Setting up a cardina shrimp tank

[Leo2o915]

Ive always heard its not good to throw in shrimp into a new tank. So whats the best way to set one up and get it ready for them? Will be using a brightwell shrimp plant substrate. Any advice would be appreciated 

[Aqua junky]

Do you have or pla. to use RODI water?  What kinda mineral booster?  And the reason they say its better to have an established tank is because of the biofilm.  I have put a tank up using a sponge filter from an established Tank and ha e been successful.  I use Salty shrimp GH booster. With Caridina your gunna want a TDS pen for preparing water parameters 

[lefty o]

just as a baseline for any shrimp, (im no expert either) get the tank up and running, add some plants, and toss in a snail or three, and let it run for a few months.

[Leo2o915]

On 4/20/2022 at 9:01 PM, Aqua junky said:

Do you have or pla. to use RODI water?  What kinda mineral booster?  And the reason they say its better to have an established tank is because of the biofilm.  I have put a tank up using a sponge filter from an established Tank and ha e been successful.  I use Salty shrimp GH booster. With Caridina your gunna want a TDS pen for preparing water parameters 

Yeah I have rodi and using the gh+ and using brightwell shrimp substrate 

[Guppysnail]

The snail idea from @lefty o is a good one. Let it get YUCKY.  The yuckier (algae and biofilm) the better for shrimp and shrimplette grazing.  New hatched shrimp stay where they are hatched for a bit so making certain the biofilm and algae is available throughout is good.  They wait until they feel less vulnerable to explore for food/food dishes.

[Aqua junky]

I love my caridina tanks, I currently have 8,  3 gallon tanks and one 32g 

[Scapexghost]

What i did when starting my shrimp tank was get a dirty sponge from an established tank and squeeze it out into the new tank. All the gunk and mulm from the sponge is what you want in a shrimp tank. I probably had this tank running a few weeks before adding the shrimp but that had more to do with me needing time to procure a light, lid, hardscape and plants. During this time i put some plant clippings into the tank to help fuel the organic processes in the tank. This worked well for me but these were cherry shrimp not cardinals. As much as I want them I have no experience with them, so they could be a whole different beast.

[Tihshho]

I generally start all my shrimp tanks by setting up the tanks and letting them run for a few months prior to stocking. I ghost feed bacterAE every other week and don't do a water change until right before I stock, to which it's not more than 50%. Once I stock I start with a small group and don't add anything else and let the colony pickup before I add anything such as snails. The core to get a colony going is to make sure there is plenty of food without having to over feed. Starting a new tank and starting with snails means there will be a production of another species taking in the biofilm sources as well as producing excess waste and creating a colony of their own. By the time the shrimp get into a new home they are not only adjusting, but competing. Once the group starts to get settled, berried females are onto their 3rd clutch, then I start introducing snails and/or fiddling with tank adjustments.

[Patrick_G]

On 4/21/2022 at 5:56 AM, Aqua junky said:

I love my caridina tanks, I currently have 8,  3 gallon tanks and one 32g 

Pics! 😀

USA freshwater shrimp and plants Facebook page is super friendly and a great place for Cardina info. Some of the shrimp are absolutely mind blowing!