[Razorworm]

Hi all. Here is a pic of my "bowl". It is now 7 days old. Other than a few strands of hair algae it seems to be settling in. I want to add some shrimp,but Im not sure how long I should wait. It is MTS capped with black sand. I light it about 8 hours a day with a 60 watt cfl in a desk lamp. I have been doing 50% water changes every day or so.

 

[Penny]

I think 60 watts is probably waaay too much! You can get 10w CFL bulbs at Wal-mart, like 2 for $7. That's what I use for my shrimp vase

 

[somewhatshocked]

Pretty sure the OP means 60watt-equivalent. Most top out at 23-26 watts.

 

[Penny]

Yes you are probably right. I made the same mistake in my own thread (mine are 40watt equivalent)!

I think the bowl looks great, sorry for not being more helpful about the MTS/shrimp!

 

[somewhatshocked]

Since there's not much to really "cycle" in a bowl without standard filtration, you've just got to make sure your water parameters are good to go for the shrimp you're adding.

 

[Newman]

so you have a bunch of Malasian Trumpet snails capped with black sand in here? nice

once your plants are growing really well, it should be safer to add the shrimp. it doesn't guarantee that there still wont be a spike of something though, so keep up weekly water changes when shrimp are in. (i remember i had a nitrite spike when i first put my one cherry shrimp in my bowl).

 

[xxbenjamminxx]

Lol mts - mineralized top soil

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[Newman]

ah ok, that does make more sense...

 

[Razorworm]

Penny, yeah, it's a 60 w equivalent, my bad lol.

I think I will give it another week. Water now is fine though. When I add the shrimp, ( I'm thinking crs ?? ) how many do you think I should get?

 

[Newman]

get around 5 shrimp (they will be small juveniles)
also do not move too fast especially with crystals. get A grade if you can.

 

[Razorworm]

what do you like to feed your shrimp. I realize that without a filter, the food should be kept to a minimum....?

 

[Newman]

i feed all sorts of stuff. shirakura pellets for shrimp, blanched spinach, Tetra spirulina flakes, there is a piece of dried leaf in there for them, and soon ill be feeding them Mosura food as well.
I am making it a habit of leaving them without food for at least one day a week...

 

[rikardob]

I try feeding mine, but really they prefer eating whatever it is they find around my bowl. They pay minimal attention to the boiled spinach and whatnot. I'm going to try every other day for a while and then twice a week etc. till I know if they really need it or not. May just end up forgetting about trying to feed them eventually until they breed.

 

[diwu13]

what do you like to feed your shrimp. I realize that without a filter, the food should be kept to a minimum....?

Feel free to feed them pellets, wafers, or blanched veggies. However, I wouldn't recommend leaving anything in for longer than 1 or 2 hours. That will really start to pollute the water.

 

[Newman]

in order for my shrimp to find and eat the spinach i give them, i leave it in the bowl for a day or two...it takes them a while to find it because they can barely find it by smell(there is no water circulation). I do not find that it fouls the water. unless the food looks like its decomposing - then you should probably remove it asap. the Tetra spirulina flakes i feed get ripped up overnight so i always vacuum the remains up the next day.