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I'm thinking about setting up a small saltwater tank for some inverts, probably shrimp. I apologize that I can't be more specific, but I'm a complete SW newbie and the idea for this tank is just sort of in the floaty-around-in-my-head stage. I started thinking about it because I have found lately that I enjoy my freshwater shrimp more than my fish most of the time, because I like their interesting behaviour and alien-like anatomy. Watching an amano shrimp defend a food pellet from evil fish, standing on its tail and waving its arms in perfect kung fu style, is something like what you usually only see in a bad sci-fi movie. I love inverts.

SW inverts are looking appealing because of the vivid colours and also just to give me the chance to try something new. I know very very little about SW so please be patient with me. I like the look of coral banded shrimp and other reef safe types. Basically I would like to start with whatever is cheap, readily available, and not going to kill the other shrimp.

I would like to do this in a tank of about 10 gallons, with plain old fluorescent lights (3 wpg is what I have already) and a HOB filter. I want to keep this as cheap as possible so I won't be buying a protein skimmer or anything. I don't need fancy lights because this tank is about the shrimp.

So I guess I would just like some advice.....

What kind of additional equipment do I need?
What do I need to research?
What kind of shrimp would be best for a tank like this?
Are there any other critters that would be OK with low light like this? Like I said, the tank is mainly for the shrimp but I'm just curious. - Maybe some snails?
How many shrimp can I keep in this type of setup?
What sort of fluorescent tubes are good for the fixtures I already have?
Any recommended reading or advice? Links, etc.?

I'm sure there are more questions but that's all I can think of for now.

id have
1" sand bed
couple pounds of LR
either a cleaner shrimp,mantis shrimp(she only really wants a shrimp) or a mated pair of coral banded shrimp.

thats the basics bu i have to warn you that one hit from a full grown mantis is like being shot by a .22, if your going to house low light corals you could get actinic and 10k bulbs.

Last edited by rabbit at 02-May-2005 05:04

What kind of additional equipment do I need?

You will need something to pre mix the SW in for water changes. And they will be required more often without the skimmer use. For that size tank, you can hand scoop your water from your container to the tank, so you won't need a pump. You will need a hydrometer, to measure the water's specific gravity, so your new water will be the same as the tank water. DO NOT MIX THE WATER AND SALT IN THE TANK. This can kill off any critters living in the LR, as well as injure the shrimps. Other than the usual test kits, I can't think of anything. I have a 30 gal that has a pair of black onyx clowns, and a pair of breeding coral banded shrimp. I have a PC lighting, HOB filter, about 45 pounds LR, a Deep Sand Bed (DSB) of 5 inches, a small power head, and some macro algae Caulerpa. Works great. Had it running for several years now.

What do I need to research?

I would research the shrimps you are thinking of keeping, as many cannot be kept together. And while some can be kept together, many cannot be kept with conspecifics.

What kind of shrimp would be best for a tank like this?

You can keep most any shrimp in a tank like this.

Are there any other critters that would be OK with low light like this?

Critters, yes there are many. Most critters or animals of the sea, including fishes, don't need the high lighting. The high lighting is used mainly to grow algae, and/or for corals that have zooalgae growing in them. Most people that have fish only tanks, use reg output lighting in their tanks, as any more is usually just a waste of energy and money.

Like I said, the tank is mainly for the shrimp but I'm just curious. - Maybe some snails?

Snails will be fine, as long as you don't get the kind that are carnivorous. Just do your research and you will be fine. As some snails eat meat.

How many shrimp can I keep in this type of setup?

Depends on the kind of shrimp, again, this is your research area. Some will be OK with conspecifics, while others won't. And some don't like any other shrimp near them.

What sort of fluorescent tubes are good for the fixtures I already have?

As stated above, NO fluorescent lighting will be fine. I would use a 50/50 bulb though, as it gives the tank a nicer, clearer look. If you have two tubes available, I would use one 10K bulb, and one actinic bulb. But the 50/50 will be fine is you only have one tube area available.

HTH....


