# shrimp know hows



## ampdaman (Dec 27, 2006)

hello everyone. im thinking of setting up a 10 gallon shrimp tank that has a thick carpet plant and a few background plants. can someone tell me the basics of setting up a shrimp tank? and perhaps the supplies, or even better, mayby a post from the forums that is a step by step "how i set up my shrimp tank". thanks in advance.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

You can check out this Journal for any ideas, and also this thread for Crystal Red Shrimp Breeding suggestions.

But in general for a 10 gallon tank,

*1) Substrate:* Can be pretty much anything to bear bottom. I like Eco complete as the dark black substrate tends to highlight the red colors better.

*2) Lighting:* Also, can be anything and is dependent on plant selection.
*
3) Plants:* Mosses, or a foreground carpet plant of _Hemianthus callitrichoides _(HC) works well. Other plants include java ferns and anubias.

*4) Water Conditioner: *Seachem Prime

*5) Water Parameters: *For most shrimp include: Temp - 72-78, and pH 6.5-7.8

*6) Food:* Hikari Algae wafers

*7) Shrimp Safe Fish:* Otos, and cory cats are 100% shrimp safe. Other fish will predate on newborn shrimp if not enough plant cover is present.

Basically, setup a tank as you normally would for fish and plants. Make sure that the tank has been cycled (meaning readings of zero in ammonia, nitrites, and low nitrates). Once things are setup initially, the task remains to keep water parameters near constant i.e temperature, and keep the water quality up to standards. You can search the forums or visit petshrimp.com for more information on the different shrimp species. Cherry shrimp are great shrimp to begin with, and will breeding readily.

-John N.


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## ampdaman (Dec 27, 2006)

thank you very much for the reply. any suggestions on filtration and will co2 injection harm the shrimp?


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

CO2 injections shouldn't harm the shrimp. Just be sure it doesn't drop the pH too low (6.5 or so). I used CO2 injection with my shrimp without any problems.

As for filtration, a Hang on the Back (HOB) filter will work like the Aquaclear series,or a canister filter like an Eheim ecco series. With these options be sure to cover the intake if you don't want the shrimp to climb into your filter. I hated picking shrimp out of the filter. Also, for a sure bet of shrimp safe are sponge filters (see kensfish.com), which filter the water with an airpump and sponge.

-John N.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

If you don't use an air pump on your tank you can use this prefilter from Ken's fish on the intake. I use them on my Aquaclear Mini HOB filters on my shrimp tanks and they work well. They should also work on canister filters, like the Eheim Ecco series, that John mentioned. These may not work very well on higher flow filters. I have not tried them on my Magnum 350 and Fluval 3xx series canister filters so I can not say for sure how/if they will work.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

John basically nailed all the essential parts of shrimp keeping. I highly recommend a good amount of any kind of moss. My shrimps spend more time in/on the moss than they do any place else combined. 

I also recommend the AquaClear filter series. Quality and cheap all in one, nearly the perfect HOB. I just use one of the sponges that the filter uses as a prefilter. Just make a cut in it and slide the intake tube into the hole. Works well. It also gives the shrimp a place to hang out for some easy algae meals. Algae seems very attracted to it.


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## southernflounder (Nov 5, 2006)

John N. said:


> *7) Shrimp Safe Fish:* Otos, and cory cats are 100% shrimp safe.


Even for baby shrimps?


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## Shrimp&Snails (Mar 27, 2006)

Ottos and bn plecs are shrimplet safe.

CRS prefer lower PH's, I have had no luck keeping them in a PH of 7.2.


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## ampdaman (Dec 27, 2006)

thanks everyone. so mayby some pygmy cories would be good? (where could i get pygmys by the way?)


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## GlitcH (Aug 21, 2006)

Pygmy cories are a great tankmate.
I got mine on aquabid.com.


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## ampdaman (Dec 27, 2006)

thanks everyone for your help. think im ready to set up a shrimp tank. gonna be a low tech tank mostly anumbias and mosses. hopefully this will go well


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