Hi guys, how are you and your shrimps doing? If you have dying shrimps in your tank and found no solution to it. Fret not! MADSHRIMP is here to share with you exactly how you can set up a shrimp tank successfully.
The right set up is the most important part of the hobby. It creates the right environment for your shrimps and can last you for a long time. You wouldn’t have to worry about adding stuff that changes parameters halfway through the hobby.
First and foremost, this is something that I would like to emphasise, and despite me going on and on about this like a broken recorder, we still have hobbyist that wouldn’t take this important advice.
Get the right soil.
Aquarium soil is meant to buffer the parameter of your water. This means that it creates the environment that our shrimps need. The difference between a good soil and a bad soil is the buffer period. Bad soil only lasts for a period of about three to six months, after which your water parameters go haywire despite doing all the right things. In my eleven years of hobby, I’ve seen many soil failed hobbyist. One of the most trusted soil in the market would be ADA soil.
Once you have selected the choice of soil, the next thing to consider is having some beneficial bacteria that will speed up the nitrogen cycle.
Avoid mixing different kinds or different brand of bacteria together as they might clash and cause massive death in your tank. Once you have selected your bacteria, you are almost done.
The next part is to consider between using tap water or RODI water. I have written and article about this before and you can read it here before deciding. I strongly recommend using RODI water as you can control the parameters easily before adding into your tank. RODI filters are quite affordable these days so why not?
Personally, these are the 7 simple steps that I do when setting up a tank.
Step1: Add a layer of MADFU enzyme powder at the base of the tank.
Step2: Add a layer of soil next.
Step 3: Add more MADFU enzyme powder on the surface of the soil.
Step 4: Fill it up with RODI water slowly and carefully.
Step 5: Add 200ml of MADFU nitrifying bacteria for about 55L tank.
Step 6: Add in sponge filter for cycling.
Step 7: Add minerals only after the tank is fully cycled.
The usual cycle period for my tanks are about 2 weeks. After my tanks are fully cycled, I start to turn on my chiller or A/C one night before putting in shrimps. No water change is also required during the entire cycling process.
The cycling process is what most hobbyist hate most. All that patience and discipline of not adding shrimps in during this period is difficult. But as I always say, if you could get the cycling phase done properly, it would last you a long long time without any major issues. So get it done right from the the start!
I would also recommend to spend some time observing your tank daily during the cycling phase. If there are any abnormal stuff growing in there or any weird symptoms, you should see if these are actually normal or are these bad.
If you like to find out more about setting up a tank for your Neocaridina or Caridina, we conduct a free workshop at MADSHRIMP HQ every month that covers on how you can setup your tank successfully. The workshop is very educational and I would recommend you to attend it before starting your tank. Follow our facebook page here to get updated on the class schedule.
Aside from the workshop, if you have any questions, we would be glad to take them through our MADSHRIMP facebook page. Just drop us a message and we will get back to you with what we know.
We are also trying to transit into vlogging, but that would require us some funds and also time to prepare the content. Vlogging is definitely in the pipeline and we promise that we will bring it to you soon!
We are now 3 years old, and we really like to thank all our fans and friends for giving us the constant support that we need. Moving forward, MADSHRIMP would like to bring more knowledge about crystal shrimps to fellow hobbyist through digital platform and we are slowly transiting into this. Meanwhile, happy shrimping!