# Low Tech Shrimp Tank Water Changes



## jameson_uk (12 Dec 2016)

I am setting up my new planted 30cm shrimp cube (22l) and was looking for thoughts on how much and how often I should be changing the water.

I am going to keep it low tech so given the lack of ferts and low bio load of shrimp I am guessing Nitrates won't build up that quickly (particularly being planted).


----------



## sciencefiction (12 Dec 2016)

It really depends on how you keep the tank in general but if you want them to breed well and do well, a shrimp tank is just like any other fish tank and they'd do better with large weekly water changes and regular feeding.


----------



## rebel (13 Dec 2016)

Which type of shrimp? Cherries will do fine in most conditions. 

Most shrimp will do better if you do very small water changes rather than big swings.


----------



## Aqua360 (13 Dec 2016)

The larger the water change you do, the closer you'll have to match parameters, I think more than 30% at a time is pushing it for shrimp imo; adults will moult when conditions change, if they're forced to do this on a weekly basis it can have deadly consequences imo


----------



## alto (13 Dec 2016)

I generally do large water changes (on the shady side of 60 or 70%) - only occasionally observe shrimp moulting post water change 
When setting up a new tank/scape & daily 50% water changes, shrimp don't moult with any notable frequency, as tank moves towards less frequent water changes, I still don't observe reactive moults


----------



## sciencefiction (13 Dec 2016)

Neocaridina species/Cherries do very well with large water changes. I've raised hundreds of them like that. I can't comment on other species. I haven't observed any increased moulting due to large water changes....


----------



## Aqua360 (13 Dec 2016)

Interesting...do you guys match parameters? I used to do 50% changes but I noticed my red cherries population declining with time...when I do water changes for my crystals I tend to find moults very quickly afterwards


----------



## jameson_uk (13 Dec 2016)

sciencefiction said:


> Neocaridina species/Cherries do very well with large water changes. I've raised hundreds of them like that. I can't comment on other species. I haven't observed any increased moulting due to large water changes....


I am planning on RCS.  I see two schools of thought which are just do 50% changes and big changes are not good for shrimp so do small ones (which I guess is probably more aimed at CRS etc?)

My thoughts were that water changes in a normal tank are to remove Nitrates, detritus and to reset levels (especially from added ferts)

As the Nitrates won't build up that quickly what will the water changes achieve?   The detritus could be removed by vacuuming and not necessarily removing the water.  In my mind this leaves remineralising the water???

The 22l tank suffers quite a lot of evaporation anyway so I will need to replace 1-2l every week regardless but I would like to try and keep it as low maintenance as possible and try and do less water changes (which would hopefully prolong the life of my Tropica aquarium soil as my tap water is quite hard).


----------



## sciencefiction (13 Dec 2016)

Aqua360 said:


> Interesting...do you guys match parameters? I used to do 50% changes but I noticed my red cherries population declining with time...when I do water changes for my crystals I tend to find moults very quickly afterwards



No.I don't match anything. My tap water is stable (Ph, Gh, Kh, TDS wise) I empty with a python and pour temperature matched water directly into the tank. I dose the tank with Prime. At any one time since I started keeping shrimp I would have hundreds...and I've had thousands of shrimp over the years....I only counted once when I moved all shrimp from a 15G tank and I counted 300 in there...I had a 5f tank full of shrimp...I can't even imagine how many were in there before it broke...But I treat them same way as I treat my fish....large water changes...They do really well that way...multiply like rabbits..



jameson_uk said:


> My thoughts were that water changes in a normal tank are to remove Nitrates, detritus and to reset levels (especially from added ferts)



Water changes are not just important in terms of removing unwanted inorganic stuff but also build up of unwanted micro-organisms that may pose risk to inhabitants.  Water changed tanks are tanks with healthy inhabitants. Nitrates are an end product of nitrification but are just a small drop of the big picture of the nitrification process. Nitrification alters the quality of water constantly, every minute....Without proper amount of water changes, the water in the tank can(will) shift in a negative way, harming inhabitants...Then one day people start posting how all of their stock started dying all of a sudden....blaming the recent water change, or some other imaginary enemy about their loss....



jameson_uk said:


> The 22l tank suffers quite a lot of evaporation anyway so I will need to replace 1-2l every week



You're are not replacing water when you top up a tank. The evaporated water is pure water and all solids remain in the tank...In time if topping up more often than changing water, the initial properties of the water shift and they normally shift in a very bad way(you get high Gh, high TDS, low Kh and plummeting Ph) ...A 22L tank is not an easy volume of water to keep healthy....I'd just replace as much water and as often as possible. It will only take 5m max for a 50% water change on a tank like that...I don't know why people convince themselves they shouldn't change water....

As for those preaching the low water change....sometimes there are reasons...For example when one manually adjusts the tank water stats, e.g enriched RO water, and they can't get it the same each time they do a water change...thus shocking the stock... If one does big water changes(which one should do for long term benfit), the water stats should be stable...Tank and tap water stats can't be much different...So its best to either learn how to perfect the new water to be the same each time, or stick to inhabitants that can do well with your more stable tap water and change as much and as often as you want then...



jameson_uk said:


> which would hopefully prolong the life of my Tropica aquarium soil as my tap water is quite hard



I would advise against such way of keeping soft water shrimp....Early or later they'll struggle because your water will shift...unless your project is more of a short term... If you want to try keeping shrimp this way, I'd advise a tight lid over and eliminate evaporation.....plant heavily.....
Alternatively, research the use of septic tank treatment powder in aquariums....that's right ..to reduce water changes... They are basically a pack of freeze dried faculative bacteria. In aquatic shops and pharmacies its called "probiotics" but goes for several times the price  I am not talking about nitrification bacteria in a bottle but specific type of facultative bacteria that's used in septic tank treatments. It's already been used by hobbyist in aquariums, ponds, aquaponics, with very good results... Search for an organic product, and one safe for aquatic life  Good luck.


----------



## sciencefiction (15 Dec 2016)

There are beautiful neocaridina shrimp types and colours for hard water.  My shrimp are mostly cherry coloured but they are a cross between red rili and cherry shrimp. I started with only 5 shrimp, 3 rili males and 2 cherry females.  I've had some beautiful odd coloured ones over the years. Some pics with questionable quality.

Female and a male cherry in the background



 

A blue male


 

A red rili female


 

Another cherry female and a male


 

Mostly a cherry female 


 

An odd looking rili female, sort of "dotted"


 

Another blue male


 
A rili male


 

A very young rili male again, only a shrimplet but zoomed


 


And a shrimp feast, ha, ha


----------

