Cherry Shrimp Tank Suggestions

[AdamScott]

Hi all! Brand new here! I love Cory's informative videos on Youtube so I thought I would give the forum a try to connect with other hobbyists! 

I am starting my first shrimp tank and researching supplies! It will be a heavily planted 75g tank. I am deciding to go with the Fluval Plant 3.0 light so that takes care of lighting. But I am having trouble determining what is the best filter for me. I generally want to avoid a cannister filter if I can. I was thinking of trying one sponge filter on one side of the tank and a HOB on the other. Any other shrimp keepers recommend a brand of HOB filters that is best suited for shrimp? Don't want any babies getting sucked up but a sponge on the intake should take care of that 🙂

[MickS77]

Sounds like you have a pretty good plan to me. You'll probably find most recommend the Aquaclear HOB filters with an intake sponge. Thats what I would go with and just fill it with bio-media. 

[AdamScott]

2 minutes ago, MickS77 said:

Sounds like you have a pretty good plan to me. You'll probably find most recommend the Aquaclear HOB filters with an intake sponge. Thats what I would go with and just fill it with bio-media. 

That was at the top of my list! For sizing, would you recommend the Aquaclear 50 or the 70, provided I will also be using a sponge filter.

[Ben Ellison]

I'd probably lean towards the 70. Also you might consider a matten filter over a sponge. Most shrimp keepers love em. I've never used one though

[MickS77]

11 minutes ago, Ben Ellison said:

Also you might consider a matten filter over a sponge. Most shrimp keepers love em. I've never used one though

Mattenfilters are a good choice too. It'll just obscure one end of the tank unless you did a corner mattenfilter. 

[AdamScott]

27 minutes ago, Ben Ellison said:

I'd probably lean towards the 70. Also you might consider a matten filter over a sponge. Most shrimp keepers love em. I've never used one though

I just did some research on mattenfilters and while it would create tons of surface area I don't think I could tolerate the look of it. This tank will be displayed in my living room for everyone to see and I don't think i'll be able to hide it well enough. While I am losing an opportunity for tons of surface space, I will have many plants in there which I hope the shrimp will enjoy.

[MickS77]

1 minute ago, AdamScott said:

I don't think I could tolerate the look of it.

Yeah, I only use them in the fishroom

[Daniel]

In a heavily planted 75 gallon tank what is the proper amount of filtration needed? For the biological filtration the plants and the gravel will provide all the surface area and more for the beneficial bacteria that convert nitrogen.

A sponge filter could serve 2 purposes. It would provide additional substrate for the beneficial bacteria to live on and it could trap some particulate matter. And the bubbling and the water flow provided by the sponge filter are good all around.

That's probably all you need for filtration in a 75 gallon shrimp tank.

 

[Ben Ellison]

The corner of ones don't look to bad imo. But I've had good results with just a oversized sponge. I don't run a hob in that tank atm but it's only like 8 gallons and has 100 or so shrimp atm most just shrimplets

[AdamScott]

5 minutes ago, Daniel said:

In a heavily planted 75 gallon tank what is the proper amount of filtration needed? For the biological filtration the plants and the gravel will provide all the surface area and more for the beneficial bacteria that convert nitrogen.

A sponge filter could serve 2 purposes. It would provide additional substrate for the beneficial bacteria to live on and it could trap some particulate matter. And the bubbling and the water flow provided by the sponge filter are good all around.

That's probably all you need for filtration in a 75 gallon shrimp tank.

 

Thank you for the insight. You would recommend one large sponge filter for a 75g? Interesting.

[Daniel]

Just now, AdamScott said:

Thank you for the insight. You would recommend one large sponge filter for a 75g? Interesting.

Probably 1 medium size one. Think about what the filter actually does. It moves water and is a home for bacteria. If I have large high input/output (dirty) fish, I might need to up the filtration some.

