For Shrimpkeepers Eyes Only!

[nabokovfan87]

Question for everyone.... simply because I think it's fun and interesting!

Do you keep both Amano and some "fancy" shrimp?  Not necessarily together, but do you have an idea on "how big" they both get?

Another fun comparison is the size of an amano zoey compared to a shrimplette.  Have you seen an amano zoey before? (think size of a copepod floating around the tank)

Tomorrow my plan is to attempt to get a good video showing my little neo shrimp (very, very young) compared to a full blown old amano shrimp.  Hopefully the scale is there and easy to see!

[mynameisnobody]

I keep Amano’s and Bloody Mary Neo’s in a 75. The Amano’s are huge and the Neo’s are Neo’s so they’re on the smaller side. All the Amano’s resemble Godzilla, when they’re next to the Neo’s. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I watched a bunch of shrimp videos before going to make my purchase. When I got there I was shocked at how small neos are. I made 2 extra trips back, bought the shrimps on the 3rd visit. I had walked out a few times because I was scared they look so tiny and delicate/fragile.

[Mojie]

On 3/2/2023 at 7:53 AM, mynameisnobody said:

I keep Amano’s and Bloody Mary Neo’s in a 75. The Amano’s are huge and the Neo’s are Neo’s so they’re on the smaller side. All the Amano’s resemble Godzilla, when they’re next to the Neo’s. 

I love having a few amanos mixed in with my neos for exactly this reason. The scale difference make them both look even more amazing. 

[nabokovfan87]

 

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

I keep a Bamboo Shrimp in one of my Neo tanks, definitely a size difference there.

[nabokovfan87]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea

Run, don't walk 🙂 😍

[PerceptivePesce]

I have amano and neocaridina.  I got the amano in the mail a little over 2 weeks ago.  They arrived at about 0.75 inch in size, and I can tell they've already grown.  I found one in my canister last week, and I haven't found a dead body so I guess it's still alive.  My in-tank sponge filter and canister pre-filter sponge are spotless!

Today was water change day and I was going to clean those in-tank sponges.  I bagged the sponge filter first and found 8 or so teeny-tiny (~2mm) blue neo babies!!!  I immediately put it back, I hope I didn't kill them!

Not being able to clean those sponges may be a problem. @nabokovfan87 I think you were right about my guppy sickness, dirty tank, because I think they may be improving now that I've turned the UV light on.  I need to watch it some more to confirm, I've only been running it for a week.

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/9/2023 at 9:09 PM, PerceptivePesce said:

Today was water change day and I was going to clean those in-tank sponges.  I bagged the sponge filter first and found 8 or so teeny-tiny (~2mm) blue neo babies!!!  I immediately put it back, I hope I didn't kill them!

Marks shrimp tanks does a technique where he lifts the sponge out of the water a few times to try to give them a chance to get out of the sponge, to get off of it basically. Good practice for shrimp, but they can just hang on and not care (or jump) so it's always a frustration.

@Chick-In-Of-TheSeawwas replacing her sponges due to the shrimplettes using it as an actual house. Then I saw Cory do the stream about filter mods and prefilters and it was mentioned that he would just take that same sponge material / porosity and then use that for shrimplette cover.

On 3/9/2023 at 9:09 PM, PerceptivePesce said:

Not being able to clean those sponges may be a problem. @nabokovfan87 I think you were right about my guppy sickness, dirty tank, because I think they may be improving now that I've turned the UV light on.  I need to watch it some more to confirm, I've only been running it for a week.

Yeah.... It's something I struggle with and why I tend to want HoB over sponge.  Some sponges, different types, are very easy to clean. Something like the AC110 the sponge is so massive you can't get the junk out from the center. It just isn't easy for me. I have the same issue when I go and clean out certain things, looks good, and then put it all back in the tank and all I see is muck trapped in there like I didn't do anything.  In terms of "how" I think the method that works best for cylindrical sponges I have to rest the sponge on the side of a bucket with water and then push it against the side.  I've tried it a lot of different ways and that seems to do ok.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 3/10/2023 at 12:36 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

 

@Chick-In-Of-TheSeawwas replacing her sponges due to the shrimplettes using it as an actual house. Then I saw Cory do the stream about filter mods and prefilters and it was mentioned that he would just take that same sponge material / porosity and then use that for shrimplette cover.

So far I just added a fine sponge for more filtration because the coarse one is gunked up and clogged looking but I think it has babies in it. I was planning on removing it after allowing the fine sponge to seed one month, because I want to be able to have filters I can maintain without worry of harming shrimplets. The day I remove it, I know it will be time consuming because I will have to ensure they are all caught and returned to tank. Do you think I should just keep running it clogged?

