How should I set up my shrimp tank?

I bought Dennerle Nano Cube 30l
The dimensions are 30x30x35xm

I am planning to make it into a shrimp tank.
I have nothing ready for it I just have the tank and I'm looking for ideas for it.
I know it has to be cycled and stuff but that will come after everything is set up.
I have a heater and lamp and thats about it.

1. What would be the best filter?
2. What would be the best substrate?
3. What plants should I use ?
4. How many shrimp should I add?
5. What other decorations should I add?
6. How should I set it up?

Hi! I’ll answer your questions by number.
1. Your filter should have a low flow and small input grate. I just tie a piece of panty hose around mine. You just don’t want the shrimp sucked into the filter.
2. Shrimp like to scavenge so many people use sand. I prefer gravel simply because I have lost a couple of filters due to sand substrate. That is only me though.
3. Shrimp are good with most any plants. I have anubias and Amazon Sword. I also keep anacharis or water sprite floating at the top because they love to hang in it. Java moss tied to a piece of driftwood or rock is good for the babies to hang out in.
4. I started with 12 adults to be sure I had both male and females. I now have over 75 from all the babies.
5. Shrimp like rocks and small stones piled up to climb in. Breeding logs are good too.
6. Set up with lots of plants, a piece of driftwood, and rocks. Shrimp aren’t picky about how their tank is set up. Small caves out of rocks and plants give the shrimp a place to hide during molting process.
Shrimp are a blast to watch. Keep your temp around 72 or 74F. Keep nitrates low and the shrimp will do the rest. I recommend feeding Crab Cuisine, Ken’s Veggie Sticks, blanched veggies, and adding a little Beta-G occasionally to help with molting. Good luck and have fun!

A sponge filter powered by an air pump is ideal for shrimps. Since there is only sponge in the tank, there is nothing for baby shrimps to get sucked into. And the exposed sponge collects bits on the surface which shrimps will graze on.

When doing water changes, always check the old water for baby shrimps. They are tiny and very hard to see while hoovering the substrate. I always scoop water out of the bucket with a jug and closely inspect the bottom of the jug before throwing the water away. Yes, it does make water changes longer but with a 30 litre tank it won't be too much extra work. When I had my red cherry shrimps in a 54 litre tank, my record was 32 shrimps from babies through juveniles to adult in the old water bucket at one water change.

Deanasue said:

Hi! I’ll answer your questions by number.
... Good luck and have fun!

Click to expand...

I got seachem flourite black sand as a substrate - I got some soil before but it annoyed me so I just dumped it all out and might use it for some other tank it was just too messy and I feared that it will mess up the water with each clean.
I have the seachem flourite black gravel in my main tank so I decided to use the sand in the shrimp tank it is a bit more expensive but for me its worth it.

I have a sponge filter at the moment but I am considering buying Dennerle Nano Clean, Corner Filter for which I can get Babyprotect
( https://dennerle.com/en/products/nano-aquaristic/filtration/filters/nano-corner-filter )
( https://dennerle.com/en/products/nano-aquaristic/filtration/filter-accessories/nano-babyprotect )
Would this be worth it? They are designed with shrimp in mind so it should be fine right ??

I got some random plants, I never had them before so I'll see if they keep.
Also I got 2 pieces of driftwood and put some java moss on this.

I switched on the sponge filter but the water is still foggy so I will post a picture as soon as it will clear up.


Since I'm only starting I dont think I'll have baby shrimp any time soon but I will follow the advice with the cleaning.
I already have a 90L community tank with Betta, tetras and amano shrimp so by making this tank I knew that I will have to spend like a whole day cleaning both of them.


I did get a 10l shrimp tank at first and I have like 10 shrimp in it but I decided to get the 30l as the 10 is a pain to clean as before I clean out the gravel half the water is gone.

Wow, that filter looks pretty cool! It says safe for young shrimp but I wonder if that goes for babies too. If so, I may consider one. Thanks for sharing. I think you’re good to go! Please post pics.

Deanasue said:

Wow, that filter looks pretty cool! It says safe for young shrimp but I wonder if that goes for babies too. If so, I may consider one. Thanks for sharing. I think you’re good to go! Please post pics.

Click to expand...

I don't think the filter itself is super safe for baby shrimp but you can get the babyprotect attachment and it should be fine I guess

Like it looks like it just has a sponge inside so it could be working just like a sponge filter.

And I have noticed that this company has many shrimp products like foods and water supplements.

I ordered it and it should arrive next week so ill see how it works. The reviews are mixed as with probably every product some say that its good for shrimp and some had few accidents with it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001CTPESQ/?tag=

They have it on amazon uk for 17 pounds and the babyprotect for 6 so the full thing only costs 23 pounds. So even if it wont be working well I wont loose much money hopefully it wont cause too many deaths.

I had not seen that filter before. I see Pro Shrimp also sell it and they do comment that while it is safe for adult shrimps, it is not 100% safe for babies, so buy that extra guard.
It also has an adjustable water flow so this filter would be ideal for bettas as well as shrimps.

essjay said:

I had not seen that filter before. I see Pro Shrimp also sell it and they do comment that while it is safe for adult shrimps, it is not 100% safe for babies, so buy that extra guard.
It also has an adjustable water flow so this filter would be ideal for bettas as well as shrimps.

Click to expand...

I came across it when I was looking for a tank and I found the dennerle nano cube and they have starter kits for shrimp so you get a tank soil light some other products and also this filter.
I just got the tank on its own as I already had a light and few other things so getting the full kit would be a waste of money for me.

They also have an extension for the filter to put in bio media. And they also sell a larger version of the filter for larger tanks.

As soon as I will get it I will post some photos.

essjay said:

I had not seen that filter before.
It also has an adjustable water flow so this filter would be ideal for bettas as well as shrimps.

Click to expand...

So thats the tank set up but the sponge filters are removed.

The dennerle filter is super quiet you can't hear a thing at least for now.
On one of the photos you can see how many things it had caught in 4 days. They stay on the baby shrimp attachment so I guess baby shrimp should be fine?
The guard is just a piece of plastic with a dense sponge.
The flow is a bit adjustable but its kinda hard to adjust as the wheel you adjust it with just goes around instead of stopping at max and lowest flow setting.

The out flow bit is adjustable so I set it up so the flow will go from one corner of the tank to another instead of side to side.

The filter is small enough as you can see it beside a card for comparison.
Without the guard the filter has slits which baby shrimp can definitely go through.

There is also a hole along the back and you get 2 small sponges to put on the top and bottom so shrimp wont go in there and get stuck. I have used a different sponge instead and I actually stuck it to the filter cause just placing them there would be annoying as they would fall out and have to be readjusted everytime you clean the filter (be careful not to stick it on the joints used to take the filter appart)

So far I dont really have any complaints so thats good.