But, if I have mostly plants and invertebrates, the bio-load on the tank will be fairly light. Why throw on filtration that isn't really serving a purpose?

[Brandy]

13 minutes ago, Daniel said:

But, if I have mostly plants and invertebrates, the bio-load on the tank will be fairly light. Why throw on filtration that isn't really serving a purpose?

Wellllll, will it STAY plants and invertebrates though? I mean if I had 75 gallons just sitting there...and the shrimp were well established and the plants had filled in...That is a lot of unused volume. I think a lot of us would find a thing that would go in there. But maybe @AdamScott has much more self control than I do.

[AdamScott]

Just now, Brandy said:

Wellllll, will it STAY plants and invertebrates though? I mean if I had 75 gallons just sitting there...and the shrimp were well established and the plants had filled in...That is a lot of unused volume. I think a lot of us would find a thing that would go in there. But maybe @AdamScott has much more self control than I do.

Hah! You're absolutely right. The goal is to establish a high populated shrimp population but after accomplishing that..i'm not sure what direction I will go in in terms of finding other species. I know it is not recommended to keep fish with shrimp but i'm sure some nano fish shouldn't decrease the population that hard, especially with plenty of hiding spots.

[Aubrey]

I have had shrimp in a 12g with an aquaclear with sponge on the intake and a spongefilter on the other side of the tank with no issues. Solid plan. I used a matter filter in a 20 long for about 2 years before it got so clogged that the water level would drop lower behind it. Every time I took it out to clean in and it was a major hassle with water dripping everywhere and then trying to get it back in the tank and keeping gravel away from it. I also hated that one end of the tank was obscured. I just threw a large sponge filter in the tank instead of having to mess with that ever again. Although I have always wanted a custom corner matten filter from Printed Reefing Solutions. I think they look nice and could make servicing easier. Plus I am running out of outlets so air driven filters are more appealing. 

[Leo2o915]

2 hours ago, AdamScott said:

Hi all! Brand new here! I love Cory's informative videos on Youtube so I thought I would give the forum a try to connect with other hobbyists! 

I am starting my first shrimp tank and researching supplies! It will be a heavily planted 75g tank. I am deciding to go with the Fluval Plant 3.0 light so that takes care of lighting. But I am having trouble determining what is the best filter for me. I generally want to avoid a cannister filter if I can. I was thinking of trying one sponge filter on one side of the tank and a HOB on the other. Any other shrimp keepers recommend a brand of HOB filters that is best suited for shrimp? Don't want any babies getting sucked up but a sponge on the intake should take care of that 🙂

I would go with two sponge filters on each side and would do a he Seachem Tidel which has a surface skimmer and you can put a pre filter sponge on it if you really want to go that route but sponge filters are ur best friend 

[AdamScott]

5 minutes ago, Leo2o915 said:

I would go with two sponge filters on each side and would do a he Seachem Tidel which has a surface skimmer and you can put a pre filter sponge on it if you really want to go that route but sponge filters are ur best friend 

I looked into the Seachem Tidal series but was nervous about the surface skimmer. How would you cover up the slots? The intake can be covered up with a sponge so that shouldn't be an issue.

[Leo2o915]

24 minutes ago, AdamScott said:

I looked into the Seachem Tidal series but was nervous about the surface skimmer. How would you cover up the slots? The intake can be covered up with a sponge so that shouldn't be an issue.

Same way you cover the intake with a sponge but if you get the smaller one they just have it with the skimmer which cleans the water and you just cut up a sponge to fit 

[Leo2o915]

25 minutes ago, AdamScott said:

I looked into the Seachem Tidal series but was nervous about the surface skimmer. How would you cover up the slots? The intake can be covered up with a sponge so that shouldn't be an issue.

And also you can slow it down even more so not so much movement 

[Leo2o915]

26 minutes ago, AdamScott said:

I looked into the Seachem Tidal series but was nervous about the surface skimmer. How would you cover up the slots? The intake can be covered up with a sponge so that shouldn't be an issue.

