Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

I set up a shrimp tank about two weeks ago. Its a 20 Gal. standard tank with a Whisper Tank Filter. The Filter is of course a 20 Gal filter.

My question is, can baby RCS be sucked into the horizontal openings on the intake valve? Is anyone else familiar with the size of the openings in relation to the size my RCS offspring will be?

I have taken preventative measures already. I bough a foam pad normally used for 70 Gal. reservoirs to retain bacteria. I cut it down to size and funneled an opening for the valve. It works perfectly. The foam is very pourous(sp?) and does not affect water flow.

Is it even needed or are the babies to big for the opening on this kind of valve?

Hello schism
And welcome to the Forum

It is always a good idea to use a prefilter on any Hang-On-Back Filter.

Beisdes keeping your shrimp from being sucked into the filter, It will also aid in your biological filtration.

John

Your foam filter should work. Many use sponger filters instead. I use undergravel filters powered by HOB's, or HOB's with sponge pre-filters. Some get through the prefilters anyway, but not many. When you chick your BOB look carefully for shrimp in there.

Newjohn wrote:Hello schism
And welcome to the Forum

It is always a good idea to use a prefilter on any Hang-On-Back Filter.

Beisdes keeping your shrimp from being sucked into the filter, It will also aid in your biological filtration.

John

Thanks, I added a rectangular piece of the foam in the reservoir of the hang on filter too, I figured that would go the extra mile of retaining some bacteria.

badflash wrote:Your foam filter should work. Many use sponger filters instead. I use undergravel filters powered by HOB's, or HOB's with sponge pre-filters. Some get through the prefilters anyway, but not many. When you chick your BOB look carefully for shrimp in there.

I was looking for a sponge attachment for my Whisper filter valve, or something I could change out, but the petstore didn't have any or maybe there isnt even anything like that available. The lady at the petstore recommended the sponge pad because they can be cut and fitted over the intake valve. It certainly doesn't effect waterflow and I cant imagine a shrimplet being sucked through all that sponge to the filter, but how big do the babies get? I mean like width wise? Can the Red Cherry Shrimplets actually squeeze into really tight spots?

I guess I dont have to worry about this for a month or two. I ordered about 15 RCS from Mustafa and as I understand it they cant even begin breeding until they get a little bit older out of the juveneille stage.

Hi and welcome schism,

The sponge pad is a good idea. The baby shrimp will be about 3mm long and maybe less than 1mm wide. Yes they can and will squeeze into really tight spots.

I use penguin reverse flow sponge filters over my HOB's. Good reverse flow filter, you'll find them. They fit tightly over the HOB suction.

A lot of the sponges intended as pre-filters are course enough that babies may occasionally make their way through. The ones I use are for an air driven filter made by Hagen; they come in packs of two, and have very fine pores.

I went to a specialty store and bought a Clover Dual-Action Foam Filter.

Heres a pic of what the foam filter looks like, but mines is shaped like a clover. I got rid of the power filter with the foam pad i put over it. Will this work ok?



Also, I notice in the pics I see that you guys seem to have A LOT of plants in your tank. In the FAQS page though its says you shouldn't really use them, I have a couple but should I add more and what types would you recommend? (im a beginner)

It sure will No worries about your babies either. If the capacity is less than 20 gallons you might want to use more than one.

Its kind of weird. With the power filter I understand the concept that the water gets sucked into the intake valve and goes up into the filter chamber where its run through the charcoal filter and realeased back out the little lip that cascades back to the water.

With this foam filter I dont really understand the mechanics of how it keep the water clean. Its a sponge that sits there with a tube connectted to the pump. But no water is actually sucked in anywhere from the tank from what I can tell. How does the water stay clean?

The air that is pumped through the air tube creates a vacuum/current of water. The water is drawn into the filters sponge and the water if pushed out the tube. The water follows the air bubbles. Pretty neat huh ?

So, Ive got my pump, I removed the airstone since I got rid of my powerfilter. The idea being I guess that the foam filter does two jobs at once. Keeps the water oxygenated and filters the water. I ran the tube from the pump to the connection piece on the foam filter. The pump pushes air into the conection piece which pushes the oxygen into the main tube and the bubles come out the top. I just dont see how that pulls water in from the tank. (I must sound like a moron, but this is all new to me.)

Heh, I know I had to learn it also. So the air bubbles create a current pushing the water along.

If you submerge a bag with air in it under water you can feel the bag pulling itself up towards the surface. This is the same concept with the force of the air bubble pushing the water through the filter. Hope this helps

schism wrote: Also, I notice in the pics I see that you guys seem to have A LOT of plants in your tank. In the FAQS page though its says you shouldn't really use them, I have a couple but should I add more and what types would you recommend? (im a beginner)

You don't need lots of plants for a shrimp tank.
You'll find most people here stick to slow growing plants like mosses and ferns which can help maintain water quality a bit without actually using up too many of the nutrients required for the shrimp's food to grow

Java moss is one of the best plants out there for shrimp tanks IMO. It's cheap, easy to grow, and provides a great "landscape" for your shrimp to explore / hide in. You will find a lot of people here with nothing in their breeder tanks except for a clump of java moss.

There are also a large number of heavily planted shrimp tanks out there. These are not set up with the shrimp in mind; the plants are the top priority and are there mainly for aesthetic reasons.

Plenty of people have had success breeding healthy shrimp in those heavily planted tanks, but it is a lot more difficult, a lot riskier, and not really the best place for your shrimp to be.