Upgrading My Shrimp Tank

[Mamashack]

Well I've decided to bit the bullet and get a bigger shrimp tank. the current 12L micro tank isn't really big enough to be stable for the temperature and also nitrates-wise. The nitrates I can do something about ( stop over-feeding!) but the temperature swings can't be doing the shrimp any good so I've bought a 19L starter tank from Pets At Home and some of their fine black gravel. Considered getting sand but eventually plumped for the fine gravel instead.
It's about half as big again as the micro tank and really the largest I can accommodate being the 4th one to feed my MTS

 (altho the micro tank may be decommissioned once this is up and running - haven't quite decided yet - no doubt I'll think of something to do with it)
The first picture is mainly just with water in to test for leaks and transferred the HOB filter from the micro tank and also installed the small internal filter that came with the tank just to get the water moving about a bit more. The micro tank is just visible to the left of this picture:

 
 
 
12 hours later there are no puddles so I've washed the gravel and added it with a slight gradient from the back to increase the surface area and hopefully make the shrimp easier to see. I may get another bag to increase the gradient which isn't that easy to see in this 2nd photo.
This tank will initially be quite minimal until established with maybe just the mosses and Riccia transferred from the small tank.
 

 
Will add ammonia tomorrow to see if the HOb has enough bacteria to cope (it was the secondary one in the micro tank) if not I'll decide whether to transfer the whole mini filter from the micro or just the sponge as they are the same size.
 

 

[Mamashack]

Well that's interesting! The nitrates this morning are 10 ppm and the water from the tap was 1 ppm - so does this mean that some of the nitrifying bacteria had transferred to the HOB in only 12 days and have discharged what they were working on into the new tank? Ammonia and nitrite both 0, pH 7.8 and temp 24⁰ C.
Have added a snack dose of Kleenoff this morning and will check to see if it's achieved 1 ppm after an hour.
Have also added some pebbles from the 30L to add a bit of contrast to the black gravel.
May try to get some frogbit to float - seen video on youtube of a zen shrimp tank and it looks quite good!

 

[Mamashack]

Well I did say it was going to be minimal! lol
 

Sole shrimp investigating his new home.
Absolutely no sign of the other 3 so am going to inspect every piece of gravel in the micro tank to see if I can find any bodies.
My son joked that the survivor didn't like sharing his space with the others when I said it looked like the one from the first lot I bought
I sincerely hope that isn't true as I plan on getting some more soon - maybe the blue rilis from MA.
Will investigate whether their requirements are the same first tho.
May get some crystals too if their needs match up.

 

[Mamashack]

No shrimp bodies in the micro tank 

 and if I have to inspect another piece of gravel this side of Christmas I'll scream! 

lol
That leaves me with a couple of possibilities - they either escaped from the tank on their own (however I haven't found any bodies outside the tanks), OR I managed to transfer them on the anubias even tho I checked it first!
Am I right in thinking that if there was something wrong in the tank they would all have been affected? Or have I got the only shrimp version of Mighty Mouse??
It's a puzzlement as Yul Brynner once said!!! 

 

[Dandyman3]

No shrimp bodies in the micro tank 

 and if I have to inspect another piece of gravel this side of Christmas I'll scream! 

lol
That leaves me with a couple of possibilities - they either escaped from the tank on their own (however I haven't found any bodies outside the tanks), OR I managed to transfer them on the anubias even tho I checked it first!
Am I right in thinking that if there was something wrong in the tank they would all have been affected? Or have I got the only shrimp version of Mighty Mouse??
It's a puzzlement as Yul Brynner once said!!! 

 
Sounds like they cause you heaps of fun. I currently only have the two shrimp in my tank, but when these plants come tomorrow and I have finished my 'carpet', I am going to get some myself. Should be good fun. My two tend to hide behind the bog wood in my tank and worried me at one point. I fell for the exoskeleton trick thinking that one of them had died! But lone behold was just the skele, I left it in there as recommended by a few forums, and lone behold it's gone. Not sure if my fish ate it, or the shrimps themselves. 
 
Either way looking at something like this (but haven't decided yet): 
 
4 Full Blue RILI Shrimp
2 YELLOW CHERRY SHRIMP
2 SAKURA RED SHRIMP * BEAUTIFUL SPECIES*
2 BLUE PEARL SHRIMP * Neocaridina sp. zhangjiajiensis * 
 
I am trying to search a bit into this cross breeding and seeing how that will affect them. What sort of colour or shrimp will be produced.

 

[Mamashack]

hi Dandyman
Yes they've led me a merry dance, these blue phantom shrimp! 
I think if you keep neocaridina sp. together they will interbreed and the end result could be very interesting OR they could revert to their wild colouring.
Your choices do look very colourful tho! What shrimp have you got at the moment?

 

[Xzavier247]

Awesome tank so far.

