# Shrimp Newbie



## Brittyboo (Feb 14, 2015)

I have come to learn that my husband is buying me a full shrimp set up for this holiday gift giving season (he's such an enabler lol) and was hoping some more seasoned shrimp keepers could give me a few pointers! 
I'll be most likely getting red cherry shrimp because other kinds are kinda hard to locate around here and I'd rather not ship them. Any advice is greatly appreciated!


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

A few things:
1. Know your water
2. Pre-cycle! 
3. Plant before/during cycle
4. Let tank age for several months (keep filter cycled)
5. Slow drip acclimation
6. Small water changes are better than large
7. Effects of some substrates, hardscapes, and metals

1.Shrimp are very sensitive you should look at your local water report, make sure there is not a lot of copper in the water, or ammonia or nitrates. If you do not have one already get a fresh water API liquid master test kit, as well as a GH, KH test kit, and a TDS meter (can get this online for $17). Cherries may be the most tolerant shrimp but they still have limits to what water they can live in. 
First thing to look for after ammonia and nitrate straight from the tap is pH: does your tap contain co2? test water straight fro tap then set some aside in a glass/cup for 2 days and test that. If pH goes up after a few days you have co2 in your tap which means it off gasses to get to its true pH. This ultimately means you must age water (let set out a few days) before use for water changes/filing tank etc. 
Next is GH and KH-water hardness and TDS meter (follow meter instructions and do maybe 10 tests, average the results). Very high hardness makes it difficult for shrimp to molt and grow which can lad to death. TDS you'll want to keep an eye on tank TDS and water prepped for a water change-sudden swings in TDS from a water change can cause the shrimp to molt-if they molt too soon after their previous molt it can kill them. Some people use RO water and re-mineralize with shrimp products means to get to a certain hardness/tds level but this can get expensive-its usually done for the fancier shrimp species like crystal red shrimp.


2.You need to do a fishless or in this case shrimp less cycle-I'd recommend use of pure ammonia-Ace hardware janitor strength ammonia is a good safe ammonia source. Why shrimp-less cycling? Because shrimp do NOT tolerate any ammonia, nitrite, or high nitrates. So the tank must be pre-cycled and have a good beneficial bacteria colony. Because its not wise to do large water changes, a shrimp-in cycle with prime won't work either.


3.Shrimp love, need plants-they provide hiding places to feel secure and can naturally grow microfuana the shrimp eat (moss being a great candidate for both-and on the symbiotic relationship note the shrimp keep the moss clean). Plant the tank before/during the cycle is best, not right before shrimp come. Why/ some sellers grow plants emersed (or get from nurseries that grow plants emersed. Emsered means above water, immersed means below. If grown emersed the plants may need up to 2 months to transition to imersed/submerged life to be able to absorb ammonia/nitrates. Planting well in advance of getting shrimp also gives you time to figure out what does and does not work for your setup. 
If you'd like a list of some low light easy plants let me know ^^

4.After the tank is fully cycled wait at least 2 months, let the tank age and naturally grow plentiful amounts of the microscopic food the shrimp eat. The shrimp forage constantly so this ensure they don't go hungry (and you don't spike nitrates over feeding to compensate if they were put in early), and ensure the tank is stable. Well versed shrimp owners who have pre-cycled filters from other tanks and are harvesting plants from existing tanks may be ale to throw a shrimp tank together in a day or two but if it is your first time owning shrimp DO NOT RUSH IT.


5.When you get the shrimp DO NOT simply float the bag ad release! The sudden change in pH, ammonia/nitrate, hardness/tds will shock and likely kill them within 24 hours (you'll notice erratic sharp backwards darting all over the place as the shrimp are messed up). When you get shrimp you need to drip acclimate. You don't need an "acclimation kit" just some clean airline tubing and a little plastic air pressure valve used for air pumps to control air flow. If you use the tetra whisper air pump it comes with this. If not you should have able to get a pack of these at a lfs for $1-2. Instructions below assume you are buying shrimp locally
Open the bag the shrimp came in and assets the amount of water the shrimp have. Plan to use a clean container that will keep the shrimp under water with what they start with in the bag but lets you add 4xs that volume (or plan to move them to a larger drip container as you go), carefully pour shrimp and their water into the container. If the bag is big enough to hold 4x or more the volume of water the shrimp come in, prop it up inside another container and leave the shrimp in the bag. Put the pressure valve on the airline tubing and turn it so its fully open. Put it into the tank the shrimp are going in and suck to start a siphon, then turn the valve nob to make it only 1-3 drips per a second and place that in the shrimp bag (note-gravity makes water come out faster, when adjusting the drip, keep the tubing low-near the shrimp's level but not directly over the shrimp's water until properly adjusted. Drip the shrimp for a *minimum *of 1 hour-longer is fine I've done a 2 hour drip before. Water volume at end of drip acclimation should be *at least* 1/4th shrimp water. 3/4ths tank water (more is better). If the container cannot hot that much water periodically scoop out a small amount of the water and put it down the drain (not in the tank). After the drip acclamation I bag the shrimp in a zip lock style bag (I don't re-use tore bags ad they usually have sharpie ink on them) and float it on the tank for 30 minutes to ensure shrimp are at proper temp then I open the bag and net the shrimp into the tank. I try not to let any of the old shrimp's water into the tank as I don't know what may be in it from the store.


