# New to shrimp and a few questions



## wicca27 (Oct 13, 2008)

i will be moving soon and may start a journal on it but once i get setteled i want a shrimp tank. i will be useing a 10 gal and not sure about the light yet. will prob do a diy co2 and a friend is making me a good substrate that he uses for his shrimp. what i was wondering is what ferts and how much if any can be used with them i figure i will start with some easy shrimp like cherrys but hope to get harder types once i get it goin good. thanks for all the help


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## Axelrodi202 (Jun 7, 2009)

*Re: new to shrim and a few questions*

Since the metals in ferts are in a form not too harmful to shrimp, its perfectly fine to use ferts. However, overdosing can be dangerous for shrimp.


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## wicca27 (Oct 13, 2008)

*Re: new to shrim and a few questions*

thank you for the input. what would be a better choise dry ferts or something liquid? i have never used them befor so im just wanting to make sure i dont kill the little guys when i get them


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## Axelrodi202 (Jun 7, 2009)

*Re: new to shrim and a few questions*

I use liquid but I think dry ferts would be okay.


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

*Re: new to shrim and a few questions*

Dry or liquid is fine as long as your not overdosing. Dry ferts are cheaper but liquid are usually faster.


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## feiyang (Jan 27, 2007)

*Re: new to shrim and a few questions*

It is hard to give a precise answer as you haven't mentioned what plant you will keep. In short, giving less fert is much safer than overdosing.


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## icumailman (Sep 26, 2008)

*Re: new to shrim and a few questions*

You may want to start out your tank with lower light, less demanding plants to learn about how the shrimps and tank respond with plants and without the ferts. This will allow you time to build up your experience with your shrimp and plants and you could still use the DIY CO2 and add more plants as you go along. Having the aspiration for a beautiful lush tank with shrimp is different from actually having the tank right off the bat. I am not trying to dissuade you from anything here, I just think that learning about the relationships of water, light, shrimp, ferts and plants is very important and will allow you to have a sound knowledge base from which to make decisions about your tank, plants and ferts. There are many plants that will give you the look of that great planted shrimp tank but which are a bit easier to care for than some of the more touchy plants that are sought after. Anubis plants, najas, ferns and mosses are just some of the plants that spring to mind to start with and the shrimps really love the mosses. Shrimps are really fun to keep but there is a learning curve to them (I almost killed off my whole colony by overfeeding--they just look so cute eating!) so I would caution you to proceed slowly. Keeping a journal of your tank is an excellent way to learn about the shrimps, plants and ferts and to share your knowledge as you gain in your experiences!


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## t1824003 (Jul 30, 2009)

It is hard to give an answer as you haven't mentioned what plant you will keep. So just gave less fert, don't overdose it and you'll be find.


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

I use ADA green brighty step3 with all my shrimp tank but can not use ADA green brighty Light as they kill shrimps too easy. Tropica are okay too. Do less on everything that you use always safer cause they do kill shrimps and you never know what is too much for them.


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## tug (Jul 23, 2009)

There is a lot of fear mongering about caring for RCS, but I find them to be extremely hardy and prolific. I have had Copper levels as high as .15 ppm, Nitrates as high as 20 ppm and I dose Excel in my 10 gal. tank instead of DIY CO2. They refused to die. Keep your tanks O2 levels up with good water flow, use low light 1.8 wpg and plants like icumailman suggests. Give them some places to hide and Cherry shrimp are a great choice for beginners like us.


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