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There is always a bigger fish...

thats the basics bu i have to warn you that one hit from a full grown mantis is like being shot by a .22,

This is true, and if your tank is glass, I recommend you do not get one of these. As with 10 gal tanks, the mantis shrimp can actually break the glass if he hits it by accident while feeding. Besides, Mantis shrimps are hunters, and you will usually need live foods for them to survive, as in live fish and other shrimp.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Another note about the mantis shrimp- They often can enter as tank by hitchhiking on live rock, so you should keep an eye out for that. These shrimp can handle the transport from ocean to store very well, and can be nasty little suprises.

If you want a really cool shrimp, check out the pistol shrimp. The popping sounds that they make can be frightening at first, and then get just plain annoying. Still, if you can handle the sound, they're neat little things.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I would try to get cured live rock instead of uncured. You probably will decrease your chances of getting a mantis.

My pistol shrimp never made noise. I heard it only twice, and that was when a hermit crab or snail would enter its hole.

Low light corals sound cool. The lighting fixture I already have will accomodate 2 15 watt tubes so I guess I'll go with one actinic bulb and one 10 000K bulb. Are there any good beginner corals that would tolerate that amount of light?

A mated pair of coral banded shrimp sounds cool. I really like the look of them and I know I can get them locally. I also like cleaner shrimp, Lysmata amboinensis. Pistol shrimp look cool too but the tank will probably be in my bedroom so I don't want a lot of noise waking me up. I'm going to stay away from mantis shrimp for this tank, but they do look very interesting so I'll keep them in mind for future aspirations.

Depends on the kind of shrimp, again, this is your research area. Some will be OK with conspecifics, while others won't. And some don't like any other shrimp near them.

I have been reading up on different shrimp types but I'm a bit confused with the vast amount of information out there. I know that different types will not tolerate conspecifics like the coral banded shrimp, but I guess I'm just looking at a lot of species profiles and getting a bit overwhelmed. :%) Any suggestions for easy to find, peaceful shrimps that I could look into further? Or even suggestions of shrimp that you would keep in a tank setup like this?

Other creatures that caught my eye while I was browsing:

Emerald Crabs
Hermit Crabs
Any reef safe snail

I'm open to any suggestions.

I was going to mix my saltwater in a rubbermaid tub because I thought it would probably be the most inexpensive container I can think of. Would that be ok with a powerhead to keep it moving around?

The rubbermaid container would be a fine place to mix SW.

Emerald Crabs
Are great little critters, and they will keep any bubble algae you may get, under control.

Hermit Crabs
Are great clean up crew, and will help with some of the algae as well.

Any reef safe snail
Again, helps with the algae.

As for low light corals, probably the best to start with will be mushrooms. If you are really into it, and don't mind directly feeding your corals, there are several really neat ones that will do fine in that tank. But you have to turn off all the current, and feed them directly, with BBS, Marine show, and such like that, and usually in the evening. The Sun Polyp is a really neat one. Another really neat one is the Chili Coral. Take a turkey baster, and load it up, and then gently squeeze it out right on top of the corals and their polyps. You can watch them actually take the food in. Really kinda neat. They will both open under moon lights, after the main lights go out, so I would suggest you get one of these for your tank. You will really enjoy it.

Some leathers will also do OK, in low lighting. You might want to look into them as well.

HTH....


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There is always a bigger fish...

Ok thanks for the info.

I TOTALLY forgot about moonlighting. I have seen plans for DIY moonlighting with blue and a few red LED lights. I don't have a whole lot of $$ to play with since I'm off on sick leave for the summer and most of this will be coming from birthday money. What I DO have are a bunch of geek friends that would be happy to help me set something like DIY LED moonlighting up. Would that be ok for corals? I don't want the LED light bothering them in the night. Sorry if I have a lot of newbish questions.

Some corals I came across while browsing that were said to do alright in low light: (Comments are really appreciated because I have no idea what works and what doesn't! Especially with the limited space...) I don't mind feeding corals directly, I actually think it sounds cool! But of course I will save those that are harder to care for until I get a bit of experience under my belt and have the tank very stable.

