Filters Safe for Shrimp

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jonathan03
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Filters Safe for Shrimp

Post by jonathan03 »

I have a 55 gallon tank that I am thinking of converting into a shrimp tank. I have a few penguin filters in it and I'm wondering if they will be safe for shrimp. I have the 125 and 330 models in my tank. However, I have modified the filter intake so the intake tube is only a few inches long. Both of the the intakes have the gaurds provided by penguin.

My question is, are these filters safe for shrimp? I haven't really seen these shrimp, so I am unsure of how they behave. Do they swim, or mostly stay on the bottom? I am thinking that since my filters have the gaurd on them and the intake has been cut down that the shrimp will be fine. I am hoping to start a good colony of the shrimp in my 55 gallon tank and spread them to my other tanks. I just don't want all of the baby shrimp to be sucked in the filter.

I don't see how they could be sucked in the filter with the modfied filter tube if they stay on the bottom of the tank. If they swim to the upper levels, then there is a greater risk. I would prefer to use a better filter than a sponge filter (which I know is ideal for smaller tanks) because I have a larger tank. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help.
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Post by Lotus »

Most people put a sponge or some kind of netting over the filter intake. Baby shrimp will get sucked up a Penguin filter, I've had it happen. The intakes often have bits of food or plant on them, or tasty algae inside them that attracts the babies.
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Post by Urkevitz »

I use a sponge prefilter and have never found shrimp in my cannister filter.
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Post by TKD »

Hi,

I use Aquaclear. When I have baby guppies I cut an aquaclear sponge in half, make an X slot and shove it on the intake.

It woks for baby guppies so at could work for shrimp.

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Post by chlorophyll »

Most if not all shrimp, especially those small enough to worry about a filter intake, will swim to any level of the water. They spend most time crawling, but they swim enough to be sucked into any intake that's big enough.

You can use sponge or filter cotton, but I favor netting wrapped around the intake and tied with floss or fishing line. They should be fine then. If you expect baby shrimp to come about, use brine shrimp net netting or pantyhose.
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Post by jonathan03 »

How big are the shrimp when they are first born? The main problem I'm having is how do I setup a shrimp tank when I have never seen the size of the guys? I see that it posts the size of cherry reds in the shrimp page, but thats the max size. How big are the babies right after being hatched? Are they even visible?

Do thesr shrimp need still water? I'm thinking of using a penguin mini or a 125. I have both of them right now and they aren't in use. I'm plaaning on a 10 gallon tank.

Last, (and off the orginal thread sorry), how many shrimp can a 10 gallon tank hold? Will they breed in the tank? I was going to use a spare 55 gallon tank I had, but some moron dropped it
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Post by Pconnieae »

Hi,

when they are first born the young red cherry shrimps are approximately 2 or 3 mm.

In my opinion a sponge filter is better because there is no risk for the young shrimps to be sucked.

I have already kept shrimps in a 5 gallon tank. They can breed in small tanks but the larger the tank is the better it is. In a 10 gallon tank, you can keep a lot of shrimps. But if you want them to breed, you just need 10 shrimps to begin. I think it's enough.
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Post by chlorophyll »

A newly busted 55! aw :(

Yeah the cherry red babies are about 2-3 mm. And a sponge filter would be the very safest bet.

But I'm inclined to say that brine chrimp netting, sponge, or pantyhose over the intakes will have the babies safe too. The current probably won't be SO strong as to get the shrimp (if they are normal and healthy) unable to escape being trapped against the netting/sponge/pantyhose. Plus with lots of rocks and plants, the shrimp will more likely be on those surfaces than hanging around the intake.

This species of shrimp can thrive in streams, so still water's not necessary, and a good strong current isn't a bad thing. But a streamlike current isn't necessary either. Personally, I think they prefer a bit of a current though... which a sponge filter can provide too.
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Post by retardo »

sponge filters all the way, whether u put that on an aquaclear intake or by itself. the pores of the sponge usually are small enough that they will not take a baby shrimp prisoner. i tried growing some amano larvae (1-2mm) into small shrimp, and the sponge filter didn't suck them up. for miniature version shrimps (i.e., cherries) it shouldn't be a problem.
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Post by jonathan03 »

What about a prefilter? Its a sponge that fits on the intake of the power filter. I would really like to use the power filter since I have a lot of them laying around they have always worked very well for me.

Can anyone recommend a prefilter that will fit on a penguin 125? If possible, can it be one that big als's has in stock? I'm going to order some others things from them so it would be great if I can get that too.

Will this one fit? It doesn't say how big the cutout peice is (or even ifthere is one)

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/pro ... ry_id=2577

This one looks good too
http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW ... mdy00.aspx
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Post by retardo »

both will work fine.
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Post by German »

Lotus wrote:Most people put a sponge or some kind of netting over the filter intake. Baby shrimp will get sucked up a Penguin filter
That is only important, if you have very small shrimps.
jonathan03
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Post by jonathan03 »

I'm using the filter max III prefilters. I got them and I was amazed by the size at first. They are very large but they evenly intake the water so the intake isn't as powerful. The shrimp are always on them looking for algae and small peices of food to eat. I think it was a great buy. I got them for $7 at that pet place. I really like how you can turn the sponge at any angle.
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