New Shrimp tank suggestions and feeding help please

[raptor83]

Hi everyone!
I currently have a few bamboo shrimp in my fish tank who seem quite happy - but I have decided that I would like to try and breed them and so I have decided to set up a dedicated tank for them, but would love some help and advice please (I tried using the search engine to find similar threads but didnt find any that game me a definative answer, so I hope no-one minds me making this thread)
I am hoping to make the "perfect" or "definative" home for my bamboo shrimp, reading through older articles and threads I came up with this setup:-

Tank: 20 gallon tank or bigger
Substrate: Sand or fine gravel with some large rocks
Plants: Java Moss and Amazon Frogbit
Filter: Sponge Based (unsure)

Anymore suggestions or help would be great? Is this setup any good? And what would be the best filter for this setup (brand and model)?

Also, at present my bamboo shrimp are just eating whatever leftover tetra fish food there is in the tank. I read in Mustafas Bamboo Shrimp article that they will never flourish in a fish tank, as the fish are always faster - so whilst I get together this perfect setup (or infact even when I have) what is the best food for them? I know live daphnia would be ok, and I guess tetra fish flakes (ground up) but what else can I get for them? Live, dried, or frozen? What about cucumber or lettuce etc?(Boiled?) I have heard of 'CYCLOP-EEZE' - is this any good?:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... %3AIT&rd=1
Will they eat frozen food?
Any help as always would be great
Thanks in advance

<EDIT> As an added note, I have heard that when breeding shrimp you need "brackish" water - can anybody give a clearer explanation of this? (When to make the water brackish, how to do it etc)

[Mustafa]

Hi everyone!

Hi "bird of prey 83!"

I currently have a few bamboo shrimp in my fish tank who seem quite happy - but I have decided that I would like to try and breed them and so I have decided to set up a dedicated tank for them,

wow...wow..wow...don't you want to start with something "easier" first like amano shrimp, which actually have been bred in captivity, before you try to breed a shrimp that has never been bred before? Also, you will need to set up another saltwater tank if you are really serious about breeding them.

Filter: Sponge Based (unsure)

Make that a powerhead with a sponge pre-filter at the least. A canister filter would actually be also great for reasons stated below.

I read in Mustafas Bamboo Shrimp article that they will never flourish in a fish tank, as the fish are always faster - so whilst I get together this perfect setup (or infact even when I have) what is the best food for them?

Sorry for confusing everyone, but I seem to not have expressed myself in accordance with my intentions when I wrote up that little species description back in 2004. What I meant to say is that if there is NO CURRENT then these shrimp won't do well with fish around since they would have to go around picking up food from the ground, and fish are much faster at doing that. However, if you have a current in your tank then it is probably better to have some peaceful fish (or other dwarf shrimp) than not have any fish (or dwarf shrimp) at all with these shrimp. A sponge pre-filter or, better, a canister filter, which can develop a lot of microorganisms (invisible to the eye) would be perfect in combination with the fish/dwarf shrimp. You feed the fish/dwarf shrimp, they produce "crap" ( ) which gets sucked into the filter along with some residual food. Microorganisms flourish in the filter and your filter shrimp filters them out when they come out of the filter outflow.

No extra feeding needed at all. That's how I kept my filter shrimp and they always had eggs and were well fed. I will have to update the info in their species description page as some of it is hopelessly obsolete or written awkwardly. Need to make a mental note of that.

I know live daphnia would be ok, and I guess tetra fish flakes (ground up) but what else can I get for them? Live, dried, or frozen? What about cucumber or lettuce etc?(Boiled?) I have heard of 'CYCLOP-EEZE' - is this any good?:-

Forget all of that. Don't feed them extra, you will just kill the water quality with the ground up stuff and cyclop eeze. Just do what I recommended above.

[badflash]

Just to enforce what Mustafa is saying,

These shrimp need fairly high water flows. They are only content when they can sit in one spot and filter all day long. Live food is fine, but they don't have to have it. What ever is left over from other fish or shrimp is fine with them as long as they can sit under a high flow and catch something in their nets now & then. I feed extra rotifers and moina because I have it. You need to be a nut like me to go to the trouble.

I grind up algae flake food for my endlers and my amanos and bamboos get what is left over. What they don't get the snails do so nothing goes to waste. If you see anything on the bottom 10 minutes after feeding, you are over doing it.

To breed I'm sure I need a bigger tank as my 10 gallon tank is fine for these guys, but they really are not growing. They seem happy enough though.

[raptor83]

Thanks for the replies!

I wasnt aware the no-one had succesfully bred Bamboo Shrimp!
I live in the UK and they are the only shrimp I have ever found available in pet shops (apart from some saltwater shrimp) they label them "Mountain Shrimp" so it took me awhile to find out that they were actually bamboo shrimp.

They seem happy enough and spend half there time filtering in the current and the other half scraping their filters along plants and gravel. Its just that the fish seem to get most of the flaked food so I wanted to be sure they are getting enough food. Is there anyway I can be sure they are getting enough? They are kept with some White Cloud Mountain Minnow and Glass Catfish both of which have never bothered them (they are only tiny at about 1.5-2cm each)

I have also read that sand would be a better substrate for them, but what sort? Can you just use normal 'building' sand, or is there a special aquatic alternative? (Have not seen any 'aquatic sands' in the UK)

Also, what specific makes/models of filters would people recommend? I'm not too knowledgable when it comes to filters you see!

