How to mature a new cardina shrimp tank ?

[Leo2o915]

What’s the best way ?

[anewbie]

There is no 'best' way. One option is a few guppies for a month. This presume the tank is cycled but not matured; if not cycled then see if your pet shop will give you some mature media. Conversely you can put the guppies in an uncycled tank and use daily water changes until it cycles. The tank should be 'mature' (i.e, have some biofilm et all) before purchasing the shrimp; not strictly required but helps.

[Leo2o915]

On 7/15/2022 at 5:03 PM, anewbie said:

There is no 'best' way. One option is a few guppies for a month. This presume the tank is cycled but not matured; if not cycled then see if your pet shop will give you some mature media. Conversely you can put the guppies in an uncycled tank and use daily water changes until it cycles. The tank should be 'mature' (i.e, have some biofilm et all) before purchasing the shrimp; not strictly required but helps.

Yeah it’s cycled but want to get more biofilm in it 

[anewbie]

guppies and sunlight are good.

[Kiefer]

I find the idea that neocaridina need a 'mature' tank to flourish is kind of overrated. Start off a small colony and feed them supplemental food, any sinking pellet or honestly any fish food will work, specialized shrimp foods are even better. Over the course of a year or so you will end up with a well seasoned tank and will barely need to feed anymore.

I just took about 70-80% of the shrimp out of a 10 gallon I started less than a year ago with 6 or 7 founding shrimp, I ended up with over 100 in there and I feed a few sinking shrimp pellets every week, i still have the one container of food i bought with the tank.

If your goal is to shrimpmax at any cost and you're not worried about looks, put 20 hours of light on it to get heavy algae growth. Stuff like water lettuce and frogbit are also great for keeping the water clean and providing decaying plant matter for them to nibble on.

[Leo2o915]

On 7/15/2022 at 6:57 PM, Kiefer said:

I find the idea that neocaridina need a 'mature' tank to flourish is kind of overrated. Start off a small colony and feed them supplemental food, any sinking pellet or honestly any fish food will work, specialized shrimp foods are even better. Over the course of a year or so you will end up with a well seasoned tank and will barely need to feed anymore.

I just took about 70-80% of the shrimp out of a 10 gallon I started less than a year ago with 6 or 7 founding shrimp, I ended up with over 100 in there and I feed a few sinking shrimp pellets every week, i still have the one container of food i bought with the tank.

If your goal is to shrimpmax at any cost and you're not worried about looks, put 20 hours of light on it to get heavy algae growth. Stuff like water lettuce and frogbit are also great for keeping the water clean and providing decaying plant matter for them to nibble on.

This is for Cardina shrimp I thought they are more sensitive 

[Kiefer]

They're more sensitive to water parameters. And that varies quite a bit depending on species (keeping in mind, amano shrimp are technically caridina shrimp) and morph, many of the bee shrimp morphs are very heavily inbred, some of the newer to the hobby Indonesian species like Sulawesi shrimp are noted to be more sensitive as well. I think the same general idea regarding pellet food vs biofilm should be applicable though obviously more biofilm is better for shrimp.

[FlyingFishKeeper]

Hi, I've found that driftwood (even when the biofilm isn't the white "cloud" around it) is a popular spot for my shrimp, so if you have any of that sitting around you can likely use that to help season your tank. Additionally, from what I've seen plants are really good at having food for shrimp (I usually see my rcs grazing in a group around new plants). They also seem to have enjoyed some IAL when I put it on for them once. 

I wouldn't really say there's a way to instantly mature a tank, so if you REALLY need to get the shrimp immediately then the posts above could probably work, at least from my perspective as a Neocaridina keeper, so take this part of my post with an extra grain of salt. (Just make sure to keep the water quality good, and keep an eye out for planaria/other pests if you're consistently feeding). Hope this helps!

Edited July 16, 2022 by FlyingFishKeeper

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/15/2022 at 4:56 PM, Leo2o915 said:

What’s the best way ?

A planted tank, with hardscape, with wood, with some shrimp specific food on hand for their shell care.  Make sure they get that food once a week. Keep an eye on their molts and activity and the tank. Feed the tank just like normal if it's a community tank, but target feed them 3-4 hours after lights out.  They will be most active during those lights out hours.

I would suggest a stable tank, over one that is specifically designed with specific things. My amanos don't have fancy gravel, they have a piece of wood they like, they have anubias, and they have never had a single issue (until recently due to an equipment failure).  This is 5+ years of having them and that is my method for care for them.  Shrimp are very active, and if you pay attention to their behavior, you'll know when something isn't right or when they need food.

If you have a shrimp only tank, I'd feed them daily like normal, after lights out, I'd drop in some repashy or some wafers 2-3 times a week. That's plenty.  If the shrimp don't attack the food, you're overfeeding.

[Jennifer V]

I recently discovered Bacter AE, which creates biofilm in the tank. Granted, I have neos but I believe it's good for caridina as well. My shrimp love it! Might be worth doing some research. 

[BigJ]

I just used a bunch of patients to season my neo tank, worked pretty well for me.

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

Take mulm from the filter of another older tank that you trust to be disease free, and dump it in (to the tank, not the filter). I always like to add some dead oak leaves too. You can boil them if you're worried about the pH being affected. Always worked well for me when I wanted to season a tank for inverts

Edited July 16, 2022 by Expectorating_Aubergine