Sump Refugium On Community Idea

[RainboWBacoN420]

So a wild idea I thought of the other day was to add a sump Refugium to my 55 gallon community. Sort of an excuse to have another tank on the same line but- ...i like the idea of having a smaller tank. Since my parameters are excellent and in the sweet spot, I was thinking about a little shrimp tank. pH is 6.6, GH is 7 (planning on tuning it down a bit) KH is 2-3. Really good conditions for a shrimp tank, right? I can save on space, all I would need is a light and a pump.

 

[Far_King]

One question that immediately springs to mind is how you intend to plumb this refugium/shrimp tank to the main tank.

Any sort of weir to transfer the water would run the risk of transferring any floating detritus to your shrimp tank - and they like sparkling clean water.
The other issue is when the water is transferred back out, baby shrimp can be tiny so could end up being floated out and sucked up to the main tank.
 
For reference here is a handy link for shrimp water parameters:
 
http/www.discobee.com/blogs/news/17030569-dwarf-shrimp-water-parameters

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The water seems a bit soft for shrimp, honestly. Are you going to feed them a calcium enriched food to help the shrimp?

 

[Far_King]

That depends on the shrimp.
 
Crystal red : PH 6.2-6.6, KH 0-2, GH 4-6
 
Parameters for RBacons tank: PH 6.6,  KH 2-3, GH 7
 
Snowballs would be fine in that water as it stands.
 
Amano, Red Cherry or Bamboo would not do so well.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

That's a great reference.  Thanks!

 

[RainboWBacoN420]

That depends on the shrimp.
 
Crystal red : PH 6.2-6.6, KH 0-2, GH 4-6
 
Parameters for RBacons tank: PH 6.6,  KH 2-3, GH 7
 
Snowballs would be fine in that water as it stands.
 
Amano, Red Cherry or Bamboo would not do so well.

Actually, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on the amanos. I have about fifteen amanos in my tank, had them for months now, at least 7 months, and they're thriving. All the females are pretty much carrying around eggs now and all of the shrimp have grown to almost two inches now.

And yes I do plan on feeding them calcium enriched food. My job actually sells specialized shrimp food.

As for the debris coming in through the tank, that is one thing I'll have to think about. I honestly don't believe it would raise a problem from it. From just simple debris? It's more of the parameters themselves I would worry about more. And like I said, i'm planning on brimging down the hardness a bit. Before it was too low, to in response I brought it up just a little too high. I'm gonna bring it down to 5 or 6.

 

[Far_King]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree, at least in part.  Amano shrimp ideally would be in water of 7.2-7.5 but can exist in ranges from 6-8.  Anything above 7.5 can lower their life expectancy.
 
GH should not be below 6 for the purposes of moulting, so you're fairly close to their lower limit and you said you were planning on lowering that figure.  They're very hardy but please bear this in mind if you're looking at changing anything.
 
As for the debris, you don't really want floatsam and old flake food filtering through to the shrimp tank - however this does depend on the shrimp you're putting in there!  Bee and Tiger shrimp would need the water to be pristine.  Perhaps some sort of sponge in the weir to catch anything that would float through? A pre-filter in effect.
 
What would be awesome would be somehow (and I have no idea how) of making a brackish sump to enable the Amano shrimp eggs to hatch

 

[eaglesaquarium]

What would be awesome would be somehow (and I have no idea how) of making a brackish sump to enable the Amano shrimp eggs to hatch

 
That would be ridiculously cool - and flat out impossible.    The two waters would have to be completely separate not to allow the salinity from one to contaminate the other.

 

[Far_King]

Saline water is heavier though?  Desalination plant required!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Saline water is heavier though?  Desalination plant required!

 
It is a little more dense, but that's not enough to keep it separated!    

 

[Far_King]

 

Saline water is heavier though?  Desalination plant required!

 
It is a little more dense, but that's not enough to keep it separated!  

 

 
Well I can't come up with all the answers