Advice for 20 gal long shrimp tank

[Newman]

right, I'm going to go pick up some things tonight. i need a split valve since i just looked at my old one and its broken lol. I have a whisper10 air pump. do you think that's enough to split between two sponge filters? what pumps do you guys use?

[Newman]

last question about the sponge filters: these things are weighted right? they're not going to float up and be annoying? looks like the bottom disc should be the weight...

[Merth]

Originally Posted by newman

last question about the sponge filters: These things are weighted right? They're not going to float up and be annoying? Looks like the bottom disc should be the weight...

+1 ^

[Newman]

sweet, thanks for confirming

[Hardstuff]

Can some one explain the concept to me on why they run sponge filters in shrimp tanks.
Sponge filters will drive up the ph & cause out gas of CO2! What am I missing. Internal canister filters filter better & you can control surface agitation if needed. I could see HOB filters if the flow stays lower enough but even HOB filters are not as good as canisters say with a pre filter or screen on them to prevent babies from being sucked into them.
Out gassing CO2 & poor flow rates do not seem productive.

[bostoneric]

because they are amazing feeding places for shrimp!

[Hardstuff]

If the canisters have pre filters on them would that not be amazing feeding places, not to mention the rest of the entire tank, substrate , plants, moss, wood, feeding dishes , just to name a few. To out gas CO2 & jack up ph values does not make sense.
Canister filters outperform sponge by like 10 to 1 in flow & filtration, & the shrimp can still graze on the pre filter.
I guess in tiny 2 -5 gallon tanks you would not have much choice, but larger tanks over 5 gal. would benefit from canisters. With NO excel usage!
I guess the cheap way would be with sponges.

[skystrife]

Originally Posted by Hardstuff

To out gas CO2 & jack up ph values does not make sense.

Having a higher amount of dissolved oxygen does not increase or decrease pH---there aren't any more hydroxide or hydronium ions than there would be ordinarily.

What it impacts, however, is dissolved oxygen content and, by extension, shrimp health. Generally speaking, shrimp are the first to display respiratory distress when increasing the amount of dissolved CO2 in the water column.

Many times, the benefit of higher oxygenation outweighs the ability to pump in more CO2 (and thus grow more demanding plants). A lot of shrimp keepers only keep plants that will thrive in low-tech environments (and many just use mosses exclusively) for this reason.

It's sort of a trade-off: do you want to focus more on your shrimp colony, or more on your plants? It's a bit of a balancing act if you attempt to do both---I don't recall people breeding very high grade shrimp while simultaneously injecting CO2 (but I could be wrong).

Originally Posted by Hardstuff

I guess the cheap way would be with sponges.

You hit it on the head right there: the cost-to-effectiveness ratio is very, very high for sponge filters---adding a simple $4-5 sponge to a tank has a very positive impact for shrimps with a very low investment. You'll almost always see at least one sponge running on a shrimper's tank for this reason alone.

[Newman]

yes I don't care much for off-gassing the CO2 here. the plants should be fine. i'm not injecting the CO2 or anything like that. I guess the plants can get their carbon from the substrate and shrimp waste (respiratory and otherwise). I'm not going to be running the filters at max bubble flow, so it shouldn't make too much of a difference anyway. but it will improve shrimp health i bet.

I still havent found any good sponge filters. no bigger chain LFS sells them. i have a lead on some from my small LFS, and hopefully they will have them tomorrow like they said they would.

[82nd_Airborne]

Just a thought on something besides the addition of a sponge filter, the no water changes is probably decreasing your breeding as well. Generally, most of my shrimp molt after a water change, meaning the females will be available to breed, this should at least in theory increase the breeding rate of your colony. I do 10% once a week on my 3 and 5 gallon, and 20% every two weeks on my 20L. Just my $0.02

[Soothing Shrimp]

Plus, you can have the tube above the water. As long as water comes out the top, it is still doing its job.

[Newman]

Thanks for the info Soothing.

Yes i thought about the water changes being a problem for breeding too. my shrimp do molt normally as far as I can see. I just didnt want to stress any of them as i hear they are most prone to drop eggs if there are water changes going on.
I'll just get the sponge filters and let them take their course.
It's not like my nitrates are out of control or there's too much waste in the system. (yet) haha.

[Lkittredge]

Originally Posted by Newman

I still havent found any good sponge filters. no bigger chain LFS sells them. i have a lead on some from my small LFS, and hopefully they will have them tomorrow like they said they would.

check out eBay

[Newman]

I'll have to if they say they won't have them for a while. I was promised tomorrow so hopefully they'll have them in stock.
I wanted to get some ASAP, and shipping would take a week. but if the LFS has none then i have no other choice than ordering online. Thanks.