Shrimp Tank

[Seal36]

I have a old 40 litre tank that I'm not using anymore and I was wondering if this would be an ok size as a shrimp tank. I would also like to know do shrimps need a heater. also what would they need in the tank and do the prefer sand or gravel. I was thinking if having cherry shrimp maybe some blue and other colour ones too from Tom

 

[Lillefishy]

Shrimp are very sensitive to water quality, they need a cycled filter & heated tank.
Sand substrate is best as they like to sift through it, also some moss & wood.
For info on what shrimp you can have together without interbreeding see here
http/www.planetinverts.com/Will%20These%20Shrimp%20Interbreed.html

 

[Ch4rlie]

40 litre tank is a good sized tank for shrimps, you'll get loads in that tank size 

 
There are a whole host of different species of shrimps to choose from, here is some info for some species of shrimps to start your research on. This is on Red Cherry Shrimps, as these tend to be regarded as the cheapest and hardiest shrimps for beginners as they are a bit more forgiving in water parameters.
 
 http/www.planetinverts.com/Red%20Cherry%20Shrimp.html
 
By the way, i would not really mix different colour variants of RCS as offsprings tend to be dull coloured.
 
Yes, you will need a heater, shrimps tend to favour lower temps, around 22 to 26C / 72 to 78F  IMHO they CAN tolerate higher temps but will shorten their lives really. And a simple filter will be fine if just shrimps in that tank as they do not have large bio loads anyway.
 
They will feed on a variety of things, algae wafers is popular with my RCS but this is fed as a treat very sparingly, shrimps will easily dine on normal fish foods, live or frozen foods such as bloodworms is not really recommended. But they will eat algae and micro food off plants, substrates and decor etc.
 
Plants like java ferns and moss balls are good for shrimps too.

 

[Seal36]

I have been looking at the aquael 30 shrimp tank. Does anyone have any experience with that. I am very good with keeping water clean as I clean my tanks twice a week. Also I have some questions

1. How many shrimp could I fit in the aquael 30 which is 30 litres.
2. Can shrimp climb out of tanks
3. Does it matter about water hardness and ph
4. This seems silly but shrimp can't hurt you can they

Thanks from Tom

 

[Lillefishy]

1 . 15/20 cherrys breed like rabbits so don't start with too many
2. Yes they can & will if the water quality isn't good
3. 6.5 - 7.5 roughly
4. No they can't

 

[Seal36]

Ok thanks I'm really against anything that can climb out of the tank so what fish could I fit in my old 40 litre tank and roughly how many could I fit in. Also a 50 watt heater is fine for a 40 litre tank isn't it thanks from Tom

 

[Lillefishy]

50 watt would be ok, as for stocking it'd make a nice Betta tank or you could have some micro rasboras or some celestial pearl danios

 

[Seal36]

I don't like bettas after a infected one wipped out one of my tanks. Also had celestrial pearl danios before and they are nice to look at but I'm wondering if there are any other smaller fish I can have instead from Tom

 

[Lillefishy]

Chilli rasboras are nice & colourful

 

[Seal36]

They are really nice and colourful and are there any other small colourful fish like that I could have in the tank. Also how many could you have in a 40 litre. Also I have a hydro pico filter (image attached) could I cut a little bit of filter padding off of my filter in my 110 litre tank and put it in the filter add sand and water and then the tank be cycled From Tom

 

[Lillefishy]

Yes you can take a small piece of media from your bigger tank to seed the filter.
You could have 6/8 chilli rasboras
Danio erythromicrons ( emerald dwarf danio) are pretty, they're a relative of the celestial pearl

 

[Essjay]

I have Microdevario kubotai, they would fit in 40 litres. Also known as Microrasbora kubotai, green neon rasboras, and in my nearest Maidenhead Aquatics as green tetras.

 

[ag-au]

Yeah moss is a shrimps best friend. If you have RCS in a tank they would appreciate it, but if you have them in a community; moss is good for fry to hide/eat in (If you can get them to breed in a community setting.) And they like the cooler water temps as water cycles oxygen better in lower temps. People say the darker the substrate the better their color shows. I have mine on white sand and they still look great.