From Scratch to Shrimp Master in 33 Minutes!

In this video I gonna tell you how you can keep and breed caridina and neocaridina shrimps in your aquarium successfully. We will set up a shrimp tank theoretically and I will explain you every single step and share lots of information and experiences with you. This video is meant for beginners and advanced shrimp keepers. Guys I have been keeping shrimps for 10 years now and in this guide I share all my experiences, all my knowledge and all my mistakes I have made. I want to prevent you from making the same mistakes as I made and I want to make sure that you are a better shrimp keeper from the very beginning if you start from scratch. This video is a little bit longer because it's jam-packed with information so let's get started. Guys shrimps are awesome creatures and ideal pets. They are beautiful, they have a very interesting behavior, they don't need much space and you can easily set up a tank even if you are on a budget. But first let's talk about the different species of shrimps you can keep in your freshwater aquarium. The two species I gonna talk about in this video are neocaridina and caridina shrimps. The probably most popular shrimp, the red sherry shrimp also belongs to the neocaridina shrimp family. But there are also a lot of other beautiful species such as yellow sherry, snow walls, blue dream shrimps and so on. In the caridina shrimp family a distinction must be made between classic caridina shrimps, tiger shrimps and sulawesi shrimps. But even amano shrimps, caridina multidentata belong to the caridina family. Here you can see some popular species of each family. Meanwhile there are really a lot of different cultivated forms. Caridina shrimps except amano shrimps are generally harder to keep. But more on that later. The keeping of sulawesi shrimps is not part of this guide. I have already made a separate video for this. Be sure to watch it if you are interested in keeping these shrimps. As soon as you have decided which species of shrimps you would like to keep, you can start setting up an aquarium for them. I always recommend starting with an easy species like red sherry shrimps if you do not have experience with shrimp keeping. So let's start at the very beginning with choosing the right aquarium. Guys, the good news is, shrimps do not need much space. You can keep them in small bowls or jars with less than 10 liters or 3 gallons, without any filtration or technical equipment. But I definitely do not recommend this for inexperienced keepers. The smaller the tank is, the harder it is to keep the water parameters and the environment stable. And consistency is crucial for shrimp keeping. But more on that later. So if you are new to the hobby, I recommend choosing an aquarium that is not too small. Ideally, you should not choose an aquarium that is smaller than 30 liters, better 45 liters or larger. If you are already an experienced shrimp keeper, choose what you want or you feel confident with. But bear in mind that there are shrimps that like to swim, such as Amano shrimps, which require considerably more space for species-appropriate keeping. My standard tank size for breeding shrimps are plain 45 liter or 12 gallon tanks. Of course, one factor to consider is what purpose should the tank serve. Should it be a nice white glass aquarium or cube for the living room? Or do you just want to set up a cheap, standard breeding tank which will be placed on the basement of your house anyway? Okay guys, let's assume we have decided on a specific aquarium. Let's just say we want to use a nice white glass cube for an aquascape and a simple, inexpensive, standard aquarium for a breeding tank. So how do we proceed? This is just an example. Of course, you can also use a cheap, standard aquarium for an aquascape and so on. So let's start with the substrate. In order to make the right decision regarding the substrate, you should already know whether you want to keep caridina or neocaridina shrimps. For caridina shrimp, I highly recommend aquasoil because this substrate lowers the pH to a value between 5.5 to 6.5 and provides ideal conditions for these soft water shrimps. Meanwhile, there's a large selection of aquasoil from various suppliers. If you do not want to keep too many plants in the tank, it is better to use a soil that is specifically designed for shrimp keeping. Otherwise, you will have an unnecessary amount of nutrients in the water, which can lead to algae problems and so on. For neocaridina shrimp, you can use theoretically any type of substrate, but I prefer sand or fine-grained, rounded gravel. This prevents the animals from injuring themselves and the shrimps love to turn over every grain of sand hundred times. Sand and gravel are also much cheaper than aquasoil and in my experience neocaridina prefer neutral or slightly harder water, but more on that later. Now that we know which shrimps we want to keep and what substrate we want to use, we have to decide what kind of aquarium we want to set up. For a breeding tank, a thin layer of substrate is sufficient, as we do not want to plant anything. If you want to go for an aquascape, you will definitely need a higher substrate, so that you can put in plants later on. Shrimps love densely planted aquariums, so for an aquascape you can use whatever you like. In my experience, shrimps particularly like moss and fine-leaved plants like