# Shrimp bowl help



## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

Hi I am new to inverts and would like to start small with a cute shrimp bowl. I have not gotten anything yet but just reading the Walstad shrimp bowl method. I have miracle gro left over from my NPT. doing a little bit of reading people said that we have to cycle the tank. But how would you cycle a shrimp bowl when no filtration is added to it except plants. And do i add plants and shrimp the same day? i was thinking very small, just 2 shrimp probably. I have java moss and lucky bamboo available(i think)


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## prolific8 (Jan 10, 2013)

*lowtech bowls*

i think that you should hold off on introducing shrimp to your bowls until the mini ecosystem has had a chance to fully establish. Definitely use mature tank water (free of any medications etc) and possibly even add some of the film from a currently active filter cartridge to speed up cycling by spreading this across your substrate (plants will enjoy this also). Ensure you have enough light for the plants to grow/maintain (dying plants will quickly destroy your water conditions) and add some snails.
After that, being successful keeping both plants and snails thriving look to drop in shrimp like the red cherries or other neo variation. 
BTW, make sure the bowl is kept in a place where the temperature isn't going to be impacted heavily, ie right in front of a door or window. (sure fire way for disaster in the winter months)

best of luck


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

How big is the bowl going to be ? I think there's a limit on just how small they can be, if you're just starting at it. Anyway, here's a couple of links to some info.. I found them interesting, as I was not familiar with the technique before I saw it mentioned here.. so thanks for the education.

You're going to need light for it.. or a window that does not get either direct sun or too cold. Good luck.

http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/cherry-shrimp/92126-shrimp-bowl.html

http://santos88.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Walstad-Tank


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I've tried this kind of thing several times, and the conclusion I got are the following:

1- Cherry shrimps are hardy. They will survive in a bowl, but they won't thrive.

2- It's not really worth the effort.

The best success I've had is by adding a power head for water movement. It worked well enough that cherry shrimps were able to reproduce. My bowl is about 12" in diameter, which comes to about 3-4 gallons.

Without water movement, the shrimps never reproduced. Still, even with total and complete neglect, with temperatures that ranged from 15C to 30C, the shrimps still survived.

Plants will not do well without water movement either.


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