Starting from Scratch

[shanster66]

Hey Everyone,

Newbie here! I want to become a shrimp owner and plan on buying shrimps and snails on petshrimp.com website. I'm super excited however, I would like a second opinion on the list I have composed in order to insure the shrimps and snails live in a good habitat and are comfortable plus this is a large investment so i don't want to kill them on the spot lol. Any suggestions/comments is much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Setup:
1. Tank: Top Fin® 3.5 Gallon Enchant Aquarium
2. Salt: Instant Ocean® Aquarium Sea Salt
3. Gravel: CaribSea Super Naturals Aquarium Gravel
4. Shrimp: 150
5. Snails: 10
6. Decor: any suggestions? preferably something cheap

Please let me know if i’m missing anything.

Also, I have read the discussions and did some research but, I am unclear on how to maintain the tank when there is a film over the tank walls that causes the blurry/fuzzy on the walls. I don’t want my tank to be all cloudy and have to wash the tank (which I know washing is bad) is there a way to prevent the walls to stay clean?

Thank you,
shanster66

[mike.d]

I would start with 10-20 shrimp, not 150. Part of the fun is watching them reproduce. I got a nerite snail to clean the algae off the glass of my tank.

[Dick]

I mean, I'm sure Mustafa would love to sell you 150 shrimp, but... yeah, that's a lot.

Maybe 25, at least initially, just to make sure you don't accidentally kill them.

In my first tank, I had some open, cubic decorations that I found at PetSmart for ~$10 a piece, and the little tubes were highly favored by the shrimp.

Old tank, side view

Oh, and you definitely want to set up your tank with some of the PetShrimp Macro Algae -- at least a couple of weeks before you add the shrimp.

Mike makes a good point: one of the coolest things about the shrimp is getting them (by leaving them alone) to reproduce.

Berried Female

[crittersni]

I don't know about the salt; a local reef store mixes water for me at 1.010 salinity so I don't know/use any.

I used a different CaribSea product, but same brand.

I have about 3.5 gallons of water in my tank (a covered glass vase). I have 1 nerite snail (from PetSmart). I gave away 2 other snails because 3 were too many.

I agree with everyone that you shouldn't order so many shrimp so quickly. I made some mistakes and had lost about 25 out of 30 shrimp the first time. Once it's well-established, you can always buy more. Hopefully you won't feel the need.

This time I started with 25-30 last March and now have at least 70, of all sizes, maybe closer to 100. It's hard to tell with so many hiding places. It has been such fun watching them reproduce!

No filter. I feed them twice a month. I do have a small bubbler in my tank that gives me peace of mind but may or may not be necessary..

I bought cheap decorations the first time from the 99c store. The plastic leeched into the water, made it cloudy and killed most of the shrimp. Buy from national pet chains, e.g.Petco, PetSmart, or buy from established aquarium stores (mine are mostly from PetSmart).

It was a little nerve racking setting up the tank, but I have really enjoyed them and this discussion forum. Everyone is really helpful. Enjoy!!

[shanster66]

I would start with 10-20 shrimp, not 150. Part of the fun is watching them reproduce. I got a nerite snail to clean the algae off the glass of my tank.

That is true I didn't even think of that, thank you for your feed back.

[shanster66]

I mean, I'm sure Mustafa would love to sell you 150 shrimp, but... yeah, that's a lot.

Maybe 25, at least initially, just to make sure you don't accidentally kill them.

In my first tank, I had some open, cubic decorations that I found at PetSmart for ~$10 a piece, and the little tubes were highly favored by the shrimp.

IMG_0857.JPG

Oh, and you definitely want to set up your tank with some of the PetShrimp Macro Algae -- at least a couple of weeks before you add the shrimp.

Mike makes a good point: one of the coolest things about the shrimp is getting them (by leaving them alone) to reproduce.

IMG_0750.JPG

Wow your set up looks amazing! I will definitely look into the tubes. Thank you for your feedback.

Okay! I'll get 1 PetShrimp Macro Algae- can I get it now while I set up the tank or should I wait until the water has settled a couple of weeks after?

After seeing Mikes post I also agree with him. I'll probably purchase 25, hopefully it will be a good mixture of females and males.

[shanster66]

I don't know about the salt; a local reef store mixes water for me at 1.010 salinity so I don't know/use any.

I used a different CaribSea product, but same brand.

I have about 3.5 gallons of water in my tank (a covered glass vase). I have 1 nerite snail (from PetSmart). I gave away 2 other snails because 3 were too many.

