I just wanted to share my experience of losing shrimp with you. With the summer heat came rising temperatures in my tank which houses RCS, tigers and bees. As the temperature approached 28-29 degrees my tigers started to change color, to a reddish/orange tinge. Some died off quickly while others died a over the next couple of weeks. The bee shrimp did not change color but they also died .
I have a fan that I use for the tank which lowers the temperature a few degrees but with the summer heat this may not be enough. The RCS are just fine and carrying on as usual. Well, I just wanted to share my experience so you can avoid the same outcome!
I also lost some shrimp due to high temperatures. I had to leave my apartment for a few days, and I stupidly left the air conditioning off because I figured it wouldn't get too hot. However, while I was gone there was a heat wave, and my apartment turned into an oven, because when I got back, the temperature in the tank was at a blistering 90 F. I lost all my adult cherries but one. My baby cherries, amanos and ghost shrimp all lived, but probably wouldn't have if I had gotten back any later than I did. If anyone is going to be leaving their shrimp for a few days I'd recommend that they set their air conditioner to come on somewhere in the mid- to low-80's. That way you won't lose a ton of money on cooling costs, but your shrimp will be safe. Don't make the same awful mistake I did...
I'm not even going to try keeping crystal reds unless I can afford a chiller. Our tanks often get in the mid-80s during the day, even with air conditioning on. I just can't afford another $500 electric bill to keep the temps lower in the house for five months of the year.
I can report that my cherry shrimp seem to be fine at higher temps, although they do seem to breed less (they don't stop breeding). Mine have returned to normal breeding habits when the weather cools. I also haven't had problems with Amanos and high temps.
I even have a few cherry shrimp in an outside pond with temps getting into the 90s in the pond.
I agree, red cherry shrimp and amano are the more harty compared to most of the others. I also agree that investing in a chiller is a good idea if one wants to begin raising crystal red shrimp where the temperature gets high. I will learn from my mistake and hope others will too.
I have an Iceprobe Chiller, it's the size of a small filter. It's meant for 10-20 gallon aquariums, and can lower a 10 gallon fish tank by 10 degrees, even comes with temp. control. It's like a hundred bucks, not bad for a chiller.
I read about Iceprobe Chiller - the price is eye-catching. But I am hesitating to buy one because of the following:
1. it looks like I need to drill a hole on the tank to install it. Is there another way to install it without drilling a hole on the tank?
2. from the photo, it looks like it has a fan. Is it noisy?
3. Does it come with temporature control? On the website, it looks like it can be controlled by "Proportional Temperature Controller (TEC-65)" which costs another $60.
It is made by Iceprobe. Most people just get a small hang-on-back filter like Aquaclear150 and drill a hole through the lid. Like this
It is not noisy at all, in fact there's no noise.
Yes it does NEED a temperature controller (sold seperately but u always find it for sale together) that stops it from running when it drops down to the desire temperature, plus it also works as the power adapter. The fan never stops running, the controller only turns the peltier on and off.
Last edited by BM on Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
wow has anyone tried making their own?
i googled it and it turns out to be 150$ for the chiller and temperature controller. all it looks like is a computer fan with a heatsink...it would be sweet if someone posted a DIY of this
It is a little more than just a computer fan and a heat sink. The chiller works off of a peltier. Here's a site explaining how a peltier works: http://www.heatsink-guide.com/peltier.htm
Basically, DC current is applied to through 2 dissimilar types of metal causing one side to be cooler than the other through energy transfer. The probe on the chiller is actually cool to the touch when the peltier is turned on. If the peltier is installed backwards, it can actually warm up the tank instead.
I am happy to report that my shrimp are happy and healthy now that I have been able to keep the temperature cooler and constant by keeping a fan on most of the day.
At last count I now have three pregnant females and a bunch of shrimplets foraging and swimming all over the tank . This is how I wish it could always be
Well, I will try my best to keep them happy and healthy
If you're cooling the tank through water evaporation, you might want to use only reverse osmosis/deionized water to top off the tank. Otherwise if you're just using dechlorinated tap water to top it off, the metals in your tank will accumulate over time. Or another way is to do a water change eveytime you top off the tank.
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. This is how I wish it could always be 
