# Best Filtration for keeping vast amounts of Shrimps (Brackish)



## SteveShrimp (3 Apr 2016)

Hi I collect and sell River shrimps I keep them in a 10000 litre tank with a 8000 litre pump pushing the water through  a large pressurised oases 20000 canister filter, the outlet then is sprayed through some jap mat then the water flows down through the jap mat in to a tank full of Grog media then flows back into the tank with the shrimps.
1, is this a good set up and how can it be improved?
2, I have problems with ammonia and no3 nitrate
3, Gh Kh all good but ph is usually around 7.5 is this OK for shrimps?
4, I have to do half water changes every week to keep the nitrate down and the shrimps happy 
any advice appreciated  thanks in advance Steve


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## dean (4 Apr 2016)

If you have problems with ammonia and nitrate it suggests that your filter isn't working properly 
Can you post a few pics or a video do we can see and suggest a remedy  

If you were to compare this to a planted tank where the water is circulated upto 10 times per hour 
Then your flow is very poor 

In my ponds I like to turn over the volume at least twice an hour 



Regards
Dean


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## Aqua360 (5 Apr 2016)

More flow, more filtration needed


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## foxfish (5 Apr 2016)

Use an above water, trickle tower, where the media is kept dark but exposed to air, this will offer the most effective filter.
Very easy to build if looks are not important.


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## SteveShrimp (8 Apr 2016)

Thank you for your reply s I am in the process of building an outbuilding and will build a 10 foot by 8 foot  2 to 3 foot deep pond with a liner. Foxfish could you do a rough sketch of the best way to create a trickle tower, I will post up pick once I have completed the set-up thanks Steve


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## foxfish (8 Apr 2016)

I could but the principle is so basic I don't think I need too..... fill a container with bio balls & trickle water down through the balls, that's it 

If you can place the trickle filter above the tank, you just need to pump the water from your tank into the top of the container & let it flow back into the tank.
The best design has a perforated plate above the bio balls that allows an even trickle but a spray bar will also work.
You can read about the effectiveness of trickle towers compared to submerged media filters but at the very least they can support double the bacteria - perhaps  10 times!
The simple fact is, the bacteria will have unlimited atmospheric oxygen levels in a trickle tower.


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## SteveShrimp (8 Apr 2016)

Also to add I have GROG sitting submersed in water with water flowing through, and I have noticed that after a week I have a thick film of dirt and muck all over the grog witch I think is polluting the water as the water goes a yellowy colour and the pressure filter is not collecting it. 
Would the grog still be efficient  if I was to trickle water over it instead of being submersed in the water? so my theory is no dirt would collect in it  thanks again Steve


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## SteveShrimp (8 Apr 2016)

Thanks Foxfish common sense really can Grog be used in a trickle filter ?


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## foxfish (8 Apr 2016)

Yes, but you would need to pre filter the water to stop the media pores blocking up for the best effect.
Any plastic media is good, scouring pads are great & cheap, plastic packing tape is even cheaper.
I tend to rinse my bioballs every few weeks in a bucket of tank water.


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## SteveShrimp (8 Apr 2016)

Thank you!
My alfagrog is blocking up  because it is sitting in water so the dirt is not escaping. So by water trickling over the grog it has Less chance of blocking , I was also pre filtering before the grog but it still was collecting dirt and poising the water and shrimps I have over 50,000 at any time (they drop a lot of detritus) ..so I will try unsubmerged grog and see how we go thanks again for advise . 
I have been selling these for over 10 years you would have thought I would know by now lol


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## dean (8 Apr 2016)

I would have a foam pre filter in the pump intake 

Use plastic drain pipe to make a trickle tower 
Just cap one end use it as the base drill it full of holes, enough so water flows through easily but media stays inside 
Use filter foam or filter matting on the top to collect any crap that goes through your pump and to disperse the water over all the media 

Use alfagrog or anything you can get your hands on 

The taller the tower the better 

Or use multiple towers 

You can put a pics of 3/4" overflow pipe down the centre 
Drill it full of holes but keep it empty, this allows plenty of air to reach all parts of the filter 

Or you can use plastic stackable containers 
Just drill lots of holes in the base of each one, fill with media, stack them up, use filter foam or matting in top one 


Regards
Dean


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## SteveShrimp (17 Apr 2016)

Hi All for the life of me I cannot get my PH to rise I have done numerous water changes put Bicarbonate of Soda even a net full of limestone but my Ph still is below 6.5 not good for invertebrates any ideas ? thanks in advance Steve


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## Nick16 (17 Apr 2016)

Steve, why do you have so many shrimp? 

Just wondering!


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## SteveShrimp (17 Apr 2016)

I sell them for fish food! live river shrimps


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## SteveShrimp (21 Apr 2016)

Sorted! dead shrimps trapped in-between my trays of grog don't know how they got their must have been very small and sucked through my pre-filter cleaned and another 50% water change Ph back up .


