Upgrading My Shrimp Tank

[fm1978]

Ooo, that's a tough 1, but you're right, he does need a name deserving of the superhero that he is...

I think I need time to think about that!

I ordered 6 Fantasy Blues from AJ today with my 15% discount so that should be cool! I'm gonna get them a whole new tank for themselves, too!

 

[Mamashack]

Oh now I am jealous, fm!! Maybe one day down the line..................
Are they a special order? I don't recall seeing them listed!

 

[fm1978]

Yeah,I just happened to ask him about the dark blue ones and it turned out he is breeding them himself. He hasn't listed them yet as he wanted to increase his stock 1st. I know it's strange but I'm quite excited!

 

[Mamashack]

Oh wow! That's great news - you'll have to give us your honest opinion. I know daize and Zikofski will probably be interested too!
I've decided to call him/her Marvel after the superhero Blue Marvel!! lol

 

[fm1978]

An extremely fitting name indeed! Well played! Let's hope his strength and stamina continue for as long as possible

 

[Mamashack]

Thanks - s/he's certainly a survivor! The website states that they can live in a TDS 100-500. I suppose 250 is in the middle of those extremes so I'll try it and see how it goes. Not sure whether to do it gradually or all at once. How did you do it, fm? Don't want to lose this one if I can help it!

 

[Mamashack]

If anyone is interested the cost of setting up this tank was
PAH 19L starter tank : £22
PAH fine black gravel : £4.50
Glass thermometer as back-up : £2.49
Total to date : £28.99
Anticipated costs:
Shrimp salts £16.50 (Salty Shrimp GH+) Should last ages!
LIvestock :£19.99
 
Well Marvel moulted overnight tho I can't tell if it was difficult to achieve.
Has anyone any idea how I should increase the TDS once the Salty Shrimp (SS) arrives? Gradually or all in one go? The new shrimp will be arriving on Thursday and hopefully the SS will arrive either today or tomorrow.

 

[Zikofski]

i was always told shrimp need a well mature clean tank, this goes for crystals so i wonder if its the same for these, havw you found away to test TDS, and you 100% sure u need to increase your tds not reduce it? and if u do need to increase it then fertilisers, would that work? EI method comes to mind dry dosing adding salts to the tank

 

[Mamashack]

Sorry, Zik was in the middle of editing when you posted
I've got a TDS & temp meter.
I've only got minimal planting in there - a single vallisneria tortifolia that sent off a shoot whilst in the 12L tank and a couple of marimo moss balls. They seem to be thriving in there without fertilisers and I'm wary of adding anything that doesn't really need to be there since shrimp are quite sensitive to water quality. 
Different websites say different things about the TDS for shrimp - 100-200 being the one I was going with originally. The Easishrimp blurb on the white pearls said 100-500. It was AJ at Easishrimp who recommended 250 ppm and I'm guessing that's what his shrimp are raised in so I ought to stick with that I guess. I don't want to shock Marvel tho by changing it too quickly, but am not sure if that would be the case. 
Might get in touch with him again and ask his advice.

 

[Mamashack]

The Frogbit arrived this morning
A couple of pics :
From the top with the lid off just for the photo:

 
 
This one from the side shows the roots which I read shrimp like to dangle from. Do they seem a bit long?

 

[fm1978]

Thanks - s/he's certainly a survivor! The website states that they can live in a TDS 100-500. I suppose 250 is in the middle of those extremes so I'll try it and see how it goes. Not sure whether to do it gradually or all at once. How did you do it, fm? Don't want to lose this one if I can help it!

 
Gradually is always best. Maybe over an hour or 2 but really it'll be OK if it's a bit quicker. If you're at 125 now, for example, do increments of about 50 every 30-45mins until you get to about 250. Try to make a fairly concentrated (TDS about 500) bucket of change water leaving your tank half full. Then gradually add the other half tank worth of 300 over the next while. If it gets too high too quick, just slow it down or add more fresh water.
Don't seem too long at all. They do like to grab onto things - makes them feel safer. 
 
I tend to find that those little filters (the non-HOB one) are quite powerful. Do you have anything covering the intake? Even the HOB intake may need to be covered with something should your little pearls and Blue Marvel start to have baby Blue Marvels - they're VERY small when they're shrimplets!
 
Does s/he seem more at ease in his/her larger accommodation?

 

[Mamashack]

I've ordered some prefilter sponges for the HOB. Should get them Thursday or Friday this week. Will see if I can get some thin sheet foam for the other filter - it is quite powerful as you say at 300L/hr. It's on the lowest setting at the moment, but not sure what rate that is.
Marvel seems more relaxed with this transfer than with the previous one. Poor thing has had a bit of a testing time since getting here.
Hopefully s/he will be ok with the new arrivals on Thursday.
Fingers crossed!

 

[Mamashack]

i was always told shrimp need a well mature clean tank, this goes for crystals so i wonder if its the same for these, havw you found away to test TDS, and you 100% sure u need to increase your tds not reduce it? and if u do need to increase it then fertilisers, would that work? EI method comes to mind dry dosing adding salts to the tank

Zik, I've emailed Easishrimp again and he still highly recommends 250 ppm stating that the 100-500 range on his website is worst to best case so he's suggesting something in the middle which he feels is the ideal level.

 

[fm1978]

 

i was always told shrimp need a well mature clean tank, this goes for crystals so i wonder if its the same for these, havw you found away to test TDS, and you 100% sure u need to increase your tds not reduce it? and if u do need to increase it then fertilisers, would that work? EI method comes to mind dry dosing adding salts to the tank

Zik, I've emailed Easishrimp again and he still highly recommends 250 ppm stating that the 100-500 range on his website is worst to best case so he's suggesting something in the middle which he feels is the ideal level.
 

Yeah, it's most certainly right that the TDS must be raised to the appropriate level for some shrimp. It will depend on the species what the range is and in fact cherries should be much more amenable to a large range as opposed to some Crystal types where their ranges are far more narrow.
 
One might add GH+ to safely increase TDS and this in turn helps with much healthier moults. 

 

[Zikofski]

okay cool what is this TDS monitor you for are they expensive? wonder if its worth me getting one was going to think about getting some shrimp today but i did a quick ammonia check on tank and i have over 5ppm >_< lol think a few of the plants have melted and died