Need Help: Shrimps Entering filters and happyly living there

**madhav96001** · 28th Dec 2016, 09:50

Hi Shrimp keepers and experts..Need your help here

it wasn't my intention to add shrimp to my planted tank but I just added when I got my 5ft tank a year ago from a friend.
I remember adding 10+ shrimps only when I started my tank. but now they multiplied like crazy and entering the filter and starting their own community in the dark room.
Every week when I clean my filters see what I will find. hundreds of them, I doubt they enter that big as I have shrimp guard for my strainers.
I suspect they enter when they are very tiny and are growing inside the canister. I can't simply discard the dirty water by knowing those many lives in there
and I can't offer that dirty water to someone too... I have Eheim 2080 and 2075 on this tank
How are you guys managing? any help would be appreciated.

https://youtu.be/2fn7Xk4S2Vg

**kaen130** · 28th Dec 2016, 09:54

You need this, it has been working well for my shrimp tank. Occasionally just need to remove it to clear the clogs which slows down flow rate.

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**madhav96001** · 28th Dec 2016, 10:02

I have this kind of shrimp guard but its sort of coarse filter foam shrimp guard. I shall try this. Thanks Kaen...

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**fireblade** · 28th Dec 2016, 12:10

think your filter guard is not fine enough...
lucky u to have so many babies in the tank.. what shrimps are they?

**madhav96001** · 28th Dec 2016, 13:27

Mostly cherry red and amano I think, from the pictures I guess so, I may be wrong.

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**madhav96001** · 28th Dec 2016, 13:29

All you shrimp keepers never face this issue, shrimps in filter? How do you save them?

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**genki89** · 28th Dec 2016, 17:12

After using the above method, the bottom of the filter guard should still be exposed.

2 method to get fully covered. U can either modify further or use any of the comfortable method.

1: cut out 1 small piece of sponge from any sponge (3m 2 in 1 sponge with scrape, another sponge filter guard). Use the cut sponge and squeeze it into the bottom of ehiem filter guard. By doing so, the surrounding of the ehiem filter guard will be wrapped with the sponge filter guard, and the bottom will closed with the cut sponge. This is to prevent shrimp and shrimplets from entering the exposed filter at the bottom of ehiem filter guard.

2: use the filter socks to wrap the whole inlet of the filter and cable tie it. In case you are wondering what kind of filter sock, please refer to the link https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...519af4dd94.jpg. Source found from google.

Both items can be easily found at any convenient stall and affordable.

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**madhav96001** · 28th Dec 2016, 17:19

I prefer the sponge, easy to get it out to clean if clogged. Thanks for your ideas..genki89

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**Zep** · 28th Dec 2016, 20:52

I am using a HOB filter with a coarser filter guard and I see many shrimplets everytime I clean my filter too. I just try to fish out as many as I can and return them to the main tank. Guess they can sucked in through the guard.

**madhav96001** · 29th Dec 2016, 08:16

I did the same thing earlier, until one day I cant immediately send them back home, the next morning when the sediment settled on the bottom of the pail then I realized how many shrimplets I was discarding down the drain till then. I will install a sponge for strainer and see if the situation improves or not. Thanks Zep.

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**fireblade** · 29th Dec 2016, 09:55

what you can do is when you clean your filter, pour the water over a fine net and the shrimplets should be caught in the net, then wash a bit and send them back..

**jackychun** · 29th Dec 2016, 13:54

I did exactly like what fireblade's method. I just take them out every time cleaning filter. They live there happily with no predators around. Hehe.

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**madhav96001** · 30th Dec 2016, 08:18

Thanks fireblade and jackychun
Fine net seems to be proven.will follow this if I still find any shrimps in the filter...

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**Urban Aquaria** · 30th Dec 2016, 14:25

Yeah, nowadays i also don't put any sponge or mesh guards on my canister filter intakes too, they tend to clog up and look unsightly especially in aquascaped tanks. I just allow the shrimplets to enter into the filter and live and grow up there. At every filter maintenance, i simply shine a torch light into the canister and net out all the grown up shrimps and re-introduce them back into the tank.

Usually most of the newborn shrimplets in community tanks tend to get eaten up by the fishes. Most of my planted setup are community tanks with lots of small fishes, so the canister filter acts as a sort of "refugium" for the small shrimplets to hide and grow out. Zero predators and lots of food in the canister filter, its like a shrimp paradise. I usually retrieve the grown up ones (which are large enough that small fishes cannot eat them anymore) and just leave the tiny ones in the canister to grow out further until the next filter maintenance session.

I've noticed in my tanks where shrimplets are allowed to enter the canister filter to live and grow, the overall population increases much faster than in my other tank setups that use intake guards to prevent them from going in.