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The importance of grow up tank
Grow up tank
Why do we need grow up tank? There are quite a lot of benefits of a grow up tank and if you are like me is passionate about selective breeding, than a grow up tank is encouraged.
I was struggling in the beginning when i had to give up tank space for a grow up tank. However, once i started the selective process and using the grow up tank it became clear to me that there are a lot of benefits to it.
Benefits of Grow Up tank
I think firstly the most importance aspect of having a grow up tank is the shrimplets certainly have a higher survival rate.
Having a higher survival rate is understood from the following:
- Reduce cannibalisms by adults during molting
- Lesser competition of daily feed and grazing material
It is also important to note that shrimplet as small as 0.8-1cm will start mating and if you are selective breeding, this is not ideal. If an un-desirable male mates with the stock females in the main tank, this will means that the selection process is halted.
That is also one key element that having a grow up tank is critical.
Grow up faster
I learnt and actually also see from my observation that shrimplet that have their own tank grow up much faster than those who are together with their parents. This could be contributed by many factors such as availability of space and food.
In addition, i learn that to trigger quicker molting, perform a much higher frequency of water change such as every 3-4 days instead of the weekly routine. This helps trigger the shrimplets to molt faster and grow.
The faster the shrimplet grows up the quicker you can start selecting and kickstart the next generation of shrimp breeding by crossing back.
Taken together
With these in mind, it is important that having a grow up tank is important. They will have their own space, food and grazing material. Hence, for my own breeding tanks and grow up tank, i do see a significant increase in shrimplet survivability and also faster growth rate.
If you do not have the space to have a grow up tank, my recommendation is that we can re-think the number of types you would like to keep and breed. This will then allow you more time and space to focus on the ones you really like to breed.
Hope you learn something from this post!
Special edition
The Journey
My journey in this shrimp hobby hasn’t always been smooth sailing, and that is the reason i failed time and time again. Many times in the course of it, i have invested time, resources, thoughts, learning but still i have failed. If you ever had learn early on in your shrimp hobby that if there is something that you could have done better, that learning would be priceless. If someone would be able to share with you or guide you along the way, you wouldn’t have so many heartaches.
I think more often than not, failing is not what is stopping us. It is not trying again and again. The fear of failing and looking bad is often frown upon. It is untrue that everyone need to be successful from day one. I think if you haven’t fail, you haven’t learn. There are people who learn from other failure so they don’t fall into it and i think that is another way of learning. As i’m passionate about learning a better way hence i’m not afraid to fail as i know each time if i fail and stand up, i inch myself towards the goal.
To achieve these goal we need to apply discipline and consistency, we have to work at it. The basic fundamental about water parameters, selective breeding, food, shrimp source are all part of the process. Don’t confuse doing more as progression in shrimp keeping. Sometimes doing less is more.
To all shrimp breeders out there, keep pushing forward towards your own goal. While everyone spending capacity is different, it is more important to find an area that is within your means. It is not what you have, but what you do with what you have. When you learn something that works, share it freely a thought an idea and help another breeder in need. This will in my opinion encourage a better community moving forward. The age of the forum is diminishing or has already long gone, there are rarely any discussion and open ideas to learn and contemplate. While we embrace technology and the move from one platform to the next, i always believe the faintest ink will outlast the strongest memory. Hence, it got me to keep writing after so many years and also to make a difference.
Early on in the shrimp journye i have failed with tank crashes, water parameter swing and all kinds of failure but it didn’t stop me. I was misguided and it was my fallacy that i wasn’t smart enough to know it wasn’t right (even with fish-keeping experience, thinking shrimp is different so i believed what was said). I started asking questions and to challenge the norm but it was really difficult to get credible information. If you followed my blog in the beginning, i have learn and change the methodology and fail and learn again. While there isn’t a best way of shrimp keeping, there is always a better way.
I have tried lubao and failed many times but over these years i kept trying and now i can share it with others the technique less the heart pain that i have gone through. Cycling process, food, water change, reminerizer and all i have tested and tried, fail and learn and gain more knowledge. I didn’t quit. Along the way, i met with scammers and jealous people that push me down, still i didn’t quit. Because each time i get up, i got stronger.
So can you.
Never be discourage, never hold back, give everything you got in this journey.
-Only the Best-
While i have written on the 4 elements of good shrimp keeping here (https://www.sgshrimp.com/the-4-main-elements-to-good-shrimp-keeping/) this post is to share with breeders who have just started and advance breeders on some key tips of a sustainable shrimp breeding tank.
Tank size: If you have a 20L/40L or bigger tank, it is important that you cycle the tank a full 40 days based on nitrogen cycle. A bigger tank with higher water volume will have more stable water parameters, the margin of error you are allowed to make is also bigger.
Soil: Now you have got your tank, what soil do i recommend? I still recommend ADA but i know there are other soil out there which can be suitable as well. For example Tropica is another great example of soil that can be use. As long the soil is active and has the capability to lower pH and keep the water soft with consistent buffering throughout the soil life can be considered.
Filtration: Sponge filter, hang on, external cannister, UGF, Uplift, etc. There are a ton of filtration out there that does the one thing: Filtration. Depending on how much time and budget you have, this is certainly the more important aspect in my opinion. Water parameters is the utmost important element in shrimp keeping/breeding and this affect directly to our shrimp. If you have a lot of tanks and want to keep cost down like how Taiwan breeders are doing than 2 unit of dual sponge filter per 100L tank is recommended. If you have a smaller tank and wish to put 2 x dual sponge filter, it is also possible. If you have a slightly higher budget and wish to provide more filtration, the matten filtration and external cannister is a good option. I’m a filter media person ever since i started aquarium hobby 19 years ago. So for my setup, i use a specialize Totto filter which i have mentioned in some of my post, it has the ability to remove nitrate as well. Yes Nitrate. The entire process from breaking down ammonia to nitrite and then onwards to Nitrate and eventually release as Nitrogen into the water column and dissipated. I enjoy having the ability to trust the system and view my shrimp given my very busy schedule, hence i opt for this option. I have tried many types of filter but this method suit my schedule the best. If i have slightly more time i would gone for sponge filter because they are really inexpensive and you have to just wash them in tank water once a month or more depending on how clog up it gets. So ask yourself how much time are you willing to allocate for maintaining the tanks, then it will give you an indication what kind of filter you can use. So far the better filter i have tried are uplift, sponge, cannister, hang on back, permanent UGF (not box) are possible ones.
Link to Dual Sponge filter Qanvee: https://amzn.to/3xvfH7c
More filter discussion: https://www.sgshrimp.com/tips-on-leaving-your-shrimp-tank-with-peace-of-mind/
Plants: In one of my post i have mentioned about the types of plants you can use. I would give a summary here that any aquatic plants are suitable however you have to ensure it is contain and not over grown as this is a shrimp tank vs a planted tank. A planted tank has the focus on the plants with shrimp as one of the inhabitants whereas a shrimp tank has focus on the shrimp and plants as inhabitants. I like a lot of aquatic plants and hence i setup planted tank to satisfy my love for plants. For my shrimp tanks, i usually use Taiwan moss and plants such as echinodorus, crypto or buceps. The key to all these is they don’t grow too crazily over time unlike many stem plants that require weekly trimming. We don’t want to be dipping our hands into the tank every few days. Floating plants are fine too to absorb excess nitrate.
Bacteria: Startup bacteria is often sold as to help speed up the nitrogen cycle, however there are a myriad different type of bacteria in the market. While i’m an old school aquarist, i still stick to the very traditional free method of cycling it 40 days. While i have easy access to beneficial bacteria but still i prefer to ensure i don’t speed up things that shouldn’t be sped up. You have a lifetime ahead of you to breed the shrimps well, 40 days in a grand scheme of things is not too long. Understanding the nitrogen cycle is simply to get the beneficial bacteria ready to convert ammonia to nitrite into nitrate.
Cycling: I’ll still put here a minimum of 40 days cycling time, there are ways to improve the speed of the cycling time however the key to stable water parameters is to start the note on the right foot.
Airstone: What? Yes i actually like placing an airstone either to the outlet of the filter to introduce more agitation to the surface thus having a higher O2 exchange. The reason for this is more true for countries where we use cooling methods to cool down the tank. When temperature rises, ammonia become highly dangerous and thus consuming Oxygen, that is also why when there is an ammonia spike fishes gasp for air at the surface, shrimp doesn’t really do that (no indication). This is to help prolong the time for you to diagnose what the issue is (faulty chiller, dead shrimp that was concealed resulting in an ammonia spike, etc. Airstone are inexpensive and last a long time so drop one into every tank can be beneficial.
Food: A newly setup tank will have quite a lot of ‘food’ biofilm in the tank hence there is really not much you need to feed them after the first introduction. However, if you are going to introduce a lot of shrimp (50-100), they can strip off the biofilm in a matter of a day or 2. A good staple food i use is Hwa version 1 which is highly recommended as my main feed. It helps stressed shrimp to get to the food and consume as it has a strong drawing power. While the drawing power is important but more importantly the ingredients are all rounded. When there are a lot of shrimp, it becomes critical to introduce lubao as a grazing material as it has a long time duration in the tank up to 1-2 months per ball (i know some hobbyist use it even longer with no adverse effect – recommended still 1-2 months max). So in this section we listed 2 important word: Drawing power and Time Duration. Whenever i categorize the food and give ratings, i usually use these 2 as a basis for my understanding. Like for example, Moss is a very good ‘food’ as it harbors microorganism and also biofilm and time duration is endless. However the quantity it produces is fairly low. Indian Almond leaf is also another very good one, high creation of biofilm, medium time duration. While you can use a combination of those grazing material it is important to get that checklist tick.
