I’m actually going to be setting up my very 1st shrimp tank fairly soon as well , great timing with this video Blake👍🏻 I’ll be getting neocaradina shrimp 🦐 thanks again mate🙂👍🏻
I just got 3 for the first time last Saturday. I haven't really put much food in yet, because I have some buildup on my driftwood, and some plant detritus. I always read on fish groups how easy shrimp are, but the more videos I watch, the more nervous I am....lol. Especially stressing them at a water change.
Your my new channel. I am excited. I have bought 2 large round glass bowls. My daughter and I are doing having a competition. I want to teach her patience and science for home schooling all in one.
So glad I found this channel mate! Super helpful videos and I’m getting back into the fish hobby after a long break, and I can’t wait to get back to breeding Cherry Shrimp ❤️ keep it up mate! Recommended food get some Almond leaves and Snow Flakes are a good food source for the shrimp+ live plants and Moss goes a long way and I 100% agree running sponge filters in shrimp tanks is necessary as they will feed of all the bits caught in the filter media 🦐
Neo keeping the easiest thing in the world. Started with 12 Sunkists now have more than I know what to do with. I don't attend to the tank regularly at all it's sort of set and forget lol.
I’d also suggest some river sand as A substrate (obviously give it A good wash) nice small grains so no injury risk and the plants will love all the extra nutrients from it 🤙🏼
A couple of other thing i do is when setting up the tank for shrimps, i drop 2 or 3 snails in which helps to maintain the cycle and also put in some cholla wood. and as per LRB a pile of stones for the shrimp to feel safe and breed in.
Thank you! I had couples of neocardina shrimp tanks a year ago, but after i move i give them away! I just bought my fluval yesterday will set it up today, leave kt running for a couple of weeks!
I think that's why he talked about the shell grit chicken food stuff. Anything which slowly puts some calcium into the water is going to help them. Also by feeding a calcium enriched food will keep them healthy and able to molt.
Nice video! So what are those big blue sponges the shrimp are grazing on? Are those chicken grit? I'd like to know where you can get large chunks like that. All I'm seeing is gravel style.
@@BlakesAquatics yes, thanks Blake, and also nowadays, more and more hobbyst, especially for Caridina shrimps say, that shrimps really thriving with ph bellow 6, which make me confusing, because from what I ever read, all that good bacteria dying on such a low ph? Have you ever discuss about it on this channel?
Try using a floating rim to contain the floating plants? That is, something you might be able to make out of household materials like food packaging/bottle. Just a hypothesis.
@@erickborling1302 Air line tubing joined into a circle works well for containing floating plants. It will move up and down with water changes, or can be attached to the side with a suction thing.
I have a 15 gallon tank with pseudomugil luminatus that I was hoping to add some shrimp to. It’s been planted for a year with Fluval stratum and I’ve bought some different types of moss to prepare. Any ideas how many shrimp(neocardina)that I can add? I have 12 fish with a few batik nerites and ramshorn. There’s a sponge filter as well as hob filter on low flow,so lots of filtration and beneficial bacteria already established. Also,will a cuddle bone suffice for calcium?
I see you said we can start with ten for a ten gallon tank, But then they should be able to multiply within the 1st month or 2. So when would I know to upgrade tanks? Or get a second tank to switch some over? and if so, should I buy a second tank and start a setup right away to prepare for that
Thanks for the video! For anyone reading, I'd like to emphasize: Do NOT use Fluval Stratum or another active substrate for Neocaridina/Cherry Shrimp! I did everything else right, waiting 5mos before adding shrimp, lots of moss, etc, but the Fluval Stratum stripped all of the KH from my water. Eventually the water evened out and the shrimp are now fine, but there was heartbreak along the way. No Stratum for Neos!
@@dasiypie06 I don't have the experience to recommend the best option, and some of it is up to taste! I personally use regular aquarium gravel. Anything that is 'inert' (meaning: does not affect the water chemistry) should be OK! So it's only 'active' substrates you have to avoid: stratum, eco-complete, or crushed coral are examples of active substrates which will change the chemistry and endanger your shrimp. Aquarium gravel, sand, and some natural gravel/stones are all good options for shrimp, as long as the natural stone does not break down in the water at all. (If you see some cool rocks in the fish store, ask what they are and look them up before putting in the tank!) I'm sorry I don't have a stronger recommendation. You can look at cherry shrimp tanks on social media, and search things like "best substrate for Neocaridina," or the specific material you're thinking of, to get more ideas. Best of luck with your shrimp tanks!
Thanks for the warning, I just set up a tank for my cherry shrimp with that exact substrate, because its supposed to be good for them. I'm going to put some limestone and shell grit in the filter section to keep the water safer for them, I hope that will help. I wanted the Stratum because it's supposed to be good for giving plants a good start. I guess I will start with just a few shrimp first, to see how they do.
@@Jen.K Np! :) I hope the limestone is able to keep the KH up and everything stays stable for you- definitely keep an eye on those parameters! The plants will love the stratum for sure. :D All the best of luck with your new shrimp!
Wait aren't the nitrifying and clarifying bacteria in those clear balls and bacter AE totally different bacteria? I thought bacter was just a food source and nothing to do with the cycle
They are yes, was probably a confusing way of saying either a) add a food source bacteria such as bacter AE or b) have a well cycled tabk with naturally occurring and established biofilm and microcultures
Hmm! Today I bought 10 cherry shrimp and have them in a plastic tote, because I ordered my tank today too, it will arrive in about a week. Here, where I live, apparently they are illegal, or, it's illegal to sell them, not sure, but pet stores aren't allowed to sell them, or import them, so when I found a local supply, I jumped at the chance, it's very difficult to get them here. No one will send them from anywhere, because of our quarantine laws. The guy who sold them to me said they are easy, just throw in a bit of carrot, they will be fine until I have my tank set up.....hmmm! This is going to be interesting.
@@BlakesAquatics Update. They lived unheated on a window sill for about 2 months, the bucket had a lot of floating plants and snails. I threw in some wet leaves from my pond and algae covered pebbles occasionally. I hardly ever saw them because the bucket was full of stuff. No water changes, but I topped it up with distilled water as it evaporated. I put in a small piece of limestone rock and a small handful of chicken shell grit. I fed them with Hikari crab cuisine and home made snail food. I thought it was time to clean out the bucket, and was surprised to find 9 of them still alive. They got transferred to a 1 gallon heavily planted little kit tank, where they have been living happily for a few weeks. Lots of babies started to appear after about a week after the move. I drip acclimated them over 4 hours. I love watching all the babies come out when I feed them every morning. I'm in the process of setting up a 5 gallon fluval spec, a mixed substrate with fluval stratum. It's also going to be heavily planted, so when it's ready, I will probably move my shrimp in there. After watching some of your videos I've decided to put some endlers with them. Not sure I trust my betta with them though. I'm in Australia too, on the west coast, and happy to finally find sellers who will ship plants to me,
Why don't any of these channels teach bacteria seeding??? When cycling a new tank if you have other tanks or a friend with a tank wash a cycled filter sponge in tank water pour it into the new cycling tank and it will cycle your new tank over night no need for buying bacteria in bottles or balls waiting 6 weeks. This is old school method and is the tried and tested method that never fails i have numerous tanks and set up tons of tanks for people using this seeding you can introduce small fish on day 2/3 and over the month slowly introduce more fish people have full community tanks in a month, zero losses. If you use bacteria in a bottle or clear balls you'll wait for ever to cycle because its not a natural process waiting around 6 weeks for nothing ive done it 10 years ago starting up i always had high ammonia and nitrite spikes despite waiting the recommended period and adding fish slowly i always lossed fish when building the numbers, you need real bacteria from a donor tank like substrate, plants, rocks and filter dirt. If you seed bacteria from a fully cycled filter you need to feed that bacteria as soon as possible with you guessed it, fish poo, how's the bacteria meant to survive 6 weeks without fish poo, no wonder these people sit around for 6 weeks add fish and always have terrible problems, seeding with doner bacteria gives very low to zero traces of ammonia and nitrite when adding few fish within first 2/3 days, always zero deaths, have to still introduce fish gradually but they will be safer than using the marketing industries bottle stuff and you don't have to sit around waiting for a cycled tank to magically appear before adding fish for 6 weeks. This methods been used way before bacteria in bottles was ever around its how tanks was cycled faster and better before the marketing industries convinced people they need to buy their products to cycle a tank. Im pretty sure you know this but never teach it and i wonder why, why no one does! Again with shrimp you just need moss, guppy grass, any plants, bog wood, from a cycled tank seed it add shrimp, fish and they have all the natural food they will need from the plants, again ive set up tons of tanks with fish and shrimp always zero losses. And you haven't mentioned that shrimp count as zero bio load to your tank in other words you never need worry about ammonia or nitrite spikes because they produce such little waste you would need millions of shrimp in a tank before ever getting spikes and its never going to be dangerous levels. Not knocking you, im subbed, i think your one of few on here thats good for teaching newbies even experienced like myself forever learning new things but why don't you teach the seeding and its benefits thats natural and much healthier for starting up new aquariums. For example i seeded a new 240l tank for a friend she had problems cycling her other tanks i said i would help her do it properly without hassle but i told her to add fish gradually over the month she didn't listen within one week she added around 20 guppies, 5/6 mollies, 3/4 corys, a load of mixed shrimp, 3 meduim size angel fish all in one week, now i know why partly she had problems before when setting up new tanks but guess what,,, this new tank had zero losses, her fish looked totally happy in their new environment, plenty of plants, her tank was fine i tested her water with my salifert tests and zero traces of ammonia or nitrite just around 10 to 15ppm nitrate, similar results from her api test kit, thats the benefit of seeding bacteria on a new tank. I tell this story to anyone i know who keeps fish and looking to start because it shows and teaches just how beneficial and crucial the bacteria is in a aquarium. Please tell people how to do things naturally, had i of not showed her how to seed her tank from her other tanks those fish would of suffered and most likely died.
Its because we have to cater to the lowest common denominator. A lot of newbies (people likely to be seeking out care guides) likely dont have many or any other tanks.
@BlakesAquatics Yeh i get you with newbies but ive helped so many learn with already fully cycled aquarium/aquariums and was setting up their new tanks the hard way and didn't even know about seeding its barely even known about in UK and it frustrates me when even the best guys on here don't even teach seeding new tanks most times a friend or family has a tank they could seed from. Even the fish shops have refused to sell me fish because a tanks only 1/2 weeks old after i try teach them about how i cycle properly and safely they say it needs to be more established before they'll sell me fish i tell them im honest i could of lied and said its 6mths old but im trying to wake people up to seeding bacteria from already established tanks and thats how to saftly speed cycle a new tank so i ask them what do you define "established" because my aquariums bacteria is all dieing to eat fish poop right now it already has bacteria hanging around dieing to eat its waste all as i debate this its all starving to death so can i get a few little fish to feed my cycle please. The whole seeding is demonized by pet industry and store staff always look totally bemused by what i tell them its totally an area thats grey for people or not understood and needs to change. I have a few friends who cycled using fish without any bacteria just a few small fish and built up gradually i would never recommend that but there are examples of it working when patience and care for fish is applied and added gradually over time it works but more people need to be educated about patience because even when they use bottle bacteria and wait 6 weeks they then don't understand the importance of gradually adding fish slowly not all on day one and the importance of building up of the bacteria to cope with the fish waste cycle from the fish their adding, just ends up another cheap aquarium for sale on ebay, gumtree i end up buying.
@@FishFace2216 i hear you and I agree with everything youve said. If im chatting with people in person at a club meet or expo or something thats the first thing I ask. Its funny because if i go into depth people complain that the videos are too long or too much talking, if i leave it to just the basics its not enough information or people would do thibgs this way or that way. Doomed either way 😅
@BlakesAquatics Yeh you'll never win lol but your videos are very informative and you put things across very simply and easy to digest, ive learnt a lot about a lot of plants and fish from your channel i even purchased aquael heaters for all my tanks after watching your video so keep doing what your doing im sharing links to your channel in UK people need the good advice on building and maintaining healthy natural aquariums like you promote. Take care and thanks for all the videos you make to help people.
Just keep in mind advice in these types of videos is for beginners. Theres always plenty of other ways to fast track things but unless you cater to the lowest common denominator people inevitably run into issues...
I have a established tank 29g but what I would like to do is a species only 10 gallon tank for cherry shrimp. What I was planning to do was add old decor, add old substrate and put it in the sponge filter, shake the old filter in the 10g, scrape off biofilm off the aquarium walls a and suck what comes out of it and add it in the new tank. Do you think I should still leave the tank running for months?