<EDIT> I have been searching on the internet and have found a few places online in the UK that stock other varieties of shrimp such as Amano Shrimp and Tiger Shrimp. So I was thinking...I may instead make a dedicated shrimp tank - but would it be ok to keep all of these species together? (amano, bamboo, tiger, etc) and if so whats the best food for them all? -as they are not all filter feeders. I will probably also keep some tetras in the tank etc as Mustafa suggested (for the ahem 'crap') but what else should I know?
Thanks again and sorry for so many questions - I am abit of a newbie when it comes to shrimps as you may have guessed!

[badflash]

White play sand works OK as does quartz gravel (not marble) that you can get from a home center.

Don't keep tigers with amano or bamboo shrimp. Tigers need acidic soft water. The others like basic hard water. Amanos and bamboos gt along just fine. The amanos seem a little too agressive for cherry shrimp, so I no longer keep them together.

A regular over the side whisper filter is fine and gives the bamboos lots of flow they like. Make sure any fish are non-agressive to shrimp. Don't forget your snails!

[raptor83]

Hi again, sorry to bring up my aging thread again, but I am in need of some more advice please!

I have been looking everywhere for some playsand , and the best that I have managed to come up with is this:-
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 652620.htm
Would this be any good?

Also, if using sand how do you 'clean it'? I am used to washing gravel but have never used sand before as a substrate...

I have been looking at filters for my new shrimp tank and have ended up totally confused:- powerheads, canistors, fully submersed and external
- I hope to be getting a 10-20 gallon tank, so what is my best option for a filter? (brand/model number etc)

In Mustafas articles he says "The Eheim "Classic" series of canister filters works especially well for this purpose (in my opinion the best canister filters around)" Are these the best suited for bamboo shrimp? If so what model number would I need for a 10-20 gallon tank?

Lastly, please could someone tell me what are the best shrimp to keep with bamboo shrimp is?

Sorry if I am being abit of a bother with all my questions (I did try and search the forums first), and thanks again for everyones help

P.S. 'Badflash', if you read this please could you tell me what species that beutiful shrimp in you avatar is?

[MyBabyTex]

I have no advice, except that from what I read and see, my filter shrimp has plenty to eat with just the particles in the water.

I put a cave rock right under the current and he loves it.

Just thought I'd give my half a cent

[Caridina sp.]

The playsand you linked to will work fine for shrimp. The only disadvantage I've found between playsand and aquarium sand is that playsand tends to compress and get packed down, making it difficult to use with small plants. Your shrimp however won't know the difference. To wash the sand put some in the bucket with a hose and keep running the water and stiring untill the water runs clear.. repeat untill you've washed enough sand. Nomater how much you clean your sand however it will still dirty the water a bit, which will go away in a day or so.

In a 10-20 gallon tank go with a small powerhead sponge like the Marineland penguin power sponge. This will give you ample filtration and water movement that is critical for bamboo shrimp to eat properly.

Last, as a tankmate for bamboo shrimp I would strongly recomend going with red cherries or japonicas as this is your first shrimp experience and they are incredibly active and nearly impossible to screw up given the proper care.

think badflash's avatar is a FW glass shrimp.. correct me if I'm wrong.

[badflash]

Bamboos like soft acidic water and Cherries and Amanos need hard basic water. This is why I am separating mine and setting up a 20 gallon tank for my Bamboos and Bumblebees. I'm using a 20 gallon undergravel filter in a 20 gallon long tank, white play sand on top with platic door screening on top of the filter to kep the play sand from clogging it up. I have a small power head on the bubbler uptake. I connected the two halves of the filter underneath but put the power head on one end. This gives me a high flow end for the Bamboos and a loow flow end for the other shrimp. I'll try to post a picture later. I really love the under gravel filters. Hard to match that much filter area.

I got the playsand from my local home center (Home Depot). I'm sure you must have something like that in the UK. They sell lumber, swingsets, stuff for patios, etc.

Check over the Shrimp Varieties Page. Mustafa recently updated it to add water parameters. Find shrimp the need the same water parameter and all should be fine. Just don't put two of the same genus in the same tank or you could get hybrids. Also be carefull of Long Armed shrimp as some of them are agressive.

I'm pretty sure the avatar is a ghost shrimp with eggs.

[fishbreed]

is it ok to use home depot or just play sand in aquariums? do they make the water dirty, fuzzey or anything?

[badflash]

I use the Home Depot play sand, but as long as it is the whilte silica sand and not something limestone or marble based, it should be fine. This is your standard sandbox sand. You must wash ANY sand prior to use. I've found the easiest way is to was hit in the tank when I'm setting up.

In my 20 gallon tank I just set up I dumped in the entire bag, then dumped in a 5 gallon bucket of tap water. Mixed it really well, drained the water, and repeated 3 times. Once it was totally drained I added the R/O water.

[fishbreed]

funny all the lfs and big box stores have told me stay away from sand omg its so bad. i always thought they were full of it. i mean sand is sand, its in nature in ponds in the ocean, streams etc. interesting. thanks for the info!!!!

[Shrimp&Snails]

I got my sand from my lfs.....I also got coral sand off them for my snail tanks.

[badflash]

It is all about cost. A 20 pound bad of playsand is $2.50. The same amount of sand from the LFS is $25 or $30. The key is to stick to quartz based sand so it does not screw up your water chemistry. If you put coral in your sand you'll have a hard time keeping it acid, if that is what you want.

[fishbreed]

the lfs watned $100 for 100lb bag of sand ouchhhhhhhhh. im going to goto my local hardware store and see about getting play sand thanksssss