# Some daft newbie questions on shrimp



## RolyMo (13 Sep 2013)

I find myself on week 3 of cycling my first nano shrimp tank.
Status so far:-
Planted, cycling using some filter material from my fish tank. Bundled in with some wool and a 60 dennier stocking end containing purigen, all packed into a nano filter.

NO CO2 and lights on for 5-6 hours a day. Plants appear to be developing well.

Have added pink ramshorn snails from other tank and 3 Amano shrimp to help be part of the clean up crew and help cycle the tank more.

All seem good.

TDS is 320.
Water is tap water.

In perhaps a week or two I plan to start to switch over to RO water, buy and add some of the appropriate shrimp minerals to reduce the conductivity of the water down to the appropriate levels for the more sensitive levels.


Now to what shrimp to get and this is where I get confused and need some pointers if I may ask.

I would like to get some shrimp that have red and white stripes. I prefer the more equal coloured red and white versus the more white than red. I assume that these are CRS shrimp.

Clearly these is a huge swing in cost, depending on the more pure and solid the colours and which breed it comes from.

I have fairly limited funds to spend on shrimp and get under the radar (under £100). However will do what it takes.

My questions are:-
1. The PRL appear but is this just chucking my money away considering this is my first attempt at CRS am likely to have £30/shrimp die on me? If not how many do I get.
2. How many should I get to get them breeding?
3. What do you guys do with a population explosion? 
4. Any tips on grade I should get.

Thanks in advance.
Roly


----------



## Michael W (13 Sep 2013)

In my opinion if you can follow the requirement guidelines for keeping them you SHOULD be fine. But in my opinion you should either start out with tiger shrimps which are like a step above cherries and a step behind CRS. Don't mix them together with CRS in the future if you follow this route as they will mess the bloodline up. Higher the grades for CRS the harder they're to keep. I started with 10 cherry shrimp and ended up with over 100 pretty quickly although CRS are a bit more delicate 10 should still get you going. I think A-SS are a good beginning grade to keep. Population outbreak shouldn't be a problem with these shrimps as you can always sell them on for a bit of money to keep the hobby going.

PS. I totally answered the questions in the wrong order.


----------



## RolyMo (13 Sep 2013)

Thanks Michael W.
I shall research those suggested shrimp.
 I have been looking at both sponsors as to their stock and grading. 
Cheers for your help.
R


----------



## Michael W (13 Sep 2013)

No bother, by the way the A-SS grades are suggestiosn for CRS if you want them for starters. Again dont mix them with tigers.


----------



## Spartacus (13 Sep 2013)

Oh no its Murray again........

Hi Roly 

Just chiming in:

1. Entirely up to you - I personally being a Scot wouldnt spend £30 on a shrimp (but thats just me) - Depends how serious you get into it. Personally I am still wanting to cut my teeth at the lower levels then when the real world allows I can set up a tank sorely for CRS and have at it 
2. It takes two to tango as they say and you could get away with 2 I guess but to ensure a decent selection (Wouldn't want to end up with 100% male or female) Maybe look at ordering say 12 - When I have bought shrimp ordering around 12 I received a couple extra to account for any dead loss in transit. 
3. Most peeps sell off excess stock - One thing to note is that shrimp seem to have some kind of population meter once they reach a certain level for the given space and tank they slow down reproduction to try and ensure an equal level of food. Kind of like a smart population control 
4. I personally like the look of A Grade shrimps - Its hard to tell from photos on a shop website but they have good colour in balance of white vs red.

I have used Sharnbrook Shrimp in the past - Tempted to use them or FreshWater Shrimp for the Cherries.

Have a look at drip acclimatising ahead of arrival.

For CRS grading have a looky here: Crystal Red Shrimp Grading Guide .:. Information to successfully grade the Crystal Red Shrimp

And I didn't even recommend a Dennerle product in a reply to one of your posts....


----------



## RolyMo (13 Sep 2013)

Lol Murray
All advice very welcome. 
I personally don't particularly want to spend £30/shrimp at this early point of shrimp keeping as I feel there is a great risk of loosing my investment early whilst I learn the ropes. 

Should I get good at it, then it might be nice to have some designer shrimp some day. . 
But it would nice to have some good colouration.


