#shrimptank

[glassboxdiaries]

My neocaridina shrimp bowl is just over six months old, and everything is going great!

If you want to see how it was set up:

My article on the bowl setup – https://glassboxdiaries.com/cherry-shrimp-bowl/ My video on the bowl setup – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnbITjr7bTw

The bowl holds around 11 litres (just under 3 US gallons) and runs without a filter, heater, CO₂ system, or fertilizers.

At the moment, I’m using two USB-powered grow lights designed for houseplants, although I’m planning to upgrade the lighting soon.

Right now, I feed one light green label granule of Fluval Bug Bites three times per week. However, after spotting a female carrying eggs, I may increase feeding slightly.

Plant list:

Rotala rotundifolia Lobelia cardinalis ‘Mini’ Anubias ‘Mini Coin’ Bucephalandra ‘Kedagang’ Eleocharis parvula

[glassboxdiaries]

Unboxing My New Orange Neocaridina And Amano Shrimp For My Planted Aquariums!

I recently ordered some new orange neocaridina shrimp along with a few amano shrimp to grow my colonies, and in this video I take you through exactly how the process went from delivery to day 11 in the tank. I was a little nervous about ordering shrimp at this time of year because of colder temperatures in transit, but I’d seen other aquarists doing it successfully, so I decided to go for it. The shrimp came from bestaquariumshrimp.uk, and I really appreciated that they included a care guide with the order. One small thing I always do is wipe the marker writing off the bags before putting them in the aquarium, just in case any ink leaches into the water.

The highlight of the order was seeing that one of the orange neocaridina arrived already carrying eggs, which was exciting because it means even if there aren’t many males in this batch, there’s still a chance her babies will include a male to help get the colony breeding. For acclimation, I don’t use drip tubes anymore because I’ve found them inconsistent. Instead, I floated the bags to temperature match — neos for one tank and amanos for another — then slowly added small amounts of tank water with a pipette every 15 minutes over a couple of hours since my water parameters differ from the breeder’s.

I already have an existing orange neo colony in this tank but hadn’t seen any berried females, which is why I wanted to add more shrimp in the first place. Once acclimated, I poured the bag water through a net to catch the shrimp while discarding the shipping water. You have to be careful with amano shrimp because they’re surprisingly strong and can climb right up nets. Once in their new tank, the amanos immediately started grazing algae with no signs of stress. The orange neos also settled in quickly and began feeding on pellets right away.

Sadly, I did lose one shrimp during transfer and another within the first 11 days, which can happen with new shipments, but the rest are active, feeding, and looking healthy. Overall, I’m happy with how they’ve settled in, and I’m hopeful these new additions will help my colony thrive. Follow along for more shrimp, planted tank, and aquarium content! 🦐🌱

[glassboxdiaries]

Cherry Shrimp Food - What I Feed In A Standard Week!

Here’s a full breakdown of what I feed my Neocaridina and Amano shrimp over the course of a typical week, and why this approach has worked so well for keeping them healthy, active, and constantly grazing.

From Monday through Saturday, I stick to staple foods. I feed shrimp daily, but I rotate between Fluval Bug Bites and Hikari Mini Algae Wafers. Alternating foods helps vary the core ingredients and improves the overall nutrient profile without overcomplicating things. Both options sink quickly, are easy to target feed, and allow shrimp of all sizes to graze naturally. You could easily use just one of these foods long-term and still have thriving shrimp, which also keeps feeding costs low and maintenance simple.

Every other day, I add potassium-boosting leaf foods. These are mainly intended to increase potassium in the water column for plant growth, but they also provide extra nutrients and grazing surfaces for shrimp. If you already dose liquid fertilizers, these are completely optional. Right now, I’m using 100% green dandelion leaves and 100% red mulberry leaves. My shrimp consistently prefer the mulberry leaves. These specific leaves are from GlasGarten, but availability can be limited depending on location.

Because of that, I’ll likely switch back to using real mulberry, nettle, and spinach leaves, which I blanch beforehand to remove oxalic acid. In high amounts, oxalic acid can be harmful to shrimp, so proper prep is important.

On Sundays, I add treat foods. These include bloodworms, snowflake food, and shrimp lollies. Bloodworms are a great high-protein option when fed sparingly. Snowflake food (made from soy husk) is a shrimp favorite but is fairly low in nutrients, making it best as an occasional treat. Shrimp lollies can be fun enrichment, but in small nano tanks they can add a lot of food at once and may cause a mild ammonia spike. Because of this, I mostly reserve them for my larger, well-established tanks.

At the end of the day, staple foods alone are more than enough. Shrimp are constant grazers, feeding on algae and biofilm around the clock. I just enjoy offering variety and balanced nutrition to support long-term health, growth, and breeding.

[glassboxdiaries]

How I Stop My Shrimp From Jumping Out Of My Lidless Aquariums! (Amano/Cherry/Neocaridina Shrimp)

I’ve had a lot of questions from new shrimp keepers asking if my shrimp ever jump out of their tanks, so I wanted to clear this up and share what’s worked for me over the years.

