Filtration and Cleaning Questions

R

RavenHQ

AC Members
Aug 29, 2008
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I bought some Red Cherry Shrimp about 3 weeks ago for my 10gallon, and I think I was totally unprepared. From 20 RCS, I lost 4 in acclimation, I think I counted 5 dead ones in my Whisper 10i filter media during my last media rinse. and I saw a betta munch on one before I put in a divider to keep him away. I just did a water change and I counted 5/6 surviving.

I think I have everything ok for the time being, I've rigged my hanging Whisper i filters so that they're juvie/adult sized shrimp safe, but I need to figure out:

1) How do I clean the gravel with the shrimp hiding down there?
...and...
2) If I switch to a "Corner Box Filter" (which I plan to for possible shrimp babies), how do I figure the GPH from the air pumps? The boxes for the pumps usually say "for up to 'N' gallons" but it doesn't mention how much flow it produces.

I know that box filters won't get near the 70-90gph of a hanging filter but I need to figure out how to make a corner box filter replace my two hanging filters...
 
Betta will at times eat small shrimp. This is actually a healthy treat for them. You solved that problem by inserting the divider. :)

I often find baby RCS living and growing in my hang on back filters. No harm comes to them when they pass through the intake. I put them back in the tank when I find them.

Put the syphon deep into the gravel and move it around slowly as you clean. As you push the gravel around the shrimp should flick out of your way. Just take your time.

You might not need to replace the whisper filters. It is possible that the shrimp died and then was sucked into the filters.

Ammonia and Nitrite should be 0.
 
Have you put a sponge on the filter intake?
 
I tried putting sponges in both my filters but it made them both very slow in terms of GPH, one of them had such a small trickle that it wasn't worth it to keep it running. I eventually stuck some pieces of plastic canvas around the grate area to keep the larger shrimp out. I'm just worried about what will happen if i have baby RCS since i think they're small enough to go past the "plastic canvas/filter grate" combo.
 
I use a Whisper PF5-15 on my RCS tank and have no problems with loss of them or the babies. My tank is only a 5.5. I also have a corner filter for my 10 run off a Whisper air pump rated for a 10 gallon tank. It drives the filter just fine without loss of any of the types of various fry I have had in there.
 
I mean a sponge on the filter intake tube...
 
The "Whisper i" filters are internal filters with no tube intake. They have a grate area where water is drawn in. Google "Whisper 10i"

I tried putting thin foam over the grate but it slowed the water flow too much.
 
okay..sorry, ust have not seen the "i" and went off on the Whisper 10.

Can you switch to a small HOB filter?
 
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