# cleaning tank with shrimp fry



## Blue Ridge Reef (Feb 10, 2008)

For cherries, most of the videos I've seen on YouTube (of Flip Aquatics, Shrimp King etc.) seem to show bare bottom tanks with sponge filters and clumps of moss/subwassertang/so forth. Even the Caridina tanks are often bare bottom but with pots of buffering substrate put in. In short, I don't think most professional breeders have to deal with vacuuming substrate. In my own tanks, I simply don't use the python and siphon into a 5 gallon bucket on tanks with fry. After this, I let the water settle and use it to water the garden if I don't see any or fish out any I can if I do. 

I've tried putting cheesecloth or a fine net over the gravel vac, but it kept too many solids from getting out of the tank and was too easy to tear. You can also crimp the hose and watch it closely, though if you have a lot of water to change might get tedious. I do find that the shrimp tend to swim/climb downward out of the gravel vac if flow is weak. And if you stick the vac end over a plant stem, they will cling onto it almost every time. Hope that is of some help, I don't think there's a perfect method!


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## asquirrel (Jun 28, 2015)

Thanks Blue Ridge Reef,

I'm still cleaning the tank now. It's a 3 hour job and the tank is only 20 gallon. It's a bit overkill what I do but I use tap water so I want to make sure I get as much solids out as I can. So I remove all the plants except for the moss. Then I clean the filter. Then clean the inside of the tank with a sponge. Then do a "power vac" which consists of a pond pump. water intake is attached to a gravel vac. Outflow from the pump goes into 3 layers of pantyhose. 

I have to watch carefully b/c even though I have enough light I've also got the substrate stirred up and I have eaten calcium tabs (generic tums), alder cones and seachem equilbrium (gh booster) clouding up the tank. It's like scuba diving at the bottom of the ocean.

Then I do the regular gravel vac into a 5 gallon bucket. I take out 1.5 buckets worth. I used to check the buckets afterwards and invariably find a few fry that got through. I've got to use a headlamp and slowly dump the water out with a plastic cup. Check each individual scoop for fry.

Bare bottom tank is really looking tempting. Might help a little bit with cleanup but I'd still have to deal with the gh booster floating around and other solids. Plus some of the fry are so small and transparent, all I can see is a black speck where their organs are starting to grow. So annoying sometimes I think I want to raise livebearing fish, like guppies or something.

I want to sell enough red cherry shrimp so I can get some blue velvet shrimp. At least those are a bit more expensive to sell but I can't have both in the tank. I hear if the RCS and the blue velvet mate I'll get normal mutant brown shrimp. I was also thinking maybe the crystal red shrimp b/c I hear they are a different breed and won't mate with the RCS. But I also heard they are more sensitive to water quality and I don't want to to the whole RO thing. I'm just taking water from the tap. Now that I got my phosphates straightened out (it was too high and I was getting algae outbreaks), I think my shrimp are going to do well. At least I hope so.  Thanks for your input!


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## varanidguy (Sep 8, 2017)

asquirrel said:


> Thanks Blue Ridge Reef,
> 
> I'm still cleaning the tank now. It's a 3 hour job and the tank is only 20 gallon. It's a bit overkill what I do but I use tap water so I want to make sure I get as much solids out as I can. So I remove all the plants except for the moss. Then I clean the filter. Then clean the inside of the tank with a sponge. Then do a "power vac" which consists of a pond pump. water intake is attached to a gravel vac. Outflow from the pump goes into 3 layers of pantyhose.
> 
> ...


That sounds excessive lol. But hey, if it works for you...


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## jayo (Sep 21, 2016)

What I do is just stir up the substrate with my filter running (which I do by using a credit card to 'fan' water towards the substrate, in an effort to just disturb the top layer of gunk). Let the filter get out the gunk, and then clean the filter. With a good sponge prefilter none of your baby shrimp will get sucked up.

A more targeted (and more labor intensive) method of attaching a turkey baster to a siphon tube can be used to locally stir up detritus right as you're siphoning out the water for a water change. Use a small siphon tube. You'll have to pay attention in case any baby shrimp get disturbed, but it'll make it a lot easier to avoid them.


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## Fallon (Oct 17, 2018)

Some may despise this but I just don't clean mine 

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## asquirrel (Jun 28, 2015)

@jayo. interesting. I have a hang on back filter with a fine sponge over the intake b/c my shrimp seem interested destined to kill themselves on the intake if there is no sponge on it. I think as soon as I remove that sponge they will commit suicide. Still, it's not a bad idea maybe putting a big sponge on there and seeing how much detritus it will pick up by swirling the water around. My concern is that if I don't do a really thorough cleaning the TDS will get to high and the shrimp will die.


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## NYstyle (Nov 15, 2018)

I’m running a Fluval 305 on my 40 breeder, I’ll pull an easy dozen shrimp out of my canister every filter change. You’d be surprised how hardy they are, even when they battle the filter. 


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## Quint (Mar 24, 2019)

Well I would just vac a certain spot each water change. No reason to pull everything out to do a water change IMHO. Make or buy (pretty cheap) one of those hang in the tank breeder bins (forgot what they are called) and as you see the babies use a turkey baster or similar to put them in the bin. Once they get big enough let them go into the main space. Throw some of the moss in there as well. 

Or just change the water and let the detrius be, if you just have shrimp it shouldnt be too bad anyways.

Bump: Well I would just vac a certain spot each water change. No reason to pull everything out to do a water change IMHO. Make or buy (pretty cheap) one of those hang in the tank breeder bins (forgot what they are called) and as you see the babies use a turkey baster or similar to put them in the bin. Once they get big enough let them go into the main space. Throw some of the moss in there as well. 

Or just change the water and let the detrius be, if you just have shrimp it shouldnt be too bad anyways.


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## Wobblebonk (Feb 13, 2018)

Good god man that's way too much work for 1 20g tank...


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## WillR1496 (Apr 1, 2019)

jayo said:


> What I do is just stir up the substrate with my filter running (which I do by using a credit card to 'fan' water towards the substrate, in an effort to just disturb the top layer of gunk). Let the filter get out the gunk, and then clean the filter. With a good sponge prefilter none of your baby shrimp will get sucked up.
> 
> A more targeted (and more labor intensive) method of attaching a turkey baster to a siphon tube can be used to locally stir up detritus right as you're siphoning out the water for a water change. Use a small siphon tube. You'll have to pay attention in case any baby shrimp get disturbed, but it'll make it a lot easier to avoid them.
> 
> Youtube video of baster/siphon technique


That's a genius idea! I was trying to figure out how to clean the tank without digging up my pants but still clean the gravel.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

You're cleaning too much. Simple as that. The pros don't gravel vac. If you have the right bacteria in the tank, or use the right bacteria, there really is no reason to vacuum a tank. Something like Mosura BT-9 or SEMO (made with Mosura BT-9) or a similar product that helps to break down waste. That's all you really need.

I don't gravel vac, nor remove plants for cleaning. I just do water changes and the odd cleaning of the glass.... anywhere from 1-3 sides of the glass.


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## tamsin (Jan 12, 2011)

Clean the front glass (so you can see in), leave the reast of the glass for shrimps to snack on, use a syphon (airline for smallest tank, work your way up in size for bigger) if you want on any corners with obvious build up e.g. if you have a dead spot. Syphon or jug the rest of the water you need to remove for a change. Clean sponges/pre-filter out in bucket of tank water. Refill. Examine bucket for any strays. You are done. You're going way OTT  

Only plants I might remove is floating ones, just out the way whilst cleaning. Float them in a bucket with new water and the whole lot (and stray shrimps included) can go back in at the end.


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