I agree with everyone that you shouldn't order so many shrimp so quickly. I made some mistakes and had lost about 25 out of 30 shrimp the first time. Once it's well-established, you can always buy more. Hopefully you won't feel the need.

This time I started with 25-30 last March and now have at least 70, of all sizes, maybe closer to 100. It's hard to tell with so many hiding places. It has been such fun watching them reproduce!

No filter. I feed them twice a month. I do have a small bubbler in my tank that gives me peace of mind but may or may not be necessary..

I bought cheap decorations the first time from the 99c store. The plastic leeched into the water, made it cloudy and killed most of the shrimp. Buy from national pet chains, e.g.Petco, PetSmart, or buy from established aquarium stores (mine are mostly from PetSmart).

It was a little nerve racking setting up the tank, but I have really enjoyed them and this discussion forum. Everyone is really helpful. Enjoy!!

Awesome! Thank you for your feed back! Setting up the water part is very nerve racking. I am not good with ph levels, salinity, and anything else I am needing to reach a good habitable home for them. Is there a list of all the numbers are at so I can go through the list?

[Dylan]

The water set up is easier than you think - buy gallon jugs of distilled water from the grocery store. Buy salt specific to salt water aquariums (i use instant ocean) and mix per the instructions with HALF the salt the instructions say to use. Shake and let sit for hour. Then use.

Make sure you cycle the tank before you get any critters.

[mike.d]

I also used Instant Ocean. I figured it to 1/4 cup per gallon (based on the instructions and weight on the box) and then bought distilled water at the grocery store and mixed it up. My salinity came out at 1.012, which is fine. Other recommendations I've seen say 1 cup of salt to 5 gallons of water will get you 1.010.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/foru ... ter.37085/

If you have a kitchen scale, you can go by weight. Weigh out 1 cup of salt, reduce by 1/5, mix the rest into 4 gallons of water.

If you get snails and macro algae from PetShrimp it should reduce your cycle time.

[shanster66]

The water set up is easier than you think - buy gallon jugs of distilled water from the grocery store. Buy salt specific to salt water aquariums (i use instant ocean) and mix per the instructions with HALF the salt the instructions say to use. Shake and let sit for hour. Then use.

Make sure you cycle the tank before you get any critters.

Thank you for the reassurance.

[shanster66]

I also used Instant Ocean. I figured it to 1/4 cup per gallon (based on the instructions and weight on the box) and then bought distilled water at the grocery store and mixed it up. My salinity came out at 1.012, which is fine. Other recommendations I've seen say 1 cup of salt to 5 gallons of water will get you 1.010.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/foru ... ter.37085/

If you have a kitchen scale, you can go by weight. Weigh out 1 cup of salt, reduce by 1/5, mix the rest into 4 gallons of water.

If you get snails and macro algae from PetShrimp it should reduce your cycle time.

Yes, my instructions (Instant Ocean Sea Salt) says 1/2 cup per gallon so I was thinking of HALVING the 1/2 cup which then comes out to be 1/4 cup per gallon.

Thank you for the link! Looks like the Salinity Gravity can be between 1.010-1.015. I will definitely get 2 nerite snails.

[robokirk]

I'd also buy the moss ball, it's a little pricey but I think worth the price.

[shanster66]

I'd also buy the moss ball, it's a little pricey but I think worth the price.

I was actually looking at the differences between macroalgae and mossball. In my opinion the aesthetics of the mossball is more pleasing and as I did research it also helps conditioning the water as well and is a good food source. So I am going to purchase the mossball instead of macroalgae.

[crittersni]

I've had great breeding results at 1.010.

Make sure you keep distilled water on hand to replace any evaporation. Remember that the salt won't evaporate, so you'll only replace the lost water with distilled.

I also keep some mixed water on hand if there's a need, emergent or not. It once looked a little cloudy to me. I pulled out 8 cups of water and replaced with 8 cups of brackish water (same salinity, kept in the same room for same temperature). Since I pulled the salt out with the water, I had to replace both.

You probably already knew this, but just in case...

[shanster66]

I've had great breeding results at 1.010.

Make sure you keep distilled water on hand to replace any evaporation. Remember that the salt won't evaporate, so you'll only replace the lost water with distilled.

I also keep some mixed water on hand if there's a need, emergent or not. It once looked a little cloudy to me. I pulled out 8 cups of water and replaced with 8 cups of brackish water (same salinity, kept in the same room for same temperature). Since I pulled the salt out with the water, I had to replace both.

You probably already knew this, but just in case...

Oh nice! What temperature do you keep it at? I've read it's best to keep it around 75 deg. fahrenheit?

Thank you for sharing your experience and information, much appreciated!