Limnophila sassiflora. For a pure breeding aquarium, dense planting is really disadvantageous, as you no longer have an overview of the aquarium. This means that it is difficult to select and catch animals and you never know how many shrimplets or buried shrimps you have in the tank. Guys, in my breeding tanks I only use a few epiphytes, such as Anubias or Bucephalandras, on top of some decorations such as coconut caves. And of course, some moss like Java moss. This means that the tanks do not look so larveless and it is a bit more comfortable for the shrimps. I highly recommend using moss or moss balls for shrimp tanks. Shrimps love to graze on it and consume microorganisms and biofilm. Moss balls are not really made of moss, but still serve their purpose. They are actually slow-growing green algae and belong to the species Cladophora. Floating plants are also ideal for shrimp tanks, especially for breeding tanks. They use CO2 from the atmosphere and suck up all the excess nutrients in the water column and keep the water clean for you. In most aquariums without any CO2 system there is still a lack of CO2. I always use floating plants that can easily be removed like Salvina and avoid too invasive species like duckweed. Shrimps are susceptible to foreign substances. Please make sure you water potted plants as well as bunched plants separately for several days to weeks before you plant them in your aquarium. These plants could contain residues of pesticides or fertilizers to which the animals react sensitively. A safe alternative are in vitro plants. These plants are untreated and also free from stowaways and pests. Okay guys, now that we have discussed the planting we will look at the options for the hardscape. Of course you can use any kind of wood and stones. However, the logic for the hardscape is the same as for plants. For breeding aquariums the motto is less is more. But I wouldn't do it without it completely under any circumstances. I am not a fan of these larvaless breeding aquariums without anything. And in my opinion the shrimps also need places to retreat and a surface on which they can graze biofilm. You should also keep in mind that stones and roots can alter the water. Especially rocks like Seiru stones can harden the water and this is particularly undesirable in breeding tanks for soft water shrimps such as Caridina shrimps. Stones or rocks which do not alter the water parameters and can always be used are dragonstones and lava rocks. I like to use lava rock because these rocks are very light and porous and have a huge surface for beneficial bacteria and biofilm. There is also a large selection of wood from which you can choose. I use driftwood, spiderwood or barkwood in my shrimp tanks. Wood can release tannins into the water column. Tannins are healthy for shrimps. But a large amount of tannins in the water causes a strong yellow-brownish tint. This effect is not always desirable and can be significantly reduced by pouring boiling water over the wood and leaving it in a bucket of water for a few days. In addition to that, after a few days the wood is waterlogged and the chances are good that it will no longer float to the surface. If you want to use artificial decoration, only use parts which have been made for the use in aquariums and which do not release any harmful substances into the water. Okay guys, the shrimp tank is set up now and let's find the ideal technical equipment for our aquarium. You basically need the following components for a shrimp tank. A good filtration and a lighting and that's it. Most shrimp tanks do not even need a heater, provided that your aquarium is located in a room with normal room temperature. And you only need a CO2 system if you want to go for an ambitious aquascape. And only in case you want to go for an aquascape with demanding plants, a powerful lighting is required. For a normal breeding setup I recommend a cheap standard LED lighting. This is absolutely sufficient for the shrimps and easy plants like Anubias and Javamoss. I would always recommend to focus on the filtration. I prefer to use air-driven sponge filters with 30 to 45 ppi for all my Neocaridina shrimp tanks. These filters are cheap, easy to maintain, they supply the tank with oxygen and they are absolutely safe for baby shrimps. In addition to that the shrimps love to sit and graze on the sponge. For Caridina tanks, especially for breeding tanks, I highly recommend using an under gravel filter box. These boxes which are filled with aqua soil have some decisive advantages like very low maintenance, perfect water parameters for Caridina shrimps and the possibility to replace the soil easily as soon it is depleted. In most of my Caridina tanks I use an under gravel filter box or a combination of under gravel filter box and sponge filter. If you want to set up an aquascape you are probably thinking of using a canister or hang-on bag filter to avoid having unethetic equipment in the aquarium. This is of course possible, but in this case it is very important to cover the inlet pipe with a filter sponge or fine mesh, otherwise your baby shrimps will get sucked up and killed by the filter. Chapter 2 Water Parameters Okay guys, now we have already set up a tank theoretically. Based on the filling of the tank I will tell you everything you need to know regarding the water parameters. The first question that needs to be answered is, which