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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Shrimp tank

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10 Nov 2017 17:32 #1 by Jonlate (Jon Late)
So I am thinking of setting up a shrimp tank, and have a few questions?

My main questions are,
Can I mix shrimp types like we do for fish?
So can I have a tank with amano shrimp mixed with red cherry, tiger, bee etc?
Can you mix some sorts but not all?
Does it need to be a species only tanks?

How easy do shrimp breed?
Can I get a long tank and split it up, and use one filter to run them all, or will water parameters be too different for this?
Etc.etc.

Of course I will google this, but wanted to ask here first.

Thanks.

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10 Nov 2017 19:03 #2 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
From experience, mixing various shrimp species always end up with one specie doing well and the other not so much.
However mixing species for creating hybrids works well but better left to more experienced breeders.
There is no problem in dividing a large tank to house various species or colour morphs, but i wouldnt make them connected to avoid having issues spreading to all the tanks. It would allow you as well to house shrimps who need different water parameters.

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13 Nov 2017 15:22 #3 by Jonlate (Jon Late)
Replied by Jonlate (Jon Late) on topic Shrimp tank
Thanks Anthony, the shrimp expert.

I was looking to try and do it the easy way, One tank all mixed or one split tank on 1 set of filtration!!

But I suppose to do it right, nothings easy.

I take your point that in a mixed tank one shrimp will always come out on top, but I don’t have the room for running multiple filtration setups.

I suppose I need to decide what species I want to go for, and do that first, and swap it around at a later date. I do keep red cherrys in my sump, and they are thriving and growing in number (except when a fish goes down the overflow and eats the babies)

Any suggestions as to what you think I should go for first?

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13 Nov 2017 19:35 #4 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
That is a matter of taste.
My all time favourite is the crystal red shrimp.
An active soil like akadama or ada amazonia and some remineralised ro will go a long way to make them thrive.
A really good and affordable filtration for shrimp tanks is the aquael pat mini. Another option, if you dont mind a bit of noise and you have a few tanks, is to have multiple double sponge filters running from a single air pump.

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15 Nov 2017 14:43 #5 by paulcavan (Paul Gileoold)
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15 Nov 2017 19:23 #6 by davet (Dave Treacy)
Replied by davet (Dave Treacy) on topic Shrimp tank
There are two species of shrimp Caradina and Neocaradina. I've found Neos are simplest to keep so your Cherry shrimp. As for filtration I've used air driven filters in my shrimp setups rather than pumped ones to save getting the little shrimplets (babies) sucked in and killed. They don't generate much bioload. My shrimp setup is shrimp only but you can mix with fish, babies will be picked off as snacks if they can be got in a mouth so lots of moss works well.

Usually best kept in well-planted aquariums, with plenty of hiding places and mosses. I find they also do well when kept with bogwood, and stones. Plants provide hiding places and a surface for bacteria and other tiny organisms, including algae, to live on. These are pretty much an essential part of shrimp diet.

Water qualities is the main thing as they are really prone to Ammonia. I've always used tap water and I have a PH of about 6.8 you'll read alot about RO water, if you have it why not but not a requirement I've found.

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15 Nov 2017 19:30 #7 by davet (Dave Treacy)
Replied by davet (Dave Treacy) on topic Shrimp tank
Helpful Guide

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16 Nov 2017 17:02 #8 by Jonlate (Jon Late)
Replied by Jonlate (Jon Late) on topic Shrimp tank
Thanks both for that.

Paul, I saw that shrimp chart on line, it makes it simple to understand. There was not her big one, but being colorblind I can’t tell the differences in the colors!!

As for using RO water Dave, would that be a case of using it neat, or will it have to be remineralzed or mixed somehow?

I am still googling info so still learning.

Also when I am ready, where is the best place to buy them from?

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17 Nov 2017 23:31 #9 by davet (Dave Treacy)
Replied by davet (Dave Treacy) on topic Shrimp tank
Yes you'd need to remineralise the water with gh and kh shrimp salt to the levels in the chart for the species you pick. I'd look at getting a TDS meter from eBay. Very helpful videos on YouTube if you search for Marks Shrimp Tanks. I've picked up some handy tips from him.

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19 Nov 2017 16:24 #10 by Jonlate (Jon Late)
Replied by Jonlate (Jon Late) on topic Shrimp tank
Hi Dave,
Thanks so far fir your answers, I have a tds meter from my salt tank, so I can use that. I normally buy in the RO water when I need it for this tank.

My water butt has water in it at about 20 tds, could I just use this? Or is RO the only way to go?

I will look at YouTube now!!

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19 Nov 2017 19:40 #11 by davet (Dave Treacy)
Replied by davet (Dave Treacy) on topic Shrimp tank
No worries. I use tap which I just treat. Out of the tap mine has a tds of 80. Ph is 6.8. I use salt to buffer it up to 230. Can't tenner my gh and KH as I'm not at home. Tank is all Neos - cherries, yellow Dakota and some orange rilli. Lots of them breeding etc. If you want salt I can give you plenty to get you started. Got more than I need in a big tub. Look at getting montmerilonite minerals (spelt totally wrong ) rocks. Again an eBay purchase big help in getting good moults and shrimp health.

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21 Nov 2017 14:58 #12 by Jonlate (Jon Late)
Replied by Jonlate (Jon Late) on topic Shrimp tank
Now this might be a stupid question, but adding salt, does that make the water salty?
is it the same as marine salt or is it mineral salt?
Can you use a salinity tester to test the level?
What do you mean in using salt to buffer it up to a tds of 230?

Thanks for your help, just making sure I get the right information before I start!!

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21 Nov 2017 15:06 #13 by davet (Dave Treacy)
Replied by davet (Dave Treacy) on topic Shrimp tank
Mineral salt mate. Only a freshie here never went the marine route. Generally Neos are in water with TDS of 200-250. My tap is 80 so adding the minerals brings it up and also increase gh and KH levels. need to watch gh and kh levels are matched as per species chart.

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22 Nov 2017 17:29 #14 by Jonlate (Jon Late)
Replied by Jonlate (Jon Late) on topic Shrimp tank
Great.
Let do a bit more research on what to keep, then I will start my shrimp tank.
Thanks for all your help.

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