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## Mortis (26 Apr 2016)

Get a shop blower airpump and run a few large sponge filters off them. Sponge filters are good for shrimp cos of the aeration as well as grazing surface for the shrimp plus some more media for bacteria could colonise.

If the tank is outdoors and gets some sun then you could add some floating plants


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## rebel (26 Apr 2016)

Mortis said:


> If the tank is outdoors and gets some sun then you could add some floating plants


Which floaters do well in Brakish???


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## SteveShrimp (27 Apr 2016)

Shrimps still not to happy i have moved my set up outside so I have room to build a proper outhouse , I think my system has stopped cycling because since I have moved them the temperature has not risen above 8 c and I am getting high ammonia and still high nitrate ph is ok at 7 and nitrite is 0 when I put my hand in the tank the water feels very cold I put in a bottle of live bacterial last night which has brought down the ammonia a tad. i have to go and collect shrimps today as I have a 60 bag order in the morning. any Ideas ? ta


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## Mortis (27 Apr 2016)

rebel said:


> Which floaters do well in Brakish???



Forgot that it was brackish. That said I think Hyacinths and pistia would do ok. We see a lot of them in the backwaters which are often brackish


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## rebel (27 Apr 2016)

Mortis said:


> Forgot that it was brackish. That said I think Hyacinths and pistia would do ok. We see a lot of them in the backwaters which are often brackish


Interesting. That could save the OP on filtration costs if done right.


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## Iliveinazoo (28 Apr 2016)

rebel said:


> Which floaters do well in Brakish???



Ceratopteris Thalictroides and Hornwort will both do well up to about SG1.003 at 25Deg C.


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## SteveShrimp (19 Aug 2016)

Hi Back again!
 right I have built a new building to house my pond which is approx 15000 litres I have a fibreglass tank filled with trays of alfragrog with a 20000 litre canister pre filter pumping up to a spray bar over some matting. It all seems to be working fine apart from the water is going yellow with high ammonia the shrimps are all looking fine. i was thinking of halving the alfrafrog and keeping it submerged and then using jap mat in trays exposed to the air sprayed with the pre filtered water from spray bar see picture of current set-up any ideas for a better trickle filter ? cheers Steve


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## Daveslaney (20 Aug 2016)

I would change the grog for plastic media of some kind bac ball plastic pipes.In my experiance alfagrog is a decent media when new but once the pores become clogged it very quickly becomes anerobic.Even in a shower.


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## SteveShrimp (20 Aug 2016)

Daveslaney said:


> I would change the grog for plastic media of some kind bac ball plastic pipes.In my experiance alfagrog is a decent media when new but once the pores become clogged it very quickly becomes anerobic.Even in a shower.



Hi Yes I think you are right I have to wash it out (grog) quite often now which is a pain and the water is full of dirt. I think it is best if I keep a couple of tray submersed (Anerobic) and use more jap mat and bio-balls etc with water showing over these, also I get a lot of Foam on top of the water when I feed the shrimps I assume this is good and my filter is working? be it not as efficient as it should as  I have to do large water changes every week as I sometimes hold up to 70,000 shrimps ready for sale and they do pollute.
Thanks for your input Steve


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## Daveslaney (20 Aug 2016)

yes i used to have a baci showered pond. I used to get the foam too in my skimmer.Its the method with the water over the shower it basically smashes the dissolved organic from the water.Hence the doc foam.
You should see your nitrates fall using this method too.


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## dean (21 Aug 2016)

What do you feed the shrimps ?
I would use filter foam sheets cut to fit on top of each tray of grog 
If you don't have anything to catch the larger debris it will just circulate 

Regards
Dean


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## foxfish (22 Aug 2016)

There seem to be plenty of room for improvement to your present design.
In an ideal world you would have perforated sheets between each tray, the sheets would have to be designed to distribute the water evenly over the bio media.
It is important to drip the water evenly & consistently over the media to get the best results.
The problem with using foam above the media means the water will have a poor distribution over the bio media.
You could try using baked clay balls in the top tray with foam over the top, that might form a more even trickle flow.
If you submerge any of the bio media it will not perform as well!
Also keeping the whole filter system in the dark might improve the performance as well.
Good effort though


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## SteveShrimp (23 Aug 2016)

dean said:


> What do you feed the shrimps ?
> I would use filter foam sheets cut to fit on top of each tray of grog
> If you don't have anything to catch the larger debris it will just circulate
> 
> ...


Hi I use any pond floating food sometimes live bloodworm they are scavengers so will eat most things


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## SteveShrimp (23 Aug 2016)

foxfish said:


> There seem to be plenty of room for improvement to your present design.
> In an ideal world you would have perforated sheets between each tray, the sheets would have to be designed to distribute the water evenly over the bio media.
> It is important to drip the water evenly & consistently over the media to get the best results.
> The problem with using foam above the media means the water will have a poor distribution over the bio media.
> ...


Thank you


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## dean (20 May 2019)

Any update 


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