 

[Mamashack]

Thanks, Xzavier!
Aiming for the uncluttered look this time - bit like aquatic Feng Shui! lol

 

[Dandyman3]

hi Dandyman
Yes they've led me a merry dance, these blue phantom shrimp! 
I think if you keep neocaridina sp. together they will interbreed and the end result could be very interesting OR they could revert to their wild colouring.
Your choices do look very colourful tho! What shrimp have you got at the moment?

 
At the moment I just have a few Yamato shrimp. They have being getting along merrily and both of them have shedded there skin which seems like a good sign. My plants are due to come today so after I have done this and my water change - time to order the shrimp. Will be interesting to see the outcome. None of my local fish places have the variety available hence looking online. Mailed Kesgrave tropicals who have informed me with my setup, the choices, should be fine. But not sure of any other place which is credible. 
 
So fingers crossed all goes well. 

 

[Mamashack]

I have yamatos/amanos in my 30L and 60L and they have all grown and seem to be thriving.
I haven't had much success with the little cherries yet tho, too many variables to be sure, but I'm wondering whether it's anything to do with being posted. So I'm going to pop along to my nearest Maidenhead Aquatics and see what they have in stock. They were expecting some blue rilis last week so may stick with the blue theme if they've any left.
I'm not going to get crystals as have read they need acidic water and my is alkaline. Also my experience with shrimp is limited so not a good idea to get those until I've cracked looking after cherries.

 

[Mamashack]

Not very helpful at MA (again!), but I've had a very interesting phone conversation with a guy that another member of TFF knows and highly recommended called AJ from Easishrimp and he was very helpful indeed!
He thinks my problem has been the water hardness. Mine comes out of the tap at 125 ppm TDS and he says they really need 250 ppm to be able to moult properly in contrast to the generally held belief that 100-200 is ok. So it looks like I'm getting some Salty Shrimp after all tho I can just add it to the tap water rather than starting from scratch with R.O. water. He thinks the reason I didn't find any bodies is because they'd be eaten within a couple of days of dying. 
He also advised how to check for bacterial infections in the shrimp which is a handy thing to know. He finished by saying ring anytime if I had any more questions so I am well impressed - in total contrast to the above named establishment who made me feel I was wasting their time by asking questions. Not impressed after a 30 mile round trip and shan't be going there again in a hurry!
Have ordered some white pearls from Easishrimp and hopefully they'll be getting here on Thursday. They should show up nicely against the black gravel. 
Fingers crossed I can get it right this time!

 

[fm1978]

Hi Mama,
 
That's a lovely looking tank now...exactly what I meant! 
 
Where on earth have the others gone? My first suspicion was that they had maybe not made it and all evidence has been 'removed' by snails, but you didn't have that many snails in there to begin with so it can't be that. True, they're good hiders but for goodness sake, they're veritable ninjas. I really hope they turn up!
 
As for the temp thing, could you insulate them somehow on extra hot days? Maybe black it out with some cardboard wrapped around. Seems extreme but those temp fluctuations must be awful for the shrimp. I did mention cholla logs a wee bit back on your other thread - I have a couple in my tank and they seem to love them initially, then the novelty wears off, then they like them again. There's always 1 or 2 on or in them. I think they encourage micro organism growth and will disintegrate eventually but they'll last a while. I can send you 1 if you'd like to try before you buy!?
 
Your pH at 7.8 should be tolerated by all of your cherries, but, as you say, it's at the higher end of their preferred range. A bit closer to 7 would be better, though. And yes, crystals probably wouldn't do well in there as they definitely do favour slightly acidic. I know you wouldn't want to start monkeying around with pH control, and you'd be right not to want to, but that does still leave you with lots of choices for cherries including all the lovely bright Sakuras and the Rilis as well. 
 
Good luck finding all of your escapees!!!
 
Edit: Sorry, meant to ask, did you get anything nice from easishrimp yet? I got my voucher for 15% off through today so I'm about to take the plunge on some of the Fantasy Blues!

 

[Mamashack]

I've actually ordered 10 white pearl shrimp along with some cholla logs and Salty Shrimp GH+, but thanks for the offer, fm!
AJ think the missing ones may have died since I couldn't find them amongst the gravel form the micro tank - apparently they are usually eaten within a couple of days of dying so the one remaining one I have must be very hardy!

 

[fm1978]

Och, that's a shame, I'm sorry about that! I hate to say, but, he's probably right...
 
Who knows, perhaps combined with some of the pearls and this super blue one, you might get some more blue ones equally as super!
 
Let us know when they all come in and get some pics up!

 

[Mamashack]

Will do, fm! Am looking forward to getting it right. It was so frustrating not knowing why they were disappearing. 
But fingers crossed I will be able to care for the new ones better this time.
If he's going to be the only blue one in there he deserves a special name I reckon!
I'll have a think - any suggestions will be considered!