[Polarize]

Hey everyone,

So far I have some Red Cherries, Fire Reds, CRSs and Golden Bees that all seem to be doing okay at the moment. The situation is that I'll be away for roughly the next 4 months and was wondering if it'll be okay for my shrimp to stay in the unheated basement (the basement isn't completely underground as the top half of it is actually above ground). Since I'll be away for the next 4 months, which is when it gets cold, I'm worried that the shrimp won't make it. It gets very cold in the basement (NYC area, by the way), though I don't know how low of a temperature it tends to get.

The shrimp are in 5.5g hooded tanks with Aquaclear 20 HOB filter, 9 watt florescent bulb (40 watt equivalent) and filled with mostly moss (like 1/3-1/2 of the tank, rest is mostly bare bottom with a few other small plants). Light is on for about 8-12 hours a day and they are fed very small amounts of algae wafer pieces usually daily. No water changes have been done, only topped off with aged tap water about once a week. If my family is able to, this will hopefully be continued on schedule while I am away. The tanks are a few feet away from the water heater if it makes any difference.

My main concern is the temperature as I'm afraid it'll get too cold for them to live. I don't have any aquarium heaters and will only have about a week to get them set up if needed. Another possible option is to move the tanks to another floor, but I'd rather not do this since space is a little limited right now.

So do you guys think they'll be okay in the basement? If not, what should I do? Any suggestions, advice, etc are greatly appreciated and welcomed :smile: Thanks in advance!

 

[Betta Maniac]

Not sure why it's such a problem to just pop a heater into the tank.

 

[OverStocked]

For those tanks, the little preset heaters from walmart (tetra) are about perfect. NO "setting" to worry about it.

 

[gordonrichards]

Home depot, get foam. Insulate the sides of the tanks.

 

[Polarize]

Thanks for the suggestion OverStocked! I'll look into it...though the nearest Walmart for me is in NJ. And as to why I'm indecisive about inputting a heater, it's because I have no experience with heaters, haha...and if it needs any monitoring or anything, no one will be around to actually take the time to do much. Also slightly worried with any power surges or other problems heaters might have. So if someone with experience in keeping shrimp in an unheated basement can chime in and tell me it's okay, that would be great;I'll just leave them be. If not, I suppose I'll have to look for some heaters...or try the foam insulation as Gordon suggested (thanks!)

 

[gtu2004]

Edit: nvm

 

[jasonpatterson]

It all depends on how cold your basement gets. Since you don't know that there's really no way for anyone to tell you whether it would be safe or not. Are we talking about the tanks icing over, or just being chilly or what? If you put a heater in each tank, you'll be fine. Honestly, being gone for 4 straight months, they'll probably do a bit better in cooler weather anyway, slower metabolism and less evaporation.

Are they going to be fed at all, or the tanks topped off, even weekly or monthly?

 

[KrazyFish]

I am not a shrimp keeper - maybe one day though!

But I was wondering; considering you will be away for 4 months shouldn't you be more concerned with the water quality? i know I couldn't leave my fish without a water change that long.

If temp is your biggest concern just use a heater. They are pretty much fool proof these days.

 

[Polarize]

Thanks for the input guys. And yes, the shrimp will be fed and there will be weekly top offs. I doubt there would be icing over, but I've never had any tanks down there.