35 Litre Shadow Panda Tank

[Aiden123]

Hi Guys

 

I am in the process of planning my second shrimp tank. 

 

My current tank is a 90 litre custom made cube tank which houses a large colony of crystal red, black, mischlings and a couple of TBs.

 

I would like to set up a second tank for shadow pandas (my favourite) with the goal of it being my first selective breeding project (breeding for strong colour mainly).

 

Any culls would go into my main tank and/or be sold off. 

 

I do have a couple of questions.

 

Is 35 litre enough to start a project like this? The main reasons for the size is space and costs. Here in the UK a decent shadow panda costs around £15.00 each (around $19.50).I would imagine that 5 would be a good starting point for a 35 litre tank but any bigger I feel would need a bigger starting colony. All the usual shrimp specialist products (e.g. substrates, minerals and supplements) are also quite expensive in the UK so the bigger the tank, the bigger the start up cost. 

 

How much harder would it be to keep the water stable?

 

I keep my water in the main tank at a constant 160tds, ph 6.0,  GH 6 and KH0 and the colony is going very strong. The only issue I have is temperature in the summer and on hot days. I keep the temperature usually at 22.5c but this can crop up to as high as 25.5c on hot days. 

 

Any tips you guys have for my second tank to be successful?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Noobshrimp]

Hi Aiden

I am still considering myself an starter as well so please remember what I will say its only my opinion.

I am from Uk as well so I am familiar with the products available and the prices asked for shrimp related products.My advice will be to try the Dennerle shrimp soil,its way cheaper than other shrimp soils and also its really stable for me(so far).I manage with it to keep an 19 litre aquarium stable with about 50 shrimp babies and 4 adults.Also I suggest to keep it simple with the filter and buy an sponge filter as they are extremly cheap and good for the shrimp.

Also try to buy the mironekuton powder as for me worked amazingly(I have shrimp for almost an year and didn't had one failed molting so far).

 

Thanks 

 

 

[Aiden123]

Thanks for the reply Noobshrimp.

 

The price for shrimp stuff in the UK is ridiculous compared the other countries. I guess its because the hobby is still relatively new in the UK with not many aquatic shrimp retailers.

 

I currently use the Shrimp King Active Soil. Its also made by Dennerle, is this the one you mentioned? I have found it to be very stable and not as aggressive in terms of PH lowering as other substrates I have tried. Will definitely be using again in this proposed tank. 

 

I also use a sponge filter in combination with a HOB filter which gives me the opinion of additional chemical filtration (purigen) if required. 

 

Good shout on the mironekuton powder. I use this at water changes and like you, no failed molts for a while. 

[Shrimp Home]

Currently in Vietnam we usually keep the smallest tank is 50 litre. I think this is a reasonable size for keeping water parameters stable.