That’s why it’s better having sponge filters only  shrimp love biofilm mine stay on the surface and go after the biofilm In the side where I only have the sponge filter at 

[shkote]

I have 2 Seachem Tidals and wouldn't be comfortable using them in shrimp tanks with the surface skimmers. They work great for a Flowerhorn though 🙂 I love sponge filters and corner mattens for shrimp. 

[Pekitivey]

1 hour ago, AdamScott said:

Hah! You're absolutely right. The goal is to establish a high populated shrimp population but after accomplishing that..i'm not sure what direction I will go in in terms of finding other species. I know it is not recommended to keep fish with shrimp but i'm sure some nano fish shouldn't decrease the population that hard, especially with plenty of hiding spots.

There are a few good species that come to mind when establishing a shrimp coloney. I am currently doing it in a 10 gallon with guppies, they also produce like crazy and it is so fun to watch. once everyone is fed well ive never seen a guppy hassle a shrimp. The fact i have it planted helps to, but the shrimp are often hard to spot (i hope with time there will be enough to easily see). I started with like 8 rec cherry.

Also Bristlenose plecos seem like a great option. With a tank that big you could easily do a few pairs as long as you havesome caves for them. They will also breed super easy and fun to watch. When I can didicate a tank big enough that is what I wanna do. Lots and lots of guppies, shrimp and bristtle nose. Maybe even sell some back to LFS and get some credit or free food or somthing.

Edited October 6, 2020 by Pekitivey
spelling

[AdamScott]

2 hours ago, Pekitivey said:

There are a few good species that come to mind when establishing a shrimp coloney. I am currently doing it in a 10 gallon with guppies, they also produce like crazy and it is so fun to watch. once everyone is fed well ive never seen a guppy hassle a shrimp. The fact i have it planted helps to, but the shrimp are often hard to spot (i hope with time there will be enough to easily see). I started with like 8 rec cherry.

Also Bristlenose plecos seem like a great option. With a tank that big you could easily do a few pairs as long as you havesome caves for them. They will also breed super easy and fun to watch. When I can didicate a tank big enough that is what I wanna do. Lots and lots of guppies, shrimp and bristtle nose. Maybe even sell some back to LFS and get some credit or free food or somthing.

Honestly this sounds amazing. I've had guppies when I was younger and was completely unaware of all the beautiful guppy species and colors of this beautiful fish! My plan when I start up my tank is to buy as many plants as I can. Let them grow and develop along with my tank for a few months. Once my tank has fully cycled and my plants have grown in, I plan to start off with as many cherry shrimp as I can afford (probably around the 20-25 range). Once they start breeding and established a massive colony it won't be until then where I look at guppies. So many options and so much color! Like you said, provided you have plenty of hiding spots, there shouldn't be an issue. Bristlenose are also an option as I believe they would all live happily under the same water parameters. Can't wait! 

[Pekitivey]

I'm happy to hear you've got the patience to do it like that! Patience pays dividends in this hobby! Don't forget to fertilize those plants to maximize success! Especially in a new tank!! Would not mind a pic on this thread when you get your self up and going. Best of luck!!

[AdamScott]

42 minutes ago, Pekitivey said:

I'm happy to hear you've got the patience to do it like that! Patience pays dividends in this hobby! Don't forget to fertilize those plants to maximize success! Especially in a new tank!! Would not mind a pic on this thread when you get your self up and going. Best of luck!!

Absolutely will be back to post something when I'm up and running, thanks for recommendations!

[David Ellsworth]

I've got a seachem tidal and I wondered about that too. The 55 or larger you could put a sponge on the intake tube, and then maybe cut some sponge to fit the surface skimmer area and glue it in place.

For the 35 I've thought about covering the whole pump and surface skimmer with some nylon stocking, that might work. I think Mark from Mark's Shrimp Tanks uses nylon stockings to cover some pump intakes in one of his videos.