I have a 10 gallon tank that was seeded with about 60 cherry shrimp (two separate shipments from different forum members). I've not been doing shrimp very long, but the cherry shrimp seem pretty hardy. I have used Flourish and Excel in the tank with no problem. I dose well below the guidelines on the bottle however.
There is no other fauna in the tank (save snails), so I've not really done many water changes in the couple of months the shrimp have been in the tank. When I'm suctioning the water out, I just have to look carefully to be sure I'm not sucking up any babies. The adults usually get spooked by the movement and scurry away. I use an HOB filter with a sponge on the intake. When I'm topping off the water, I pour it into the filter rather than the tank directly.
I also set up my tank using filter media from one of my cycled tanks. I let it run for a week or two before I added shrimp. Maybe I didn't wait long enough, but everyone seems happy. I suppose you may have to be a little more careful if you're dealing with more finicky shrimps. The cherry shrimp seem to deal well though.
As for food, check the classified section. I've bought sample packs of food from there to get a decent variety of stuff to feed. You don't have to drop a lot of money on something the shrimp may not like.
There is no other fauna in the tank (save snails), so I've not really done many water changes in the couple of months the shrimp have been in the tank. When I'm suctioning the water out, I just have to look carefully to be sure I'm not sucking up any babies. The adults usually get spooked by the movement and scurry away. I use an HOB filter with a sponge on the intake. When I'm topping off the water, I pour it into the filter rather than the tank directly.
I also set up my tank using filter media from one of my cycled tanks. I let it run for a week or two before I added shrimp. Maybe I didn't wait long enough, but everyone seems happy. I suppose you may have to be a little more careful if you're dealing with more finicky shrimps. The cherry shrimp seem to deal well though.
As for food, check the classified section. I've bought sample packs of food from there to get a decent variety of stuff to feed. You don't have to drop a lot of money on something the shrimp may not like.