# shrimp tank advice pls!



## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

Bought my Fluval Ebi.

30 ltr quarium with fluval Nano filter (including spray bar) and small heater. 

11watt fluval mini compact light (flourescent high efficiency)

Fluval Shrimp Stratum (says its good for plants to root in)

Questions:

How do i ensure my plants survive? Do i need to get one of these CO2 pressurized things?

Is the substrate provided enough or do i need the extra fertilised layer underneath?

There are Japonica in there at the moment but due to my sheer ineptitude with small tanks the ammonia got ahead of me and some died... is cycling the water the same as a normal fish tank? (i.e partial change each day with water testing till nitrite has gone?

If i need CO2 is this going to affect my shrimp or other inverts id like to put in it?

Whats my ideal Ph range here? How do i keep it stable in such a small tank? Should i introduce some crushed cockle shell to buffer it?

What interesting shrimp should i look for? and what other inverts are available to me to keep in this sort of tank? (e.g i love the look of pagoda snails, what about a clam etc?)

Link to what i bought: http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...=0SmUT-GhGMKe0QW85oSGAg&sqi=2&ved=0CE4Q8wIwAA

Pic of tank so far:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

You aren't going to like me for this, but apart from the plant front left, and the moss, your plants are already on the patch to been dead. The reason been that that fern isn't actually an aquatic plant but rather a terrestrial one that dies if kept under water.

No, you don't need CO2. You can probably get away with just using a liquid trace fert (eg. Easylife ProFito). If neccessary you can always use a liquid carbon source (eg. Easylife EasyCarbo). Dose the trace fert daily though, just divide the weekly dose by 7.

As you haven't said what shrimp you plan to keep, I can't tell you an ideal pH range. Oh and "Japonica" got renamed a long time ago from caridina japonica to caridina multidentata so the Japonica name isn't used any more. They often get the common names Amano shrimp or Nomato shrimp after Takashi Amano who first brought to light their usefullness as algae eaters in planted aquariums. A good shrimp for you to consider would be the good old cherry shrimp, neocaridina heteropoda. Nice hardy shrimp, lovely red (unless you get one of the newer varieties that come in orange, blue, black and even red with clear stripes) and easy to keep and breed in soft to hard water with a pH of 6.5 to 7.8 *(pH needs to be stable within this range however, not swinging around).

If you ONLY intend to keep shrimp (skip the clams, and for now the snails), and you replant using easy to grow stem plants (hygrophila difformis is a good one, with leaves similar to your fern) you don't actually need to cycle, as you get what is known as a silent cycle. This is where the plants stop ammonia levels from becoming toxic, whilst the little bit the plants don't use 'cycles' your filter safely. You need to feed sparingly using this method however, as excess food is a BIG source of ammonia.

Finally, 2 sites for you to have a look at.

First up, UKAPS, a plant site UK Aquatic Plant Society Forum • Index page

The other is UKShrimp, a site decicated to freshwater shrimp and invertebrates http://ukshrimp.co.uk

Both invaluable resources if you wish to keep a planted shrimp tank.

Regards

Ade


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

this is great thanks! ive only got big experience in large scale tanks - My Malwai tank is incredible and always perfect, but they dont have live plants...

So. Ill go have a look at these sites, i've never had a planted tank before so i only know that moss and wood is good for the shrimp!

you seem to knwo alot about this, if your not always busy maybe i caould swap msn with you and you could advise further? Im willing to swap my other expertise with you lol


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

Ok i just bought some of that easylife stuff...

Question: is the substrate i have enough or does it need like soil based stuff underneath it?

How exactly do you 'plant' the plants? (like do i take it out the pot, or remove the lead weight?)

Do plants cause an ammonia spike or is it the few shrimp i have in there atm that are doing it?

As for shrimp: currently its justa few japonica in there. i love colour, i love the cherry shrimps so may get some, but i aslo love the colour blue! I saw some blue crayfish sorta thing id love to have too!


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## benh (Sep 12, 2011)

I hve nothing to add regards shrimp, or plants. The crayfish you mentioned though is the cherax quadricatanus. They grow too big for your tank, unfortunately. Mine is around a year old now, and is 7" snout to tail, plus another 2 1/2 inch of claw in front of him when hes running. So your tank is too small im afraid, sorry.


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

gutted! oh well. Maybe if i ever upgrade in the future, but currently i have more than enough various fish tanks!


