please help me.

[pauly]

i have set up a 45g (36x12x24) tank on sunday.i want this to be a planted shrimp tank.i have already added low light low tech plants.i want this to be a low tech planted tank since this is my first "real"experience with live plants.so...i have watched many,many hours of youtube shrimp tank videos so i can do this tank right.but...there are still some questions i need help with please!.i am going to start with cherry shrimp since everything i have heard they are the best beginner shrimp.i am cycling the tank now there is nothing in the tank but plants.i want to get my new shrimp around the first week of october to give the tank time to cycle.heres some questions i hope everyone can help a newbie with.i`m sorry if they have been asked before.when should i do my first water change on this tank? how much of a water change should i do? how often? once a week,every two weeks,once a month? where should i buy my shrimp from? how many shrimp should i start with? how often should i feed them? what should i feed them? other good tankmates in the future? (fish ect...).sorry for all the questions but like i said i want to try and do this the right way.i have already bought indian almond leaves(when do i put them in?) and the dead cactus wood they like (dont know how to spell it).im running a sun sun 302 canister filter with a pre filter over the intake (so nobody gets sucked in).of course a heater 77 degrees,and lots of plants and some lace rock.i have the hood that came with the tank.it only has one t-8 24'' bulb in it i put in a zoomed ultra sun bulb 6500k so thats why the low light plants.please give me any advice,tips,anything you can think of to help.i really appreciate any help i can get from everyone and i look forward to keeping shrimp thank you

[pauly]

here is a picture of my tank set up so far.

[jonesinfershrimp]

i have set up a 45g (36x12x24) .... when should i do my first water change on this tank?
how much of a water change should i do? how often? once a week,every two weeks,once a month?
where should i buy my shrimp from?
how many shrimp should i start with?
how often should i feed them?
what should i feed them?
other good tankmates in the future? (fish ect...).sorry for all the questions but like i said i want to try and do this the right way.
i have already bought indian almond leaves(when do i put them in?) and the dead cactus wood they like (dont know how to spell it).
im running a sun sun 302 canister filter with a pre filter over the intake (so nobody gets sucked in). of course a heater 77 degrees,and lots of plants and some lace rock. i have the hood that came with the tank. it only has one t-8 24'' bulb in it i put in a zoomed ultra sun bulb 6500k so thats why the low light plants. please give me any advice,tips,anything you can think of to help. i really appreciate any help i can get from everyone and i look forward to keeping shrimp thank you

first of all i am not any kind of expert, with that thrown out there, Hi Pauly
also, if anyone sees something here with my suggestions that should be different let me know.

first water change after ammonia nitrites and nitrates read 0. then do a 50-75% water change the day before you add your shrimp. then id say 20% water change once a week.

id shop around to LFS and see what they have in stock. if they dont have what you are looking for, there are a bunch of websites.

the number of shrimp you start with depends on what kind you want, and how much money you have. but a good number for a 45g, id say start with around 30.

feeding im gona need someone elses opinion on, because i have mine in a community tank, and they get food every day because of the fish. and any invertebrate food will suffice.

the only tank mates i would suggest is snails or corys. but even the corys are a gamble.

the indian almond leaves i would put in any time, but before the shrimp so they have time to grow the biofilm the shrimp feed on.

also, could you post your water parameters?

[pauly]

amonia,nitrite,nitrate all zero.ph 7.4 kh,gh dont know dont have a tester for those.

[jonesinfershrimp]

i'd *try* to bring it down to a pH of 7.0 (its a pretty safe #) and get a test for the gH and kH. if they are to high, it could be potentially lethal. same if it's too low.

[Varanus]

i'd *try* to bring it down to a pH of 7.0 (its a pretty safe #) and get a test for the gH and kH. if they are to high, it could be potentially lethal. same if it's too low.

Cherries are noted for being among the most adaptable of shrimp, I don't see why a ph of 7.4 would be a problem for them. Indeed all the information I've read says they are fine at ph a good deal higher than that.

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Many varieties of snails make good tankmates for shrimp and there are a number of kinds that won't take over your tank (nerites, black devils, rabbit snails, assassin snails, though the last kind will prey on the young of even large snails and may go after sick shrimp). I myself am making a tank that will house a mix of shrimp and Sulawesi rabbit snails. They are some of the most exotic-looking freshwater snails around and quite hardy.

[jonesinfershrimp]

just a suggestion in case of future tank mates. i just like 7.0 because its the most universal number for freshwater aquaria X)

[Mustafa]

How's the tank going? When you posted the tank was just set up so. yes, everything is going to be probably 0 (unless you used conditioned tap water in the US, in which case you're ammonia should have been positive). What test did you use to determine that your pH was 7.4? Buy a KH test kit. GH is not that important. You want your kH ideally to be between 0-2. The rest (pH) will settle in the right range pretty much automatically. I do see that you seem to have some limestone rocks in there, though (the rock with the holes). That will *probably* increase your KH and thus your pH over time and may cause problems. As for when to put the shrimp in...the best indicator is when you start seeing algae grow on the rocks, substrate and glass.

[pauly]

thanks for the feedback.the rock i use in the tank is lace rock.i did change the right side rocks and add a big piece of drift wood.its been a month since i set up the tank.just got a gh and kh test kit.i seem to have brown algea starting.i added some almond leaves and alder cones maybe that will bring down the ph some.what shrimp other than cherry shrimp are good for beginners? thanks

[Mustafa]

what shrimp other than cherry shrimp are good for beginners? thanks

Malawa shrimp, they're even hardier and more productive.

[jonesinfershrimp]

the brown algae is diatoms i believe. i leave them for my shrimp as they are high in calcium and good for the exoskeleton of the shrimp.