New Shrimp Tank Questions

[Huzzah1981]

I'm setting up a 10 gallon for my Vampire Shrimp (African Giant Filter) and to try breeding some Yellow or Snowball Shrimp, or maybe Dark Greens (haven't decided which one yet) and I'd like to use the AC20 filter that I've got already.

My question is- since I want to breed whichever of these shrimp I get, do I need to use a very fine grain sponge to keep from sucking up the babies I hope to get, thereby reducing the flow of water that my Vampire shrimp would like, or would I be better off using a coarse sponge over the intake, perhaps risking sucking up some babies?

I guess I'm just questioning how preventative I need to be with the sponge over the filter inktake tube?
Coarse?

or Fine?

Part two to my question concerns maybe rehoming the vampire shrimp into my community tank.
My other tank is a 36 gallon bow front with occasionally agressive german blue ram, some cories and harlequin rasboras, and in a couple weeks a young angelfish- considering the angelfish and perhaps the ram would the vampire shrimp not be safe in there?

 

[cdirus]

I'm using the Elite sponge with an Aquaclear 20 on my 5.5 gallon tank. I bought the two pack replacement sponges so I didn't have to mess with the frame part of the sponge filter. On my 20H tank I have a ZooMed 501 sponge insert over the intake (Bio-wheel 100). I just cleaned them out and the ZooMed sponge had a ton of small baby snails in it. I would probably go with the Elite sponge.:thm:

Can't help you on the second problem. I did have a bamboo shrimp (died last week) in the 20H community tank with a male betta and some celestial danios, and I never saw anyone bother it. But I have never kept rams or angels.:huh:

Cdirus

 

[southerndesert]

They (fish) may harass the V Shrimp.... This could lead to health problems. The V Shrimp will be fine with the Neocaridina shrimp species you mentioned. I use coarse sponges on my intakes of my HOBs ans still have good flow....

 

[Huzzah1981]

They (fish) may harass the V Shrimp.... This could lead to health problems. The V Shrimp will be fine with the Neocaridina shrimp species you mentioned. I use coarse sponges on my intakes of my HOBs and still have good flow....

Do you have tiny little shrimp breeding in that tank too? Starting up a nice big colony is my top priority in this tank, so I really don't want to suck babies into the Impeller O' Doom.

I'd certainly feel better using the Elite sponge, but I'm worried about it getting caked in filth and preventing the filter from performing well enough for as long as it should. Also, this tank is right in my living room- I need it to look clean just as much as I need it to be shrimp friendly... two demands direct from my wife.

 

[southerndesert]

Remove it and rinse in water with NO Chlorine, like your WC water and replace about twice a month or even once.... Just reg maintenance.

 

[Huzzah1981]

Remove it and rinse in water with NO Chlorine, like your WC water and replace about twice a month or even once.... Just reg maintenance.

That's it? Every other water change (I'm used to 50% per week) ? If that's all the cleaning it takes to keep the sponge clean and the filter flowing well, I feel a little silly having asked. I figured such a fine sponge would fill with debris and get clogged quickly. I've never had a shrimp only tank either though, so I don't know what kind of filth they make anyway- I figured it might be somewhere between the level of my little Flash Pleco (filthy little beast that Henry is!) and my other community fish (Harlequins, Cories, GBR).

 

[cdirus]

Remove it and rinse in water with NO Chlorine, like your WC water and replace about twice a month or even once.... Just reg maintenance.

Bill, you replace your sponges twice a month? I'm still using my original one that I put on when I set the 20g up back in November. I just pulled both (5g and 20g) out yesterday and gave them a couple of hundred good squeezings in replacement (Primed) water. The one in the 20g had algae growing all over it, and both of them made the water black! As in mud black! But when I put them back on the filters, the flow improved tremendously.

Huzzah - It's obvious when the sponge needs cleaning out. On my 5g shrimp tank I have an AC20. Even with the flow fully open it wasn't pumping enough water to barely stir the surface of the water, now on low it has a nice gentle flow through the tank. On the 20g, my biowheel is now running much faster (and noisier ).
I've seen my baby shrimp crawling on the Elite sponge, but I haven't seen any babies in the 20g (I have ghost shrimp there and they are probably eating all the baby Neos).

Cdirus

 

[southerndesert]

Bill, you replace your sponges twice a month? I'm still using my original one that I put on when I set the 20g up back in November. I just pulled both (5g and 20g) out yesterday and gave them a couple of hundred good squeezings in replacement (Primed) water. The one in the 20g had algae growing all over it, and both of them made the water black! As in mud black! But when I put them back on the filters, the flow improved tremendously.

Huzzah - It's obvious when the sponge needs cleaning out. On my 5g shrimp tank I have an AC20. Even with the flow fully open it wasn't pumping enough water to barely stir the surface of the water, now on low it has a nice gentle flow through the tank. On the 20g, my biowheel is now running much faster (and noisier ).
I've seen my baby shrimp crawling on the Elite sponge, but I haven't seen any babies in the 20g (I have ghost shrimp there and they are probably eating all the baby Neos).

Cdirus

No I do not replace them just squeeze them a few times in the WC bucket and replace to keep them free flowing. Too much squeezing and/ or chlorinated water will screw up the bio-filter.....

 

[Mgamer20o0]

the Coarse is fine. i use cut down aquaclear 110 sponges.

 

[vequalsir]

I keep spare sponges on hand along with a second stem for my ac40 filter. This allows me to change the pre-filter sponge when it gets clogged. I then rinse and dry the removed one for next time.