# Help with cleaning shrimp tank



## Missytoe (Sep 21, 2017)

Hello everyone. I hope this is the right place to post this. I am becoming frustrated with my shrimp tank. It’s a 6g planted tank with a betta and 2 nerite snails. We can talk about all the ramshorn babies in there, but I’d rather not. Lol. They came with the shrimp back in January. So, I have a moss ball that’s in a million pieces and a bunch of cut up AL in the tank. This is where most of the shrimp reside. My betta will periodically chase them and this is their best hiding spot and most favourite. I never see all my shrimp out, maybe 5/6 at a time. So my biggest problem is that I desperately want to gravel vac the bottom. I mean there is debris and a lot of moss falls off onto the bottom. My tank parameters are fine so not vacuuming isn’t effecting that, it’s just unsightly and I feel like there’s stuff under the substrate that I need to clean. I find newborn babies and I can’t see them well enough to feel comfortable vacuuming. The last time I wanted to there were newborns so I waited a few weeks until they had colour and I could see them, now there’s more. Lol. I don’t mind, just is there a way to attract all the shrimp to one spot so I can clean? I tried shrimp lollies today, the adults were loving it, the babies didn’t care about them. Also if anyone has any suggestions for anything to add remove or change around to help keep the little guys happy. Tigger the betta is just as happy as can be. One note I’ve added a couple pics of my shrimp, I know that having different coloured shrimp breeding together can cause bad colours in Babies. I also have jade green and dark green shrimp and so far they have only bred with the same colour. This new batch I guess I’ll find out in a few weeks.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Eventually all the shrimp will revert to brown if they breed outside their own color. That's all that happens. If you like Malawa shrimp they look sort of like them. I happen to like it.

I use a piece of airline tubing so I have more control. I keep a finger over the draining end so if I accidentally get a shrimp I can block the output before they wind up in the bucket.


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Eventually all the shrimp will revert to brown if they breed outside their own color. That's all that happens. If you like Malawa shrimp they look sort of like them. I happen to like it.
> 
> I use a piece of airline tubing so I have more control. I keep a finger over the draining end so if I accidentally get a shrimp I can block the output before they wind up in the bucket.



Would draining the water into a large fish net be easier? If I tried keeping a finger on the draining end I'd likely have water all over my floor, I've learned the hard way to keep the end of the line all the way in my bucket...


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## cfaye3char (Sep 20, 2015)

Hi I replied to the wrong post earlier in the dwarf hair grass help thread I use a turkey baster and measuring cup dip method to clean my 5 gallon. Use the turkey baster to suck up the debris this does take a while. My betta is very curious and I am afraid of the siphon


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## Missytoe (Sep 21, 2017)

I may try the turkey baster thing and my mini siphon just to remove the water. I take my betta out because he starts going after the little babies once he can see them. I met a man recently when getting a quote for some body damage for my car. He had beautiful large tanks in his garage and waiting room. Found out he has betta’s and has had them since a child and at one point he was really into breeding them. Really interesting guy, anyway he told me to not worry about siphoning the substrate at all. He said with the low bioload the plants should keep everything in check. I dunno. I mean my water parameters are good even without gravel vacs in a very long time. Maybe he’s right?


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## cfaye3char (Sep 20, 2015)

I am not sure about not cleaning the gravel I have always cleaned mine you would be surprised at the gunk the turkey baster stirs up. You could always test your water to see if possible problems. Over a period of time you will have some type of a build up. Shrimp I hear can be very picky about water quality.


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## Lizardbabies (Feb 23, 2015)

You will need to do water changes every 1-2 weeks, but you shouldn't need to do full gravel vacuuming. Any debris on the substrate and leaves can be siphoned off without digging into the gravel. This is why I actually keep mts snails in my planted tanks; they stir the substrate for me. 

There are a few different tricks for the baby shrimps, some work better than others. You can put a piece of nylon/netting over the intake side of your siphon. Personally, I use a long piece of airline tubing and a white bowl or bucket. After siphoning, I let the water settle and look for any babies that got sucked up and scoop them out and back into the tank. 

And yes, if you have more than one color of cherry (neocaridina) shrimp, they will produce brown/wild coloration babies. I got away with some Red Rilli shrimp in with my sakura, but the subsequent generations are simply all red. 

My shrimp tank has occasionally been home to a betta. currently it's just cherry shrimp and red ramshorns, along with a large colony of mts snails. Supposedly there are Thai micro crabs in there, but other than a shell of one 1.5 years after I put them in, there's been no sign of them.


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## charliegill110 (May 19, 2014)

I pulled the tube part off my siphon and just use the hose, I keep one finger almost completely covering the hole of the hose inside the tank (I don't have shrimp but I was getting aggravated with accidentally ripping my plants out of the substrate and sucking them up. I also keep a finger over the other end of the hose in the bucket (with my hand inside the opening) so I can stop the stream at any second without breaking suction. I drain directly into a 5 gallon jug, my tank is on a tall dresser I stand on 2 step ladder and the jug sits on a stool. Keeping a finger over both ends works really well because I have 100% control and it keeps my face right in front of the tank so I can see what I'm doing instead of looking down into it. 

Also surprised I haven't seen more people drain into 5 gallon jugs instead of open buckets. It's so easy, fill it up put the lid on and carry it to where it goes. We even got this thing you put inside it's like a hand pump you push down a bunch and the water pumps out and my mom fills her water cans with it. One time I tripped and fell while I was carrying it and it didn't break or spill or anything. Really surprised I don't see people do this for the lid factor alone lol. Even if you don't need to take out 5 gallons at a time, you don't need to fill it all the way. And if you don't want to carry 5 gallons a lot of them have handles you can drag it or roll it on it's side, the lid it TIGHT. As long as you snap it fully on it won't pop off. 


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