A Shrimp Tank Project :D

[Junneh]

Greetings fellow AQ members. I'm glad to announce that I've successfully established a shrimp tank after much trial & error. I'm still new to this shrimp hobby so I appreciate if the community can kindly contribute all their experience & advice to this thread. I believe this all of us, especially potential or new shrimp hobbyists will benefit from this information

My shrimp tank is fully cycled now. I don't have the test kits to test for the water hardness. I have deployed 2 different loads of commando shrimps into the tank at different time intervals. I'm sad to say that there were many casualties, especially the weaker ones dying out first. I did adopt the drip method to acclimate the shrimps over a span of 2hrs.

Currently, I've noticed some shrimplets swimming around in my tank, but who knows whether they will live to mature? Are there any ways to promote breeding amongst my shrimps? My water quality seems to have been affected too, minuscule particles can be seen floating in the water. Shrimps are also bending themselves, *Cleaning?* their lower bodies for some reason. Most of my shrimps are hanging onto the fauna, hiding in the shadow. I've noticed some white worm like creature in the soil, maybe 2-3 of them. I've limited the feeding to once a day, putting the sink pellets in a feeding dish but the shrimps usually drag the pellets out of the dish. ==
Can anyone advise me on what to do? Perhaps ensure there are no more casualties and to improve the water quality? Thanks!

PS: I might want have 2 filters running concurrently in the tank but not sure what to get.

Current Tank Specs:
Length x Width x Height - 1.5ft x 1.5ft x 1.5ft
Power Filter-120 Shiruba Model
Light - AquaLux 13W/7200K
Fauna: Low
Tank Status: Fully cycled for 2-3 months
Soil: Can't remember brand of shrimp soil

Readings:
Ammonium: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
PH: 6.9

[Urban Aquaria]

You may want to get a larger filter (the PF-120 is really small), considering that your tank is around 91+ liters in volume. Filtration and bio-media capacity will start to be more important as time goes by with increasing bio-load and accumulation of organic waste. Just for reference, i use a similar sized hang-on filter for my small 10 liter tanks, and even then its barely sufficient.

As for improving shrimp breeding rate, simply keeping the water conditions clean and stable will already encourage breeding naturally. Its a numbers game too, the more adult female shrimps you have the higher the re-production rate (make sure there are at least a few adult male shrimps in the same tank too). You could also add some shrimp minerals and vitamins to help boost their health and fill in any gaps in their nutrition.

There are also products that can increase the rate breeding too, like BorneoWild Dance, can try and see if it works for your setup.

[Junneh]

You may want to get a larger filter (the PF-120 is really small), considering that your tank is around 91+ liters in volume. Filtration and bio-media capacity will start to be more important as time goes by with increasing bio-load and accumulation of organic waste. Just for reference, i use a similar sized hang-on filter for my small 10 liter tanks, and even then its barely sufficient.

As for improving shrimp breeding rate, simply keeping the water conditions clean and stable will already encourage breeding naturally. Its a numbers game too, the more adult female shrimps you have the higher the re-production rate (make sure there are at least a few adult male shrimps in the same tank too). You could also add some shrimp minerals and vitamins to help boost their health and fill in any gaps in their nutrition.

There are also products that can increase the rate breeding too, like BorneoWild Dance, can try and see if it works for your setup.

Hello UA, thanks for ur advice again. Can u recommend any vitamins and minerals for the shrimps? I've heard of some that are unsuitable or not effective at all. I'm thinking of getting a bigger HOB or perhaps another type of filter but not sure which to invest in.

[Urban Aquaria]

Hello UA, thanks for ur advice again. Can u recommend any vitamins and minerals for the shrimps? I've heard of some that are unsuitable or not effective at all. I'm thinking of getting a bigger HOB or perhaps another type of filter but not sure which to invest in.

A canister filter would be good, they can contain way more bio-media, which in turn allow larger populations of beneficial bacteria to be supported, hence maintaining a more stable cycle.

As a rough guideline, try to look for filters with flow rates around 8-10x the tank volume, that usually ensures ample filtration and circulation.

As for minerals, you can look at products Mosura Mineral Plus, Azoo Minerals Plus and Vita Plus or just put in a mineral rock (ie. BorneoWild Mine Rock) which slowly releases beneficial minerals into the water column over a long period of time.

Do follow the instructions closely when dosing or adding mineral supplements though, don't add so much that it suddenly increases the GH too fast, which can be detrimental to the shrimp too.

[Junneh]

A canister filter would be good, they can contain way more bio-media, which in turn allow larger populations of beneficial bacteria to be supported, hence maintaining a more stable cycle.

As a rough guideline, try to look for filters with flow rates around 8-10x the tank volume, that usually ensures ample filtration and circulation.

As for minerals, you can look at products Mosura Mineral Plus, Azoo Minerals Plus and Vita Plus or just put in a mineral rock (ie. BorneoWild Mine Rock) which slowly releases beneficial minerals into the water column over a long period of time.

Do follow the instructions closely when dosing or adding mineral supplements though, don't add so much that it suddenly increases the GH too fast, which can be detrimental to the shrimp too.

Alright, I'll head to the LFS tmr to see what i can get. Found another dead shrimp again. No visible cracks, white lines or molting problems. Hell, I don't even know what's happening anymore :/
If this keeps up, I'm probably gonna lose all my shrimps before year end D:

[Junneh]

Damn, woke up today to see a dead berried shrimp.... D: Gonna try manually hatching the eggs to and snoop around the LFS to see what I can do about this burdensome tank. Why do they keep dying?! ARGH!!!

[sp1der]

you can skip vitamins and minerals for the time being. I gone through this phrase before. Spend and no result.

