Need advice on getting started

[Syscrush]

Hey all.

I've been really interested in these shrimp since I first learned of them and their remarkable longevity:size ratio. I think that the time has finally come for me to pull the trigger and set up a small tank.

I have a mature 48 gal freshwater tank with a mix of tetras, platys, mollys, and 4 brown shrimp (I don't know the species).

I want to get a small tank suitable for desktop use in the office and set it up at home to create a stable & healthy environment for my shrimp before moving it. I'm looking for feedback on my plan - any pointers or info would be VERY much appreciated!

1. Get some lava rocks or lace rocks and put them in my current freshwater tank until there's some algae growing on them.
2. Pick up a 1-2 gal mini bow acryllic tank (or similar) and remove the pump/filter setup.
3. Add substrate & the lava rocks to the new tank and fill it with water from my mature freshwater tank and distilled water in something like a 1:4 ratio.
4. Add a bit of marine salt every few days until it's brackish.
5. Add snails & macroalgae as ordered from the store here and give them a week or so to acclimate.
6. Add 10-15 supershrimp and let them do their thing.

Thoughts? Insights? Advice? Is this plan smart or stupid?

[MelWong]

Hey all.

I've been really interested in these shrimp since I first learned of them and their remarkable longevity:size ratio. I think that the time has finally come for me to pull the trigger and set up a small tank.

I have a mature 48 gal freshwater tank with a mix of tetras, platys, mollys, and 4 brown shrimp (I don't know the species).

I want to get a small tank suitable for desktop use in the office and set it up at home to create a stable & healthy environment for my shrimp before moving it. I'm looking for feedback on my plan - any pointers or info would be VERY much appreciated!

1. Get some lava rocks or lace rocks and put them in my current freshwater tank until there's some algae growing on them.
2. Pick up a 1-2 gal mini bow acryllic tank (or similar) and remove the pump/filter setup.
3. Add substrate & the lava rocks to the new tank and fill it with water from my mature freshwater tank and distilled water in something like a 1:4 ratio.
4. Add a bit of marine salt every few days until it's brackish.
5. Add snails & macroalgae as ordered from the store here and give them a week or so to acclimate.
6. Add 10-15 supershrimp and let them do their thing.

Thoughts? Insights? Advice? Is this plan smart or stupid?

I'm kind of a newbie myself, so I don't have much to comment on with regards to the water cycling, except that Mustafa sends the snails and macroalgae with water from his own breeding tank setups, so you won't even need to use water from your current freshwater tank to seed the new one - just use half-doses of marine/reef salt with distilled water, and then introduce the snails and algae and give them time in the tank. They should get things started enough that the shrimp will move in pretty okay.

As for tanks, right now I'm using the tiny Fluval Spec 2 gallon - I just removed the partition where the sponge filter and the pump were supposed to go, and it works pretty well for housing my h.rubra.

[Mustafa]

Your plan sounds pretty good actually. You can actually combine Mel's advice with your plan. I.e. use water from your mature tank, and also dump the water from my breeding tanks, possible snails, and the macroalgae in your newly established tank. That way you will get some bacteria (from my tanks) that have already proven to create a successful Supershrimp tank. As for adding the salt gradually...I don't think it's necessary, but if you want to do it that way, make sure to dissolve the salt in some aquarium water/distilled water first...you can actually dissolve all the salt that you need to get your new tank to an acceptable salinity level in a a small amount of water (thus creating a hypersaline solution), and then drip that solution little by little into your new tank. It shouldn't take more than a day to accomplish all this. Just make sure that you stir the tank after you are done, as, otherwise, the salty water will just sit at the bottom and the freshwater on top (saltwater is heavier). They would mix eventually, but stirring accelerates the process immensely. Good luck!

[Syscrush]

Thanks.

I neglected to mention that I use tap water in my current mature tank. I have read many of the admonitions against using tap water for the supershrimp tank, but I'm going on the assumption that the healthy microorganisms and the apparent healthy chemistry of that tank will mean that it's OK to use a bit from that stable, healthy tank. But I'm also assuming that I should use just some in conjunction with the distilled water to seed the tank.

[Mustafa]

If you use treated (with a dechlorinator, Prime, Amquel+ etc.) tap water for water changes in your large tank, then it *may* be ok (depending on your tap water...i.e. chloramine and ammonia content) to use old fish tank water. Otherwise, it's still much safer to use distilled/RO water to mix with the reef salt mix.

[Syscrush]

Thanks.

[Syscrush]

Today I bought a 2.5 gallon tank (just an old-school rectangular glass tank), some black sand, a lava rock, and marine salt from my LFS.

Ordered my snails & algae from the online store here, I guess the order will be processed next week sometime.

The lava rock is soaking in my mature tank until the other goodies arrive. I'm looking forward to getting everything set up. Once it's had a chance to settle in, I'll order the shrimp, too, and keep my fingers crossed.

[Mustafa]

Yep...the order will go out on Monday. After that...keep the updates coming!

[Syscrush]

Watching the USPS parcel tracking page like a hawk...

If I'm this excited about the snails & algae, it's gonna be nuts when I order the actual shrimp next week.

[Mustafa]

Haha....just make sure that you keep breathing....deep breaths.

[Syscrush]

The snails and algae arrived yesterday, my tank is set up now. Pics to follow.

I'm on my way out now, but will order the shrimp tomorrow, which should give the snails (and their water) a week to prep the tank before the shrimp show up.

[Mustafa]

Pictures?

[Syscrush]

Hey all.

I haven't posted pics yet because getting the tank settled took longer than expected.

I used very fine black sand, and I made the mistake of not pre-mixing it with water and agitating all of the air out before adding it to the tank. There was something going on where the water wasn't absorbing into the sand, and there were tons of bubbles everywhere, and floating blobs of air-packed sand. The snails were already in there, and what I did to try to get the sand to settle was take a turkey baster and use the pumping action to agitate/hydrate the sand.

Despite my attempt to keep things under control, the tank ended up very, very cloudy with the super-fine grains of sand suspended in the water for 3-4 days after. I wasn't sure if the snails would survive or not, or even if I had inadvertantly harmed some of them with the turkey baster. So I wanted to give it some time to settle and see if I had a healthy snail habitat.

As of today, there's a thin film of microalgae growing on the glass of the tank, the macroalgae is looking vibrant and healthy, and I consistently see 2-4 snails climbing around on the glass.

To me, this all indicates that I have a healthy and self-sustaining ecosystem in my little 2-gallon tank, and I'm planning to order the shrimp soon. I'll post some pics of the current state later today after I've taken care of some domestic duties.

[Syscrush]

OK, here are some pics:











Looks like I need to get a macro lens before my shrimp get here!

So, what do people think? Am I right that this tank looks healthy and ready for my ope ula?

[Syscrush]

OK, big news - my wife just identified a baby snail in the tank! It's maybe 1.5mm long. I don't know how these things reproduce - if a mama laid eggs in the tank, or if there was an egg somewhere in the algae or tagging along with the snails, or what.

But in any case, the fact that I have this tiny snail apparently alive and well in there now really makes me think that the tank is probably healthy.

Does that make sense?