New Tank Setup, Please Review

[ProLogic]

Hi All, Happy New Year!
I think I should have all my parts together for my first shrimp nano tank on Tuesday, when my little shrimp cube arrives. Since I am new to this, I was wondering if a more experienced user could do a “once-over” to see if I planned everything correctly to be successful in creating a shrimp tank with my son? I would hate to explain to him that we did something wrong and our shrimp died as a consequence.

Supplies:
Dennerle 2.5 gallon / 10 liter shrimp cube
7W full spectrum LED light
Refractometer
Instant Ocean Sea Salt (to be mixed at 1.010 salinity)
CaribSea Aquatics Eco-Complete African Cichlid Zack Sand
Lava rocks
Small ceramic breeding / hiding tubes
Airline tubing
Valve for airline tubing

When tank gets here on Tuesday:
1) Clean lava rocks and substrate with RO or distilled water. Boil lava rocks no longer than 20 mins. fill about 1/2” substrate in tank and aquascape with rocks. Fill with RO or distilled water.
2) Order snails, macroalgae and calcium rocks from petshrimp.com. When they arrive, place all in tank.
3) Wait 3 – 6 weeks for cycle and keep testing until nitrates = 0
4) When nitrates = 0 and algae visible, order shrimp from petshrimp.com (was planning on 30 for 2.5 gallon / 10 liter Dennerle shrimp cube … too many?)
5) When shrimp arrive, use airline tubing and drip-acclimate shrimp with water from tank for about 30 mins
6) Place shrimp in tank and be happy
7) Don’t feed for a month, then about once a month

Does this sound like good path forward or do you have some criticisms or suggestions?

Most pressing questions:
a) 30 shrimp sounds like a huge number but the internet seems to be ok with it. Should I maybe go with 20?
b) I would love it if the shrimp would breed so we can watch a full life cycle of Opae Ula shrimp and compare it to freshwater shrimp. The tank is so small though, should I give up on that hope? Mommy won’t allow us to get a larger tank so we are stuck with the 10l. Is there something I can do to encourage breeding except dimming lights and playing Barry White songs?
c) Does anyone know the exact salinity of petshrimp.com’s water? I think it would be less stressful for the shrimp if our tank had the exact same salinity, no?
d) Do I dump the water from the shipping bag into our tank or do I discard it? I’m getting conflicting information on that.
e) Should some shrimp inevitably die, do I remove them from the tank or do the other shrimp “take care” of them?

Thank you very, very much for your help!

[Bluemonk]

I’m really new to this too but can answer the salinity question. My order of PetShrimp I tested salinity to be 1.015 and this can be made with one Gallon of distilled water and 4 tablespoons of Instant Ocean (if using another brand do not follow directions given here) marine salt.

[JennyPenny]

Something happened to my first post, so I will try again. Luckily I didn't have to type this out twice, haha.

It is good that you have put a lot of thought and effort into setting this up to ensure success. I set up my first tank five years ago when my son was three, and we have loved watching the shrimp together. My family and extended family and friends all love to check out my shrimp.

First all good, the Dennerle 10L is a great choice and I almost bought that tank last week, but settled for a 3.7 gallon tank that I already have (I just set up a second tank). The light looks good; it might be a bit strong, but you will be able to tell if you have lots of algae growth and if the macroalgae from Petshrimp starts getting lighter in color. A refractometer is not necessary. As long as you use half the amount of instant ocean salt per gallon of distilled water, you will be fine. The sand and lava rocks are fine, no breeding or hiding tubes are necessary. These shrimp don't eat their young. They will eat dead shrimp, but you should remove any dead ones you see (to prevent rising ammonia) which hopefully will be none.

DO NOT BOIL YOUR ROCKS. Rocks can explode if you boil them. It is extremely dangerous, and also unnecessary. Just rinse everything with distilled water. Easy peasy. You can test for nitrates if you want, but it isn't necessary. Just wait for algae to grow and add the shrimp.
30 shrimp isn't too many. You could start with 100 if you please. 30 is a good number to start with. These shrimp are small, so you will want a good amount to ensure being able to see them whenever you walk by the tank.

Drip acclimating is not necessary for the snails or the shrimp. The shrimp are used to changes in their water and will be fine. You can just spoon them in, net them in, pour them in. I got MTS from my MIL's freshwater tank, and I just dropped them into my tank and they all lived and are fine.
I have never fed my first tank. It is about 5 years old. If you see algae in the tank, no need to feed them. Feeding can cause problems because they only eat tiny amounts and some people overfeed and kill all their shrimp.

Give it time and your shrimp will breed. You don't need a large tank. Don't worry about matching the exact salinity. It doesn't matter.
A healthy tank will experience very few deaths. If you have more than one loss, post here for help.
Let me know if you have any other questions. The forums have been quiet lately but if I missed something, I am sure someone else will eventually chime in.

[ProLogic]

Thank you for your very detailed reply. That was very helpful. Thanks.

[sliphorn]

..
The eco complete substrate is mostly aragonite and will provide all the pH buffer you need. It also has live bacteria which may cause problems. I would rinse it in very hot water to rid it of the bacteria as much as possible. Or you can buy a small amount of plain old aragonite from an aquarium shop and use it instead.
..

[PhilipS]

Welcome.

Skip air stones in salt water. The splash will dry up as a crusty mess and look unsightly.

Enjoy your pet shrimp.

