Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Hi, I'm Danae, and was wondering about a few things I can't seem to find answers to.

1. I've kept a successful saltwater reef tank going for around 6 months now using only local tapwater(county, so I'm sure it is treated) with crabs, snails, a shrimp at one time(he was a victim of a bad move ) starfish(well, had a serpent when I had a bigger tank, now that it is smaller I only have microstars) and corals ranging from sps to soft stuff that only really needs clean water and salt. I don't really know what my parameters are at the moment are for hardness or ph(was running around 8 in a buffered salt tank though) Can I use the same stuff for freshwater shrimp without it being treated, or do I need to get some sort of chlorine remover for the water for the smaller tank?

2. I've got a little stingray filter that moves 36 gph. Is that enough on a 10 gallon tank? It's internal and the intake is covered in sponge. What sort of media would I have in it? I'm used to saltwater tanks where as long as you've got something that grows bacteria(like LR or sand) you are fine. Even in my freshwater tanks(have 2 planted and 4 natural planted ones) the only filtered ones are the planted ones and those don't have anything except floss in the filter, to let more bacteria grow on it.

You need to treat the water with something like Amquel+ or Seachem Prime. The stuff they put in town water will kill the shrimp quick.

A media like a sponge filter woorks fine, but you need to establish a cycle. If you have any friends that have a fresh water tank, borrow their filter and clean it out in the new tank. Not kidding. This will seed that filter with the proper bacteria. The filter sounds fine.

When you clean it, do so in tank water and don't clean it too well or you'll kill the good stuff. If you replace the media squish/swish the dirt from the old media into it to seed it.

Alright, once I cycle the tank I'll get something to treat the water with.

I've got a good tank that I can get a bit of media from. The 20 is running with just plants for filtration "media" Well, hornwort at least. The 60 gallon has a good bit of filter floss that I could rob from it without a problem, and I only ever change medias if the old stuff is damaged in some way that makes it ineffective.

Also, when it is finished cycling, how many cherries would I want to add at first?

Welcome Riona...have you by any chance read any of the articles and done some searches? The answers to your questions are all right here on the website as many people have been in your situation before (see rules for more clarification on what is expected of new members before they start posting).

Riona wrote:Alright, once I cycle the tank I'll get something to treat the water with.

Also, when it is finished cycling, how many cherries would I want to add at first?

You probably won't get a cycle unless you treat the water first. Plants don't care, but shrimp do.

Get no more that 10 shrimp to start. Either you'll end up with a population explosion if you do things right, or you'll only lose 10 shrimp. Be sure to get only tank bred shrimp and not wild caught. Be sure to ask if the shrimp you are ordering were bred by them. Check their feedback.

Aren't all cherry shrimp tank bred? I thought that the red morph of their species didn't appear in the wild.

Many are bred in captive ponds and are for all practicle purposes wild. They are then imported under horrible conditions only to die a few days after you get them.

Be sure you get tank bred in the USA.