Setting up a 10G Cherry shrimp tank for my classroom. Questions & Updates Here!

Waltmark

Waltmark

AC Members
Aug 27, 2010
163
0
16
39
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Hey All,

I'm a school teacher and I think a Cherry Shrimp tank will go great in my classroom. I don't have access to a sink and water so whatever I do I need to keep it small and low maintenance. Science teachers are down the hall so I'll need to lug water back and forth from there. I was thinking a 10 gallon shrimp tank would be best for my situation. I'm thinking:

-Black gravel
- Sponge/ bubble fitler (I have a small box bubble filter with a place for carbon. I was thinking I would encase this is foam to make the filter.
- Driftwood pieces, java moss, Java fern. (possibly Cholla wood?)
- Cherry Shrimp ( What is a good number to start with?)
- R/O Water (Science teachers have this, is it better to use than regular water? Do I still need to dechlorinatinate (is that a word?) the water? Should I just use regular water?

Because changing water will be tough I was thinking of doing a 10% water change every two weeks, top off as needed from a jug in the room. Is that to little with a 10 gallon shrimp tank or could I get away with that?

Please tell me what you guys think of my plans so far and if I'm missing anything. I don't want to set something up I wont be able to take care of ('I've done that before. Gone big and it was messy), but I also think the students will love it. Let me know your thoughts.
 
I think the kids will love that.

How do you plan to cycle the tank?

10 gal is so small, doing a 25% wc is basically just as easy as 10%. Just drain 1 2.5 gal bucket (a small bucket size), use a cart to take it down the hall, or outside. Or even to water classroom plants if you have them. Then put bucket on said cart, fill up, mix in however much RO you want to use (100% RO is unbuffered and subject to pH swings, also not great for plants, so I would go 50/50 depending on your water hardness). Bingo, a much more substantial and useful water change. I would aim to do that once per week as shrimp need nice clean water.

You didn't mention a liquid testing kit, y
 
Sounds good, I'd start out with 12+ shrimp, no more then 24 as they'll start reproducing on their own soon.

Tap vs RODI, tap would probably be fine unless you know you have some bad stuff in the water, local tap here in NY is pretty good low TDS, but several months back I did try using RODI in one of my tanks and my shrimp did seem to breed more after that. if your going to use RODI water no dechlorinator needed but you'll want to either use something like Seachem's Equilibrium or Kent R/O Right, to replace the good minerals removed by the r/o process. I've used Equilibrium its suppose to be meant for planted tanks so I guess it might have a few extra beneficial minerals in it and the small container lasts quite some time.

If its just shrimp and no fish you could probably get away with 10% changes.
 
Whoops stupid phone keyboard. Anyway, you need a liquid test kit for pH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, and since you plan to use RO I would also get GH/KH so you can aim to keep KH high enough for stable pH. Oh and yes dechlorinate (that's the word) your tap water mixed with RO.

Good luck!
 
Ah yes you can buy stuff to properly buffer and mineralized RO. Tap is the cheap person's way and the way I plan to go at work where we also have RO, also it takes a long time to get more than 1 gal from our unit.
 
So I spent the day working on the classroom shrimp tank. I had a bubble box filter sitting in the sump of my main tank for a day. I also did a water change on my main tank and saved a gallon to help kick-start the cycle for my soon to be 10 gallon shrimp tank. Crappy pictures, but here is a link to my progress so far:

http://imgur.com/a/5aFJX

My dog was helping me in one tank, ignore dog :)

I went with fine black sand, picked up a nice piece of driftwood, and a small sinkable heater. I set it all up with the bubble filter in my classroom. Now all I need is to make sure this tank gets a proper cycle and then start adding some plants and shrimp.

I'm not super impressed with the lighting. I may swap it out for something else down the road. Any and all advice is still welcome.
 
My $0.00

They would love some Java Moss if your lighting will support it.

I would just use tap water, they could use the hardness.

You probably don't need a heater unless the room temp is going below 60F at night. RCS like it cooler than most tropical fish and usually do very well at room temperature.

For cheap dechlor, I suggest Weco Dechlor. A $4 bottle will last you several years. You probably dont need anything like Ammo-lock or Prime in an RCS tank.

A dozen or so sounds like a good start. It's a very low bioload and should cycle gently with no problems. If they are happy in the tank...they will make more!


FWIW, I've been thinking along the same lines for a workplace tank....RCS and maybe a couple male guppies. I also would have to cart water from down the hall.
 
Last edited:
I see its an aqueon hood is it the one with a T8 or does it have incandescent bulbs? If its T8 stock bulb and all is fine for lower light plants I've used it before, if its incandescents then toss them out and get some CFL bulbs.
 
I would stick with tap water for rcs. Save yourself 2 one gallon water jugs and you are set for water changes. Lighting is fine for any moss or crypt or hornwort. Cholla wood is awesome....use it in my rcs tank. With plenty of hiding places for the rcs, kids will have fun looking for the little buggers (I do it every day!). What grade, by the way?


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom