Finally started up a shrimp farm

[Malefic23]

I've been wanting to turn and old 10 gal into a shrimp farm for months now. Finally got around to it at last....

Used potting soil for a substrate, threw in a chunk of driftwood, planted some amazon microsword, java fern, and java lace. Used a bubbler in a DIY stone filter jar. So far looks good. Had a clay ball burst from the potting soil, so my water's murky, but I'll clear that up shortly.

To see if it's on the shrimp friendly side, I tossed in a buck worth's of ghost shrimp. So far, the little buggers are swimming, exploring, and eating fine.

I'm using natural window light, and room temp for heat. I know the temp is going to swing at sunrise and sunset. Any problems for shrimp you think?

I'd like to get some Dark Green Shrimp to breed in there. Considering I've never seen them for sale, online or off, I'm most likely going to wind up snagging some Crystal shrimp instead. Should I add heat and light for breeding these little guys? The ultimate goal is to farm enough shrimp to give my other six fish tanks the occasional shrimp treat.

I'll post pics when I get the murk cleared up. It's not a pretty tank yet, and keep in mind, this is an old 10 gal Wataugachicken's been dragging around since her colledge days.

[Yadokari]

I believe crystal shrimp need a tad bit cooler temp than most other dwarf shrimp in order to have a good breeding tank. Around the 72 range. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

But you want to breed enough that you can feed them to your fish? :O Crystals are worth too much to be fish food!!!

[Fishy_Fun]

i would not feed your crystals to fish!!thats like flushing water down the drain

[msjinkzd]

I have dark green shrimp, they are very vey very slow growers. I also have crystals. I don't think a temp swing will affect them that detrimentally. Any idea what the temp range will be? Also crystals do best (breed best) with ph around 6.4-6.8 from what I have discovered. You can get the dark green shrimp from Ryan at www.planetinverts.com (http://www.planetinverts.com). I have 10, and although they molt frequently, they are slowly growing and more shy than some of the other shrimp species I have. You may consider yellow neocaridina, as they are a very easy keeper and breed readily.

[pixl8r]

Malefic23,
What made you decide to use potting soil for your tank? Make sure that there are no fertilizers or additives in it before you add any shrimp. If there are such additives in your tank, I would recommend that you take down the tank, remove everything, and use a different type of substrate. Fertilizers and most aquatic medications/pesticides are extremely lethal to invertebrates, such as shrimp.

[Malefic23]

Temp range will be air conditioned, but with some direct sun in the mornings. Call it 72 to 76 overall. I'm a creature of comfort, so I'm not going to the let the apt get hot if I can avoid it. Did'nt know that dark green shrimp were such slow growers, that's a shame... I guess I'll go with Crystal then. Should'nt be a problem keeping the acidity where they like it. I'm quite willing to keep shrimp in the parameters they like best.

I've always wanted to try a soil substrate with a planted tank. I figured a ten gallon experimental was about the right size. If it does'nt work out, I can dump it easily enough and try something else. I did select a pure soil potting brand, with no additives, pesticides, or fertilizers. Also, no vermiculite.

The ghost shrimp still seem pretty happy in there, so far so good. As for "wasting" crystal shrimp... I'm not buying high grade for fish food. I'm just wanting to run an invert tank because I enjoy keeping shrimp, I enjoy breeding fish, so most likely I'll enjoy breeding shrimp, and I can keep the colony numbers under control by treating my oscar, severums, angels, bichirs, and black ghost knife. The dark green struck me as really pretty, but I'm sure hard to spot amid a planted tank. Crystals are nice and showy, seem easy to spot, and I'm sure taste just as good as any feeder shrimp.

[msjinkzd]

That is another point with the dark greens, i really do have to search to see them. Crystals are lovely and a wonderful choice. The temp range of your tank will be perfect, I keep my invert tanks at 74 and everyone is thriving. If you end up changing the substrate later, ada aquasoil will hold the ph in the correct range for the crystals and is supposed to be great to work with (I haven't coughed up the cash for it yet but plan to in the future for another shrimp tank).

[Mgamer20o0]

good luck

[Malefic23]

Update.... My little dirt and plants shrimp tank seems to have stabilized. The water is clearing, the plants are looking good, all the shrimp are still swimming around doing shrimpy things. I'm going to try cleaning it up a bit without upsetting the dirt and get some pictures tomorrow. I need to upgrade my lighting a little bit for the plants, but I'm calling this a tentative working shrimp tank. Might be time to go hunting something a little more showy and easier to breed than ghost shrimp...

[Fishy_Fun]

can't wait for some pics

[msjinkzd]

neocaridina are definately the easiest. I really like the yellow shrimp alot. You had originally mentioned wanted the dark green, I FINALLY have my first one berried. They are really really lovely when sexually mature. The crystals seem much quicker than the greens, although more particular about hardness for reproduction.