In my experience, shrimp jumping out of aquariums is extremely rare, and when it does happen, it’s usually caused by stress or poor conditions rather than shrimp randomly trying to escape. There are two main things I focus on that I believe greatly reduce the chances of this happening.

First, I always make sure a tank is fully cycled before adding any shrimp. A cycled aquarium can process toxic ammonia and nitrite efficiently through beneficial microorganisms and plant growth. Ammonia can burn shrimp gills, and nitrite interferes with oxygen transport in their blood, which causes stress, irritation, and panic-like behavior. Pre-cycling doesn’t just improve survival rates—it creates a stable environment where shrimp feel safe from day one, reducing the urge to flee the tank.

The second major factor is tank mates. I only keep shrimp with shrimp-safe fish species. If you’ve watched my videos, you’ll notice the shrimp barely react to the fish around them. They aren’t constantly darting for cover or acting nervous, which tells me their stress levels are low. When shrimp feel secure and aren’t being hunted, they’re far less likely to attempt any kind of escape behavior.

That said, on the rare occasions I’ve found shrimp outside a tank, I don’t believe they actually jumped. I’ve seen Amano shrimp climb airline tubing for sponge filters, likely grazing on algae, and accidentally go too far. I’ve also seen both Amano and Neocaridina shrimp partially out of the water on the roots of aquaponically grown houseplants, probably feeding on biofilm or algae. If they climb too high, they can end up out of the tank.

So while shrimp jumping is often talked about, stable water parameters, proper cycling, and low-stress tank setups go a long way toward preventing it. Keep your shrimp comfortable, and they’ll usually stay exactly where they belong. 🦐

[glassboxdiaries]

Filterless Cherry Shrimp Bowl Ecosystem Setup And Progress Update!

This is my filterless, heaterless planted shrimp bowl, and after letting it mature, I’ve finally added shrimp 🦐🌱

The setup is a 30 cm wide glass bowl using Fluval Stratum aquasoil as the substrate. For hardscape, I kept things simple and natural with a small piece of Corbo wood and two Kita Mountain boulders, creating plenty of surface area for beneficial bacteria and biofilm to develop.

Plant selection plays a huge role in making a setup like this work. In the back left, I planted Rotala rotundifolia, which acts as the primary nutrient sponge and helps keep the water safe. On the back right is Lobelia cardinalis ‘Mini’, while Bucephalandra is tucked into the joints between the rocks and wood. I attached Anubias ‘Mini Coin’ directly to the wood, and added Eleocharis in the foreground to slowly form a carpet.

This is what the bowl looked like when it was first completed… and after eight weeks, this is how it looks today. If you’re new to aquariums, this stage might look messy—but this is nature doing exactly what it’s supposed to do. Excess nutrients from the aquasoil leached into the water, fueling plant growth and providing an ammonia source for beneficial microorganisms. These microorganisms act as a backup biological filter, supporting the nitrogen cycle in a system with no filter at all.

There’s also a lot of algae, which is intentional. Before target feeding begins, this algae serves as a natural, constant food source for shrimp. I removed some excess algae and Salvinia minima from the surface to improve light penetration, and lightly cleaned evaporation marks from the glass—though the shrimp would have gladly eaten that too.

After a quick parameter check, I moved eight Bloody Mary Neocaridina shrimp over from my main tank. I skipped acclimation since both setups have nearly identical water parameters. The goal is to establish a self-sustaining Bloody Mary colony in this bowl. Breeding may take a bit longer since it’s winter, but patience is part of the process.

The shrimp showed zero signs of stress, immediately grazing and exploring. This is what the bowl looks like now, and over the next couple of weeks, the shrimp should take care of the remaining algae naturally.

Low tech. No filter. No heater. Just plants, microorganisms, and time doing the work.

[samspicturesandwords]

Morning in the Tank

[glassboxdiaries]

A Quick Update On My Skittles Neocaridina Shrimp Colony (Cherry Red, Orange, Yellow, And Blue)

Here’s a quick update on my Skittles Neocaridina shrimp colony. When I say “Skittles,” I mean I’ve got red, orange, yellow, and blue shrimp all living together in one tank so I can see how their offspring turn out.

The tank is now 158 days old, and the three adults of each color have been in there for about 130 days—just over four months. At this point, I’m seeing at least four generations of babies: two batches from yellow females, one from an orange female, one from a red female, and at least one more female currently carrying eggs.

So far, the only babies keeping strong coloration are the red ones. The rest are mostly pale yellow, with a few wild-types mixed in. I’m not sure if that’s because both parents of the red batch happened to be red, or if the red gene is simply dominant when paired with orange, yellow, or blue.

What’s interesting is how much faster color degradation is happening in this tank compared to my Skittles colony in the 40-gallon. Over there, even after almost two years, they still produce some solid-colored shrimp. But that colony started out differently—mostly red cherries with smaller numbers of yellow and orange added later, rather than equal numbers of each color introduced all at once.

[shrimp-account]

May rename this account to reflect my enthusiasm for otocinclus. Shrimp are dope and I love the color my neocaridina bring to the tank, but otocinclus absolutely are my favorite fish and I would love to have a devoted oto breeding tank someday