hwofnt
Junior Member
Posts: 43 
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Post by hwofnt on Sept 28, 2009 9:36:25 GMT -5
Just curious, what would be the minimal care tank: with African dwarf frogs, shrimps (which ones or mix is possible), blue lobsters (or cryfish?) or anything else?
It seems that fish has higher bioload and have higher possibility of diseases, maybe invertebrates only or planted tank is a better way to go.
Post pictures of your tanks, please, and any tips on low care setups that worked for you or people you know.
Thanks.
P.S. I'm no planning to set tank right now, just looking for possibilities to have low care aquarium at all.
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Post by Carl on Sept 28, 2009 10:28:39 GMT -5
I will start by saying that both Suzie Q and babygeige have experience here, so hopefully they will have some suggestions.
From my experience African Dwarf Frogs (ADF), can be prone to disease and poor water conditions as much or more so than many fish, as well they can escape occasionally too. I am not saying that ADF do not make good pets, I would just not consider them an easy care aquarium inhabitant. However, others may have different experiences with ADF.
As for shrimps, I have only seen water conditions be an issue, disease seems less a problem. However predation by many fish is definitely an issue with most freshwater shrimps (many are bred solely for use as feeders).
Crayfish, Red Lobsters, Blue Lobsters, etc are also hardy as to disease, but can be predatory to inhabitants that they can catch (weak fish, shrimp, resting or long finned fish, etc.).
Shrimp can mix well with many small fish such as Tetras, but having the shrimp present does not allow certain treatments.
I have also kept ADF with Ghost Shrimp without a problem but for one; that is ADF seem to often arrive in poor health and I have found treatments that are often effective for them is often harmful to the shrimp.
Carl
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Post by Suzie Q (Lori) on Sept 28, 2009 12:02:40 GMT -5
First off...Welcome to EA hwofnt. Carl has already touched on the most important issues of keeping shrimp and such animals in a mixed tank. You can not treat for most disease. I do keep Endler's with my RCS (Red Cherry Shrimp)...but that poses an issue in its self...the shrimp dont breed well. Before I put the Endler's in...the shrimp bred like crazy..now I will only see one or 2 berried (carrying eggs) female. A planted tank is the best way to keep shrimp. A 10g can hold 100's of shrimp...they will breed until there is no more room (will not over populate a tank). I have had Ghost shrimp (and believe it or not...I have one that is about 3yrs old!!! I saw it the other day!!! (Carl...remember when I raised that brood?...got 1 left). I feed fish food Spirulina...or shrimp pellets (got some from Walmart and they don't like them) Omega one is the best so far... algae wafers on occasion...live grindals (very small white worms)..again on occasion. Ok...my mind has gone blank...I'll post more as it comes to me...sry Lori |
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Post by bikeguy33 on Sept 29, 2009 12:45:51 GMT -5
to add to this....frogs in my experience can be filthy. not to say they are not interesting to keep tho. all the tanks i kept that had any kinds of frogs usually meant larger and more thourough tank cleanings. in my opinion, the only tanks that can be low maintenance is an overfiltered under populated tank of small fish....
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hwofnt
Junior Member
Posts: 43
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Post by hwofnt on Sept 30, 2009 6:57:40 GMT -5
Thanks! So frogs are out of list  , shrimps left. I found website about keeping small crayfish in a bucket, a lot of food and water changes involved. Shrimps seem easier: they do not get sick, no treatment required, unless some fish is in the same tank. Good! 1. I have a question: how much food, say 1 mm pellet (1/32") they require and how frequently, should one watch for an uneaten food and remove it - for keeping water quality good? 2. Another thing: reproduction seems to be a problem. Seeking a new home for pets is not easy. What are you doing in this situation? 3. What temperature should be for the shrimp: ghost, cherry or other usually available in stores? Should heater be protected? As I understand, room temperature 68-72F (20-22C) is not enough, right? 4. What setup do you recommend for a 10g tank with shrimp, that will be easy to care? Overkill approach is OK, I have a plenty of unused equipment laying around and should leave what is necessary for this for myself before getting rid of all the other. 4a. What plants and light? Currently I have few feeders ghost shrimp left after weaning lionfish, in tank with 4x oversized power filter with very big prefilter sponge, few river rocks and large clump of java moss floating in the stream (HOB power filter is on the short side of the tank), 13W 7100K FL (T4?) desktop lamp, but tanks next to this have 180W and 45W PC and MH. If standing alone in other room, how much light for shrimp tank only? I have read that java fern and java moss may live well without light, next to the Northern exposure window. It didn't work for me even under Southern exposure basement window: some black thing covered plants, moss stopped to grow, had to disassemble the tank. 5. What kind of shrimps could be kept in the same 10g tank? Or better keep one kind only? If so, which one would you prefer? Thanks. |
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Post by Suzie Q (Lori) on Sept 30, 2009 13:12:18 GMT -5
