# Shrimp tank cleaning



## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

I recently turned my 5.5g into a cherry shrimp tank and the time as come for the first WC. But I don't know how to do a water change without sucking up my tiny currently 1/2" shrimp up. Any suggestions?


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

trailblazer295 said:


> I recently turned my 5.5g into a cherry shrimp tank and the time as come for the first WC. But I don't know how to do a water change without sucking up my tiny currently 1/2" shrimp up. Any suggestions?


Vaccuum around the shrimp. You get used to it. You'll suck a shrimp up the first time. It happens.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

I had some fabric mesh that I elastic band around the end of the siphon. I do have to stir up the gravel a bit before I vacuum but the shrimp seem to appreciate that a bit. 

hope that helps


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

Remember to put the end of the vacuum in a bucket so even if you vac a little shrimp, you can still save it.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

I'll have to be careful because if one does end up in my bucket with the dark dirty water and a very small shrimp I won't see it.


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

trailblazer295 said:


> I'll have to be careful because if one does end up in my bucket with the dark dirty water and a very small shrimp I won't see it.


You always can pour out that water through a net. Then you just need to differentiate shrimps and dirt


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

Did the first WC I used Ciddian's idea with mesh netting, seemed to work fine. I thought I saw one shrimp go up the tube but when it poured the water out through the net I didn't see any. Might have been swimming on the otherside of the tube.


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## qualityshrimpz (Dec 15, 2009)

Ciddian said:


> I had some fabric mesh that I elastic band around the end of the siphon. I do have to stir up the gravel a bit before I vacuum but the shrimp seem to appreciate that a bit.
> 
> hope that helps


so simple but frustratingly efficient! one of those that you look back on like: i coulda made that up! i thought of that first lol


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Ciddian said:


> I had some fabric mesh that I elastic band around the end of the siphon. I do have to stir up the gravel a bit before I vacuum but the shrimp seem to appreciate that a bit.
> 
> hope that helps


Which end of the tube has the mesh on it? if it was the one you put in the tank wouldn't that also prevent larger size dirt getting cleaned up as well?

How big of tube do you use?

I just put a fish net on the lid of the bucket and siphon the water thru the net. I then wish the net in the buckets water and then dump the remaining contents back into the tank. Not sure if this is the best way or not?


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Fold the end of the tube that is draining the water into a bucket so you can control the water flow/suction and I find most shrimp can and will be able to swim away then.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

TBemba said:


> Which end of the tube has the mesh on it? if it was the one you put in the tank wouldn't that also prevent larger size dirt getting cleaned up as well?
> 
> How big of tube do you use?
> 
> I just put a fish net on the lid of the bucket and siphon the water thru the net. I then wish the net in the buckets water and then dump the remaining contents back into the tank. Not sure if this is the best way or not?


Oop.. I just use window screen mesh, I use a regular siphon tube, maybe about an inch diameter? I don't seem to get large bits of dirt, just light mulm that passes through the screen most of the time.

I also use your method TBemba, esp when I get a colony of shrimp in my XP.. LOL


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

sucking up a shrimp can happen. That's how I realized my cherries had shrimplets the first time.

A 5 gal is fairly small, so you won't have to siphon for too long. I could always see the shrimp in the large tube of the siphon.

the screen sounds like it would work best.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

I noticed that shrimplets can swim against the current of the siphon quite well. I use a 10G siphon but I think if I tie a knot to reduce the flowrate, the shrimp could actually swim out of it if it were caught inside, assuming I siphon slowly. You could try this method, but I guess it's just saying "Just watch closely when you siphon."


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