shrimp size

mikedmatthews · Post by **mikedmatthews** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 9:57 pm

sounds like it, but i was going to run one of my hoses to the faucet to draw the water instead of using a bulb. i have two pretty crappy syphons. not real impressed with either one. got them at the hardware store. one i think was designed to syphon a gas tank. i have lots of spare parts, so maybe i'll try both ways.

thanks!

pleco_breeder · Post by **pleco_breeder** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:33 pm

I didn't notice that you also asked about the return. Once again, I have 2 ways of doing this and depends on the sensitivity of the species in the system. For the shrimp rack, I am using a 35 gallon food grade plastic barrel. Water will be pumped into the barrel through sediment and carbon block filters. A standard plastic float valve will be used to prevent the barrell from overflowing.

In the side of the barrel, only a couple inches from the bottom, I will be drilling a hole and threading a plastic jaco fitting into the hole. I will use 3/8 inch plastic tubing to run from the fitting to the sump.

On the end of the 3/8 inch line, I will have a 1/2 inch PVC "J" which hangs on the side of the sump. A hole is drilled in the PVC approximately where I want the water line to stay in the sump. Thread another float valve into that hole, and gravity will take care of the filling of the tank after water change is complete. I may get a few air bubbles into the pump while re-filling, but a good pump can handle this. Even if the pump wears out after a couple years of running, it's worth the cost for the amount of time saved on water changes.

One final note. The pump should be on a separate timer than the solenoids, and be shut off while the tanks are draining. This prevents an excessive amount of wear on the pump as it would run dry otherwise.

Larry

mikedmatthews · Post by **mikedmatthews** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 10:30 am

so you're recirculating the shrimp setup?

pleco_breeder · Post by **pleco_breeder** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 12:29 pm

It will be recirculated, but only at a very slow flow. I'm looking at pumps for it, and am thinking something along the lines of 20-50% turnover. I run all my systems through 5 micron sediment filters to keep water clear. With that rate, I can keep the micro critters in the tank via small pore sponge pre-filters and the slow feed of filtered water should keep the tank fairly clean. Only required maintenance will be filter cleaning, feeding, and suck up extra waste. Should be able to operate a reasonably size rack, 30 tanks, with an hour a week of work.

Larry

Post by **Mustafa** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 9:23 am

I would go with mike's size measurements. The reason why I did not give any specific sizes for shrimp young in my articles is because I am keeping it general (not species specific) and hatchlings of different species are different sizes ranging from 1-2mm to 2-4mm for dwarf shrimp. Of course that does not help you much because you still don't know the width of these hatchlings, but I can't imagine that they are narrower than the micron measurements that mike gave you....but, of course, I reserve the right to be wrong.

pleco_breeder · Post by **pleco_breeder** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:54 am

Since I'm actually getting somewhere, and Mustafa mentioned that the range will work for cherries, it's also important to note that there will eventually be 15-20 strains/species of shrimp in this rack. Based on my speculation, from Mustafas length measurement, a 200 micron mesh should work for most any shrimp that does not go through planktonic stages.

For those that go through planktonic stages, I will be attempting to use one of my copepod towers if I'm ever lucky enough to get them to spawn. These use 80 micron mesh and prefiltered eductors for higher currents, so I am assuming they will work.

Larry

mikedmatthews · Post by **mikedmatthews** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 11:02 am

pleco_breeder wrote:Since I'm actually getting somewhere, and Mustafa mentioned that the range will work for cherries, it's also important to note that there will eventually be 15-20 strains/species of shrimp in this rack. Based on my speculation, from Mustafas length measurement, a 200 micron mesh should work for most any shrimp that does not go through planktonic stages.

For those that go through planktonic stages, I will be attempting to use one of my copepod towers if I'm ever lucky enough to get them to spawn. These use 80 micron mesh and prefiltered eductors for higher currents, so I am assuming they will work.

Larry

know what else you can do? stick your sponge filter or an air stone under your outflow. it should push the current away from the mesh and they will tend to stay at the other end of the tank. maybe a strong light on the opposite end would help too.