The best thing you can do is, go down to your local riverbank pick a load of dead leaves plus some the gunk put it your tank. Get some fish and real plants and let natural do its job. This guy is all about artificial and chemical toxics in your tank... top tip get soil from your garden then lay 2inc of sand on top. The best fliter is natural way
4:50 hey Blake.. what are those worms flopping around on your substrate? Nice video.. I love watching your channel. I’ve learned so much from you. My water out of the tap has been absolute crap with ammonia and nitrates and nitrites. Oh 8.2 kh 7-9 gh 18 but after a months or two my ph drops to -6-6.4 my kh 0 gh stays about 13-18. I’ve been adding zoo med dr. Turtle slow release calcium blocks to all my tanks but it hasn’t helped the kh much. Next I’m trying coral and equilibrium by seachem, flora viv kh + and chrystalpro shrimp minerals. I hope these things make a difference. My mystery snails shells are looking beat and I’m hoping all this will help my snail shells and buffer my kh -plus I want an amano shrimp tank and I know my water will take a dive quickly. Am I doing too much? 🫣Thank you!
Probably being a little excessive but not to an extreme id say. Stability is key so you are right to try and raise your kh. The worms are live blackworms. I find they keep the substrate churned and they are a great live food for my other fish so i often put them in my shrimp tanks
I’m actually going to be setting up my very 1st shrimp tank fairly soon as well , great timing with this video Blake👍🏻 I’ll be getting neocaradina shrimp 🦐 thanks again mate🙂👍🏻
Hope it helps 🙌
Blake's Aquatics I’m quite sure it will my friend, awesome work your doing⭐️
Good luck mate! Once you start you’ll never stop haha 😂 they took over my house at one point until I took a break.
@TOM yea I did lol
Update ?
I just got 3 for the first time last Saturday. I haven't really put much food in yet, because I have some buildup on my driftwood, and some plant detritus. I always read on fish groups how easy shrimp are, but the more videos I watch, the more nervous I am....lol. Especially stressing them at a water change.
Great vid mate! I haven't really had success with shrimp so far, but hopefully I'll be able to finally do it well thanks to this vid!
Your my new channel. I am excited. I have bought 2 large round glass bowls. My daughter and I are doing having a competition. I want to teach her patience and science for home schooling all in one.
Welcome aboard 🙌
So glad I found this channel mate! Super helpful videos and I’m getting back into the fish hobby after a long break, and I can’t wait to get back to breeding Cherry Shrimp ❤️ keep it up mate! Recommended food get some Almond leaves and Snow Flakes are a good food source for the shrimp+ live plants and Moss goes a long way and I 100% agree running sponge filters in shrimp tanks is necessary as they will feed of all the bits caught in the filter media 🦐
Thanks, Blake! I feel silly, I have been tying a knot in the airline tubing to drip acclimate. Will be way easier to use a valve next time 😊
Glad I could help!
Im going to be setting up my second neocaridina shrimp breeding tank like this in about a week. The waiting game is on!
Neo keeping the easiest thing in the world. Started with 12 Sunkists now have more than I know what to do with. I don't attend to the tank regularly at all it's sort of set and forget lol.
thanks man!! im setting up a shrimp tank for neocaridina and this viddeo was really helpful :)
Glad I could help!
I’d also suggest some river sand as A substrate (obviously give it A good wash) nice small grains so no injury risk and the plants will love all the extra nutrients from it 🤙🏼
Nutrients from clean, washed sand? I do not understand this.
i cant wait to start my shrimp tank! thanks Blake!
Good luck 🙌
A couple of other thing i do is when setting up the tank for shrimps, i drop 2 or 3 snails in which helps to maintain the cycle and also put in some cholla wood. and as per LRB a pile of stones for the shrimp to feel safe and breed in.
I did the pile of stones but i didnt find it made much difference to me personally
Shrriiiiiiimp! 🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐
Couldn't resist. They're so darned cute!
Great timing Blake cheers setting up a shrimp tank thanks for the tips.
Good video mate, some awesome tips in there keep up the good work!
Thanks Mark!
Thank you! I had couples of neocardina shrimp tanks a year ago, but after i move i give them away! I just bought my fluval yesterday will set it up today, leave kt running for a couple of weeks!