water should I use? Hey and guess what, it depends on what shrimps you want to keep. For Neocaridina shrimps you can use tap water in most cases, because they are relatively adaptable. For Caridina shrimps it will not work in most cases, but of course, this always depends on the water parameters of your tap water. Guys, here you can see the range of water parameters which are accepted by Caridina and Neocaridina shrimps. Sulawesi shrimps require very special water parameters and are not covered in this guide. Check out my Sulawesi video later if you are interested in keeping those beautiful shrimps. Amano shrimps are also an exception. They are extremely adaptable and can even live in brackish water or rather need it to multiply. So what do we learn from these water parameters that are preferred by Caridina and Neocaridina? Caridina shrimps are soft water shrimps and Neocaridina shrimps prefer neutral or slightly harder water. So in case you have suitable tap water you can use it, but I highly recommend to use a water conditioner first. There are various water conditioners on the market that you can use to remove substances like copper or chlorine from the water that are deadly for shrimps. And now a little story from the beginning of my shrimp career. When I started with the hobby 10 years ago, I immediately made bad experiences with using tap water. My shrimp slowly died one by one, although I used a water conditioner and my water parameters seemed to be perfect. I was really desperate because I was unexperienced and I had no solution. Until one day a sales assistant in the shop gave me the tip that I should check for silicate. And damn he was right! I had an incredibly high silicate level in my tap water. So thanks again to this stranger you saved my shrimp career. So guys if you have similar problems and you haven't found the root cause yet, I would definitely recommend testing the silicate level in your tap water. Since then I have been using remineralized RO water. You can easily produce osmosis water yourself with an osmosis system and remineralize it with a high quality salt. My favorite products are the salty shrimp salts. The different salts create the ideal water parameters for Caridina, Neocaridina or Sulawesi shrimps. This is not sponsored or anything, I just think the products are really good. The huge advantage is that you always know exactly what you are filling into the tank. And that brings us to a very important point in shrimp keeping. Shrimps need consistency and a stable environment. Shrimps are very easily stressed when the water parameters and temperatures in the aquarium fluctuate strongly. In the worst case this stress can end fatally. So guys always make sure that your shrimps live in a stable environment. I have some more information on this later. Okay so meanwhile our tank is filled with water and now I have some bad news for you. You need to be patient. Let the newly set up tank cycle and grow in. You don't want to put your animals in a tank that is full of nitrite and ammonia. After two weeks the tank is normally cycled. Of course there are miscellaneous products like beneficial bacteria which you can use to accelerate the process and which makes it possible to put in animals immediately. But from experience a shrimp colony needs biofilm to grow and thrive and the formation of this biofilm takes time. This hobby requires a little patience so do not rush the process. And I'll tell you one thing as a content creator you need even more patience. Chapter three stocking of a shrimp tank. So now our new tank is cycled. Let's talk in general about the stocking of a shrimp tank, what possibilities there are and what really makes sense. I can't say it too often. Please start with an easy to keep neocaridina species like red cherry shrimps if you do not have experience with shrimp keeping yet. Otherwise it can get really frustrating if your rare and expensive shrimps die off one by one. And do not start with a shrimp population that is too small. The absolute minimum for me is 10 shrimps. A higher number of animals also increases the chance that you will have a good mix of males and females. If you want to breed shrimps seriously I really recommend keeping only one species in the tank. For example if you keep different species of neocaridina in the tank such as blue yellow and red they will crossbreed and you will also get some animals in the wild form with clear to brown color over time. If you don't mind and you only want to keep colorful shrimps you can of course mix them as long as the animals have the same requirements for the water parameters. These tanks with different colored shrimps are also often called skittle tanks. A very popular question is can I keep fish and shrimps together? The answer is yes and no. Basically it's possible to keep fish and shrimp together but even if the fish do not bother your adult shrimps they will definitely eat some of your baby shrimps. In a densely planted aquascape even with larger fish some baby shrimps will survive. But if there are too many large fish in the aquarium the shrimps do not feel comfortable and tend to hide a lot. In my experience small danios such as the chili rasbora are good tank mates for shrimps. These tiny nano fish are very peaceful and not interested in the shrimps but other small fish like otocinclus, antler guppies or small tetras are also possible. If breeding