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New questions added 8/25 -Filter question on tank with red cherry shrimp and pygmy corydoras

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Linda N

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I recently moved all of the fish from a 10 gallon half moon tank to a 20 gallon tank so they would have more room. I then moved some pygmy cory's and red cherry shrimp that were in a 3.5 gallon tank into the 10 gallon tank. It has several pieces of cholla wood, which is hollow and has lots of holes in it and provides a ton of hiding spaces along with a lot of plants and added aeration from a long airstone buried underneath the gravel. The tank is a half round shape. They have so many hiding spaces I hardly ever see the shrimp or the corys - LOL. Presently the tank has an undergravel filter that's been in there from the beginning - probably 8 months - and a HOB filter. I change out half or more of the water every week and my ammonia and nitrites stay at zero and some low level nitrates which is dealt with through the water changes. I have a sponge filter I could put in there in place of the HOB filter if that would be better for the shrimp and for any shrimp babies that might be produced. There's about half a dozen each of red cherry shrimp and pygmy corys in the tank, along with some pond snails that must have come with the plants and a pretty good sized nerite snail. If the shrimp have babies, will the cory cats eat them? They are pretty tiny - the pygmy variety and are an inch or smaller. I would love to see some baby shrimp but want to provide a safe environment for them. Thanks for any and all information.
 
The sponge filter is your best bet here. They are usually the filter in shrimp tanks, and the cories will have no issues either. My 10g which is home to a group of spawning pygmy cories has a single sponge filter.

Substrate has some issues though. Cories should have sand, and the pygmy species must have sand. I would remove the undergravel filter and the gravel. Play sand works very well, or you can look at one of the inert aquarium sands in a dark colour.

All cories naturally feed on crustaceans were these occur in their habitats, but I am not sure the pygmies would be too successful at this, though the baby shrimp might get eaten if a cory came upon one.
 
I use HOB’s in my shrimp tank with a panty hose covering the intake. Only reason is because I have like a dozen hob’s In storage. If I didn’t I’d use a sponge filter.
 
Thanks for the input. The shrimp and corys have only been in that tank maybe ten days and there's a few endlers in there that I forgot about. I'll switch to a sand substrate, remove the undergravel filter and put the sponge filter in. I'll leave the HOB filter until the sponge filter has had time to develop beneficial bacteria since I'll be removing the gravel and any bacteria living in it. Does the wood I have in there harbor any beneficial bacteria in any meaningful numbers? I appreciate the advice. I want these guys to be happy and comfortable.
 
Thanks for the input. The shrimp and corys have only been in that tank maybe ten days and there's a few endlers in there that I forgot about. I'll switch to a sand substrate, remove the undergravel filter and put the sponge filter in. I'll leave the HOB filter until the sponge filter has had time to develop beneficial bacteria since I'll be removing the gravel and any bacteria living in it. Does the wood I have in there harbor any beneficial bacteria in any meaningful numbers? I appreciate the advice. I want these guys to be happy and comfortable.

Yes, the wood does harbour bacteria of various species, as would any surfaces like plant leaves. Your plan above sounds perfect. The plants themselves will take up ammonia/ammonium anyway, but no harm in over-caution.
 
Okay I am resurrecting this old post so I don't have to type out all the background again. Not long after I posted this I got sick and so both of my tanks were kind of neglected. They did not get the water changes as often as I usually do and I didn't get any of the changes made to the 10 gallon tank with the pygmy cories, endlers and red cherry shrimp that were talked about in my original post. Finally I am feeling a little bit better so went ahead with the changes previously discussed when I initiated my question in April. I have the 3.5 gallon tank that they previously occupied and moved the endlers and pygmy cories out of the 10 gallon into the 3.5 for their temporary home. The corys are so good at hiding that I thought I only had 1 or 2 left but once I got all the stuff out of the tank I had all 6 corys left that I had started out with. Sadly I lost all the cherry shrimp - probably because I did not keep the tank up to its usual level of clean. I put a little gravel in the bottom of the temporary tank, some plants and moved the cycled HOB filter from the 10 gallon to the 3.5 gallon. I took all of the cholla wood, plants, marimo moss balls and fake rocks out of the 10 gallon and put them in a bucket of tank water. What a job it was to get all of the gravel out and that undergravel filter. I was kind of shocked about how nasty the water was under the undergravel filter. I took the aquarium to the sink and hosed it out really well and did not use any cleaners or detergents - just elbow grease. I put in the black sand which I had washed, installed the sponge filter as recommended, put the plants and cholla wood and other décor back in. I am still recovering so all of that took me two days because carrying the water back and forth is just exhausting for me right now although that will get better with time. The sand is mostly settled - how long should I wait until I move the fish from the temporary tank back to their newly redesigned home? I will move the cycled HOB back too but eventually just want one filter on there so about how long will it take the sponge filter to build up an adequate bacteria supply? Now that I am feeling a bit better and can do my tank maintenance now I do want to add more red cherry shrimp. Should I give the tank some time to settle before adding them? I was thinking maybe wait 2 weeks. Also before I took everything out there was a lot of water movement in the tank - I had the 2 uprights from the undergravel filter, the HOB filter and a 12 inch airstone buried in the gravel. I ready that cory cats come from slow moving water. Right now all I will have will be the sponge filter which is one of those that has 2 arms on it with the sponge and a discharge between them so that creates some water movement. And the HOB filter moves some water too. Is that enough water movement? Don't want the pygmy cories to have to fight too hard to swim. Wow I am long winded!! I always appreciate the information I get here. Thanks in advance for any responses.
 
You normally wait 24-48 hours after refilling a tank, before putting the fish back in it. Try to aerate the new tank water during that time so it circulates and the dissolved gasses in the water settle to their normal levels.

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You will need to keep the HOB on the tank for 6-8 weeks to allow the beneficial bacteria enough time to develop on the new sponge filter. If you put the new sponges inside the HOB filter and have them in contact with the established filter media, It will happen quicker and you might be able to remove the HOB after 4 weeks. But I prefer to be on the safe side and wait 2 months before removing the established filter.

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The easiest way to clean the gunk out from below the undergravel filter is with a gravel cleaner. You get the gravel cleaning going and push it down onto the undergravel filter plates, and hold it there until the water is clean. Then lift the gravel cleaner and move it to another spot. If you do this regularly, the gravel will remain clean and you won't get much gunk under the filter plates.
 
I removed the undergravel filter when I took out the gravel and replaced it with sand as recommended when I originally posted back in April. I used to stick the siphon down the tubes for the undergravel filter and that sucked out a lot of gunk but I was really amazed by what was still there. LOL I never did take the second filter off the 20 gallon tank once the new filter has probably cycled - guess it doesn't hurt anything to have 2 filters on that tank. Thanks for your response.
 
I added a sponge filter to my shrimp tank but have not removed the hob yet. Sponge is still relatively new.
 
I am turning into a bubblehead in my old age. I have the tank all set back up and re-assembled. I was adjusting the placement of some décor items and thought wow that water is cold. I put the heater in the tank - neglected to plug it in. DUH!!!
 

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