Great timing, I am looking at getting some shrimp :D
microbe lift special blend is my go to for start up bacteria
This is going to come in handy should I decide to try keeping shrimp! Thanks Blake!
great video on tips for shrimp keeping. i love the video, keep up the great videos!
I've never trusted anyone more! Great video other Blake!
Shrimp are very cool :)
hello mate fancy seeing you here on an Aussie channel 👍
@@MarksShrimpTanks We keep more Fish, but we still appreciate all those cool little shrimpies 😁😍
Hi Blake, thanks for this video. Can you advise on TDS as this seems a very grey area, thanks, John
Great job helping others.
Thanks 👍
Hello! what type of snails do you recommend for shrimp tanks? Thankyou! ❤
Hi Blake while not being whiney shrimp salt is very important to prevent the ring of death from failed molts
I think that's why he talked about the shell grit chicken food stuff. Anything which slowly puts some calcium into the water is going to help them. Also by feeding a calcium enriched food will keep them healthy and able to molt.
Nice video! So what are those big blue sponges the shrimp are grazing on? Are those chicken grit? I'd like to know where you can get large chunks like that. All I'm seeing is gravel style.
Its a gel foot called fuzzy fox
6 months!! 😭😭
@@teddyfresh9605 hey it's been 6 months 😉
awesome advice. where do I get. Blakes Shrimp tank? hehe
You need only ask 😄
Also, what is the Blue Rock? I see they are mainly nipping off of in your tank
Thats a gel food called fuzzy fox
Thanks so much, will do the suggestion to start again Caridina shrimps farm
Go for it!
@@BlakesAquatics yes, thanks Blake, and also nowadays, more and more hobbyst, especially for Caridina shrimps say, that shrimps really thriving with ph bellow 6, which make me confusing, because from what I ever read, all that good bacteria dying on such a low ph?
Have you ever discuss about it on this channel?
@@Cleeon unlikely. I tend to steer clear of topics too sciency because im not able to prove or disprove those things categorically within my skillset
Howdy Blake, would you be able to speed up the process of getting ready for shrimp by adding some daphnia or other creatures Etc?
Possibly, depending on the source. If it was by squeezing in a sponge filter or some other kind of well established bacteria it will definitely help
Great video. Have to be honest though - a little disappointed there was no reference to putting another shrimp on the barbie…
🤣
I have a 5 gallon, would love to have a cherry shrimp tank and breed for a little bit of money! How many can fit in there?
Can probably fit up to 50 😄
what floating plant would you recomend with an air bubbler filter? my silvania and other floaters not doing well with the agitation
not too many work well with a lot of surface agitation.. duckweed will survive but is hard to get rid of. frogbit may tolerate it.
Try using a floating rim to contain the floating plants? That is, something you might be able to make out of household materials like food packaging/bottle. Just a hypothesis.
@@erickborling1302 Air line tubing joined into a circle works well for containing floating plants. It will move up and down with water changes, or can be attached to the side with a suction thing.
I have a 15 gallon tank with pseudomugil luminatus that I was hoping to add some shrimp to.
It’s been planted for a year with Fluval stratum and I’ve bought some different types of moss to prepare.
Any ideas how many shrimp(neocardina)that I can add?
I have 12 fish with a few batik nerites and ramshorn.
There’s a sponge filter as well as hob filter on low flow,so lots of filtration and beneficial bacteria already established.
Also,will a cuddle bone suffice for calcium?
Cuttlefish bone or a wondershell is fine for calcium. Id add in at least 10 and you should be good to go 👍
If also is there a Particulars set up in the tank that I should put specifically for when they are ready to breed or lay eggs
They do enjoy a rock pile for breeding otherwise its largely irrelevant how you choose to lay things out
What are those worms in the substrate ???
I see you said we can start with ten for a ten gallon tank, But then they should be able to multiply within the 1st month or 2. So when would I know to upgrade tanks? Or get a second tank to switch some over? and if so, should I buy a second tank and start a setup right away to prepare for that
A 10 gallon tank can realistically support 100s of shrimp its not something you need to worry about straight away
I have a 20 gallon long with a sponge filter, and it is very planted do you think I would need a airstone
nah thatll be fine.
That is a first for me here lol😂
You should talk about your zooplankton and detritus worms.
