# New 10g RCS tank - with pics!



## Marshall (Jul 8, 2013)

Just thought I'd share a few pics of my new shrimp tank, this is my first try with shrimp so let me know if any of you see a way of improving the setup. I used some cycled media from my 55g and let it sit for a couple of weeks with some danios and plants, i wanted to let some algae and a nice biofilm build up before adding the shrimps. 

I went with Red cherry shrimp to start off, I picked up a group of 6 and my wife actually noticed a few babies that had hitchhiked their way into the bag, lucky for me!

First the tank, which i bought off Kijiji for 20$ with all the accessories, 
- 10g tank with the standard lid
- it had a 12000K fluorescent when i got it which was quickly changed out for sun-glo 6700K
- Aquaclear mini HOB filter
- and a bunch of extras and water treatments which i already had anyways.



I went black sand substrate with a black background and a couple of natural rocks and some manzanita bits





Here's a full tank shot as it was with the danios in it.



3 weeks later there was a some green algae growing on the rocks and sticks so it was time to pick up my last piece of wood and re-scape a little. I also added a sponge over the filter intake in preparation for shrimplets.



it was a little foggy from the sand I stirred up but you can get the idea.



after letting the shrimp acclimate for a while, i let them loose, they went straight to the crevices in the wood but they were all out after an hour or so





I'm really enjoying them so far, let's hope the multiply like crazy! I could watch them for hours.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Nice! 

They will produce. Not so long ago I bought 24 yellow shrimp for my first shrimp tank. In 10 days 7-8 of them were berried, within 3 months I had over 300. Now I am somewhere in the 6-800 range.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

" it had a 12000K fluorescent when i got it which was quickly changed out for sun-glo 6700K"
What brand and T8 or T5...on the 6700K that is ? The 6700K's seem hard to come by in 18" bulbs. I have two ten's. 
Tank looks real nice BTW. Thanks for the pic's...


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## Marshall (Jul 8, 2013)

It's just a standard 15" T8, it may be life-glo by Hagen and not the sun-glo, but I'm sure i got the 6700K

I only have low light plants anyways


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## Marshall (Jul 8, 2013)

Quick update. Sorta bummed right now, I did a large water change 2 days ago, my water had a lot of tannins from a new piece of wood I put in at the same time as the shrimp, and it's got the white fuzz now, 

All that to say, I found 2 dead shrimp this morning, dunno why, I have to go do a few tests


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Marshall said:


> Quick update. Sorta bummed right now, I did a large water change 2 days ago, my water had a lot of tannins from a new piece of wood I put in at the same time as the shrimp, and it's got the white fuzz now,
> 
> All that to say, I found 2 dead shrimp this morning, dunno why, I have to go do a few tests


Do the test and please give the results. I occasionally have the same problem. It hardly never seems to be completely adult
shrimp but rather 3/4 grown ones. It'll go weeks at a time without anything like that and then(in my tank) I'll find one dead
and what is odd is that it will keep happening for about 2 or 3 days...one dead on each day, and then stop. I've never found
any bad readings but what would do it then ? If it were an adult I could blame it on old age. One thing which could be involved
in my tank is that I use Excel which has been known by some on here to kill shrimp. But my doses are very consistent and
measured actually with a syringe so no eye-balling a line on a cap is involved. And all the shrimp have grown up/w it...so...


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## TheShrimpFarm.com (Apr 28, 2011)

I wonder what the ph of your tap water is (presuming you use tap for water changes)?

I lived in a house a while back and seemed to have the same problem....did water changes....and a shrimp would be dead the next day. After many tests for various caused, I checked the ph of the tap and it was off the charts high. 

Went to a filter system and no more dead shrimp.


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## Marshall (Jul 8, 2013)

The PH of my tap water is around 7.6 and my tanks ends up around 7.8


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## TheShrimpFarm.com (Apr 28, 2011)

Well, that seems just fine for tap.


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## Marshall (Jul 8, 2013)

Another update, 

I'm down to 2 shrimp now, and at least one baby that has tripled in size since the last time i saw it, and one oto

I'm doing twice weekly water changes, about 30% each time, and my parameters are good, nitrates a little high but they are coming down now with the constant cleanings, the piece of wood is still oozing white fluff, but i try to keep it clean when i can.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

One comment that hit me while reading this again is that my shrimp did better when put into " mature" tanks.
When I put them into freshly set up tanks for the next few weeks they acted as though in a panic when I'd
put food in there. But the ones I put into tanks which had been set up for at least a few months first before
I added the shrimp, well they just gradually looked for the food like they were barely hungry. Obviously the
mature tanks had food they eat regularly and so were not starved like the ones in the new tanks that acted
starved when I fed them.


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## Marshall (Jul 8, 2013)

I only feed them like a quarter of an algae wafer, and i always have to take it out after 2 days because they don't touch it, the tank is now a few months old....

Maybe i'll pick up a few more and try again now that its a little older


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Only a suggestion but Petco has(and cheap too) a pellet food called Carnivore that I bought and now that I feed it daily there have been far more berried shrimp in there. It is a Petco brand BTW.


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