Siphon Cleaning A RCS Tank

[fishguy_1955]

Hi All,

Great site and forum! I'm an experienced fishkeeper and a novice shrimpkeeper who appreciates all the great info here. In order to keep fish healthy, we do periodic water changes and siphon waste and organic debris from the bottom of the tank. As I begin to establish my ecosystem with RCS and lots of Java Moss for the babies and adults to forage on, I notice that the newborn RCS are REALLY small and easily lost in the bottom debris that I would like to siphon off without sucking up my new shrimplets.

Anybody have any experience or a good trick up their (rolled up) sleeves as to how to effectively clean the tank bottom periodically without sucking up the smallest shrimp?

Any and all ideas will be appreciated.

[Newjohn]

fishguy_1955
Hello and welcome to the Forum.

I use a mess style, 5gal Paint strainer, They can be found at any do it yourself store.
Tied around the end of the siphon tube.

This mess has holes a little smaller than the fish nets. And still lets the waste go through.
It still gets plugged every once in awhile. This is the best method I have found.

Again, Welcome
John

[Neonshrimp]

How deep is your tank? A turkey baster works well in a shallow tank.

[FISH WORLD ERIE]

I use airline hose with a hard stiff length of tubing attached and I siphon this into a 5 gallon bucket. The airline tubing draws water and waste slowly from the tank and you are able to control the placement of the draw. Keep your finger on the oulet as it enters the 5 gallon bucket ready to put your finger over it in case you suck up a shrimp. Raise the hose higher than the tank and the shrimp will go back in the tank. Lower it again and continue siphoning. I use this trick for real tiny fry also.
good luck

Jason

[fishguy_1955]

Thanx for the great suggestions. Turns out I had at hand a couple feet of rigid tubing and of course lots of airline tubing so I tried out Erie's suggestion and it worked perfectly in my 10 gallon RCS tank.

Paul P.

[badflash]

I make a disturbance in the tank as I siphon and most of the shrimp just go the other way. I let the water settle really well in the bucket to be sure no shrimp got sucked out. I seldom get any.

[Mustafa]

I never siphon/vacuum. The organic "waste" turns into shrimp food over time as bacteria colonize it. Then the shrimp eat it and process the rest into water soluble (or near water soluble) organic matter which will either get sucked up by your filter or partially removed during the next water change. That's exactly the reason why I only use enough substrate to barely cover the bottom. That way, no waste can fall through the cracks into deeper layers of a gravel substrate(where shrimp can't reach them) and rot.

[Newjohn]

Well
I guess I should not have done this to my 30gal. I was making it ready for a new Species.

I am glad there is some left, I will just add a few Leaves.

John

[badflash]

If you keep your shrimp with snails like I do, you need to muck out the tank. I go after the obvious stuff, but there is always plenty left for the shrimp.

[Newjohn]

badflash
I find just the oppisite.
The tanks I do not have snails in, seem to have more.
Than the tanks that have snails in.

John

[wendyjo]

How is that possible John? Snails are pooping machines.

[Newjohn]

Wendyjo

I have MTS, And there Poop is very fine, some what like Shrimp.

Maybe, I just do not notice it, or the bacteria breaks it down fast.

When I do water changes, I have stuff floating around in the snail free tanks, and not in the tanks with snails.

I believe snails are at the bottom of the food change and what ever comes out the south end of a north going snail have very little nutrients left.
And then the bacteria can go nuts.

Just my uneducated quess

John

[badflash]

All my tanks have MTS, but I'm talking about apple snails. These are golfball sized snails and like Wendyjo said, they are poop machines and also messy eaters.

[The Fisherman]

Interesting info everybody, i'll keep that in mind as I prepare for my Shrimp tanks water change.

I was planning on just changing water, and siphoning a little of the shrimp poo..for lack of a better term

Yes..snails are poop machines...I still find it hard to beleive

-John

[FISH WORLD ERIE]

I am glad I could be of help.

Snails are poop machines. Espescially apple snails. They like to chew on sponge filters if they do not get enough food and as soon as they do that the mess really starts.

Most of my tanks are bare bottom. And I do not like the way the crap looks like on the bottom so I siphon the crap off. It is not harmful to the shrimp it just looks crappy.

I guess it just bothers some people like myself so I remove the crud from time to time.

Jason