Shrimp Shrimp Shrimp... Help?

The February FOTM Contest Poll is open!
FishForums.net Fish of the Month
🏆 Click to vote! 🏆

WoodenChair

Fish Fanatic
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
121
Reaction score
0
Location
2nd floor first door on the left.
As it stands, the job is janitor.


Heres the spec's


P2020006.jpg

P2020008.jpg

P2020009.jpg


The reason i show all three angles is so that you can see their total environment. Its a refugium / sump.

In these pictures everything is fresh and new (well. the egg crate is new and the glass is clean). But now there is plenty of algae and an almost infinite supply of detritus in micro format on the stone and in the moss.

Looking to the left i show this because those egg crate gaps are large, and shrimp are not, and on the other side of that wall is a dense (very dense) stack of bioballs with air being pumped through them. Im not sure if the shrimp would feel daring enough to go in there. I don't want it to turn into a one way death gate.

Middle is where i want them to hang out and chow all day and night long.

EDIT: I didn't even mention that its about a "6 gallon" space.

Right shows the exit baffle to pump chamber. the way that egg crate sheet is in there it nothing short of fry is going to fit through that side so no worries.

Water / media is very mature (1yr+)
Temp 80.1 and this is not negotiable, i don't even have a heater in my tank or sump anymore. its 80.1F with the lights on. 79.8 with the lights off. ive checked the thermo a thousand times in a hundred different scenarios and liquids tried many spots. It is what it is and thats what it is appearently :)

So far everything has been saying "amano shrimp"

What do you guys think?
 
I'd go for cherry shrimp, but what exactly do you want them for?

Just to eat algae? What type of algae...and since it's a refugium, why?

Also, how come there moss in there rather than something like wisteria or hygrophila (fast growing). Hornwort would be ideal in fact.

Or is it just that you want to use this as a shrimp tank because you want shrimp?

Just wondering all this because if you put amano shrimp in there you would have to feed them extra anyway, so they would add to the bioload.

If you added a few cherry shrimp and let them breed they might do well, but in such a small space the population would get to the point where you would need to feed them. Also babies would go all over the sump.#

Looks like a cool setup btw, I love the idea of freshwater refugiums.
 
The moss is in there because im growing it for a friend at the moment but your right those other plants would be ideal for the refugium.

I dont mind them adding to the bioload because between that sump and the planted main tank and my almost complete lack of stocking currently (moved house) ive got the space.

I like shrimp, i used to have ghost shrimp... then i had to refuge some adult angels




Now i don't have ghost shrimp.
_________________________________





But in terms of getting a few (5) shrimp in there just to peck away at whatever detritus collects plus the now large array of bio in there now, i think they would enjoy it immensely. They also have a bubble filter in there, thats actually gutted and filled with nano bio balls instead! this keeps that chambers surface from getting stagnant as my diy refugium has some design flaws. Mistakes are how we learn though.

In the final segment im using a powerhead that spins up top there to do the same thing, sucks water from the buttom and runs it past the heater while breaking surface tension.

Here is a more up to date shot of the environment.

P2130001.jpg

P2130002.jpg

P2130003.jpg

P2130004.jpg

P2130005.jpg
 
How big are the holes in the egg crate? They look like they may be big enough for a cherry shrimp to slip through to me unfortunately.
 
Egg Crate is no longer a problem i used a second sheet offset by half of the other sheet so the holes are now too small for anything to get through.

Cherry shrimp or other dwarf shrimp should be fine then :good:

Its probably too warm for CRS but tigers, yellow, green or snowball shrimp would all do ok if you can find them.
 
Cherrys if you want them to multiply and amannos if not. A couple of nerite snails would help to for the stubborn spot algae that the shrimp wont eat.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top