Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

I just have a few questions and some things that I want to make sure that I am doing "right". If my questions, etc. that I post here have been asked elsewhere, then I apologize.

I have about 22 red cherry shrimp in a 10 US gallon tank along with 5 ghost shrimp, ramshorn snails, pond snails, a Giant Columbian Ramshorn snail, and a few Malaysian Trumpet Snails. The tank was originally setup for a snail farm (for my dwarf puffers, but the MTS for my 30 US gallon), but has slowly turned into a shrimp tank. Half of the cherries are being held for a friend, so I will later have only 11 cherries in a few weeks. Two days ago, I harvested most of the ramshorns and MTS. So, I am thinking that this tank is still presently WAY overstocked. I also have been doing almost daily 30% water changes to remove as much waste as possible. For a filter, I have a Hydro Sponge filter rated for a 40 US gallon tank, but I keep it on a low setting, and I also have an airstone at the opposite end of the tank for circulation. It has a standard flourescent light. There is an abundant amount of Java fern spanning the length of the tank, and there is duckweed covering the water's surface. I feed the snails and the shrimp a snail food recipe (I have it on another one of my posts) that's loaded with calcium. I also feed them spirulina flakes, frozen bloodworms, and whatever frozen food is on the menu for the feeding time. All inhabitants seem to be doing fine.
I can now see who's a female cherry and who's a male. So far, I have counted about 7 females--3 are carrying eggs in their swimmerettes (sp?) and have saddles, and the other four females have saddles. I guess that I have had these cherries for about 2 weeks. I have hard water that comes out of my tap (around 7.8 pH). I use Prime by Seachem, and that's all that I have been adding to the water in that tank. Oh, and I keep the tank at room temperature.

So, I guess after my late night rambling, my questions are:
-Are they're any inhabitants that I need to remove?
-Am i doing right by the water changes?
-What faults do you see in or with the tank?
-Is there anything else that I should be doing?
-Is there something that I should NOT be doing?

*EDIT* Also, I have a planted 30 US gallon long, that I have 2 killifish, female bettas, 4 bamboo shrimp, and a SAE. Could I add some cherries in this tank? I am thinking: NO!

AnneRiceBowl wrote: So, I guess after my late night rambling, my questions are:
-Are they're any inhabitants that I need to remove?

I would remove the snails. They make a lot of waste for their size. Sometimes I think they poop more then they eat, but that would be impossible, right?

-Am i doing right by the water changes?

Your water changes sound appropriate because you are overstocked.

-What faults do you see in or with the tank?

Too many snails in with the shrimp.

-Is there anything else that I should be doing?

Having an oversized sponge filter is good, perhaps you could turn up the air on it so the flow increases?

-Is there something that I should NOT be doing?

Don't add any more snails to the shrimp tank.

*EDIT* Also, I have a planted 30 US gallon long, that I have 2 killifish, female bettas, 4 bamboo shrimp, and a SAE. Could I add some cherries in this tank? I am thinking: NO!

Fish will likely pick on the RCS and they will just hide and get stressed out.
SAEs can get very aggressive as they get older too.

I guess it's time to get a new tank!!! LOL I do have a semi-transparent storage container that I can convert into a snail farm. I don't have any other tanks that I can put the snails into, and I am moving in about 4 months, so, I kind of need to save $$ for that. I am also needing to save $$ for a 20 long.

I'll turn up the filter air supply--easy peasy!

I was thinking that adding the cherries to the 30 long was a bad idea LOL. Bettas have been known to make snacks out of ghost shrimp.

I also did not add to my original post:

I do a weekly HUGE (about 80%) water change. After my last one, I noticed MOLTINGS all over the place! They appeared to be ALL from the cherries!! YAY!!

There's one female that hasn't colored-up just yet (looks like the one Mustafa has pic'ed some where on here). She's carrying so many eggs that she looks like she can just barely manage them all! I can't wait 'til I get my first baby cherries!!

Thanks for the info!! I have to go do a water change now!

bulrush wrote:

AnneRiceBowl wrote: -Am i doing right by the water changes?

Your water changes sound appropriate because you are overstocked.

How is she overstocked? What she listed hardly seems excessive, especially since all of the tank inhabitants are inverts.

AnneRiceBowl wrote: I have about 22 red cherry shrimp in a 10 US gallon tank along with 5 ghost shrimp, ramshorn snails, pond snails, a Giant Columbian Ramshorn snail, and a few Malaysian Trumpet Snails.

Anyone else like to weigh in on this?

Yeah I would like to know too....because I have a bunch of snails with my Shrimp....but I have no idea of the species of shrimp ....really little guys though....

Overstocked

Lets start with 7 Females.
Lets say, they have 20 babies each. That is not hard for a good feed Shrimp.
That is every 8 to 10 weeks. So after 12 weeks, that is 140 small Shrimp, plus the 22 adults
So after 6 months that total number of Shrimp would be 302 Shrimp.
Lets not forget about the first batch of young. Females can start having babies, as soon as 8 weeks.

That is alot of mouths to feed, and alot of waste produced. And not alot of room for the Shrimp to grow.

Not to mention all of the snails. And they reproduce quite fast.

And the 5 Ghost Shrimp.

For that small of a tank, and all those mouths to feed. The water quality can good bad in no time at all.

Just My Thoughts
John

AnneRiceBowl

Yes removing the snails was a good thing to do.
I like to keep a couple MTS in my tanks, Then afer they multiple. Remove the offspring.

As I stated in the above post. 22 or 11 Shrimp can soon turn into 100's in no time. I know this from my experience.

I had 4 female RCS of poor color carring eggs and a couple of males in a corner tank in my Shrimp room. And 6 months later I had to give my LPS 150 , 1/4 to 1/2 inch Shrimp to put in the "Plants For Sale Tank " to help keep the algae down and to help me get rid of the excess Shrimp. And I still Have over 100 young Shrimp in the 10 gal Tank.

I do a 20% water change per day and pull out every adult female that I can find , and they still seem to Multiple.

Unless you want to be overrun and over crowded with RCS I would not suggest a 10 gal Tank.

John

The snails are the load, not the shrimp. It is the rams, not the pond snails or the MTS that can overload you. With daily water changes, assuming you have properly conditoned water, you can handle around 50 adult cherry shrimp in a tank that size, easily. My main 10 gallon tank has around 30 amanos, and around 20 cherry shrimp. The key is to remove the extras before it becomes a problem. Get a bigger tank for sure, but keep the smaller one too.

Massive molts indicate the water changed too fast, or was not conditoned well. Mass molting is a stress reaction.

Oh, heck.

I thought so...about the water. I was low on condtioned water, so I was filling jugs, adding conditioner, and then adding to the tank. I had to break down a betta spawn tank, my 30 long, my 5 gallon, 23 bowls, and the 10 with the inverts. There was a fire in my apartment this past Sunday morning (a great Mother's Day gift, I may add.) Can I use a storage container for a tank? I have an extra one that holds 72 (or 74) quarts and is opaque white. I can rig it as a tank if I need to. I am hoping to move at the end of July (not far from where I am now), so I am not quite sure if I will have the same or more space for more proper tanks. I do have a few LFS/LPS that I will be able to take cherries to, if I ever have enough to do so.

Sure, just about any non-metalic container will do.