[CrazyCatPeekin]

I've got a few questions about setting up my new shrimp tank. This was going to be a tank for my betta with a few dwarf frogs, but I've decided to let him have a 5 gallon hex to himself instead and give the shrimp the extra space. Here's the details:

10 gallon standard glass tank
Zoo-Med Nano 511 Canister Filter (sponge or nylon covered intake)
Marineland Double Bright LED Lighting
Fluval Stratum Substrate for Shrimp
Distilled Water Treated with Fluval Shrimp Mineral Supplement

Plants: Riccia, marimo, rotala indica, what looks like some kind of wisteria, 1 crypt, small anubias on driftwood, floating hornwort & frogbit, java fern on a "coconut cave"

Other: some cholla wood sticks

Inhabitants: 15 TFR/PFR Shrimp

Questions:

1. Can my mystery snail live here with my shrimp? Most of what I have read says yes.

2. Do I need a heater? I live in TX and it rarely gets below 68 in my house. I am thinking that a heater might not be needed in this tank.

3. I have been using Excel and Flourish Comprehensive in my other tanks. I have to get some test kits soon to figure out if I need to dose N, P, & K for the plants. With the distilled water, I am thinking it will be needed but I am not sure. Will that be okay here with the shrimp?

 

[HolyAngel]

1) yes mystery snail is totally fine

2) shouldn't need a heater at all, my house is the same even here in IL and I dont/haven't used a heater in over a year..

3) I would not dose excel at all ever. Everything else is fine if you need to.

 

[CrazyCatPeekin]

Thanks for the reply!

Are you saying that you wouldn't use excel at all? Or just not in the shrimp tank?

 

[TLE041]

Your list of plants is pretty undemanding, so Excel isn't really necessary.

That filter seems a little underpowered for a 10 gallon tank, especially for shrimps where pristine water conditions is crucial. I know the manufacturer claims it's good for up to 30 gallons, but that number is highly inflated. Most people who owned one will say that it'll struggle on any tank larger than 5 gallons. Personally, I'd go for an Eheim 2213.

 

[diwu13]

Thanks for the reply!

Are you saying that you wouldn't use excel at all? Or just not in the shrimp tank?

He is saying not to use excel in an invert tank. It's debated but it seems to cause deaths.

 

[CrazyCatPeekin]

That filter seems a little underpowered for a 10 gallon tank, especially for shrimps where pristine water conditions is crucial. I know the manufacturer claims it's good for up to 30 gallons, but that number is highly inflated. Most people who owned one will say that it'll struggle on any tank larger than 5 gallons. Personally, I'd go for an Eheim 2213.

The Eheim relies on gravity and has to be lower than the tank which, for this particular tank, isn't going to be an option right now. It isn't in the budget anyway.

I already own the ZooMed. It has been doing a decent job with my betta in the tank for a while now. It's quiet and the flow rate is good. In fact, I had to reduce it because the current was too strong for the betta.

I do have an extra Penguin 100 that isn't being used right now. I can add that to the tank and run both filters.

I guess I am a little confused since much of what I have read recommends only sponge filters for shrimp tanks and suggests that canisters and HOBs aren't really necessary.

 

[madness]

I guess I am a little confused since much of what I have read recommends only sponge filters for shrimp tanks and suggests that canisters and HOBs aren't really necessary.

Water quality is a significant concern with shrimp. Red Cherry Shrimp are far more tolerant of these issues than most of the other species fortunately.

Sponge filters are good because they are fry safe and they provide a stable source of biological filtration.

If you are trying to breed shrimp or are keeping any of the more sensitive shrimp then you probably want the sponge filter as a secondary filtration option.

If you try to filter the tank like you would for a fish tank and then add a sponge filter you sort of get the best of both worlds. The inexpensive nature of sponge filters makes tossing one in an established tank an easier decision.

Many people keeping shrimp do very frequent water changes so the small mechanical filtration and the biological filtration offered by the sponge filters can be sufficient in many cases.

If you have an additional HoB filter available then I would recommend using it.

 

[Buff Daddy]

The Finnex canister (Px-360) is much better than the Zoo-Med 511, but I would go with a decent, 20G+ sponge and/or a good hob ( I like AC mini20s for 10G tanks.).

Your 15 critters will be many more in a few months, if your conditions are right. HoBs will need an intake filter for fry. Forget the excel, and use Flourish sparingly, especially at first. Stabilize (cycle and mature) the tank before adding shrimp. You'll appreciate having done it later.

 

[CrazyCatPeekin]

I am seeing that with the Finnex. I probably would have purchased that one if I had known about it when I got the Zoo-Med.

Re-reading my first post, I guess I wasn't really clear. The only things new in the tank are the water, some of the plants (riccia, frog bit & anubias), and the shrimp. The rest of this tank has actually been running for some time. It originally had a handful of shrimp and my betta. That turned out to be a mistake. Then it had some other fish for several months. And now, my betta is in there again. I was going to put my new shrimp into a smaller tank, but I changed my mind and am going to put the betta in there instead and give the shrimp the more mature 10 gallon tank.

Besides that, I have been keeping my extra filters running on my larger tanks. So the Penguin is an extra filter, but it has been running a tank with fish for the last six months (including this one) and has a cycled bio-wheel on it.

The only major change I was planning to make to that tank was the switch over to distilled water with the mineral supplement rather than tap water.

I have some sponges to cover the filter intakes on the canister and the HOB. I will probably do that for now and maybe switch out the HOB for a sponge filter later if it seems like a better option.

As long as the Zoo-Med continues to work, I see no reason to replace it. But, when that time comes, I will probably be considering the Finnex.

I'll leave the excel out of the shrimp tank. I already useless than the full dose of Flourish and my plants are doing well so far. I may try cutting it back even further.

Thanks everyone for your advice!