# Want to build a shrimp tank (Help!)



## metallicanick78 (Apr 26, 2011)

Im setting up some tanks and I was debating between sponges and canisters. I went with canisters, but if I could do it over I would get sponges with a power head on it. That way you can have as much flow as you want and the sponge will be all the bio-filtration youd need.

Heaters are easy, the recomended sizes are fairly good. 

Ive used eco-complete before and liked it. But I put root tabs under anything that was a heavy root feeder like my amazon swords. I got some other black substrate now that I havent used yet and some tahitian moon sand for a cap, but I can comment on it yet...

2 t5s are a good choice on a 20, but what are the dimentions? I have a 20L with just one and I cant get a good spread on the light.


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## ACrowe25 (Oct 17, 2011)

metallicanick78 said:


> Im setting up some tanks and I was debating between sponges and canisters. I went with canisters, but if I could do it over I would get sponges with a power head on it. That way you can have as much flow as you want and the sponge will be all the bio-filtration youd need.
> 
> Heaters are easy, the recomended sizes are fairly good.
> 
> ...



Do you recommend any sponges? Any air pumps? 
Only tank experiance I have is using 2 eheim's 2217 and a HOB (not needed here  )

Also, not sure on exact dimensions due to the fact that I haven't bought it yet. Looking for a nice rimless tank around 20 G so may be a little smaller.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Only rimless I know of around that size is a 60P, 17gallons. I would stay away from plants and fish if you want a shrimp tank. Go with dual t8's, some moss, and maybe some java ferns or anubias or something. Real simple that way and you don't have to add ferts or anything that could possibly harm the shrimp. I use a sunsun 302, 2 sponge filters, and 2 hob's on my 20Long shrimp tank and it works well, albeit overkill on the filtration.


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## ACrowe25 (Oct 17, 2011)

HolyAngel said:


> Only rimless I know of around that size is a 60P, 17gallons. I would stay away from plants and fish if you want a shrimp tank. Go with dual t8's, some moss, and maybe some java ferns or anubias or something. Real simple that way and you don't have to add ferts or anything that could possibly harm the shrimp. I use a sunsun 302, 2 sponge filters, and 2 hob's on my 20Long shrimp tank and it works well, albeit overkill on the filtration.


Is a sponge filter a sponger filter or are some better then others. Also, when looking for power rating on a pump, I want
To go with a dual output. So should I double the rating? I.e if it's in a 20 gallon, use a 40 gallon for my 2 sponges. Which brands are food for a pump, or is a pump a pump.


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## DerekFF (May 24, 2011)

Ati hydro sponge filters are superior Imo. Wonderful weighted bottoms and last a long time.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## ACrowe25 (Oct 17, 2011)

So I am thinking about going with 2 of these. In my tank (somewhere between 10-20 gallons). This should be good, no?
http://www.kensfish.com/product3002.html
But my question now is how high of a pump for 2x filters running off it? Just double the output? As these are for 20, so get something for atleast 40? Or should I way overshoot.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

I would go with 2 of them made for 20 gallons each, that way you can clean one one week, and the other the next week. So you don't annihilate all the BB at once. And then get a dual outlet air pump for a 40gallon tank or so and you're set. I like the tetra whispers as they're quiet, but can be expensive depending on where you get them.. The topfin air pumps are loud and vibrate quite a lot and will have to be out on a soft pad or something to keep the noise down.


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## ACrowe25 (Oct 17, 2011)

HolyAngel said:


> I would go with 2 of them made for 20 gallons each, that way you can clean one one week, and the other the next week. So you don't annihilate all the BB at once. And then get a dual outlet air pump for a 40gallon tank or so and you're set. I like the tetra whispers as they're quiet, but can be expensive depending on where you get them.. The topfin air pumps are loud and vibrate quite a lot and will have to be out on a soft pad or something to keep the noise down.


Thanks holy!

So the dual sponges are the way to go? HOB are out of the question?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

You can/also run an hob and/or canister filter, just need to put a sponge over the intake(fluval prefilter sponge works great here) or pantyhose over the intake also works well ^^


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## Lesley (Mar 18, 2011)

Try Linens & Things for some inexpensive aquarium products. You'll be surprised at what they carry. Website is LNT.com Check it out.


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

It is up to you what you get. With what you listed I recommend eco complete if you want to do plants. There is no reason you cant do plants. Stick with easy ones like java fern and various mosses. If you are doing shrimp only sponge filters are fine but this will require you to do more frequent water changes. On my 20 gallon tall with CRS I have an eheim 2215 for filtration and then two sponge filters to add a little extra and for more oxygenation.

Keeping the tank oxygenated is a big deal when it comes to shrimp. This is why I say stick with easy plants that will still grow well if you are rarely dosing nutrients and constantly oxygenating. 

