Curiosity's Cherry Shrimp Diary (Changed From Triops)

[Curiosity101]

Well I figured it was a bit early to be starting a diary as I don't have any triops or anything yet. But I'm excited, so here goes.

The tank - 13l 'My first tank' from petsathome for £14.99
As it came...

Note the rather fetching stickers and plastic background...is it bad I was tempted to keep the stickers so I could name my triop? lol.

Here's a picture from the box

And just incase you weren't sure...cause obviously you don't want to overstock...

Anyhoo, digs aside, here it is ready to be filled with eggs and water...shame I'm probably not starting until I go back to Uni. Oh and the ruler is there for scale. It's roughly 30cm long.

All in all I think it's a good buy for £14.99, now all I need to source is a tiny heater.

 

[razer121]

wahey! i will be watching for sure where are you getting your triops eggs from?? and are you putting them into a hatching tank inside of your larger tank??

 

[Curiosity101]

I was thinking ebay for the eggs. There are loads of different species though... I think I'll just get the cheapest one that also comes with food.

And yes, I'll fashion some sort of hatching tank out of a plastic carton or similar.

Think they'll be ok without a heater? I'm tempted to not get one... It's only another £6 but then it means I definitely have to wait till I go back to uni with delivery n such.

 

[razer121]

well if you can keep the temp about 26 degrees then yes otherwise....well you will probs fail unfortunatly triops ive noticed dont hatch unless its around 26 (which ive found to be perfect for hatching) ebay has alot of different eggs! im deffinatly getting some of there, if you ever need any food i have loads! you pay the postage and you can have them for nothing, honestly ive got about 8 packs dotted abotu my fish tanks lol

 

[Curiosity101]

Well there's no way I can keep it at 26C without a heater. Hmm....I'll measure up the one I have for my aqua 40 and see how big it is.
If not there are those really good NeWattino Heaters I saw which are teeny. I really don't want to pay any more than is neccesary for what is basically a bordom breaker.

And thanks for that. I'll see what ebay lots there are, n if they come with food then I should be fine. But if not I'll PM you.

 

[Curiosity101]

Well...I bought 4 cherry shrimp from the shop a week and a half ago. And in the bag was a stow away...A 5th absolutely tiny presumably cherry shrimp. I couldn't just drop him in the main tank knowing he'd get munched. So instead he's coming to Uni with me to live in the triops tank whilst he grows.

He was about 2mm when I first got him and here is the first ever picture...

And here he is today, with a much higher quality camera. He is now around 5mm long and the picture was taken whilst he was in the corner of a salifert testing kit plastic thingy. Looks like a urine sample pot but smaller.

Sorry razer. But isn't he just the sweetest little thing. His name is Wally (as in Where's Wally) because he's practically impossible to spot normally.

 

[AdAndrews]

I am very pleased with my cherrys after i put 2 random ones into a cycling tank, they have now become at least 6! In a few weeks they will be gone most probably though, inside my pufferfish

 

[Truck]

Ohh, this is so inspiring! Did that tank come from pets at home?

I think I vaguely remember seeing it last time I visited.

I'd love to do something like this myself. That shrimplet is so cute

If you're keeping just shrimp that are available in the shops then you won't need a heater providing your house is above 10oC ambient temperature.

I'm going to keep an eye on this, it looks really promising.

 

[Curiosity101]

Yes it is pets at home. All the info is in the first post about the tank.
And yes currently he is being kept in a clear 4l tub on top of the main tank with about 1l of water. The tub is staying at around 18-20C which I'm perfectly happy with obviously.
Plus once we're at Uni they're paying the heating bills not me. So it's certainly not a problem keeping what will then be a 'tank' that warm. I don't think I'm going to put a filter in though. Hopefully if I set it up right with a bit of java moss and plenty of little water changes...seeing as he's so small I'm sure ammonia wont be a problem.

The only thing I worried about was feeding him. I stuck some java moss in on a stick and for the first 7 days didn't feed him at all...didn't know whether this would be ok but he was so small I couldn't even attempt to feed him.
Now I'm going to crush up a few pellets and feed him a tiny bit of one (around 0.5mm) every couple of days. And will remove what's left at the end of the day.
Any ideas on feeding? He seems to be doing a pretty good job so far on his own

 

[Curiosity101]

So guess what...I'm meant to be revising right now. So have decided to change wallys filter into what it basicaly a powerhead.
I was going to wrap it in some tights a few time to hopefully make it shrimp friendly.

2 Questions...
I think the material of the tights will provide enough biomedia for my growing shrimp. Do you agree?

Is this going to be safe for my little guy. I really don't want to come home to find him stuck to it and dead. (presumably as a result of getting stuck to it)

 

[Curiosity101]

It's been a week now since wally came to uni with me. I'd guesstimate that he's just under a cm long now. He's starting to go a bit pink and is being kept at a nice toasty 24C (I like my room warm )

This is where he is living. He's in about 6 litres of water, filter isn't cycled but he has plants and I'm doing 30% changes every 2-3 days. And bearing in mind his size, and the fact I haven't fed him all week I think he's ok in there.
Oh and I DIY'd the filter so it's now half the size. I basically took the motor unit off and wrapped it in tights. Seems to be working well.

He's slowly becoming the hall mascot.
Oh and the tank is lit by a desk lamp, so I'm very impressed with the growth I'm seeing on the Java Moss.

Pictures are courtesy of my new HTC hero. I'm extremely impressed with them.

 

[AdamM]

#40## im not allowed pets in my halls....

 

[~T~]

Looking good. He needs friends and more water

I almost chucked out about a dozen cherrys at his size the other day. they were hiding in a bucket of filter gunk, lucky I spotted one zipping about just as I was about to pour them down the sink.

 

[razer121]

pretty sweet! 2mm when you first got him and now (even though he is still tiny) look at him! good care go's a long way eh? shame there not triops in there i was looking forward to it but this is just as good

 

[OneOnion]

Any updates?