Shrimp!

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kriskitty23

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Feb 15, 2012
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I want to venture into the world of shrimp! I have a 10g they would be going into. I really like the tiger shrimp or cherry shrimp. What do you reccomend for substrate? A link to it would be fabulous! There are so many choices out there...I want to plant the tank to give them places to hide. Also, being that they are so small, what filter should I get?

Thank you!
 

kriskitty23

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Feb 15, 2012
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Oh! And what kind of plants do they most enjoy? Also, the tank currently has an aquatec filter...standard fishy filter. Can this be modified into the 'sponge' type filter that will ensure shrimp don't get stuck in the filter?
 

maverickbr77

la-te-da
Jan 26, 2009
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Lowville, NY
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Adam
1. tigers and cherries are easy keepers so your good there
2. I like sand in my shrimp tanks if its a nutrient rich vs plain old sand depends on how you want to plant it
3. Any filter is fine as long as you cover the intake with smallish pore foam.
4. Moss is a shrimps best friend. I tend to go low tech in shrimp tanks with moss, different types of java ferns, anubias, couple floating plants, and crypts
5. you can get premade covers for your filter intake or make your own out of an filter sponge material or even pantyhose in a pinch (i don't like pantyhose it tends to clog to fast) or you can even get shrimp safe stainless steel intake ends.
 

TL1000RSquid

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Apr 6, 2011
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Everything Maverick said is good, I'll add, darker sand tends to bring out darker colors in the shrimp. My 10g shrimp tank ran with an aquaclear 30 with a Fluval prefilter on the intake, not familiar with aquatechs but the fluval sponge fits over the intake on alot of HOB filters. They also like to hangout on my driftwood.
 

mykidsmylife

Princess of Peons
Aug 26, 2005
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Indiana, U.S.A.
I'm following your thread closely. I'm in the process (well..thought process) of doing this with my 10g. I'm going to use pool filter sand. We need some for our pool filter anyways and just going to pick up some extra for the tank. I have plants ordered as well..woot.

I love the suggestions you are getting! :thm:
 

kriskitty23

AC Members
Feb 15, 2012
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Thank you so much! This is all fabulous information. I picked up two AquaClear 70's in Amazon's awesome sale, so I'm thinking to grab another for the 10g. Is the AquaClear 30 a good size for the shrimp in this tank size? This may be a silly question, but do they have just a sponge 'sock' that fits right over the intake or do you have to retrofit it yourself? I have seen the sponge filters that require airline tubing and whatnot, but I'd prefer to utilize the standard filter.

Also, I have never used a sand substrate. If I go this route and plant with moss, java ferns, anuabis and floating plants, what kind of ferts do I need? Root tabs and liquid fert? Also, I have seen a liquid CO2...does this work? Or should I be looking into CO2? Also, how do you clean sand with a gravel vac?

Thank you all so much for your info!
 

maverickbr77

la-te-da
Jan 26, 2009
351
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Lowville, NY
Real Name
Adam
All of those plants are nice low maintenance no ferts or CO2 required tie the ferns and anubias to rocks and wood, same with the moss or leave if floating. yes they sell sponges that slip over the intake just do a search for sponge pre filter or something similar and you should find them. Just hover the gravel vac over the sand you will get a feel for it or if its heavy enough you can dig right in like you do with gravel.
 

TL1000RSquid

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Apr 6, 2011
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For a 10g with just shrimp stocking the aquaclear 20 would work too. The Fluval Edge sponge prefilters slip over all the Aquaclears except the 70 and 110, They're like $2.99 at petsmart or amazon sells them for like $4 for a 3 pack they look like this http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=216583879&sellerid=18955782. They slip right over but after a squeezing or two they become loose you can use a small elastic hairband to hold them onto the intake tube.

With sand the debris just sits on top of the sand doesnt get down into like with gravel so if you see any junk on your sand I use my water change hose held and inch or so above the sand to suck up junk and the sand stays in place.
 

kriskitty23

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Feb 15, 2012
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Thank you for your responses! I'm thinking of going with a black sand substrate to make the shrimpy's colors pop. Back to amazon for another AquaClear! Perhaps I will find some substrate to order at the same time. What kind of lighting should I be looking at?
 

TL1000RSquid

AC Members
Apr 6, 2011
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NY
For what plants you listed so far you don't need anything fancy they should all grow under a standard T8 hood, If you think you may want to go with higher light plants in the future a T5NO fixture would be good.
 
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