It also depends on what shrimp you want to do. If you do more sensitive shrimp like bee shrimp I would recommend fluval stratum or aquasoil as substrate and to not use a heater and to go over on filtration. If you do shrimp like cherries I would keep the temp in the mid 70's, use ecocomplete, and whatever filtration you want. 

Make sure your filter intakes are covered with something like a sponge to protect shrimplets!

For food you can just feed algae wafers. Food is not a big deal when it comes to these guys IMO. If you want to get fancier you can feed hikaris crab cuisine or shrimp cuisine, blood worms, fruits/veggies... etc. They will act the same either way.

On the lighting... the more light you have the more biofilm will form giving the shrimp more to feast on. The less light you have the more the shrimp will be out roaming and not hiding. I usually do just enough light to grow easy plants.


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## ACrowe25 (Oct 17, 2011)

sampster5000 said:


> It is up to you what you get. With what you listed I recommend eco complete if you want to do plants. There is no reason you cant do plants. Stick with easy ones like java fern and various mosses. If you are doing shrimp only sponge filters are fine but this will require you to do more frequent water changes. On my 20 gallon tall with CRS I have an eheim 2215 for filtration and then two sponge filters to add a little extra and for more oxygenation.
> 
> Keeping the tank oxygenated is a big deal when it comes to shrimp. This is why I say stick with easy plants that will still grow well if you are rarely dosing nutrients and constantly oxygenating.
> 
> ...


Thanks, very helpful!

How readily do they breed? If I start with 10? weekly wcs, if that helps here... How often do they bread? year round?


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

At most a single female will put out 20-30 babies every few weeks. As your numbers increase the faster they will rise as they interbreed. If you start with 10, lets say 5 males 5 females, you will have babies in at least 2-3 months. Have to give them time to settle in.


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## ACrowe25 (Oct 17, 2011)

sampster5000 said:


> At most a single female will put out 20-30 babies every few weeks. As your numbers increase the faster they will rise as they interbreed. If you start with 10, lets say 5 males 5 females, you will have babies in at least 2-3 months. Have to give them time to settle in.


Oh cool, is the interbreeding bad like it is in humans?


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## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

ACrowe25 said:


> Oh cool, is the interbreeding bad like it is in humans?


Interbreeding is 2 different types of shrimps mating to create hybrids or something.

Inbreeding is the parents mating with their offsprings or close generation, usually next gen. You'd want to seperate the parents and offspring to prevent it. Some will inbreed to keep strains though this can cause the future offspring to have defects or weak against diseases.

If you'd want to prevent inbreeding seperate the parents and offsprings. If they mix then introduce new shrimps from different source.


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## ACrowe25 (Oct 17, 2011)

mach_six said:


> Interbreeding is 2 different types of shrimps mating to create hybrids or something.
> 
> Inbreeding is the parents mating with their offsprings or close generation, usually next gen. You'd want to seperate the parents and offspring to prevent it.  Some will inbreed to keep strains though this can cause the future offspring to have defects or weak against diseases.
> 
> If you'd want to prevent inbreeding seperate the parents and offsprings. If they mix then introduce new shrimps from different source.


Okay. Well I only want 1 breeding shrimp tank, and not have to seperate. Do lets say I buy 12 to start. They will breed within a few months or so. How long until offspring can breed totally? 6 months? So there is a chance of inbreeding every 6 months. So if I add a new 12 or so a year, I should be fine?


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

You do not need to separate the parents. They will not look ugly. If you breed cherry shrimp with yellow shrimp you will get ugly babies. You've got nothing to worry about by sticking with one species.


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## Scars (Dec 12, 2011)

Whats up acrowe, funny running into you here 

This sounds kinda like what I got going on. I have my 29 gallon with an ac50 hob, a dual t5, 5 neon tetras and three amanos for right now. I plan on getting more tetra and some cherry shrimp soon.

As far as the whole inbreeding thing goes, its kinda hard to separate all the shrimp related to each other. Even the shrimp you buy from an lfs or other members are probly from the same batch, or same tank. The only way to know you have brand new genetics is to go out and pull the shrimp out of the rivers yourself.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

In the tank journal section you will see a thread Akadama take a look at Speedie's tank and follow it to see the shrimp tank, i've been wanting this as a shrimp tank for a while. I would say use plants if you like but just don't dose with ferts, shrimp love to clean the plants.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

HolyAngel said:


> Only rimless I know of around that size is a 60P, 17gallons.


Mr Aqua has decent rimless tanks. Model MA-720 is also about 17G.


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## DesmondTheMoonBear (Dec 19, 2011)

As far as I know inbreeding in invertebrates is perfectly fine to a point. It wouldn't hurt to add some new blood once a year in the form of a dozen RCS from another supplier. I do that with my roach colonies.


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