Too early to add Cleaner shrimp?

[MartinJ]

Can I add 3 Cleaner shrimp to my 8 week old tank or is it too soon?

NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10ppm, SG 1.022, pH 8.2, Temp 78F.

(Also plan to put 12 turbos in at the same time.)

Current occupants / setup as below.

Many thanks.

 

[Meloco14]

Well, your parameters look fine, except some people would say your salinity is a little low. I noticed you have just base rock in there right now. If you are planning on adding live rock later you should either not have any livestock in the tank, or have a separate container where you can completely cure the live rock before adding it to the tank. If you are not going to add live rock this is not an issue. Normally people add snails and other cleaner animals before the fish to make sure the tank is safe after a cycle. Since you already have fish living in there it shows the tank is safe, from a parameter standpoint. You should be able to add cleaner shrimp and snails without a problem. HTH

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed. Looks fine...but shrimp do like a higher SG than that. They would live just fine, but it would be better for them if you upped it a couple of clicks.

 

[MartinJ]

Thanks for the advice, I set up the tank without live rock, but may add it in time via my QT (without fish in of course.) I didn't find this excellent site before setting up so haven't gone down the best path initially (i.e. live rock, better skimmer, sump / refugium, no canister filter.) I was also concerned about the hitchhikers I might get with the live rock having read about mantis & pistol shrimps etc.

Note the point about SG - I'm increasing slowly by doing 10% weekly changes with 1.026 or thereabouts until I get to 1.024.

As long as the fish are healthy and parameters stay good I'll migrate gradually to the better set up in time. Just to ask one part of my original question again - do I need to monitor/add calcium for the shrimps?

Thanks again.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice, I set up the tank without live rock, but may add it in time via my QT (without fish in of course.) I didn't find this excellent site before setting up so haven't gone down the best path initially (i.e. live rock, better skimmer, sump / refugium, no canister filter.) I was also concerned about the hitchhikers I might get with the live rock having read about mantis & pistol shrimps etc.

Note the point about SG - I'm increasing slowly by doing 10% weekly changes with 1.026 or thereabouts until I get to 1.024.

As long as the fish are healthy and parameters stay good I'll migrate gradually to the better set up in time. Just to ask one part of my original question again - do I need to monitor/add calcium for the shrimps?

Thanks again.

You can also increase it by topping off with salt water instead of fresh water until it goes up. This is a very gradual way to do it. Depending on evaporation, it could take a week to go up a point.

 

[AstroCreep]

what type of shrimp are you going to get..blood, peppermint?? cus im thinking about getting some for myself, but dont know what is a good type

 

[MartinJ]

I'm planning to get 3 Cleaner shrimp in the hope that they will show their cleaning behaviour & anyway they look good.

Peppermint can be good for controlling nuisance anenome I understand, but IMHO they are the least attractive.

Blood shrimp are spectacular looking but I don't know if they carry other benefits outside their looks.

Bear in mind I'm very much a beginner and there are many more experienced contributors who might like to offer their advice on this.

 

[Meloco14]

It sounds like you are right on track Martin. Calcium and alkalinity are two of the most important parameters to monitor. I mention alkalinity too because the two are in an ionic relationship and need to go up and down together. However, if you do not have a significant drain on calcium levels, such as stoney corals, you will probably not need to monitor this too closely as long as you are doing normal water changes with a good salt mix. A shrimp or two will not significantly effect your calcium depletion. But remember, all snails, crabs, and the colorful coralline algae will all use calcium. As far as "good types" of shrimp, blood, peppermint, and scarlet or skunk cleaner shrimp are all relatively reef safe and will get along with eachother. However, as with all living animals, there are always exceptions to the rule and you will occasionally come across killer shrimp. In general, though, these species are fine. The ones you need to be careful with are camel shrimp and banded coral shrimp. HTH

 

[MartinJ]

Thanks for the advice about the calcium, not going to attempt keep corals for quite a while - need to invest in much better lighting etc. so will get more experience first.
What is the ideal range for calcium/alkalinity levels?