Pre filter

[Zachariah987]

I have a very larg colony of cherry shrimp and just bought a aqua clear filter. My question is with the aqurium coop pre-filter being course will that alow the baby shrimp to be sucked up into the filter? Or should I buy a less course pre filter and just have to clean it more often 🤔 

Thanks

[Guppysnail]

I have done both. I have rcs in all my colonies in 7 tanks all with coop medium or mini coarse prefilter on hobs and canisters so 2 per tank. I have found maybe 10 shrimp hanging out grazing inside hobs and canisters total in maybe the last year.  Those fine ones are MISERABLE. Let’s talk weekly to bi weekly cleaning to not slow the flow to the point debris collects on plants. 
just my experiences but I hope that helps.  
welcome to the forum. 

Edited March 12, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Odd Duck]

On 3/12/2022 at 10:55 AM, Guppysnail said:

I have done both. I have rcs in all my colonies in 7 tanks all with coop medium or mini coarse prefilter on hobs and canisters so 2 per tank. I have found maybe 10 shrimp hanging out grazing inside hobs and canisters total in maybe the last year.  Those fine ones are MISERABLE. Let’s talk weekly to bi weekly cleaning to not slow the flow to the point debris collects on plants. 
just my experiences but I hope that helps.  
welcome to the forum. 

Agree with this.  Fine filters are terrible as pre-filters since they just clog too quickly.  The very coarse filters from ACO I don’t consider ideal for shrimp, but as an air driven sponge they are completely fine since any babies drawn in can easily get out.  I wouldn’t do a powerhead driven sponge in a shrimp tank (or with any tiny fry).

In a shrimp only tank, you should have far less waste collecting in a finer pre-filter so it should be OK with frequent cleaning.  You can get other pre-filters online and most are finer than the ACO filters but they require a LOT more frequent maintenance.

What size tank are you running and why add an HOB?  I’m making a possibly erroneous assumption that you’ve been running a sponge until now?  Shrimp tanks really don’t need anything but a sponge filter.  The top breeders are all only using air driven sponge filters as far as I’ve been able to see, other than a few using very fine matten filters but they still complain about shrimp getting over or through the mattens.

[Zachariah987]

It is a 55 gallon tank. I breed swordtails and cherry shrimp both

[Odd Duck]

On 3/12/2022 at 11:50 AM, Zachariah987 said:

It is a 55 gallon tank. I breed swordtails and cherry shrimp both

Gotcha.  I would be more worried about the swordtails eating the baby shrimp than I would worry about the filter eating the baby shrimp.  I would use the ACO pre-filter in this situation and just provide lots of cover for mommas and babies.