Mushrooms - EVERYbody says these are the corals to have in low light and great for beginners, they are def. on my list... I think they're cool looking.
Sun Polyps - I LOVE the look of them but I have seen some sites say they are difficult?
Chili Coral - thanks for the suggestion, looks gorgeous :88)
Button Polyps - some sites say they're ok in low light (slowed growth) while other sites say they aren't.... I really love the look of these guys (they're cute!) so could I keep them up close to the light in my tank? comments?
Fox/Jasmine coral - there was a blurb about this one extending its tentacles, is that safe for a small tank?
Carnation Coral?
Pineapple Coral?
Medusa soft coral?

Thanks again for all the help

Probably the reason for saying sun polyps are difficult, is the fact that you have to target feed them. As I have never heard of anyone having any difficulty with them. As for the others listed, you could try setting the tank up so the button polyps are closer to the light, they will probably do OK. Pineapple Coral is usually an easy one, and will do OK under low-moderate lighting. The medusa soft, or better known as the Christmas Tree Coral, is relatively easy to keep also, and will do OK in moderate-low lighting. Most leathers will be OK. The Carnation coral is difficult however. It is very picky, and I would not reccomend it to any beginners. Maybe down the road you might try it, but I would suggest not yet.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Tryst,

I wouldn't recommend the Sun Polyps quite yet. As stated, they need to be target fed, and they tend to be somewhat sensitive. If I can recall correctly, they like to be under a sort of ledge/overhang type thing, while still getting good light...it sorta doesn't make sense to me. DRO has kept them in the past. I absolutely love things from the genus Tubastrea but I'd wait until you're a little more comfortable with marines before getting some. I think there's an article in RK on them.

I'm just going to comment on a couple more random things, so dont mind me.

A rubbermaid tub is the BEST for mixing saltwater. That's what I've got. Simple set up really, I've got extra ebo's that I use in there, you can put them in PVC pipe so they dont melt the plastic. And add a powerhead or two, and boom, you're done. I suggest having premixed saltwater all the time...you're going to have to do weekly water changes anyway. And make sure you watch evaporation in that tank...you're prolly going to need to top off daily. You'd be amazed at how fast the water can evaporate.

I'm not really into softies or LPS as I'm an SPS freak, but I can tell you about some things that I do like. You may not be able to have them in this tank w/ your current lighting, but if you ever upgrade or start another tank...well you get the idea. Shrooms and leathers should be fine; I've seen leathers grow in places where there seriously is no light.

Other things I like that you should look into...
-Bubble Coral
-Goniopora (flower pot coral; two types, branching and encrustring)
-Alveopora
-Ricordia
-Zoanthids
-Pagodas (sometimes)
-Plate corals (especially the ones with nice tentacles )
-Frogspawns

What are your thoughts on Echinoderms...?

And I may have missed this, but what type of LR do you plan on using? And how are you achieving good water flow/current?

Make sure you get a hydrometer and callibrate it with a refractometer to watch your salinity/specific gravity.

It's prolly a good idea to get a calcium test kit since you're going to be keeping inverts. Salifert is my favorite brand.

Also, make sure you have an accurate way of testing high range pH. That's going to be crucial, especially during cycling.

You really should consider doing a bigger tank w/ intense light, then you can keep Tridacnids and Acros. And that my friend, is the true dark side of fishkeeping.

*grins*

Welcome to our side.

EDIT: For random things...I'm going to keep adding to this.



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Last edited by Ferretfish at 05-May-2005 18:11

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

I wouldn't recommend the Sun Polyps quite yet. As stated, they need to be target fed, and they tend to be somewhat sensitive. If I can recall correctly, they like to be under a sort of ledge/overhang type thing, while still getting good light...it sorta doesn't make sense to me. DRO has kept them in the past. I absolutely love things from the genus Tubastrea but I'd wait until you're a little more comfortable with marines before getting some. I think there's an article in RK on them.

Sun polyps are generally easy to take care of, but require major dedication and attention to detail because of the heavy feedings that they need on a daily basis.

They are completely non photosynthetic, and do not use light in any way. They can be places virtually anywhere in the aquarium as long as they get excellent flow and are easily accesible for feedings.

Yup, there is a COTW thread stickied at the top of the RK forum.


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