Focus on your water. The water is the key to shrimp survive.
What is the water temperature? Power Filter-120 wont give you good filtration and flowrate with this tank size.

[Junneh]

you can skip vitamins and minerals for the time being. I gone through this phrase before. Spend and no result.

Focus on your water. The water is the key to shrimp survive.
What is the water temperature? Power Filter-120 wont give you good filtration and flowrate with this tank size.

Roger that. I've had 20-40% WC every 2 days. I've removed most of my fauna from the tank. My tank is kept in the living room, away from windows and a well ventilated area. I've yet to get a thermometer, TDS meter and KH tester.
The baby shrimplets are doing just fine, they are about half an inch now and gaining some redness. However, it's the adult shrimps that are constantly dying once every few days. Some shrimps started to turn black, while others had a distinct while line forming around their necks. The tank is void of any life forms but shrimps & the occasional white round bugs in the soil.

I hope anyone who has knowledge on this and assist me in solving this issue. Thanks!

Food for Shrimps used:
Sinking Pellets from Top-Aqua.com

Water used for tank:
Aged water & treated with New Water Guard

Current Readings of Tank:
Ammonium: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
PH: 6.5
GH: 3-4
KH: unknown
TDS: unknown
Temp: unknown

[Urban Aquaria]

Your test readings look okay... i guess if its mainly the adult shrimps that are gradually dying off one by one over an extended period of time, then it could simply be a lack of some minerals or nutrients that they need to grow further. You can try adding some of those beneficial shrimps minerals and vitamins and see if it helps improve the lifespan of the adult shrimps.

[14litre]

I am not an expert but I'm trying to maintain my own shrimp tank as well.

Did you mention you do water change every 2 days with 20-40%?

If that is the case, the water parameter change might be too frequent for the shrimps.

If i am not wrong, shrimps need very little change in water parameter.

For me, I'm doing a daily top up of aged water (with prime) because of evaporation from the cooling fan.

I do a weekly water change of about 15% with distilled water. Distilled water is used in order to bring down the tds.

For both daily and weekly wc, I'm using the drip barrel method to introduce the new water slowly.

[14litre]

What shrimps are you keeping, by the way?

[Junneh]

What shrimps are you keeping, by the way?

My initial WC was 20% once every week. However, the casualty rate was horrendously high. Nitrate readings wound sky rocket due to the massive population and whatsoever. Ever since I adopted the WC every 2 days, casualty rate was at minimum with 1 dead shrimp every couple of days. I'm currently keeping red cherry shrimps.

Your test readings look okay... i guess if its mainly the adult shrimps that are gradually dying off one by one over an extended period of time, then it could simply be a lack of some minerals or nutrients that they need to grow further. You can try adding some of those beneficial shrimps minerals and vitamins and see if it helps improve the lifespan of the adult shrimps.

Hello UA. I have bought the necessary GH boosters and hopefully it would prevent any more shrimps from dying. It hurts to wake up to see dead shrimps in the tank T-T

[Bern C]

I faced the same issue in my initial phase too. Every few other days or weeks, 1 casualty. XD All I do is nothing but con't measure the water parameter. Eventually everything is fine later.

[14litre]

I encounter similar situation as you. Shrimps kept dying and i dont know the reason.

But my tanks are much smaller, 14L and 8L.

Last time I did not have test kit. Everything was a guessing game.

Slowly I invested on test kit, into tds and thermometer.

I didn't know the importance of tds until i bought the meter myself and came to realize the readings can be so high after the build up. Along with the test kit, i am able to monitor the parameter and tried to maintain at a consistent level.

Temperature is something that you might want to explore. It was one of the last thing that I attempt, by getting a fan to cool down the water. I felt it is useful otherwise the temperature can go above 29 degree which is not an ideal condition for cherries.
My cooling fan is on 24*7 and i always see the temperature at 27-28 mark during the day. So the thermometer is quite redundant in a way.

You may consider these points when all else failed.

Keep trying. It's sad to see the shrimps dying but do your best on what you can provide for them. Eventually you will get it right.

If it's convenient, a picture of your tank will be nice as well.

[14litre]

BTW, some tds meter has thermometer function too.

[Bern C]

Great tips and advices from UA & 14Litre.

I think kh is kinda important too. If you are dosing stuff or doing things that will affect the ph, it's best to have some kh to reduce ph swing. Also take note that some aquatic plants will use kh as carbon source.

As for your nitrate, you might wanna use fast growing plant like hornwort to absorb the excess nutrients instead of too frequent WC. It can also provide some hiding place for your shrimp but only problem is unsightly when overgrowth. I also feel that 20-40% every 2days is too much of WC. You didn't overstock and overfeed right? Since your tank is fully cycled, I think 20% weekly WC should be enough.

[Ingen]

Or some floating plants to take the nutrient, some shrimps love to grazing on the roots of these plants too.

[Junneh]

Hello again, here's a picture of my current tank. I havr removed most of the fast growing plants due to their growth spurt. Ill see what I can do about the TDS meter and KH tester. Very tight on budget now

[Bern C]

Those Vallisneria will slowly absorb the kh as source of carbon. Have you consider removing the mineral wool and plant the Vallis into substrate? I not sure if those mineral wool will do any harm to shrimp or not. Anyway Vallis is a runner plant, eventually it will grow out of the pot.

Your tank look fine, I don't think you need so much water change ba. Vallis is quite a fast grower, good for absorbing nutrient too.

[WingCher]

Hello again, here's a picture of my current tank. I havr removed most of the fast growing plants due to their growth spurt. Ill see what I can do about the TDS meter and KH tester. Very tight on budget now

If you live in sengkang I can lend you my tds meter for a couple of hours...