Good point. Every shrimp tank I do I have live blackworms in the substrate for example to churn it up
@@BlakesAquatics So thats whats those clear things were at 1:00? Is that good for your tank?
@@kays1370 yeah doesnt hurt, keeps the substrate moving around 👍
Thanks for the video!
For anyone reading, I'd like to emphasize: Do NOT use Fluval Stratum or another active substrate for Neocaridina/Cherry Shrimp!
I did everything else right, waiting 5mos before adding shrimp, lots of moss, etc, but the Fluval Stratum stripped all of the KH from my water. Eventually the water evened out and the shrimp are now fine, but there was heartbreak along the way. No Stratum for Neos!
What substrate do you recommend?
@@dasiypie06 I don't have the experience to recommend the best option, and some of it is up to taste! I personally use regular aquarium gravel.
Anything that is 'inert' (meaning: does not affect the water chemistry) should be OK! So it's only 'active' substrates you have to avoid: stratum, eco-complete, or crushed coral are examples of active substrates which will change the chemistry and endanger your shrimp.
Aquarium gravel, sand, and some natural gravel/stones are all good options for shrimp, as long as the natural stone does not break down in the water at all. (If you see some cool rocks in the fish store, ask what they are and look them up before putting in the tank!)
I'm sorry I don't have a stronger recommendation. You can look at cherry shrimp tanks on social media, and search things like "best substrate for Neocaridina," or the specific material you're thinking of, to get more ideas.
Best of luck with your shrimp tanks!
Thanks for the warning, I just set up a tank for my cherry shrimp with that exact substrate, because its supposed to be good for them. I'm going to put some limestone and shell grit in the filter section to keep the water safer for them, I hope that will help. I wanted the Stratum because it's supposed to be good for giving plants a good start. I guess I will start with just a few shrimp first, to see how they do.
@@Jen.K Np! :)
I hope the limestone is able to keep the KH up and everything stays stable for you- definitely keep an eye on those parameters!
The plants will love the stratum for sure. :D
All the best of luck with your new shrimp!
I find that shrimp need a huge variety of different types of mosses.
im getting shrimp to and my tank was used before and theres plenty of alge so would it be good to add shrimp after the tanks been running for a week
What are the little worms I see in the substrate in the video clips?
Live blackworms
would you please let me know what type of plastic you use for the shrimp hides that you 3D printed 8:58
Petg 👍
@@BlakesAquatics thanks alot I appreciate it
Dude...what's with the red worms in that tank? Never seen that...Tom from New Jersey
Theyre live blackworms, good food for my other fish
What are those snails in 1:58 ??
Just pond snails
Have you found anywhere locally in Aus which actually sells Bacter AE?
No sorry, just online
Can you give them reptical?
Im not familiar with what that is sorry
Wait aren't the nitrifying and clarifying bacteria in those clear balls and bacter AE totally different bacteria? I thought bacter was just a food source and nothing to do with the cycle
They are yes, was probably a confusing way of saying either a) add a food source bacteria such as bacter AE or b) have a well cycled tabk with naturally occurring and established biofilm and microcultures
Will calgrit raise the ph or change any parameters?
Yes but only gradually
Hmm! Today I bought 10 cherry shrimp and have them in a plastic tote, because I ordered my tank today too, it will arrive in about a week. Here, where I live, apparently they are illegal, or, it's illegal to sell them, not sure, but pet stores aren't allowed to sell them, or import them, so when I found a local supply, I jumped at the chance, it's very difficult to get them here. No one will send them from anywhere, because of our quarantine laws. The guy who sold them to me said they are easy, just throw in a bit of carrot, they will be fine until I have my tank set up.....hmmm! This is going to be interesting.
Good luck!
