First shrimp tank diary

marusempai · Post by **marusempai** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 12:49 pm

Basically, so you can catch me if I start to screw up.

I've found these things that others have written very helpful anyway, so maybe I can pay the system back a little by making all NEW mistakes.

So, ten gallon tank, lots of locally gathered rocks, and a thin layer of gravel (I tried the bare bottom thing, and I couldn't stand how it looked, so meh). Java moss coming in the mail. Sponge filter run on an air pump. I'm currently watching the temperature to see how low it goes at night unheated (the room it's in gets pretty chilly at night, so I'm determining if I need a heater, or if I can get away with not having one). So far the lowest observed temperature is about 60, but that was right after I put in the (cold) tap water... highest it's gone is a touch above 65 so far, so I'm thinking heat might be a good idea. It is of course winter so it'll be warmer when the weather heats up, but I doubt I'm that patient. Either way, I'm going to give it a couple more days.

Ammonia, nitrAte and nitrIte are zero (duh, no critters yet). Gh is about 150, and pH is about 7.6, as expected given my tap water. When I get the temperature where I like it I'll wash the sponge prefilter from my other tank in it, and put in my test critters (snails). I'll put up pictures as soon as there's something interesting to put pictures of.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 5:56 pm

Let's hope you don't make too many mistakes or any big ones

I think using a heater is best to keep the temperature stable, thus reducing stress . Best wishes, can't wait to see what you have done

.

marusempai · Post by **marusempai** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 8:00 pm

I am leaning toward getting a heater... if nothing else, I can keep the water a notch warmer, and maybe that would encourage the shrimps to have more babies.

Still, I REFUSE to enter a store on Thanksgiving weekend, so a couple of days it is.

Anyway I've come up with a question. Is there some kind of ideal number of shrimp for starting a population? Or at least a number above which it makes little difference? As it's a new tank with little algae, I don't want to start with too many (although I know leaf litter will help with that), but I don't want to get too few and only get one gender or something... I was thinking about ten might be a happy medium, but it never hurts to ask.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:24 pm

Ten is a good round number in order to get a mix of male and female shrimp. Depending on what type of shrimp you are keeping, you can use different criteria to tell what sex they are. So what shrimp are you keeping?

marusempai · Post by **marusempai** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 1:40 pm

Um... dwarf shrimp? ^.^;; I haven't really decided exactly what yet. Basically, I'm torn between the zebra shrimp at the LFS (but then I'd have to lower my pH, and my usual solution to that is peat in the filter cartrige... no dice with a sponge filter...) and ordering something nice and hardy like cherry shrimp online. I'm leaning towards the online option, as I checked out the shrimp at the LFS while I was looking for a heater (which didn't work now I have to return it, stupid LFS

) and some of their shrimp looked kinda stressed out... although some (the smaller ones) looked just fine, so I'm still torn. They have such cute little stripes!

I have time though, I don't like to add critters until after I have my plants in, and the java moss is still coming...

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:47 pm

It is good that you are cycling ad setting up the tank before adding the shrimp

Whichever shrimp you decide on make sure you read their profile on the "Shrimp Variety" page in order to provide them with the best water parameters and conditions. Can't wait to see your tank

The Fisherman · Post by **The Fisherman** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:20 pm

I look forward to reading the diary!

Good luck picking a type of shrimp

-John

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:10 am

I also enjoy reading your diary John, you showed us step by step from the start for a new hobbyist. Thanks, great job

marusempai · Post by **marusempai** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 11:58 pm

John did do a good job... you were very helpful!

Anyway, the moss came, yay! I have pictures but I can't seem to get them to display in my post, so you'll just have to take my word for it how awesome my tank looks...

I put some moneywart back by the heater may or may not stay in this tank, plus java moss and java fern... but if nothing else, once the temperature stabalizes (it's at about 72 now, and slowly rising), I can put in some snails. And maybe I'll be able to decide what shrimp I want! It's a hard choice!

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:33 am

If you want to post pics, upload them to a site like photobucket.com (it's free), then copy/paste the [IMG] info under the pic to your forum page.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:39 am

Thanks for the tip ToddnBecka

. I will try this out since I will be getting a new camera soon.

marusempai · Post by **marusempai** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:42 pm

Yay it worked! I was trying to use html, I guess that's not allowed. *shrug* Anyway, the temperature is stable at about 74 now, so I added the snails. They seem very happy to be out of the quarantine tank, they're always crawling around in the moss! Speaking of, does anybody know how long it takes java moss to attach itself? The best answer I could find online was "eventually," but I don't want to take the strings out too soon and have to replace all of it, it was a pain in the butt to do.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:52 pm

Very nice setup

How large is the tank?

I have kept java moss in my tank from the beginning. I noticed one day after my tank was about one month old that the moss was attached to some pebbles and my filter. This might have happened earlier but this is when I noticed.

Hope this helps

YuccaPatrol · Post by **YuccaPatrol** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:55 pm

When I covered some driftwood with moss, I used some black cotton thread and wrapped it around and around many times. Once the moss starts growing, you won't even see the black string anymore, so you don't have to worry about how long it takes to attach.

marusempai · Post by **marusempai** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:44 pm

It's ten gallons of no shrimp yet fury! I still can't decide yet and it's very frustrating, but I'll cope. On another note, I have some sort of flat worm! It's pinkish and about half an inch long, and very skinny. Probably stowed away, and probably nothing special, but it filled me with wonder... my tank supports life on its own! Woot! A flat worm must be very sensitive, so my water must be darn healthy to keep it alive and booking around the tank like it was.

Thanks for the tips on the moss... sounds like I will have to retie it, I used white thread so I could remove it easy down the road, and probably didn't even use enough... just one or two ties per rock, it's sort of half floating. Or maybe I can just take out the threads and wait. I just hope it takes well, I've noticed some of the strands are WAY darker than others, which makes me afraid it's dying. Full of paranoia, I know.