success is the priority for you I would highly recommend not to put fish in your shrimp tank. If it is not the end of the world for you if your baby shrimps are partially eaten you can put in some small nano fish like the ones just mentioned. But bear in mind that fish need more space than shrimps do and your aquarium should have a capacity of 60 liter or 16 gallons to keep fish appropriately. Ideal tank mates for shrimps are snails. Snails are undemanding and useful tank mates that complement shrimps perfectly. Snails eat algae, leftover food, biofilm, in fact anything they can find. This is particularly helpful as shrimps are sometimes sloppy eaters and the snails grab the leftovers before they can pollute the water. I keep ramshorn snails or malaysian trumpet snails in most of my tanks. If you do not want to put in snails that will multiply snails like military helmet snails, racetrack snails or porcupine snails are a good choice. These snails will not multiply without brackish water. Chapter four acclimation of the shrimps. Soon as the water is free of ammonia and nitrite you can start stocking the tank. To check the water parameters simply use a standard water test. I always try to buy my animals from local breeders. Here you can immediately see how the animals are kept and the transport is less stressful for the animals. However I'm aware that this is not always possible. In this case shipping is the only option. As long as you order from a reputable breeder or store shipping is not a problem. I personally have never had any problems with shipping shrimps. As soon as you have bought your shrimps it is important to acclimatize them very slowly to the water. As already mentioned shrimps like stable environmental conditions and as the original water from the breeder is in most cases different from your water the animals must be acclimatized slowly to the new water parameters. In my opinion the best method is drip acclimation. All you need is a bucket and an air hose with a valve. Carefully transfer the shrimps from the transport bag into the bucket. Take the tube and fix the end of the tube without the valve in the aquarium with a suction cup. The other end with the valve is placed in the bucket. Start the flow by sucking on the valve side and use the valve to regulate the flow. I recommend one to two drops per second. The acclimatization is complete when the water in the bucket has approximately quadrupled. You can reduce the animal stress by switching off the light in the room and the aquarium. The whole acclimatization process can take two to four hours. Chapter five how to feed shrimp. Now that the shrimps are in the aquarium we have to feed them and make sure that they feel comfortable. The widespread narrative is still that shrimp do not actually need to be fed. Shrimps are often sold as cleanup crews or algae eaters. This is not fundamentally wrong as shrimp can survive in the aquarium without active feeding. However anyone hoping that shrimps can solve algae problems in the tank is unfortunately on the wrong track. They eat a little bit of algae growth but will not solve your green hair algae problems. The only species that really eats large amounts of algae is the Amano shrimp. And yes they eat detritus, biofilm and dead plant parts. But if you want to maximize your breeding success you should definitely feed your shrimps actively. Now an example from our lives as human beings. For us green salad is a really healthy food. But if you only eat green salad nothing else. We will be deficient in certain nutrients and we won't feel so well. For us human beings a varied and balanced diet is very important. And this also applies to shrimp in my opinion. I feed many different types of food such as algae wafer, catfish pellets, powdered food for baby shrimps, special shrimp food, carrot and spinach sticks and so on. But also frozen foods such as bloodworms has also proven to be very effective. Bloodworms are a very popular food and they are a nice protein boost for the shrimp. Especially females seem to benefit from this additional protein and it encourages them to breed. A really good product is also Bacter AE. This powdered food increases the formation of biofilm in the aquarium. And this biofilm is an almost endless source of food and is crucial for the successful shrimp keeping. Please do not follow the instruction on the packaging. In my experience small portions are absolutely sufficient. And last but not least I highly recommend to use leaves for your shrimp tanks. There are different leaves like beech, nettle, indian almond, spinach, mulberry you can put in the tank. To be honest I mostly use indian almond leaves. These leaves do not decompose so quickly under water and are well accepted by the shrimps. They also release tannins into the water which contribute significantly to the well-being of the animals. The shrimps eat the microorganisms and the biofilm that decomposes the leaf much more than the leaf itself. Leaves can remain in the water until they have been completely eaten. And now a special tip. Before putting the leaves into the tank pour boiling water over the leaves and put them in a tub for a few days. The boiling water causes the leaf to sink straight to the bottom and not quite as many tannins are released into the water. As already mentioned the tannins have no negative effect on the water. But not everyone wants