@@BlakesAquatics Update. They lived unheated on a window sill for about 2 months, the bucket had a lot of floating plants and snails. I threw in some wet leaves from my pond and algae covered pebbles occasionally. I hardly ever saw them because the bucket was full of stuff. No water changes, but I topped it up with distilled water as it evaporated. I put in a small piece of limestone rock and a small handful of chicken shell grit. I fed them with Hikari crab cuisine and home made snail food. I thought it was time to clean out the bucket, and was surprised to find 9 of them still alive. They got transferred to a 1 gallon heavily planted little kit tank, where they have been living happily for a few weeks. Lots of babies started to appear after about a week after the move. I drip acclimated them over 4 hours. I love watching all the babies come out when I feed them every morning. I'm in the process of setting up a 5 gallon fluval spec, a mixed substrate with fluval stratum. It's also going to be heavily planted, so when it's ready, I will probably move my shrimp in there. After watching some of your videos I've decided to put some endlers with them. Not sure I trust my betta with them though. I'm in Australia too, on the west coast, and happy to finally find sellers who will ship plants to me,
What are those live red worms, looked like blood worms but not sure
Live blackworms
I don't want to get a 40Ltr tank for shrimp. Will a nano tank suffice?
Yeah you can do it in 20L no problem
I have some living very happily, and breeding in a 5 L, lots of plants and lava rocks.
Looks like a lot of Planeria swimming in the front of your blue dreams shrimp tank
Yeah i dont worry about planaria they are way more feared than they should be
Should you handle the shrimp??
No not a great idea
wish i would have never got bloodymary shrimp they are multiplying out of control
Good problem to have 👍💰
Why don't any of these channels teach bacteria seeding???
When cycling a new tank if you have other tanks or a friend with a tank wash a cycled filter sponge in tank water pour it into the new cycling tank and it will cycle your new tank over night no need for buying bacteria in bottles or balls waiting 6 weeks.
This is old school method and is the tried and tested method that never fails i have numerous tanks and set up tons of tanks for people using this seeding you can introduce small fish on day 2/3 and over the month slowly introduce more fish people have full community tanks in a month, zero losses.
If you use bacteria in a bottle or clear balls you'll wait for ever to cycle because its not a natural process waiting around 6 weeks for nothing ive done it 10 years ago starting up i always had high ammonia and nitrite spikes despite waiting the recommended period and adding fish slowly i always lossed fish when building the numbers, you need real bacteria from a donor tank like substrate, plants, rocks and filter dirt.
If you seed bacteria from a fully cycled filter you need to feed that bacteria as soon as possible with you guessed it, fish poo, how's the bacteria meant to survive 6 weeks without fish poo, no wonder these people sit around for 6 weeks add fish and always have terrible problems, seeding with doner bacteria gives very low to zero traces of ammonia and nitrite when adding few fish within first 2/3 days, always zero deaths, have to still introduce fish gradually but they will be safer than using the marketing industries bottle stuff and you don't have to sit around waiting for a cycled tank to magically appear before adding fish for 6 weeks.
This methods been used way before bacteria in bottles was ever around its how tanks was cycled faster and better before the marketing industries convinced people they need to buy their products to cycle a tank. Im pretty sure you know this but never teach it and i wonder why, why no one does!
Again with shrimp you just need moss, guppy grass, any plants, bog wood, from a cycled tank seed it add shrimp, fish and they have all the natural food they will need from the plants, again ive set up tons of tanks with fish and shrimp always zero losses.
And you haven't mentioned that shrimp count as zero bio load to your tank in other words you never need worry about ammonia or nitrite spikes because they produce such little waste you would need millions of shrimp in a tank before ever getting spikes and its never going to be dangerous levels.
Not knocking you, im subbed, i think your one of few on here thats good for teaching newbies even experienced like myself forever learning new things but why don't you teach the seeding and its benefits thats natural and much healthier for starting up new aquariums.
For example i seeded a new 240l tank for a friend she had problems cycling her other tanks i said i would help her do it properly without hassle but i told her to add fish gradually over the month she didn't listen within one week she added around 20 guppies, 5/6 mollies, 3/4 corys, a load of mixed shrimp, 3 meduim size angel fish all in one week, now i know why partly she had problems before when setting up new tanks but guess what,,, this new tank had zero losses, her fish looked totally happy in their new environment, plenty of plants, her tank was fine i tested her water with my salifert tests and zero traces of ammonia or nitrite just around 10 to 15ppm nitrate, similar results from her api test kit, thats the benefit of seeding bacteria on a new tank. I tell this story to anyone i know who keeps fish and looking to start because it shows and teaches just how beneficial and crucial the bacteria is in a aquarium.
Please tell people how to do things naturally, had i of not showed her how to seed her tank from her other tanks those fish would of suffered and most likely died.
