My first Shrimp Tank - IQ3 Dymax

[grenlif]

Hello everyone, I've just started this shrimp hobby and would like to share some pictures. I bought an IQ3 tank due to space constraint at home to keep some cherry shrimps. This hobby is not easy (I guessed partly due to my small tank) as I've suffer some casualties at the start,b then I restarted the whole tank and now the new fire red shrimps are happily settled in the tank. Many thanks to the AQ community as I've learnt loads from reading the various posts around here (much more info than the articles I found online).

I hope to get bigger tanks after the upgrading works are completed in my area this year, with CRS, chiller and stuff. This hobby is really poisonous.

Here are some pics taken from my Android phone, any comments are welcome!

[chansl]

Very nice - simple and sweet

When the moss starts growing, the shrimps may be lost somewhere that you cant see them. How long did you cycle and what is the temperature of your water?

[grenlif]

Very nice - simple and sweet

When the moss starts growing, the shrimps may be lost somewhere that you cant see them. How long did you cycle and what is the temperature of your water?

Thanks for the comment! I wanted more stuff like driftwood and plants but tank too small, cannot add.

I guessed I'll have to start trimming them when I cant see the shrimps haha. I cycled for about 2.5 weeks and temp is about 28 degrees

[Kenng]

Nice, where did you get your shrimps? Sakura or fire red?

[wongce]

nice tank, it will look nicer with more plants... try to hide the white ceramic rings..

your moss is growing nicely... soon they will conquer your whole foreground...

hope to see your new tank soon... welcome to the one of the most poisonous forum in SG...LOL

[grenlif]

Nice, where did you get your shrimps? Sakura or fire red?

Thanks bro, I bought from Y618. The tank wrote fire red so I went ahead to scoop up some. I did take some smaller and paler shrimps as I assume those should be males haha.

nice tank, it will look nicer with more plants... try to hide the white ceramic rings..

your moss is growing nicely... soon they will conquer your whole foreground...

hope to see your new tank soon... welcome to the one of the most poisonous forum in SG...LOL

Thanks! I added the ceramic rings as 'decorations' haha. Yes, indeed very poisonous. I lurk around the forum almost everyday.

[grenlif]

Bros here, I have some questions..

1) one side of my tank has got green algae, quite un-slilghtly, so should I get a snail to take care of it? What type of snails should I get and will it increase the bioload of my small tank?

2) There are quite a number of very small 'sperm-like' creatures at the side of the tank with algae.. they like to crawl on the wall and dont seem to swim a lot. Are these safe for my shrimps?

3) Anyway, I reached home and found one of my shrimp dead and the other shrimps had cleaned out the 'meaty' part. Also I found an empty molted shell. Checked my parameters - pH 5.5, NH3 - 0.5, NO2 - 0.. Is my pH dangerously low for my shrimps? I read that Cherries should be kept in pH 6-8 waters. I'm using benibachi soil btw, I believe it has some pH lowering abilities.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[hyun007]

Bros here, I have some questions..

1) one side of my tank has got green algae, quite un-slilghtly, so should I get a snail to take care of it? What type of snails should I get and will it increase the bioload of my small tank?

2) There are quite a number of very small 'sperm-like' creatures at the side of the tank with algae.. they like to crawl on the wall and dont seem to swim a lot. Are these safe for my shrimps?

3) Anyway, I reached home and found one of my shrimp dead and the other shrimps had cleaned out the 'meaty' part. Also I found an empty molted shell. Checked my parameters - pH 5.5, NH3 - 0.5, NO2 - 0.. Is my pH dangerously low for my shrimps? I read that Cherries should be kept in pH 6-8 waters. I'm using benibachi soil btw, I believe it has some pH lowering abilities.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

1) Oto or Nerite snail(get the male one)

2) Those are hydra. Harmful to your shrimps.

I think you have Ammonia spike which cause your PH to crash.

Yes. Cherry is best kept in PH above 6.
With a PH 5.5, you will find them dying off.

[Ecalyte]

Sperm like creatures that like to crawl are Planaria, not Hydra. They are shrimp-safe, just very unsightly. In fact, your fellow shrimps are more harmful than Planaria. They will be the first to attack and devour the weaker shrimps before the Planaria can even get to them.

Reduce feeding to get rid of them, or get a pipette and suck them out one by one. This will control their population but won't get rid of them, as they can reproduce by splitting themselves in two.

[grenlif]

Hey guys,. thanks for the help =)

I went to do some research on Planaria and doubt my tank got them.. The 'sperm-like' looking thing is more like the white specks on the glass in the first few secs in the youtube video below.. Has a white body and tail, hence the 'sperm-like' looking description

See this video:

will definitely reduce my feeding.

[Ecalyte]

Are you sure they crawl on the wall? If they do, then it's just normal nematodes.. introducing small fish like brigittae will fix your problem. I high doubt it's Hydra as they don't 'crawl' on the wall. They find a location, latch on and stay there until they decide to move. The way they do that is by unlatching themselves and letting the current bring them to a new location..

[RonWill]

See this video...

Gee... is that what sperm looks like these days???
Simple. If it's super tiny and wriggles in mid water, it's a nematode. If it crawls, that's a planaria. If it swims like an eel, toast that danged leech!!

[grenlif]

Gee... is that what sperm looks like these days???
Simple. If it's super tiny and wriggles in mid water, it's a nematode. If it crawls, that's a planaria. If it swims like an eel, toast that danged leech!!

Haha after years of radiation exposure, mutation, maybe sperm will look like that in the future..

I guessed there're harmless then I guessed my 3 shrimp casualties are due to the NH3 spike or the low pH. I've added a few coral chips and keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks lots for the help!

[grenlif]

Some huat shrimps to share.. Happy Dragon year everyone!

[JazyFizo]

Nice shrimps bro

[grenlif]

Nice shrimps bro

Thanks!

[LifeisBoring]

nice neat setup