 

[gardenman]

On 3/10/2023 at 5:09 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

So far I just added a fine sponge for more filtration because the coarse one is gunked up and clogged looking but I think it has babies in it. I was planning on removing it after allowing the fine sponge to seed one month, because I want to be able to have filters I can maintain without worry of harming shrimplets. The day I remove it, I know it will be time consuming because I will have to ensure they are all caught and returned to tank. Do you think I should just keep running it clogged?

 

There's clogged and clogged. A truly clogged sponge filter will collapse in on itself and be noticeably smaller. If yours isn't doing that, it's not truly clogged and water is flowing through it. It may be dirty, but not clogged. As long as you've got water flowing through the filter, it's doing its job.

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/10/2023 at 5:58 AM, gardenman said:

There's clogged and clogged. A truly clogged sponge filter will collapse in on itself and be noticeably smaller. If yours isn't doing that, it's not truly clogged and water is flowing through it. It may be dirty, but not clogged. As long as you've got water flowing through the filter, it's doing its job.

Basically, the way some mechanical filtration is designed, you're blocking the big chunks and then some of the smaller debris is allowed to flow through.  This is done to "extend time" between maintenance. If you're cleaning once a week, then you probably shouldn't have to worry too much about it being too clocked up.  Let's say two weeks, probably fine. A month or three months, that's when it matters.

The higher PPI on the foam is similar to using something like eheim mech or sicce bioker. Over time it will clog, it will change how and what is being filtered.  First the big chunks, small stuff passes through, then you'll have the big chunks mostly on the outside and medium size gunk gets trapped. Then you'll have medium gunk trapping some of the finer particles.

There is also a difference in how the structure of the foam operates to trap debris. Not all foams are equal.

Anyways, the sidebar aside..... Just wanted to mention how it works for the sake of what is "best" to do in this situation.

On 3/10/2023 at 2:09 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

The day I remove it, I know it will be time consuming because I will have to ensure they are all caught and returned to tank. Do you think I should just keep running it clogged?

You should and should be able to clean it. Worst part about a shrimp tank is that you have to give the muck time to settle in the bucket so that you can figure out if any shrimp got taken out with whatever you moved. It could be a rock, could be wood, there's always something.

If you want to have an easier time, there's definitely fine sponge and it'll do the job and we all (Cory included) have ran it for a very long time.  It may not be one where you can get an air stone in it, might be one where you have bigger bubbles or a slightly bigger uplift tube or whatever it is.  The main thing being that whatever is there for the shrimp to use as cover and as a surface for debris, they will use it. 

If you replace the sponges maybe find some crazy pitted ohko stone like you saw that I added to my tank, or a pile of ceramic media, or just stacks of things.  Ball of moss works too.

As long as they are comfortable and doing good, you're doing the right things. Yours are happy and thriving, doing good there. Whatever you decide, I'm sure they will be just fine with it. If changing it makes you clean it more.... Change it.

[PerceptivePesce]

Yesterday, I found a blue neo stuck in my coarse pre-filter sponge. I had to tug pretty hard to get him out, but he swam off.

This am there is a dead shrimp and all the other neos are feeding on him! Do I need to feed my shrimps some meat?

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/28/2023 at 7:26 AM, PerceptivePesce said:

This am there is a dead shrimp and all the other neos are feeding on him! Do I need to feed my shrimps some meat?

No. Not necessarily. They could be going after calcium. Just sort of is what they do.

As long as the shrimp isn't diseased it's fine.

[PerceptivePesce]

This morning I found what was left of the dead shrimp. Only his meaty tail remained 🍤, and there was one shrimp trying to finish off the tail fin when I pulled it out.

I've had a few other neos die and they never got eaten. I guess they were diseased and the others could sense it somehow. Crazy.  I assume this one was healthy and died from stuck-in-sponge trauma. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/1/2023 at 11:43 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Do you keep both Amano and some "fancy" shrimp?  Not necessarily together, but do you have an idea on "how big" they both get?

I have been doing this for a few weeks now.  I'm honestly surprised how well they do with one another.  I will be excited to see how things they change. 

If I had to "guess" a size correlation:
-Neocaridina / Caridina = Great White Shark
-Amano shrimp = Megaladon

I don't know if that is 5x the size, length I think they are 2-3x as big. 

Not quite this dramatic of a size difference, but it's quite entertaining sometimes.