggest thing is plans never survive the first encounter. Shrimp are going to be unpredictable and I am not sure even a sponge divider will keep the fleas on the correct sides. You may have hundreds by then or you may end up with a struggling colony that barely is there. Or you may experience one color just absolutely hates you water no matter how many times you purchase excellent colored shrimp with a high price tag that should be healthy.
Jades are going to be the hardest to keep good color going as it doesn't seem to be set, you could get any various shade of green or even brown, not always dark and pretty.

Yellows don't seem as popular as other colors.

It is a start of a plan, but you cannot say how the shrimp will act. I would have a cull tank for all the shrimp that do not meet your requirements for color and keep them together and sell those cheap or cheaper than the others - this will be easier than dividing tanks.

I'm hoping to sell the lower quality shrimp to people just getting into the hobby so they don't have to spend so much learning how to breed shrimp. I got 2 from Flip Aquatics. He's a huge shrimp breeder east of me in Warren, Ohio, so I'll try ones he uses and go from there. I heard green ones were hard so we shall see how it goes. Golden yellow backs just look awesome so if people don't buy as many, I'll have something pretty to look at!

 

Yep, those little buggers are "Crazy" fast jumpers and swimmers when they are evading predators (Us and Fish). I used a 2 shrimp net method and still tough.

What a plan, no real help here on the goals, but...
As far as what will sell, I attend "Fish" auctions put on by Local Fish clubs, I can say that the more "Exotic" colors do sell better for more $'s.
Let's tag Mcasella and FishRFriendz they are "Breeders" I have purchased from both.

Good Luck with you plan.

I have to start dreaming bigger because I have had a narrow minded approach in the sense that I probably won't get very far so I shouldn't plan that far ahead. Now, I'm progressing faster than I thought so I have to have those longer term plans laid out so I can work towards paying them and making them a reality. I'm hoping my bottle trick works.

 

Catching shrimp takes a while. Longer if you have fewer shrimp or are selecting specific shrimp. I try to ship juveniles and sometimes the colony just isn't cooperating or at a place where juveniles are abundant.

Here's a trap I made to filter out the older shrimp. The mesh on top is #5 and the mesh on the sides and bottom are #8. So juvenile shrimp can get through the top... in theory. In reality the shrimp just gather around the sides. I should have made the sides out of #5 and #8 maybe having like 1/4" of #8 going up the side from the bottom, and have the rest of the side be #5. Ceramic rings to weight top and the trap down.






Traps take forever waiting for them to get in there and I also don't have any tanks that have open space on the bottom of the tank (over planted) so I actually only used it like 2-3 times.

 

Clever trap! I really like it!!

 

So I tried the filter sponge divider and it works, but doesn't work. The shrimp love it, but they can sneak behind on the sides lol. I will have to put some filter floss in to keep them on sides haha. They are really pretty shrimp in my opinion and look great in the fish room. I'll be updating this journal with all my future shrimp tanks as I continue to add more shrimp colors to my collection.

 

So, I was browsing for orange neos online just to see who could supply me and I found some on eBay for $30 plus shipping for 10 shrimp. The person had best offer so I offered $12 thinking there was no way they'd say yes. Well they said yes, sent me 13 shrimp and all are alive and well. They are just about done acclimating and will be going into a tank shortly. I am super excited.

 

Here's orange neos and other pictures of the blue dreams. I'm going to an aqua swap on 9/13 and I am picking up about 25 more orange neos and 25 bloody mary shrimp. I am super stoked to have this opportunity to support these breeders and continue to grow my colonies. I will update with pictures of orange neos in tank and again when I get the shrimp in 9 days. Cannot wait to breed them and hopefully have them for sale in a few months. I want to provide hobbyists with healthy, nicely colored shrimp. Hopefully they will help others diversify their gene pools without ruining a nice line of shrimp people may have.

 

I have 30 bloody mary shrimp, 30 more pumpkin orange shrimp, and 5 yellow goldenbacks I'm getting at a swap meet on 9/13. I plan to keep the bloody mary separate from the fire reds to preserve each line. Should be able to jumpstart 2 of my colonies and the yellow goldenbacks I'll just have to take my time with them. I can only spend so much!

 

New tank with sponge tank divider siliconed to the glass. I think I finally outsmarted the shrimp haha. Time will tell though. This is my bloody mary tank and boy do they look super red. Haven't had to cull any the other side of tank is empty for now. Very pleased with the stock I got in September and have a few very pregnant females. Hoping the babies come soon. Still organizing tank a bit, but just had to update. What does everyone think of their coloring? Am I overhyped or are they pretty darn good.

 

I have 3 tanks done (bloody mary, fire red, and orange sakura). The blue dream is almost done and the last 2 will be ready Thanksgiving weekend. I will have another fire red tank and I'll move the yellow goldenbacks to a 20 long as well. Green jade are on hold for the time being, but I'll be starting them in 2021 for sure. Pictures coming shortly when blue dream are done being moved. I'll update again once all 6 tanks are ready!! Exciting times for sure.

 

Getting in a bunch of USA bred fire orange neos in January. Once they make it through quarantine and I have them separated from the best and the okay shrimp, I can start selling them. Definitely went big on these shrimp, but I know that I can start offering them sooner while they keep breeding to build a solid colony. Really hoping to get all my colonies stable with over 200+ shrimp so I can sell them without running out of stock. Easier said than done, but that is the goal. Will post pictures when I get them.