Shrimpy Sanctuary

[hanny93]

so, fry has disappeared..


anyway.

Have got a new heater thats incredibly effective, took about an hour for it to get tank up to 22C from about 18.

Also got a new '600lph' waterfall filter. I put it in quotes because theres no way that filter is 600lph.

Quite nice though to finally have decent water movement.


Took a while to get it set up and running though!

Would put pics up but have been having problems with the algae fairy. Seems she hates me big time. Might have to empty the tank on monday, spray paint three sides black to stop light getting in, maybe get a glass cover and paint that aswell, but then ill have major lighting issues so would have to combat that.


Need peoples advise now. I have a few ideas, please vote because i dont know what to do!
1) Have a huge colony of just cherry shrimp and let them breed, sell of in batches and buy new stock continually to avoid inbreeding. Get lots of wood and rocks and slate and things, cover everything in moss and riccia and other green floaty things and never ever see a shrimp again!

2) Have multiple colonies of cherry, amano, and other types all in together with same type of setup as in 1.

3) Divide tank up and have a colony in each of different types, same setup as 1.

4) Have any of three but just have rocks/wood/slate etc, just hardscape, no plants. this ones dubious as i know shrimp needs foliage, maybe if i just had floating plants, or 'hidden' plants (i.e. have loads of moss on the backside of stones etc so you cant see it from the front?)

 

[Caprichoso]

#2

 

[hanny93]

so they wont interbreed? thats what im scared of!

and ive thought of a soluition (ish) to the background.

MDF painted black and waterproofed on all three sides and on the top?

 

[Caprichoso]

so they wont interbreed? thats what im scared of!

and ive thought of a soluition (ish) to the background.

MDF painted black and waterproofed on all three sides and on the top?

You can keep these types together: Amano, Ghost, Cherry, Crystal Red or Bee(but not both), Pearl, Red Rhino, Bamboo, Vampire. All are easy to care for except the Crystal Red's. They require cool temperatures and soft water, low pH.

 

[hanny93]

oh i see. yay

ive been reading up on certain types, tbh i dont like CRS/bee shrimp, probably because theyre so expensive! haha

 

[tanksalot]

I was looking into breeding shrimp a while back and found this shrimp interbreeding. Seemed a pretty useful guide.

Look forward to seeing what you do...might inspire me to get going on it, finally

 

[hanny93]

ooooh i like that!

very helpful! haha

thankyou hope you get yours set up

major disaster today.
smashed the thermometer. the bottom came out and all the beads too, is the tnk ok to use? none of the mercury came out?

hd to move the tank today because im getting a new window put in tomorrow, might keep it off the windowsill tbh and build a makeshift LED unit.

 

[hanny93]

SO update.

Babies growing well, even though i think i killed a few in the tank move..

I think im left with two males but im not ALTOGETHER sure haha, so im on the lookout for a large breeding group of cherries ATM and am thinking of buying lots of rock, maybe going for a setup with tons of rock but covering some rocks at the front with moss and riccia so it looks like grassy foothills leading up to a rocky mountain.

Currently thinking about buying another filter as me and cazzie have discussed the extremely unpleasant noise it makes. Its very very rattley and the flow output is, put bluntly, c***.
Anyone got any suggestions for a filter suitable for a shrimp tank that isnt a sponge filter (hate them), isnt a huge expensive external (dont have the money and is a massive waste of a filter) and wont kill my babies.

Pics as soon as i find the leads!


ALSO, how the heck do i tame this riccia so it doesnt just clog up my filter intake!

 

[coldcazzie]

I have to say, mine has quietened down. Also, a lot of the noise is the lid rattling, if I take the lid off it's much quieter, so we've decided to put a line of silicone on the edge of the lid, thus meaning it won't rattle directly against the case. The flow is not great... but then I never wanted much flow on my tank. Did you contact APS about the noise?

As for riccia, I've never had it, but I believe hairnets are the way to go? Hairnets and rocks/slate to attach them to. If it's not big enough to stay in a hairnet then you might have to let it grow a bit first... in which case get a clear plastic tub and see if you can cut the base out, then float the edgey bit on the surface of the water and put the riccia within that - that should keep it contained so it doesn't get everywhere...

 

[hanny93]

i took the lid off within ten minutes of setting it up, its the constant droning rattle of bits against each other that i cant stand!

no i forgot about it actually, have they replied to you?

and yeah think a hairnet or fishnet tights might be the way to go. its just so annoying!

 

[coldcazzie]

The first email I got was a standard response one saying "very sorry, have you set it up correctly, filled it, checked the impeller is intact, yada yada", to which I replied that I had indeed to all of the above, and what was the next step. They didn't reply, but then it was about 4.30 on Friday so I wasn't expecting them to. Am hoping for a reply this afternoon: their office is only manned between 1 and 5pm.

ps, I understand! I had to turn it off the first night! Last 2 nights it's been alright with the lid off though - seems to have bedded down. Still going to chase it with them though.

pps, Martin looked at it and basically said there's nothing he can do without contaminating the water. He could improve the noise by putting some grease on it so it wasn't so bangy, but that wouldn't exactly be good for the fish!

 

[hanny93]

jsut emailed them saying basically i really wasnt happy with the quality of the product nd that although i hadnt paid much for it, what i had paid for i expect to have some degree of quality. i also told them about the flow rate because i wanted a fairly decent amount of flow.

and yeah thats something i sked my grandad but he said without putting 'stuff' in that will affect the inhabitants theres nothing he can do.

really pee'd off, i better get a reply.

 

[coldcazzie]

I guess that's the problem with cheap #105###! generally, it's cheap, and #105###!

I'll let you know if they email me back

 

[hanny93]

hahha yeah i suppose.

just wish id have saved my money, might just buy a powerhead instead and just up w/c.

 

[hanny93]

theyre sending another one out which i didnt expect. maybe i shouldnt be so assuming that everyone is horrible!!