Bit of a newbie question...

[gatotsu77]

But how do most of you go about siphoning invert tanks? I'm debating setting up a 4g tank for cherry shrimp, would likely go with a very shallow (1/4-1/2") sand bottom, a small piece of driftwood, some moss, and maybe a couple other small plants. (something like an anubias, maybe a crypts) Still working out the details on the lighting and filtration, but I will worry about that more when I get serious about setting up the tank.

[msjinkzd]

I have a couple different strategies I use for tank maintenance depending on the level of stocking (how many baby shrimp). I use airline tubing as it has a low draw and siphons slowly. I will also sometimes put a net over the end of the siphon tube. Another option is to stick a sponge (like the ones designed for AquaClear filters) into the siphon tube, this allows the mulm to go through, but keeps the shrimp out. Hope this helps!

[FtwayneFish]

jinkz has got it down!

But I do as mentioned above as well.... but..... with just shirmp? and plants you really wont have to vac.

I have a heavily planted 5g with just shrimp. I rarely vac or if I do I just "scare" em away from the vac and I dont pull it up far from the rocks once Ive scared em from a patch. I then hover it over the rocks and make sure its really close to the gravel not to pick up new shrimp.

And with a sand bottom you'll have to run a sponge or pantyhose(cheap).
Or.. again with the planted-low bio load- no need to vac scenario. you can just get a few MTS(malaysian trumpet snails) snails to clean up the gravel.

Hopes this helps. GO INVERTS!

[msjinkzd]

I do vac my shrimp tanks as the food sits there for them to eat and its common to get pesties like planaria etc from this. I have noticed a large improvement with these critters since doing regular vacs not just wc's in my invert tanks.

[gatotsu77]

I could toss in a few MTS from the main tank, and I imagine they'd do just fine in the mini tank. Now, you invert junkies might not be TOO happy at part of my motivation for doing this, but hey, its part of life, eh? I have some cherry shrimp in a breeder net in my 55g tank atm, and one of the females is berried. I highly doubt the babies will stay in the net long enough to grow too large for the holes in the mesh. (its one of the fabric ones, not the plastic ones) I'd like to raise a small farm of them, both as an aesthetically pleasing tank, and as a free food alternative for my discus. (obviously not replacing regular feeding, but something extra for them to snack on, and to give them something to stalk around the tank)

[msjinkzd]

I think cherry shrimp are an excellent choice for that.

[thebullit]

and breed readily. many people do it mate, good luck.

[gatotsu77]

Well, despite my desire to get a nano tank set up for my cherry shrimp, I ended up with a few babies anyway. :) Holy WOW are those things tiny!! I'd try to get some pictures, but being in the mesh breeding net, its darn near impossible to get a good shot, even with my macro lens. (which is full-time manual) I haven't got an actual count, as they seem to be hiding in the moss and plants in the breeder net, but I did see 3 of them this afternoon while cleaning my tank. I had decided to check up on the berried female and see what's going on, and noticed she was no longer carrying eggs. I got all excited, spent a good 3-5 mins looking for them, and just as I was giving up, one caught my eye. Hopefully I'll discover a few more in the next couple days, as I'd still love to get a nano fired up. I finally have somewhere I'd be able to put it too. (relocated my pc tower under my desk, so now I have a large area available on my desk which I know will hold a minimum of 70 lbs sustained weight, (weight of my tower) but have also personally stress tested with my butt... and that is 185 lbs. :p:

[Mgamer20o0]

in that small of tank use air line tube. i use a python for my bigger shrimp tank.

[thebullit]

sweet you have babies. soooo the army begins.

[gatotsu77]

It seems fortune is on my side. I don't just have a couple babies, I have at least a dozen I've counted now. I'm definitely making an effort to set up the nano this week now! Do you guys think that a 4g tank would be adequate for say a half dozen adult cherry shrimp and potentially 30ish babies? (I'll be progressively moving the young to the main tank once they hit maybe 1/2" or so)

[thebullit]

yer that should fine mate. if you work on 10 adults per gallon you cant go wrong, but they will multiply quickly.

[gatotsu77]

So I can let a few more stay in the 4g without much worry.... sweet. Perhaps I'll try to keep the adult population around 20 or so, to accomodate the added bio load of the baby shrimp, and still have huge production rates. Would be nice to have a readily available food source that will both be healthy for my fish and entertaining to watch them hunt for. I'm willing to bet my synodontis nigriventris would love munching down some shrimp too. Those guys are PIGS!

[gatotsu77]

yer that should fine mate. if you work on 10 adults per gallon you cant go wrong, but they will multiply quickly.

You're not kidding... I thought I had something like 3-4 babies... I noticed at least 15 this morning. O_O

[thebullit]

like i always say if you keep cheery's they will breed readily with no special treatments.