FortMyersSteve
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2018
- Messages
- 15
I'm completely new to aquariums and need some advice. I understand that people often start with sterile sand and RO water and that there are risks to what I'm proposing but hear me out. I live bordering a brackish water canal 1 mile from Mullock Creek. I'm want to see if I can get some shrimp to grow there. If you just toss in shrimp bought from the bait store, they usually have shock, probably due to temperature, salinity or oxygen differences or all three. I'd like to start a brackish aquarium and gradually acclimatize some shrimp to the canal water and then release them. Preferably I'd ultimately like to get a larger tank and breed the shrimp as well. So I was thinking of using mud from the canal for my substrate. That's what they be over later anyway. I understand that there is a risk of parasites / disease. But lots of juvenile fish live in the canal, so the water and substrate can't be that bad. I'd start with the water that the shrimp come in, drip canal water into the shrimp container and then after an acclimatization time move the shrimp to the aquarium. I have been reading / watching videos and would do all the other stuff by the book - nitrogen cycle the tank before putting any shrimp in, have a filter, pump, oxygen bubbler, plants and driftwood. But I'd like to use the canal water and canal mud substrate instead of sterile stuff. If pushed, I could use the canal water but a sterile substrate. The shrimp are not expensive, and without meaning to sound uncaring, if I lose a few in the experiment, they are no worse off than if someone had bought them to use as bait. We are talking about bait shop shrimp here (probably pink shrimp, penaeus duorarum), not something exotic. The canal water is 2 ppt salt in the summer and 15 ppt salt in the winter. Am I crazy or ignorant or both or could this work? If it could work, any pointers / advice would be appreciated.