# Water changes on a 20L Shrimp Tank.



## MARKCOUSINS (2 Jan 2014)

Hello guys,would like some advice as to how much water to change a week?I previously was changing about 4 liters a week,which was probably too much and have started to change just 2 liters a week.Is that better?The two 20 liter tanks i have are shrimp only(one housing 9 shrimp the other 16),planted with moss and java fern.I would also like to hear if you guys think i need to add LC or ferts to these tanks or not?
Thanks for any help.Mark


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## darren636 (2 Jan 2014)

4 litres sounds good. Just match the tds and temp


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## tim (2 Jan 2014)

Little and often is best with nanos IMO mark maybe stick with 2liters but maybe 2-3 times weekly, as Darren stated always match temp and Tds if you have a meter, no need for liquid carbon for the plants you have as long as your not over doing lighting a little ferts won't hurt though we all gotta eat.


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## MARKCOUSINS (2 Jan 2014)

Thanks a lot Darren and Tim.Im allways carefull about temp and just got myself a new TDS pen.Strange i was away so no LC was added for 2 weeks and 3 red Sakura look like they are berried in one tank!So looks like bang the LC on the head is a good idea  Oh by the way i light these tanks 6 hours a day,think thats ok and have some Dennerle Nano Daily Fertilizer to use(only micro).Cheers Mark.


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## Henry (2 Jan 2014)

Anything up to 50% water changes is normal for planted tanks. If you're housing sensitive shrimp, then small, frequent water changes would be good (25% twice a week maybe). 

Adding ferts and carbon depends entirely on how much light you're using, and what kind of growth you're wanting to achieve. Generally, mosses and Java fern tend to do just fine without, but if you experiencing algae problems it might be worth considering supplements.


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## Henry (2 Jan 2014)

Beaten to it!


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## MARKCOUSINS (2 Jan 2014)

Thanks Henry,allways good a bit more help  I hardly feed the shrimp(they allways have Cattapa leaves in the tank)and there is hardly any algae in the tank at the moment.Light is on for 6 hours in the 2 tanks with small fert dosing for moss and Java ferns.So i was going to go with twice a week 2 liters WC,hope thats ok.Cheers Mark


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## Cherry (23 Mar 2014)

I read somewhere that you shoudnt add liquid carbon or CO2 to a small shrimp tank? anyone elsse know?


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## allan angus (23 Mar 2014)

theirs a lot of reports on adverse affects to shrimp with the addition of liquid co2 but ive had no problems using it at RECOMMENDED dosage with my cherry's and they have tripled their population in about 2 months


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## Graham01 (23 Mar 2014)

I would avoid liquid carbon if you can shrimp really don't like it they are more active & breed better without adding it
Changing 4 litres a week is fine if closely matching the water parameters as advised in previous posts or alternatively 2 or 3 smaller water changes a week it's all good


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## Cherry (23 Mar 2014)

thank you both - I am just setting up a small (21 litre) tank for shrimp- thought I might have a couple of ottos but after reading other posts I am wary of having shoaling fish ,although I have put shrimp friendly substrate in which the babies can hide in (after seeing my fish hoover up cherries in my big tank  also taking the chance to try plants that get destroyed in my big tank.Any other tips? do I need an air stone- I see a few people have one when I read through all the posts - do I need a tester for hardness etc? after reading all other posts about don't bother testing !! (its still cycling at the moment cant wait!! - not even sure which shrimp to put in as I want to start easy but maybe have yellow and (have been looking on the recommended sites on here oops more than one question!


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## allan angus (23 Mar 2014)

otos are great little fish and as far as i know leave shrimp alone .i use 2 air stones in my 5 gal tank but i do dose liquid co2 and use dry ferts . my cherry population is booming
and i do no water tests at all ! just 50 percent water change every Sunday  (de chlorinated tap water ) live in south wales so 6.5 hardness u can look on line for your local water authoritys water report oh and no heater in tank spend more time cooling it! .....good luck with your set up let us know how u get on


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## Cherry (24 Mar 2014)

(sounds of Cherry quietly taking her heater out ...) what temp should it be for shrimps? Have just ordered air stones ...


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## allan angus (24 Mar 2014)

Cherry said:


> (sounds of Cherry quietly taking her heater out ...) what temp should it be for shrimps? Have just ordered air stones ...


my cherrys are kept at 19 to 22 deg cels and as i said spend half my time coolling the tank  (my flat gets hot ) lol


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## Graham01 (24 Mar 2014)

Ideal temperature would be around 22c


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