1. I have a question: how much food, say 1 mm pellet (1/32") they require and how frequently, should one watch for an uneaten food and remove it - for keeping water quality good? Red Cherry Shrimp will eat algae if that is the only food available. Ghost shrimp will need something more. This is where flake food comes in. I do suggest Carl's Spirulina for all shrimp. A little goes a long way. NEVER leave food sitting in the tank. Always remove any uneaten foods after about 5 mins...unless they are still eating of course. I have snails in my tanks to also help with any uneaten food issue (snails pose an issue in themselves  2. Another thing: reproduction seems to be a problem. Seeking a new home for pets is not easy. What are you doing in this situation? RCS will only breed to the Max of a tank. For some reason they will quit breeding. Ghost Shrimp will actively hunt and eat the Larva/fry of their own kind so no worries there. If you are afraid RCS will over populate the tank, you can always feed the fry (RCS-do not go thru a larva stage like most fresh water shrimp).3. What temperature should be for the shrimp: ghost, cherry or other usually available in stores? Should heater be protected? As I understand, room temperature 68-72F (20-22C) is not enough, right? I use a cheap preset heater on my tank that is set at 78F. Anything between 72-78F is ok. There is another type of shrimp CRS-Crystal Red Shrimp that prefer it colder if I am not mistaken but those shrimp run $20 each!!! 4. What setup do you recommend for a 10g tank with shrimp, that will be easy to care? Overkill approach is OK, I have a plenty of unused equipment laying around and should leave what is necessary for this for myself before getting rid of all the other. Water movement is a must!!! I run an HOB for a 10 on one side (covering the intake with the netting from an old fish net for the fry's sake) and a Sponge filter on the other. I put the heater right at the intake of the HOB so the heat is circulated.4a. What plants and light? Currently I have few feeders ghost shrimp left after weaning lionfish, in tank with 4x oversized power filter with very big prefilter sponge, few river rocks and large clump of java moss floating in the stream (HOB power filter is on the short side of the tank), 13W 7100K FL (T4?) desktop lamp, but tanks next to this have 180W and 45W PC and MH. If standing alone in other room, how much light for shrimp tank only? I have read that java fern and java moss may live well without light, next to the Northern exposure window. It didn't work for me even under Southern exposure basement window: some black thing covered plants, moss stopped to grow, had to disassemble the tank. A live planted tank is the way to go with shrimp...especially the red ones. I like to use black "dirt" (I used Eco-Complete mixed with Azoo from Carl. It is orange in color and looks great mixed with the black of Eco-Complete (went with EC because it is black). Someone else will have to help with the lighting...I still don't understand it...I trust what Carl has told me and buy my bulbs thru him. The black stuff was algae...the RCS will eat that over time. I use a SHO light (i think) from Carl (Carl...fell free to add links...still don't understand how to...errg). I have also found that with live plants...don't do to much water changes...my plants are greener when I do 25% or less weekly...BUT that is MY tank...each tank is different!!! I have different types of plants in my tanks...RESEARCH plants before you get them...in a 10g you probably want low light plants. I have Anubis, Christmas Moss, Java Fern, and 2 others that I need to look up and post.5. What kind of shrimps could be kept in the same 10g tank? Or better keep one kind only? If so, which one would you prefer? Single species is always the way to go. Ghost shrimp are predators!!! They will catch and eat ANYTHING if they can. I had a single juvie GS in a Betta Fry tank with 1 week old fry...he ate all but 7 in less then 24hrs!!! RCS would not have a chance with even 1 GS. I love the Cherries. You can find them from breeders almost everywhere...don't pay more then $1 each plus shipping though. You might be able to find them in a pet store but they will most likely be Female only...if you do get a male...count yourself lucky.I hope I have not been to confusing
Any other suggestions guys?
Lori |
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Post by Carl on Sept 30, 2009 20:50:24 GMT -5
Not that I can think of Suzie Q, I think you covered most everything that I can think of.
Carl
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Post by babygeige on Sept 30, 2009 21:09:25 GMT -5
I have my RCS in a 10 gallon tank with 4 white clouds and a Celestial Pearl danio. I won't be getting any more fish when these guys die off. I'm going to keep the 10 as an RCS only tank after that point.
I've had a lot of success with java fern and anubias in this tank. I also have a couple of crypt lutea plants. The tank's substrate is just plain gravel and I put Flourish Tabs in near the crypts every few months to give them a little boost. You don't need any special sort of light with those. I just have a basic plant and aquarium light that I bought at the hardware store for like 4 bucks.
For filtration, I've got an HOB filter with a sponge pre-filter on it. The shrimp love to pick little bits of stuff off of the sponge!
Check out my thread called "I Miss Shrimp" in the same section as this thread. I've got some nice pics of my 10 gallon and you can really see how much the shrimp helped my tank out.
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hwofnt
Junior Member
Posts: 43
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Post by hwofnt on Oct 1, 2009 10:16:17 GMT -5
Thank you so much, everyone! Very helpful, all I need.
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, shrimps left. I found website about keeping small crayfish in a bucket, a lot of food and water changes involved. Shrimps seem easier: they do not get sick, no treatment required, unless some fish is in the same tank. Good! 
