Shrimp keeping

Shrimp keeping

Three important things to take note.
1.Good Aeration
2.Well-Cycled tank
3.Do not introduce "dirty" plants, adding too much addictives etc...

Setting up a Shrimp tank

Having a proper setup for shrimp especially is essential. Initial setting up is very important and usually it’s the determinant of a good population of shrimps.

A well cycled tank usually takes about 30days of cycling. Of course this process can be make quicker by introducing old medias into the new tank. However its best not to do so as these old medias may contain unknown parasites or virus that may prove harmful to our dear shrimps. Instead, it will be better to introduce various bacteria powder- nitro-bacter, bio- bacterium or even small amount of fertilisers to the tank to keep the tank going; cultivating as much of micro and macro organisms in the tank as possible.

There are many different tank setups that one can venture into. There is undergravel filtration powered by cannisters, sponge filtration, HOB (hang on back), strong linked cannister filtration etc. One that I like best is the combination of air driven undergravel filtration, air-driven sponge filter and canister filtration.

Below is a typical air driven undergravel filtration. A blue mesh is laid on top of the undergravel plates to prevent particles of soil from affecting the flow. Another good point of undergravel filtration is that the space that seperates the soil and the bottom of the tank creates an slow aerobic column which could allows cultivation of anerobic bacteria which could battles my nitrate and nitrite to low levels.

Filter medias wise I guess that will have to depend on one’s budget. As seen in many different Jap breeders websites, they tend to go for chain linked cannister filtration, with expensive medias such as PowerHouses, thus many will question the effectivness of having that as optimum filtration. I myself doubt so as I believe very much in ecology of a tank. What matters most in shrimping is to maintain. Having a powerful filtration does not necessarily lead to a bigger and more robust shrimp population. Controversly, a tank with simple filtration such as sponge filtation may lead to a better population. A optimum set up equals a well balanced ecology.

Do I really need a chiller? A question that is always asked for typically for every shrimp keepers. That will depends on the surrounding temperature in your area. Experience tells me CRS grows well in a temperature of 26-27 degrees Celsius while breeding wise its good to set it at below 25degrees. Lower temperature is good for many dwarf speices like neocaridina or caridina because low temp = higher dissolved oxygen level in the tank. Higher temperature means lower dissolved oxygen level thus our shrimps may not be so comfortable living in those parameters. However, too low the temperature may deter the metabolism of our shrimps, these shrimps that grow in this environment usually may not grow too big in size. Well for special species like the Sulwesi Shrimps, though the optimal temperature ranges from 28 degress and above, its still best for one to judge according as Sula shrimps comes from a habitat of high PH, low KH, high GH and high temperature. If one would have studied the chemistry of water parameters, high PH leads to increase toxidicity of ammonia and nitrates, while high temperature equals lower dissloved oxygen. So for those Sula shrimp keepers out there, cautious is the word used.

In Singapore we are spolit with many choices of soil like Ada amazonia, Gex, Nisso, Magic and even MasterSoil. These soils themselves have their pros and cons. So far not much of a problem is faced except that Ada amazonia is more troublesome when comes in cyclying. It leeches higher ammonia than the other soils. Despite so, its still remain as one of the popular choice in shrimping, due to its ability to substain low ph and higher nutrient level than other soil types. For acidity part, frequent water changes or strong aeration will lead to soil losing its ph-down abilities, so many keepers out there do have a periodic change of the soil if needs arises.

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