----------



## Iain Sutherland (13 Sep 2013)

Hey roly, it all sounds like you will be providing a good home for your shrimp so all should be well. Saying that an awful lot of people struggle with their first caridina (crs,cbs etc) tank, myself included. So don't blow to much cash straight off the bat. 
Getting 6-12 is a good number to start a colony and have mixed sexes.
Freshwatershrimp are well worth a look as uk bred shrimp, haven't used sharnbrook but they also get good reviews, however it's well worth posting a wanted as on the forum as lots of us have excess to move on.
Population explosions often control them selves as juveniles will consume baby shrimp when food is short. 
Get any grade your wallet can handle and you like the look of. After a few months you will likely fancy your hand at something different anyway  
All the best.


----------



## RolyMo (15 Sep 2013)

Thanks Iain, appreciate the advice.
So quickie question on the 6-12. Clearly it works. But just casting my mind back to setting up my Rio 180l, and was told not to add too many fish at once as you increase the bio load and thus bacteria cannot deal with breaking down the amonia etc. 
But I am guessing these little guys don't produce much waste.
Have been looking at the 2 sponsors. But if you say I can sell excess shrimp, others clearly do. Any pointers to the quality and breed pedigree of people selling off their population explosions versus buying some grade SS from the sponsors?
Cheers
Roly


----------



## Michael W (15 Sep 2013)

Its hard to judge what others have because we just don't have any guarantee and its all about the trust that they have quality shrimps for sale. On the other hand our sponsors are known to sell quality shrimps and they're very reputable. When you want to relocate shrimps putting a link to a journal etc usually helps as the buyer can see the progress and quality of your stock and its also something you should look for. By looking at their journals and such you yourself can compare their quality of shrimps and look for any that may have some faults which could be present in their bloodlines etc.

P.S I don't advice you to mix shrimps from different sources as you simply do not know their history as they could have been bred from lower grades which may otherwise ruin your original stock.


----------



## Samuran (4 Oct 2013)

Roly, can I ask what nano filter you are using?
Cheers
Ben


----------



## RolyMo (4 Oct 2013)

Hi Ben
I am currently using the Dennerle Nano filter. Mine was second hand (bought with the tank from the LFS) so it is missing the spray bar. So I have the jet pointing from the back right corner to the front left corner. I have raised it so that the output nozzle is just under the surface so that I get some good surface agitation to hopefully help with Oxygen in the tank.

Instead of buying the Dennerle Filter cartridges I have decided to do a bit of DIY.
I have cut 2 bits of course sponge to fit at the top and bottom of the chamber. I then have a large sheet of the filter floss for pond filters (bought from LFS for £3) which I then cut to size and have in the front of the middle section. And the I have cut the end off a pair of tights and put Seachem Purigen in and tied it up with an elastic band. Not sure how this performs against the cartridges from Dennerle, but all seems good in the tank after 2 weeks of having CRS in the tank!. I change the floss once a week and alternate the rinsing of the 2 sponges.

Both the LFS and people on the forum have said the Dennerle will be sufficient. Clearly there are better options depending on your pocket.

Hope that helps Ben
R


----------



## Samuran (4 Oct 2013)

Hi Roly

Thanks for that, altho I guess I should have read your journal first... 

I'm wanting to get into low tech and would love to use one of the smaller tanks I've got in the loft to do a small low tech shrimp tank without breaking the bank... fingers crossed 

Cheers
Ben


----------



## RolyMo (4 Oct 2013)

Hi Ben
No problem. Its all a learning experience for me, especially as i have spent the last year mucking about with a high tech set up.
I seem to have done it without breaking my bank. The tank and bits cost me £50. Real cost was the 10 SS grade CRS shrimp, as I wanted to make sure I had some good quality shrimp.
I would look at George's low tech CRS tank which shows you can do some fantastic stuff in low tech.
Good luck and post a journal when you have it up and running.
R


----------



## Samuran (4 Oct 2013)

Hurrah! I've got to say reading journals on here sure beats what I should be doing at work... 

Ben


----------



## Samuran (4 Oct 2013)

p.s. is it the Crystal Palace one of George's you are referring to?
Thanks
Ben


----------



## RolyMo (4 Oct 2013)

Yes reading Journals is very addictive.
Yes that is Georges CRS low tech tank. But clearly it is not on the cheap as he has some PRL shrimp in there.
LDCGroomer (Lindy) is changing up a gear with some other shrimp other than CRS.
Spartacus (Murray) is also doing CRS at the moment. His Journal is here
But everyone has been fantastic and helpful. 
Cheers
R


----------

