# General shrimp questions



## Frederick (6 Sep 2012)

Hi all... I am a complete newbie to shrimp keeping. The tank I have is a Wave 15 (15ltrs I think) and is plante3d with two swards and various crypts. No CO2 at the moment. Installed are 5 neons, 2 cherry barbs, 2 Amano shrimps and 2 cherry Barbs.
My questions are (1) do the blue lights give any benefit to the plants.
(2) how long should I keep the lights on for
(3) would CO2 benefit the tank if so which one would be OK
(3) what food should I give the shrimps,at the moment I am giving one which I must mix with tank water.
(4) any comments on the set up.
As you must gather these must seem very basic questions but all can benefit the general well being of the tank and inmates
Help will be very helpfull...... Frederick


----------



## darren636 (6 Sep 2012)

first things first pal, you need a bigger tank. 40 litres minimum for that amount of fish. blue light is for our enjoyment in the evening- not much benefit for plants,  such a small tank is ok without co2, feed the shrimp a varied diet of flake, cucumber, green veg, algae wafers etc. lights can be on for 6 or 7 hours, maybe 8.


----------



## Frederick (7 Sep 2012)

I am very surprised at the answer... quite helpfull BUT 40ltrs ????? I do not know of many nano tanks of that size most are much smaller,but neverless thank you for the reply
Frederick


----------



## tim (7 Sep 2012)

i honestly  have to agree with darren frederick 15ltrs is small for the livestock you have in there mate i would recomend you move these to your 180ltr if you can and maybe get a few cherry shrimp depending on the tds of your water co2 isnt needed for the plants you have maybe add some moss too shrimp love it i can send you some peacock moss next time i do a trim i use jbl prawn shrimp food at the moment supplemented with cooked spinach courgette and lettuce i dont leave food in the tank long i would have lights on for 5 hours a day with the plants you have we've all overstocked our tanks at times sometimes lfs advice is dubious i was told a couple of years back i could keep 20 white cloud mountain minnows in a 25 ltr tank   hope this helps mate


----------



## Iain Sutherland (7 Sep 2012)

survive or thrive!  I feel sub  20ltr should really only be a shrimp and snail tank.

Cant really advise on the lighting time as you dont say what light you run, personally my nano runs an 11w compact T5 for 9 hours a day, riccia, mosses, ferns and crypts all fine, no co2 and no visable algae.
CO2 will always benefit the plants but it really depends what your after, i find slower growth a blessing as trimming nanos is a PITA!!  
Best thing you could do is add a little dose of complete ferts a couple of times a week.
Feeding shrimp should be minimal, they will eak out a perfectly good living with very little added, if they arent scavenging all the time then they are either over fed or the water quality is poor.  As darren said a variety is best but only leave it in the tank 30 mins to an hour tops.
Best of luck.


----------



## Frederick (8 Sep 2012)

Hi all..... lets be sensible about the tank stocking. The number of fish formulea was devised for a tank with no plants installed.Now adding plants increases the amount of oxygon in the water... ergo.. the more plants in the tank the more oxygon will be added furthermore the volume of the tank has nothing to do with the amount of fish one can have..it is the surface area that the calculation is done on.Now if aeriation is added the number of fish allowed the number is increased. All the fish that I have installed are all water breathing types and the immediate infication that one has a problem is that the fish are gasping at the surface and at this moment in time there is no indication of this. All the fish and shrimps at the moment appear the be very happy... feeding and resting. The spray bar is set so that there  are two jets of water  landing on the surface such that it give considerable surface movement again adding a small amount of oxygon. I will add that at the first signs of trouble some of the Neons or barbs will be moved to my other tank which could be considered grossly overstocked, by the old calculation with the surface area I can only stock 40" of fish but at the moment the stock amounts to 63" of fish.... CO2 added and NO aeriation.
It is like the argument about using water test kits... just go by observation... at th first signs of distress... ACT

Take care all.... Frederick


----------



## Johno2090 (8 Sep 2012)

So at night when your plants are using oxygen and not producing it?

It's not right keeping this many fish in a 15ltr, don't expect to get any other response off the users in here. We all try and take great care of our fish and shrimp and overcrowding is something a lot of us try and avoid!


----------



## darren636 (8 Sep 2012)

it is not a question of  'can  i '   it is a question of 'should i'  ....  should i keep a rabbit in a shoe box? no. a cat locked in a house ? no. a dog in a car all day? no.  morality is the issue here. everyone has a line in the sand. i am an extremist for sure. you asked and recieved pretty consistant advice form a range of people. i mean, barbs... really should not be in such a confined space, they need room to 'be'   - mere existance is not enough in this day and age. we must progress and in doing so we make the lives of our captive friends much better. you did ask !


----------



## dw1305 (10 Sep 2012)

Hi all,
I've got to agree with the others about tank size and stocking, aeration and water quality are very much linked parameters and you need a certain amount of wriggle room with both for long term success. I'm not saying you can't run the tank with the stocking you've got, but less fish would be better. Personally I'd keep the Cherry Barbs if they are pair? if they aren't you really need to keep ~ 5 in a much larger tank, and re-home the Neons.

Have a look at "*Aeration and dissolved oxygen in the aquarium*": <http://plecoplanet.com/?page_id=829>. I wrote it originally for plec keepers, but it is applicable to most aquariums. 

cheers Darrel


----------



## nry (10 Sep 2012)

That, sir, is a darn good read!  Also happened to link to the hillstream loach article, there are some lovely specieis around!


----------



## Frederick (10 Sep 2012)

*update to general shrimp questions*

Hi all....after careful consideration of the comments (well meant of course) I have moved the cherry barbs and neons into the larger tank so all that the 15ltr contains is four RCS one black and white and one Amano.I am truly gratefull for the help and now for the questions..... is this the maximum number of shrimps I can keep in the tank top measurements 7"x7". In view that these are babies what food should I feed and lastly how often and what quantity of water should I change.
Best regards.... Frederick


----------



## geoffbark (10 Sep 2012)

Frederick said:
			
		

> My questions are (1) do the blue lights give any benefit to the plants.



No plus or minus benefit here, just your view 



			
				Frederick said:
			
		

> (2) how long should I keep the lights on for



Somewhere between 6 and 8 hours, depending on where the tank is positioned in relation to direct sunlight or bright light



			
				Frederick said:
			
		

> (3) would CO2 benefit the tank if so which one would be OK
> (



Co2 (carbon) will always be a benefit to your plants, As for which type, if you plan on keeping shrimp some people have had problems with high dosing of liquid carbon, so presurised may be the way 



			
				Frederick said:
			
		

> (3) what food should I give the shrimps,at the moment I am giving one which I must mix with tank water.
> (



Any food will be ok for shrimp, they like to scavange. 



			
				Frederick said:
			
		

> (4) any comments on the set up.



Overstocking!!  Try not to overstock your tank, this will cause all sorts of problems like water quality, fish health, stress etc.

As for how many fish you can keep in a tank, there is no hard and fast rule. It depends on species, size of tank and also size of water column and filter.

If you run a eheim pro 3 on your 15ltr tank you have 30ltr of water. This is how shops can stock their display tanks heavily, they will have huge tanks behind the scenes to make up water volume


----------



## ceg4048 (11 Sep 2012)

Fredrick,
          Please avoid double posting. I have merged your two topics. You only need to update the original topic, not start a new one. This avoids confusion and keeps all the detail within the same area.

Cheers,


----------

