would a 1 galon tank be ok for a shrimp?

[snailaquarium]

As above, thanks.

 

[Naughts]

No. Above all else shrimp need stable water Conditions. This would be impossible in such a small tank.

 

[snailaquarium]

Well someone else on here said they did huge water changes? Presumably that's a huge upset for stability of water conditions?

 

[Colin_T]

As long as the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine and has a similar chemistry (pH and GH) and temperature to the main tank, you can do big water changes on aquariums containing fish or shrimp.

 

[snailaquarium]

Hi,

Can I get some clarification here then, it is not the size you have an issue with in terms of the volume of water for the shrimp to move in, indeed it looks like it's enough, it's just quality control of the environment?

 

[Colin_T]

The smaller the volume of water, the harder it is to keep clean and the more likely the shrimp will die from poor water quality.

In my opinion, any tank or bowl that holds less than 20 litres of water is a waste of time and money and will make it much more difficult to keep the organisms alive.

A 40 litre (10 gallon) aquarium is the minimum size I would recommend for any fish or shrimp.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I keep my shrimp in a 20G long Shrimp only tank.

 

[snailaquarium]

OK, I'm looking for a more refined answer, So if someone posted that they had set up a 1g tank for one shrimp would this be criticised as a poor environment for the shrimp even if it had 2 large water changes a week? Why are there so many desk tanks if 1g too small? Given the size of the tanks in pet shops are only a few g yet are packed with life I'd have thought 1g for 1 shrimp not too shabby??

Thanks in advance,

 

[Colin_T]

Yes I would criticise anyone who sells a 1 gallon tank to somebody and tells them they can keep fish or shrimp in it. Please note, I would not criticise the person who bought it unless they had asked me and I had told them it was too small.

Shops sell little tanks and bowls because they think they look nice and because people buy them. When I was working in a pet shop I got the boss to drop all the small tanks and bowls and we only sold bowls that held a minimum of 10 litres and the smallest tanks we sold were 30 litres. If customers were interested in the 10 litre bowl, I usually encouraged them to buy bigger and we had the prices set to help that. There was only a couple of dollars difference between the smallest and largest fish bowls even though the big bowls held 2-3 times the water volume of the small ones.

The smallest tank/ container for a couple of small freshwater shrimp, is a 20 litre tank. And it should have a filter on it. Whether that is an air operated sponge filter or a small power filter, it doesn't matter. But shrimp and fish should have a filter on their tank.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Keep in mind too that one shrimp isn’t very interesting. If you get 2 or more then you will likely have dozens before long. Cute little bowls are fine for a plant.

 

[Lilyann]

Shrimp can safely and responsibly be kept in a 1 gallon container despite all the finger wagging given here to the OP.
However, this is not where a beginner to shrimp-keeping should start. Like it has been stated, the smaller the container the harder it is to maintain water conditions-- especially for those who are new to keeping shrimp ( I repeat). But, to say that it cant be done and shouldn't be done in any case is pure opinion.

Experienced shrimp-keepers are very precise when it comes to the stability of the water they keep their shrimp in. Many use pure R/O water and remineralize to precise measurements-- testing and retesting KH and GH to make sure their parameters stay consistent through water changes.

So, yes, if you are experienced enough to be precise with water parameters and willing to put the effort in that a smaller container demands- it is entirely possible to keep shrimp in a 1 gallon vase. For more informed help regarding shrimp I would refer to the shrimp experts @ The Planted Tank.

 

[snailaquarium]

Shrimp can safely and responsibly be kept in a 1 gallon container despite all the finger wagging given here to the OP.
However, this is not where a beginner to shrimp-keeping should start. Like it has been stated, the smaller the container the harder it is to maintain water conditions-- especially for those who are new to keeping shrimp ( I repeat). But, to say that it cant be done and shouldn't be done in any case is pure opinion.

Experienced shrimp-keepers are very precise when it comes to the stability of the water they keep their shrimp in. Many use pure R/O water and remineralize to precise measurements-- testing and retesting KH and GH to make sure their parameters stay consistent through water changes.

So, yes, if you are experienced enough to be precise with water parameters and willing to put the effort in that a smaller container demands- it is entirely possible to keep shrimp in a 1 gallon vase. For more informed help regarding shrimp I would refer to the shrimp experts @ The Planted Tank.

Thanks lilyann for this useful post!