to have a black water aquarium. The storage in the tub causes a nice biofilm to form on the leaves which the shrimps can consume later. I highly recommend to use a small feeding dish and a feeding pipe. By using a feeding dish you can reduce the risk of food being burrowed in the substrate. This leftover food can have a negative effect on the water quality. Furthermore you can always see how much food is still available and how quickly it is eaten. This does not work with Amano shrimps as larger animals like to grab a whole food tablet and swim away with it. To avoid having to fiddle in the tank I use a feeding tube to guide the food directly into the feeding dish. And now finally a little guideline. You do not have to feed daily but feed regularly and varied in smaller portions. Remove food which hasn't been eaten from the tank after about an hour otherwise the water quality will deteriorate. Chapter 6 Maintenance of a shrimp tank Now we have learned how to feed shrimps. Another basic need of the animals is a stable environment and clean water. As keepers we must ensure this and make regular water changes. Water changes are a very controversial topic with many different opinions. As shrimps need a stable environment and consistent water parameters it generally makes sense to carry out small water changes more frequently. I think this is what I would also recommend for beginners as they are in most cases not yet able to assess how much to feed and when water needs to be changed urgently. Of course the frequency of the water change always depends on the tank size, the stocking and the feeding. Personally I always try to disturb the ecosystem as little as possible and I change approximately 15 to 20 percent of water in my tanks every other week on average. In any case I would recommend a water change if the nitrate value exceeds 20 milligram per liter. Caridina shrimps are much more sensitive to high nitrate levels than neocaridina. Hence planting in the tank can significantly reduce the need for water changes. For sensitive shrimp like caridina shrimp or sulawesi shrimp you can also slowly let the fresh water drip into the tank. This can make the whole process a little more pleasant for the animals. If you keep your shrimp in a densely planted aquarium and fertilization is necessary make sure that the fertilizer you use is safe for shrimp and that you do not add excessive amounts of fertilizer. Even if the bio load caused by shrimps is not huge your filter will have to be cleaned one day. To do this simply squeeze out the filter sponge in a bucket of drained aquarium water. My basic principle is to fiddle around in the aquarium as little as possible and if it is really necessary wash your hands carefully and without soap. Chapter 7 how to breed shrimp. Basically breeding shrimps is not really difficult as long as they feel comfortable and the environment is suitable for them. However there are a few things to bear in mind. I highly recommend to start a colony with at least 10 shrimps better more. The larger the starting colony the better the chances that you will have a good mix of male and females. Especially with imported neocaridina shrimps you often only get females as they are often more beautifully colored. If you are unlucky you won't get any males at all when you buy a small group. Having a few more females is an advantage as each male can fertilize several females. Females are usually junkier and especially female neocaridina shrimps are more intensely colored. The most obvious sexual characteristic is the so-called saddle. A cluster of unfertilized eggs behind the head of the female shrimp. This is also the sign that the shrimp is mature enough to breed and happens around the third month. With the next molt she is ready to breed and releases pheromones into the water. This attracts the attention of the male animals and the males swim around in the aquarium like crazy. Only directly after the molt the female shrimp can be fertilized and push the eggs into the abdomen. And now we speak of a buried shrimp. The female now carries the eggs for about 30 days and the eggs are being fanned all the time. By fanning the eggs are supplied with oxygen which in turn prevents the formation of fungus and bacteria on the eggs. After 30 days 20 to 40 tiny baby shrimps hatch. The shrimplets are only one to two millimeters in size and look like tiny clones of the adults. As we want as many babies as possible to survive there are a few things we need to bear in mind. Baby shrimps are still quite stationary which means that they need food in their immediate environment. So it's your job to make sure that the food gets to them and they don't starve. Moss and wood are ideal retreats and surfaces for biofilm and a good food source for the tiny shrimp. You can encourage the animals to breed by feeding them a varied and protein-rich diet. Okay guys hopefully you're now a real shrimp expert but at least you should be ready to successfully manage your next shrimp project. And guys a guide like this is always a lot of work. So in case you enjoyed the video and find it beneficial please hit the like button. This helps the algorithm to push the video to more people. Thank you! Want to know how to set up an easy shrimp tank? In this video i did a very easy aquascape for red cherry shrimps. So watch this video next. Thank you for watching and see you in the next one!