Its because we have to cater to the lowest common denominator. A lot of newbies (people likely to be seeking out care guides) likely dont have many or any other tanks.
@BlakesAquatics Yeh i get you with newbies but ive helped so many learn with already fully cycled aquarium/aquariums and was setting up their new tanks the hard way and didn't even know about seeding its barely even known about in UK and it frustrates me when even the best guys on here don't even teach seeding new tanks most times a friend or family has a tank they could seed from. Even the fish shops have refused to sell me fish because a tanks only 1/2 weeks old after i try teach them about how i cycle properly and safely they say it needs to be more established before they'll sell me fish i tell them im honest i could of lied and said its 6mths old but im trying to wake people up to seeding bacteria from already established tanks and thats how to saftly speed cycle a new tank so i ask them what do you define "established" because my aquariums bacteria is all dieing to eat fish poop right now it already has bacteria hanging around dieing to eat its waste all as i debate this its all starving to death so can i get a few little fish to feed my cycle please. The whole seeding is demonized by pet industry and store staff always look totally bemused by what i tell them its totally an area thats grey for people or not understood and needs to change.
I have a few friends who cycled using fish without any bacteria just a few small fish and built up gradually i would never recommend that but there are examples of it working when patience and care for fish is applied and added gradually over time it works but more people need to be educated about patience because even when they use bottle bacteria and wait 6 weeks they then don't understand the importance of gradually adding fish slowly not all on day one and the importance of building up of the bacteria to cope with the fish waste cycle from the fish their adding, just ends up another cheap aquarium for sale on ebay, gumtree i end up buying.
@@FishFace2216 i hear you and I agree with everything youve said. If im chatting with people in person at a club meet or expo or something thats the first thing I ask.
Its funny because if i go into depth people complain that the videos are too long or too much talking, if i leave it to just the basics its not enough information or people would do thibgs this way or that way.
Doomed either way 😅
@BlakesAquatics Yeh you'll never win lol but your videos are very informative and you put things across very simply and easy to digest, ive learnt a lot about a lot of plants and fish from your channel i even purchased aquael heaters for all my tanks after watching your video so keep doing what your doing im sharing links to your channel in UK people need the good advice on building and maintaining healthy natural aquariums like you promote.
Take care and thanks for all the videos you make to help people.
1st in america!
You do not have to wait 6 months 😂
Just keep in mind advice in these types of videos is for beginners. Theres always plenty of other ways to fast track things but unless you cater to the lowest common denominator people inevitably run into issues...
I didn’t let my tank mature
oh thank god, hes an aussie
Gday mate
Awesome video thank you very much!!!
I have a established tank 29g but what I would like to do is a species only 10 gallon tank for cherry shrimp. What I was planning to do was add old decor, add old substrate and put it in the sponge filter, shake the old filter in the 10g, scrape off biofilm off the aquarium walls a and suck what comes out of it and add it in the new tank. Do you think I should still leave the tank running for months?
Thatd be a great start. Prpbably would be fine but might be better even if you let all that settle for a week or so
The best thing you can do is, go down to your local riverbank pick a load of dead leaves plus some the gunk put it your tank. Get some fish and real plants and let natural do its job. This guy is all about artificial and chemical toxics in your tank... top tip get soil from your garden then lay 2inc of sand on top. The best fliter is natural way
4:50 hey Blake.. what are those worms flopping around on your substrate? Nice video.. I love watching your channel. I’ve learned so much from you. My water out of the tap has been absolute crap with ammonia and nitrates and nitrites. Oh 8.2 kh 7-9 gh 18 but after a months or two my ph drops to -6-6.4 my kh 0 gh stays about 13-18. I’ve been adding zoo med dr. Turtle slow release calcium blocks to all my tanks but it hasn’t helped the kh much. Next I’m trying coral and equilibrium by seachem, flora viv kh + and chrystalpro shrimp minerals. I hope these things make a difference. My mystery snails shells are looking beat and I’m hoping all this will help my snail shells and buffer my kh -plus I want an amano shrimp tank and I know my water will take a dive quickly. Am I doing too much? 🫣Thank you!
Probably being a little excessive but not to an extreme id say. Stability is key so you are right to try and raise your kh.
The worms are live blackworms. I find they keep the substrate churned and they are a great live food for my other fish so i often put them in my shrimp tanks