[ProLogic]

..
The eco complete substrate is mostly aragonite and will provide all the pH buffer you need. It also has live bacteria which may cause problems. I would rinse it in very hot water to rid it of the bacteria as much as possible. Or you can buy a small amount of plain old aragonite from an aquarium shop and use it instead.
..

Would you recommend boiling it?

Thanks.

[ProLogic]

Something happened to my first post, so I will try again. Luckily I didn't have to type this out twice, haha.

It is good that you have put a lot of thought and effort into setting this up to ensure success. I set up my first tank five years ago when my son was three, and we have loved watching the shrimp together. My family and extended family and friends all love to check out my shrimp.

First all good, the Dennerle 10L is a great choice and I almost bought that tank last week, but settled for a 3.7 gallon tank that I already have (I just set up a second tank). The light looks good; it might be a bit strong, but you will be able to tell if you have lots of algae growth and if the macroalgae from Petshrimp starts getting lighter in color. A refractometer is not necessary. As long as you use half the amount of instant ocean salt per gallon of distilled water, you will be fine. The sand and lava rocks are fine, no breeding or hiding tubes are necessary. These shrimp don't eat their young. They will eat dead shrimp, but you should remove any dead ones you see (to prevent rising ammonia) which hopefully will be none.

DO NOT BOIL YOUR ROCKS. Rocks can explode if you boil them. It is extremely dangerous, and also unnecessary. Just rinse everything with distilled water. Easy peasy. You can test for nitrates if you want, but it isn't necessary. Just wait for algae to grow and add the shrimp.
30 shrimp isn't too many. You could start with 100 if you please. 30 is a good number to start with. These shrimp are small, so you will want a good amount to ensure being able to see them whenever you walk by the tank.

Drip acclimating is not necessary for the snails or the shrimp. The shrimp are used to changes in their water and will be fine. You can just spoon them in, net them in, pour them in. I got MTS from my MIL's freshwater tank, and I just dropped them into my tank and they all lived and are fine.
I have never fed my first tank. It is about 5 years old. If you see algae in the tank, no need to feed them. Feeding can cause problems because they only eat tiny amounts and some people overfeed and kill all their shrimp.

Give it time and your shrimp will breed. You don't need a large tank. Don't worry about matching the exact salinity. It doesn't matter.
A healthy tank will experience very few deaths. If you have more than one loss, post here for help.
Let me know if you have any other questions. The forums have been quiet lately but if I missed something, I am sure someone else will eventually chime in.

JennyPenny, how about vinegar to clean the rocks? I realized from the pictures of the lava rocks that there is some dirt and old moss or grass attached to them. If I shouldn't boil them, maybe scrub really well and then bathe in vinegar?

Thanks again for your help.

[ProLogic]

Welcome.

Skip air stones in salt water. The splash will dry up as a crusty mess and look unsightly.

Enjoy your pet shrimp.

Thanks for the advice PhilipS. I do not have nor plan top use air stones. I just have the air hose to drip-acclimate the shrimp with water from my tank. A process I have now been told is unnecessary.

[Dch48]

JennyPenny, how about vinegar to clean the rocks? I realized from the pictures of the lava rocks that there is some dirt and old moss or grass attached to them. If I shouldn't boil them, maybe scrub really well and then bathe in vinegar?

Thanks again for your help.

The problem with cleaning lava rock is that it is very porous and absorbs liquids. i would not use the vinegar or anything but distilled or dechlorinated tap water.

[ProLogic]

JennyPenny, how about vinegar to clean the rocks? I realized from the pictures of the lava rocks that there is some dirt and old moss or grass attached to them. If I shouldn't boil them, maybe scrub really well and then bathe in vinegar?

Thanks again for your help.

The problem with cleaning lava rock is that it is very porous and absorbs liquids. i would not use the vinegar or anything but distilled or dechlorinated tap water.

That makes sense. Thanks.

[Nellyville41]

I made two tanks 3 years ago. A 1 gal with 10 shrimps and a 3 gal with 20 shrimps. Both tanks took a little while to reproduce cause of the smaller number. The 1 gal now has around 30 to 40 with most of the new babies hiding in the algae ball. The 3 gal you can see from my other post. It exploded recently and now it’s well over 80+ if you include the new hatches along with a bunch of juveniles. After this next set of eggs hatch, I’ll probably be over 100 easy.

As for setting it, don’t worry/stress about it too much. I was in the same boat and wanted to make things go faster. Don’t need to test the water, just make sure you use half salinity. A little more or less won’t be bad. I boiled my lava rocks and carbonates for maybe a few minutes and it was fine. When your shrimp arrives, just float the bag on top of the water and then pour it all in or let them swim in. If you have more questions feel free to ask. Most important thing is patience. My 3 gal never really developed algae in the beginning but it was around 6 to 8 weeks of cycling and that’s when I ordered the shrimps. They eat microorganisms that we can’t see so you’ll be fine.

[sliphorn]

..
The eco complete substrate is mostly aragonite and will provide all the pH buffer you need. It also has live bacteria which may cause problems. I would rinse it in very hot water to rid it of the bacteria as much as possible. Or you can buy a small amount of plain old aragonite from an aquarium shop and use it instead.
..

Would you recommend boiling it?

Thanks.

..
Lots of hot tap water. Same for your lava rocks. Hot tap water never caused a problem for the pounds and pounds of lava rock I have rinsed over the years.
..