6.Always remember to dechlorinate! I'm a big can of Seachem Prime for dechlorinator. Smaller water changes are better than large ones-never do more than 25-30% water change. 
When you add new water in make sure it is the same temperature and pH and tank water, and close/same TDS. Its best to add new water lowly-I use an airline tubing and put the bucket above the shrimp tank to do a simply gravity fed siphon. If you quickly cup and dump in new water tot eh tank it can shock the shrimp (especially if TDS is different). The airline tubing way has been very successful for me, though it does take longer to finish and needs to be monitored to avoid overflowing the tank.

7.Not done yet! When you are setting up the tank you need to know your substrate and hardscape. Some substrates can effect pH and hardness (put in water and test after 3-7 days compared to tap. Also be aware that sub 'enriched substrates" will release ammonia for the first few months (great help to starting a cycle) such as 'eco complete' and 'amazonia'.
If you plan to use any rocks or driftwood you need to know how it will effect the water. Some rocks are not safe as they release harmful minerals over time. There is a thread somewhere on this forum that lists safe rocks but I cannot find it. Some rocks that are fish safe can still effect pH and hardness, example: Seiryu stone raises pH and hardness. You don't want to use texas holy rock (limestone), or this stuff (sometimes called zebra stone):








it shots gh and kh off the charts-not shrimp live-able.
If you use driftwood or leaf litter you need to test your tank water over time to see if it is lowering pH. If so you need to pre-lower pH of water you want to use for a water change. A way to get around this is to boil wood and leaves before use to leech out all the tannins which are what lower pH.
Aaand finally a note on use of metal in the tank: stainless steel is the only shrimp safe metal for a shrimp tank. Do not keep any metals in the tank that are not stainless steel. If you plan on buying any plant that is a "__mat" (java fern mat, dwarf baby tears mat, etc). Ask the seller if it is warped in a green coated metal mesh. If they say yes DO NOT BUY IT! I learned the hard way this metal is NOT stainless steel. 2 days in a shrimp tank killed over 1/2 the colony! I ripped the mats out, removed the metal and put the mat and pant on stainless steel mesh I bought and there were no more shrimp deaths. I spoke with the person i bought these mats from, they insisted it was shrimp safe, but my half eradicated colony said other wise (the mats were the only change in the tank in months-nothing else could account for the deaths)

Ok that about covers it.. other tips: don't over feed! Shrimp are tiny and don't need that much food, especially if you properly age the tank.
If you'd like more info on anything (like plant list, or cycling) let me know.


----------



## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

Great advice, Aqua! Thank you for writing all that out.


----------



## Brittyboo (Feb 14, 2015)

Wow! Thank you for all the advice Aqua Aurora! I'll definitely be keeping all of it in mind when picking up the tank and supplies


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

BettaSplendid said:


> Great advice, Aqua! Thank you for writing all that out.





Brittyboo said:


> Wow! Thank you for all the advice Aqua Aurora! I'll definitely be keeping all of it in mind when picking up the tank and supplies


Happy to help ^^ Shrimp are a joy to keep but they are sensitive so you can't wing it as much as you can with a betta. I started out doing too large/fast water changes and lost most of my shrimp. Amusingly when I had about 5 left (about the time I got my 2nd and 3rd betta-Magnus and Alastor) I said "[censor] it!" And dumped the remaining shrimp in a dwarf puffer tank on my husband's desk expecting them to become lobster dinner (the shrimps previous tanks became the new betta's tanks). Well surprise surprise the dwarf puffer is an odd ball and would not eat them (they usually will-dwarf puffers will even eat the much larger amano and ghost shrimp by pecking them apart-I've seen a few videos of it on youtube) and they bred light crazy in to a several hundred shrimp colony! SO kept on going and learning more about better care (tds and water changes mostly-I knew about pre-cycle and aging tanks before getting them). I have a mix batch I got for cheap ($1 per shrimp+ extras). Original seller said they were a blend of cherry and rilli shrimp, but I find all grades of the red cherry shrimp in there from the less red 'cherry' to the very red "fire red"s.


----------



## Brittyboo (Feb 14, 2015)

Aqua Aurora said:


> Happy to help ^^ Shrimp are a joy to keep but they are sensitive so you can't wing it as much as you can with a betta. I started out doing too large/fast water changes and lost most of my shrimp. Amusingly when I had about 5 left (about the time I got my 2nd and 3rd betta-Magnus and Alastor) I said "[censor] it!" And dumped the remaining shrimp in a dwarf puffer tank on my husband's desk expecting them to become lobster dinner (the shrimps previous tanks became the new betta's tanks). Well surprise surprise the dwarf puffer is an odd ball and would not eat them (they usually will-dwarf puffers will even eat the much larger amano and ghost shrimp by pecking them apart-I've seen a few videos of it on youtube) and they bred light crazy in to a several hundred shrimp colony! SO kept on going and learning more about better care (tds and water changes mostly-I knew about pre-cycle and aging tanks before getting them). I have a mix batch I got for cheap ($1 per shrimp+ extras). Original seller said they were a blend of cherry and rilli shrimp, but I find all grades of the red cherry shrimp in there from the less red 'cherry' to the very red "fire red"s.


