Substrate questions

[dan d]

I have read numerous times substrate don't matter, but yet I have read things like egg shells or crushed coral or other calcium type substrates. (I have read Mustafa uses sand, but that could even have a mineral content)

With that said (& yes I'm notorious for reading into things & it can get me in trouble by assuming things that are not true ) do these shrimp need some sort of calcium substance for there exo-skeleton (or whatever that's called) I am setting up a little .5 gallon tank for my nephew with a couple of shrimp, some of Mustafa's chaeto, & a small 6500K led light. Do I need a mineral (crushed coral, eggshell or whatever) stone in the tank ? Or is bare bottom & a small hunk of cheato all I need ?

Thanks,
Dan

Edit: I guess another question I have is do you need to add iodine to the tank ? I remember doing that in my reef tank, if I remember correctly it was for the shrimp ? What about a calcium additive for a reef tank ? (kalkwater or something like that, it's been 10 years since I had my reef tank)

[Mustafa]

Don't overthink it. The information here is complete, you don't need more. No additives, nothing. Just follow the instructions in this link (and read some of my comments here):

http://www.petshrimp.com/opaesetup.php

No. 5 should answer your calcium carbonate question...if you have already read the link above before, you probably missed it or forgot about it.

[dan d]

Don't overthink it. The information here is complete, you don't need more. No additives, nothing. Just follow the instructions in this link (and read some of my comments here):

http://www.petshrimp.com/opaesetup.php

No. 5 should answer your calcium carbonate question...if you have already read the link above before, you probably missed it or forgot about it.

yup, I forgot about #5 I thought I read it somewhere, but I was not sure. Need to find a coral nugget for this little tank. Maybe a small amount of crushed coral.

Dan

[shrimpy4]

My only advice, whether you choose crushed coral or anything else, is to go for something with a sand-type consistency. I went for relatively large aquarium stones (relative to Opae, they're only a few centimeters in width), but I see now that they're too big for the shrimp to move or pick around, and if I drop a pellet of food in the bowl and it falls in the crevices there's no way for me to get it out without digging it out (and by then it turns to mush) and causing a lot of disturbance in the water, which causes the shrimp to freak out. Now I'm worried about too much wasted food building up toxins and there being no flat surfaces for them or snails to rest on.

[dan d]

I have never used a sand substrate, I am interested in it but how do you clean it ? A typical vacuum suction siphon would suck it all up, wouldn't it ?

Dan

[Mustafa]

I have never used a sand substrate, I am interested in it but how do you clean it ? A typical vacuum suction siphon would suck it all up, wouldn't it ?

Dan

Hi Dan,

You're thinking too much about it again. You don't ever clean substrates in shrimp tanks. Just leave the tank alone, that's seriously how you keep shrimp (even freshwater shrimp). In addition to sucking up tiny baby shrimp (and possibly adults), cleaning/vacuuming the substrate disturbs and removes the microorganisms that live in the substrate, which help with the biological balance in the tank.

I thought "no water changes" would imply that you don't vacuum the substrate as that would require you to replace the water that you suck up (which constitutes a water change), but I guess I may have to explicitly say it in the instructions at some point.

[dan d]

I have never used a sand substrate, I am interested in it but how do you clean it ? A typical vacuum suction siphon would suck it all up, wouldn't it ?

Dan

Hi Dan,Lu
I thought "no water changes" would imply that you don't vacuum the substrate as that would require you to replace the water that you suck up (which constitutes a water change), but I guess I may have to explicitly say it in the instructions at some point.

yes, I should of been bright enough to understand that

I'm having a hard time with this no cleaning concept, had aquariums for 40 + years, hard to teach an ole dog new tricks

You're thinking too much about it again

Yes I am

[dan d]

I now have sand in my small desk tank
Dan