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

The blue crayfish you saw would have been cherax quadricarinatus, better known as red claw crayfish. Don't try to put one in that tank, they grow rather large and destroy plants. lol I used to have one, wife called it Reggie:-










As you can see, not really a nano species, kept that chappy in a 3 foot tank. lol He had 2 females at one time. One female killed and at the other, then he bred with the remaining female. Ended up with a tank full of young crayfish. The female then picked a fight with Reggie, he removed her claws for her trouble. Before they could grow back she picked another fight with him, he thoroughly enjoyed a crayfish supper, and then ate all of his young...

I don't actually use MSN, so can't help you there. Happy to answer questions on here or on UK Shrimp however.

Regarding blue shrimp, well you have blue pearl shrimp (another fairly easy neocaridina), blue tiger shrimp (a more difficult morph of tiger shrimp), blue babaulti shrimp (tend to only be blue when you first get them, before turning dull brown, green etc. lol) and blue cherry shrimp (again, a lot of these are just normal cherry shrimp that are kept stressed to panic levels and quickly turn red once settled). Of these, your best bet is probably blue pearl shrimp if you can track them down. I kept a colony once, but sourced it from a German breeder. http://ukshrimp.co.uk/neocaridina-s...hrimp-neocaridina-cf-zhangjiajiensis-var-blue They're not a very vivid blue when happy, but still a nice shrimp.

Returning to your plant questions, your substrate will be fine. Plants used in the aquarium are more than capable of absorbing nutrients directly from the water column. This is why you will find that most planted tank keepers these days worry little about substrate choice and more about getting fert dosing right. In a shrimp tank though the best way I found is to keep lighting lowish and to stick to easy plants that don't need lots of ferts dosing.

Live plants reduce ammonia, however plants that are dead and rotting produce it. Another source is if you have been feeding the shrimp. They only need a tiny amount of food about once a week. One other possibility is your tap water conditioner. Some give a false positive for ammonium and a LOT of test kits test for ammonia and ammonium combined. Ammonium is pretty harmless though. I use an API liquid test for ammonia that ONLY detects ammonia, not ammonium.

There is one other possibility, a chicken/egg one. You've blamed the death of some of your shrimp on the ammonia spike, it could well be however that the dead shrimp were the source of the spike. Did you detect the spike before they died or after?

Again returning to the plants. Remove them from pots, rockwool, weights etc, and plant them into the substrate. If they were purchased as stems in a bunch, snip the bottom off with some sharp scissors up to the next leaf node up the stem. The reason I do this is usually when you get them the bottom bit is already starting to rot. Rotten stem wont root, it will just continue to rot. By snipping the bottom bit of you effectively have a fresh cutting once again which will root far more quickly and is less likely to rot off at the bottom. Potted plants should already have roots, so these just need pushing into the substrate.

Ade


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

ok so: i short listed the right plants for shrimp

Java moss
Java fern
Anubias

These are said to be the easiest to keep.

Dead stuff in the water... as in those plants you said werent actually aquatic plants and dying? could they be doing it?!

Take the plant out the pot and the cotton stuff and plant it directly into substrate, remove lead from other plants and plant them too.. wont they just like... ya know, float away? How deep should my substrate be to plant them?

Some of these plant have roots when you buy them.. does that mean i cut the roots off too?

*gives you a hopless girly look* dear gods this is complicated.


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

If they have roots, you don't need to cut them, and no they shouldn't float away. 

Java moss, java fern and anubia bateri (including nana) are all easy to grow, but they are very slow growing (well, the fern and anubias are. lol) so wont give you the silent cycle effect.

Oh and yes, it could well be that umbrella/aqua (a stupid name that second one... lol) fern giving off ammonia as it dies. I used to work in an LFS, and we sold tons of the stuff, along with many other none aquatics. In fact, more than we did the genuine aquatics, even though we used to warn people they would drop dead on them....

Ade


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

you know ive worked all over the country in aquatic shops... and no one ever tells you around here! 

Ok so more substrate, dont cute roots, plant em properly with no lead, remove crazy dying thing... 

I think i owe you a date after all this....


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Frostpaw said:


> you know ive worked all over the country in aquatic shops... and no one ever tells you around here!
> 
> Ok so more substrate, dont cute roots, plant em properly with no lead, remove crazy dying thing...
> 
> I think i owe you a date after all this....


I'm married. :lol2: Thanks anyway.:lol2:


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## Frostpaw (May 10, 2010)

hahah always my luck!

 so ill remove those dead plants now and fingers crossed all will be well in the morning.


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