Shrimp Tank

[Mikey]

Hey all, not sure where this should go really, so plonking it here for the mod team to move if necessary.

As some of you will know, I collect my own llive shrimp for my cuttles, and progressively, i'm getting tired of performing a water change every 2 days on them.

My good ol pops has offered to make me a tank to set them up in, and i'm liking the idea.

First off - does anyone have a tank set up specifically for their live shrimps/crabs etc.

If not, can anyone make some suggestions as to set up.

I'm thinking about a 2 foot tank, maybe only ran with an old skimmer i have, to see if that will hold with weekly water changes. UGF is always a cheap option, but again, a bit of a hassle.

I'm not planning on heating the tank at all (rather the opposite actually), so do you think I could get a bed on nitrifying bacteria going at outside temps? The skimmer i'm thinking of is an AM bio flotor, so has is a skimmer, with combined bio wheel for bacterial to colonise.

Bottom, line, I want to keep it simple and managable, but sustainable for the shrimps.

ANY help apprecited.

TIA

 

[corw314]

I have a 15 long tank set up in my kitchen, with crushed coral and a Aquaclear 400 and that's it! The crabs, shrimp snails and whatever else we happen to catch, does great and I admit, my last waterchange was probably about 6 weeks ago when I realized my filter was leaking. Other than an emergency fix, my feeder tank is lucky if it gets a waterchange every 3 months or more.

Carol

 

[Mikey]

Hey Carol,

Thanks very much for your experiences - sounds easy enough (hehehe yeah we'll see)!

 

[Scouse]

hey Mikey keep us posted on this mate as im gunna have to do the same soon enough no doubt!!!

 

[Chipdog]

Even knowing I am still very new to the site maybe I can drop my .
I just ordered an Eclipse System 6 from petsolutions for 40 bucks. They come in different sizes but I didn't want to take up too much room in my tiny place. I have used the eclipse systems before and they are really nice all in one tank. Remeber bigger is better but I have easy access to octo food so I don't need to keep too much on hand.
Chip

 

[DHyslop]

The nice thing about the eclipse is you can put your octo in it too!

Have you thought about integrating the feeder tank into your existing water system like a refugium? I was considering plumbing a small (1/4 - 1/2"?) secondary line from my overflow into a 10g, which would be drilled for an overflow into my sump. I don't have room for it underneath the tank, I'd have to have it on a table next to it.

Dan

 

[Scouse]

I was gunna use part of my sump but get the impression the water quality will go well down hill if i start this since the crabs etc are a messy bunch

confused I is

 

[oscar]

i am halfway through setting up my refugium plumbed into the main tank - it will house about 6 seahorses, and so i can dump all my soldier crabs and shrimp and feeder fish in there without having to worry about too much pollution - but we'll see...

good luck - fuges are very cool!

 

[flash02161]

food tank

I have a 20gallon long tank that overflows into the same sump as the main tank. it sits on a two shelf tank rack with the sump right underneath it....they sit in a room on the other side of the wall from the main tank.....the output of the pump has a T in it to send water to both tanks........

 

[oscar]

but don't you think it would be cool to set up a shrimp tank or crab tank that was also like a display in itself! this is what i am trying to achieve anyway!

 

[corw314]

That's exactly what my feeder tank is! Kind of like I have the bay floor in my kitchen!!!

 

[oscar]

very nice! are there any pictures on the net? i havent finished mine yet but im thinking it will be big (3' or 4') as a fuge and seahorse tank... ahhh the joys of having a job which pays double on sunday and living with parents...lol