Siphoning & cherry shrimps

[AuSu]

Hi!
When I set up tank for c. ensicauda, I took some plants from my shrimp tank and there were two hitchhikers...first I thought that's just nice as I've not had them before with newts and it made the tank more lively while newts were just relaxing on the leaves and waiting for next meal. But now then, they were a male and a female and the baby production has begun! How do you clean your tanks without catching those tiny creatures which are incredibly hard to see (mine are "domestic" type with grayish or invisible colour)??? It's uncomfortable I might be throwing them away with the waste water. I tried to have a mesh on the siphon but then it doesn't suck away the waste, either. It's a bare bottom tank so that's what I'd like to get rid of since it doesn't look that nice - and of course to keep the water parameters well, too.
Thanks in advance if you have any suggestions!

 

[Chinadog]

I don't know what the solution is if siphoning the water through a net doesn't work. I wish I had the same problem, but my shrimp seem to disappear before they have chance to multiply.

 

[otolith]

I suggest holding on to the waste water in a clear vessel and waiting until it clears before dumping. Once it clears any baby shrimp will be easy to see and siphon out with a turkey baster. I do this when cleaning my lissotriton tank; I often inadvertently capture hatchlings almost every time and this has helped a lot.

 

[AuSu]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll just have to be patient and let the water clear. I really don't understand how other people get the net thing working. In their tiniest, size is only about three millimetres and they really mix with similar colour shrimp poop...
I've never seen newts catch a shrimp even they had some bad times in winter while I tried to teach them eat pellets...maybe it's colour that makes your shrimps an easier snack, Ben? My shrimps are hard to see due their lacking colours. But I quess that can't be the whole thruth if newts hunt by sensing the water movement and prey smell in water and by vision (prey movement) on land. Do they eat also caridina multidentata (japonica)? They are so big that they wouldn't do harm while cleaning and since they don't breed in fresh water, there wouldn't be any babies to flush away...well, easier said than done now that I already have neocaridina which are probably impossible to catch all into another tank

 

[Chinadog]

There's only my biggest male pyrrho that can catch the Cherrys and more importantly, hang on to a thrashing shrimp long enough to swallow it, you can see his top jaw all bent out of shape in the pic he's squeezing it so tight! I do have Japonica shrimp as well and they seem quite safe (some are nearly four years old!), It's a shame they need the salt water to complete their life cycle, mine are almost always carrying eggs.

 

[AuSu]

It's really quite a power on its jaws thinking how lively shrimps are! How many have you had there at the same time - I wonder how it's possible they haven't multiplied at all?! I have japonica in fish tank and they, too, seem to carry eggs all the time. But so far I haven't had interest in playing with salt volumes (if i remember right it takes four to six weeks to grow them and you have to be quite accurate with the salt rate daily)..

 

[Chinadog]

Probably not enough to start them off breeding, I might get some more soon and have another try, or maybe try some in the T. verrucosus tank where the water is a bit warmer. The Tylos are much slower than the pyrrhos so the shrimp should hopefully live long enough to multiply in there!

 

[Rupert]

There is an easy way : buy a shrimp net(there are ones that the mesh is so fine that even shrimp fries can be caught) and "sieve" the water from the pump.

 

[Chinadog]

The problem with shrimp nets is the small holes soon block up with debris if you try to run waste water through them. Holes small enough to strain out shrimp are also small enough to block with muck almost straight away.

 

[AuSu]

Yeah, the net thing just doesn't work in my case. It's either shrimps and waste or no shrimps, no waste...I plan to maybe change it into a "walstad" tank in summer, then changing water with a small bucket (which I do partly also now when afraid of little ones) would probably be enough and plants would take care of dirt.

 

[Rupert]

Well, since there are no magical nets that automatically filter shrimps the size of debris from actual debris, you can't have it both ways

 

[Frizbee]

With shrimp/small fry/etc tanks I have found using airline tubing with a ridged airline tube attached works well (length of tubing with ridged tube on the end for vacuuming). It's a bit slow but more precise, and if any get to close just pinch the tube to stop the flow. You could also use airline tube with an airstone attached, however that will only move the water and not pick up detritus (I use this method with daphnia tanks). Other than that, yea, just check your bucket when you are done for any that got sucked up (I find using a dark colored bucket and an led flashlight works well, or a small clear container you can look through).