Red cherries & HOB filter

[KimmiA]

I have a 10g tank with a fluval HOB filter. I added 4 RCS and put a sponge on the intake to prevent the shrimp from getting sucked out. Is this precaution necessary? Or can I take the sponge off without fear of losing my RCS?

 

[DragonFish71]

If you want them to breed then it's a good idea to keep to sponge on there. If you don't like the sponge, you can use a piece of new panty hose to cover it instead.

 

[Mcgolg76]

Keep the sponge on. Even with a sponge I found a few babies alive in filter

 

[KimmiA]

I don't plan on breeding them. I don't like the sponge because I'm worried the filter isn't cleaning a bit of the waste, debris, ect in the tank. Would the RCS risk of getting stuck/suck up in the filter without a sponge or panty hose?

 

[Mcgolg76]

Lol if you have a male and a female they will breed. And would def recommend putting something on the filter intake. Also i found that my shrimp really like to feed on the sponge

 

[Khuligirl93]

Before I put a sponge on my filter intake, my adult shrimp would swim right up to it and graze on it. They are pretty strong swimmers. My filter is rated for 20g and it's on my 10g. Also, once I accidentally sucked one up in my siphon while doing a water change, and he swam against the current right back down the tube.

 

[KimmiA]

Before I put a sponge on my filter intake, my adult shrimp would swim right up to it and graze on it. They are pretty strong swimmers. My filter is rated for 20g and it's on my 10g. Also, once I accidentally sucked one up in my siphon while doing a water change, and he swam against the current right back down the tube.

Awesome info, thanks khuligirl. I just wanted to see if anyone had any experience of having shrimp without the filter. Ill try it out. I'm just so worried about losing them bc the mom pop LFS is closing and I got the last of them, and it is/was the only place that ever carries them! Gotta hate to see when small lfs get dominated by the bigger chains

 

[Khuligirl93]

Well it doesn't hurt to go with the sponge if you're worried about losing any also that way if they breed you'll have a never ending colony! An individual's lifespan is relatively short (6 months to a year) so it's nice to have a self-replenishing colony!

 

[KTpoopenstein]

I just got 5 today and was wondering the same thing. Although I have a 40g filter so it might be a little much for them. Might invest in a sponge for the intake...

 

[RookieFishOwner]

I don't have a sponge on mine and I have 4 cherry shrimp, you should be fine if you take the sponge off

 

[AliGee]

I tried sponge filers for the longest time and couldn't stand them. If you stick with them, get the sponges that have the multi media. Otherwise put netting with really small holes around your filter intake.

 

[Mebbid]

When my shrimp colony was at its best I cleaned out my canister filter once and had over 30 shrimp inside it after a month. This is with a coarse filter sponge covering the intake. If you want rcs I would suggest a canister so they don't get made into shrimp puree.

 

[AliGee]

When my shrimp colony was at its best I cleaned out my canister filter once and had over 30 shrimp inside it after a month. This is with a coarse filter sponge covering the intake. If you want rcs I would suggest a canister so they don't get made into shrimp puree.

Funny you say that because just yesterday I cleaned my canister filter and found several shrimp in there (alive and dead).