That's a nice price for shrimp! Here we're paying around $4 per red cherry and any higher grades of red are kind of crazy priced haha I actually have a few shrimp in with my male betta Aragorn, they're doing pretty well and nicely coloured from what I can see, but he's very insistent upon eating them - any tips on how to speed up the tank setup process? I'd like to get these guys into they're own tank as quickly as I can (of course not until the new tank is safe for them) I have some Java Moss I'll be grabbing out of my established tanks for the new one, as well as fully established filters I can grab some filter medium from


----------



## cfaye3char (Sep 20, 2015)

Thank you so much for the info on the shrimp Aqua Aurora. I was planning on getting shrimp in the spring, the red cherry ones. Now because of you I know what to do, and by spring my tank will be ready. Thanks again. I had no idea.


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Brittyboo said:


> That's a nice price for shrimp! Here we're paying around $4 per red cherry and any higher grades of red are kind of crazy priced haha I actually have a few shrimp in with my male betta Aragorn, they're doing pretty well and nicely coloured from what I can see, but he's very insistent upon eating them - any tips on how to speed up the tank setup process? I'd like to get these guys into they're own tank as quickly as I can (of course not until the new tank is safe for them) I have some Java Moss I'll be grabbing out of my established tanks for the new one, as well as fully established filters I can grab some filter medium from


If you have a pre-cycled filter and can take plants straight from other tanks (do not clean(rinse) or dip to remove algae) you can setup quickly instead of waiting a few months.. But the longer you let the tank age with plants in the more natural food it will have for the shrimp. They main key is fully cycled filter. Do you have shrimp specific food? Worst case you can use a mesh breeder basket to keep the shrimp in (with some moss) to keep your betta from making them into lobster dinner.




cfaye3char said:


> Thank you so much for the info on the shrimp Aqua Aurora. I was planning on getting shrimp in the spring, the red cherry ones. Now because of you I know what to do, and by spring my tank will be ready. Thanks again. I had no idea.


You're welcome ^^


----------



## Brittyboo (Feb 14, 2015)

Fully cycled filter is no problem whatsoever. No shrimp specific food at the moment, but we're going to the aquarium store tomorrow so I can pick some up - any recommendations?


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Brittyboo said:


> Fully cycled filter is no problem whatsoever. No shrimp specific food at the moment, but we're going to the aquarium store tomorrow so I can pick some up - any recommendations?


I've used stuff that was from a sampler pack from several fancy brands not something really in lfs (I can't recall the exact names). Main think to do is look at ingredients, if it doesn't list them do not buy. If it shows copper at all 9I dunno why but some do..) do not buy it. Also be mindful of using medications on a shrimp tank that contain copper-it will kill them. I know Primefix from Seachem is shrimp and plant safe but not sure about other meds. 
Mine eat algae wafers (I sue Xtreme catfish wafers and Hikari algae wafers) as well as Rasphey soilent green, and cucumber.. I actually don't feed them the shrimp food since they eat everything I put in for the otos, seems like over feeding to give both. 
I can pm you a photo of what I have and price if you'd like.


----------



## Brittyboo (Feb 14, 2015)

I always have algae wafers on hand for another tank so good to know they'll eat those, I'll ask my lfs what shrimp specific foods they stock while I'm there as well. One last question, any pointers for catching the little guys? Haha


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Brittyboo said:


> I always have algae wafers on hand for another tank so good to know they'll eat those, I'll ask my lfs what shrimp specific foods they stock while I'm there as well. One last question, any pointers for catching the little guys? Haha


Sadly I only have good luck getting them when tank is gutted and water level is low. Move slow. Use two nets (one stay still other guide them in) or cup and net or net and clear sandwitch bag.. whatever you have on hand... If you want to be rough about it you can suck them in with a water change siphon to a bucket and net them from there. This happened a lot with water changes in the shrimp heavy tank-not intentional they just didn't get out of the way when I cleaned especially for shrimplets but I got adults and juvies too. While the water gravity fed back into the tank with an airline tube I'd be siting down with a net and cup and head lamp grabbing the sucked up shrimp to put back into the tank.


----------



## Brittyboo (Feb 14, 2015)

Sounds like relocating them is going to be interesting haha Thanks for all of the advice, it's really helped clear up a lot for me


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Brittyboo said:


> Sounds like relocating them is going to be interesting haha Thanks for all of the advice, it's really helped clear up a lot for me


You're very welcome ^^
Oh one last thing! (I'll stop after this I promise ^^) If its that fluva ebi shrimp tank with that fax rock background I've read reviews that tends to pop off adn float on the surface (foam I think?). You may want to remove it permanently or before adding anything to the tank glue it down better (cut it loose and apply silicone or super glue and let cure 3 days or more). 

I hope you have an enjoyable time with your new shrimp tank.


----------

