Cycling the tank with danios & shrimp

Joanne · Feb 15, 2011

So have finally got things ready to begin cycling my tank. Got heaps of birthday money so it's off to my local aquarium to purchase supplies! I'm gonna use 2 danios as I've heard they are pretty placid around axies. Any advice? Also am looking at putting in shrimp, could I do this whilst tank is cycling? I've found glass shrimp but have also read about red cherry shrimp. Is the latter available in Australia?

carsona246 · Feb 15, 2011

I'd check out fishless cycling, but putting fish in the tank will cycle a tank as well. It just means your stuck with the fish, and they won't be happy during cycling. I've found shrimp to be pretty sensitive so i would wait to add shrimp until the tank is cycled. That being said make sure to quarentine them before you add the axolotl. I'd go with red cherry shrimp if I were you. Glass shrimp are hard to get to breed in freshwater, and cherry shrimp are supposedly pretty easy. I'm planning on getting some cherry shrimp to stick in my tank once a tank is freed up for quarentine.

Colinna · Feb 15, 2011

How big is the tank? EDITED - JUST FOUND IT'S A 2 FOOTER 2 danios won't do much in a two foot tank. They won't be enough to start a cycle. You would have to have a minimum of 6 in a 2 foot tank to get the cycle going. Danios are a schooling fish so they like to be in groups of 6 or more.

Red Cherry Shrimp are easily available over here in Qld. I have them in several of my tanks. They won't help cycling though, they are very sensitive to water quality and needed a fully cycled tank to live in. They also need live plants to live with and hide in. They will become food for the Axo's though if they get too close.

The other options would be guppies. A male and several females. Then you'd have a ready supply of live food. Guppies breed like flies.

Joanne · Feb 15, 2011

Carsona - how long should I quarantine them for? I'll wait until I've finished cycling the tank before adding some shrimp

Colinna - good to hear red cherries are available is oz, how much are they? Do you get them from an aquarium? Had a look online at glass shrimps & they wanted $8 for one!! That's crazy for something that I know will eventually become food. Thanks for hints about danios may go with guppies instead. I don't have room for another tank for breeding guppies so they would only be in there to cycle the tank & then to become a welcome to your new home snack! Will watch them closely tho cause don't want them nipping

carsona246 · Feb 16, 2011

30 days is pretty much standard. It's just to make any obvious illnesses the new additions might have obvious. If they're sick they either won't survive quarentine, or you'll be able to spot it and not add it to your tank and avoid spreading the illness to your axolotl.

Colinna · Feb 16, 2011

Joanne - I can get 5 for $12.50 through City Farmers. If you ask when you buy them you can usually get a "berried" female (full of eggs) & a male which will increase your chances of having babies at a later date. When I buy I usually try to get 3 females and 2 males and I usually buy in batches of 10. Another things to note about having any type of shrimp in your tank...the inlet valve of your filter will suck them straight up. You'll need a piece of sponge or something over it to stop them being sucked up and you'll find that they love to just hang on that sponge (lots of good food for them).

My local fish/pet shops sometimes carry them as well.

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