How to set up a freshwater shrimp tank

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You are going to start a new aquarium and would like to keep shrimp in it, nice! It is important to follow a good step-by-step plan to start up a shrimp aquarium. It is necessary that the water is sufficiently stabilized before the first shrimps enter it.

Have you already studied which shrimp you want? What the correct water values are, where do you put your aquarium, how much money do you want to spend (once, but also in maintenance).

What you need to know

It is good to list a number of things in advance.

• How much money do you want to spend on an aquarium?

  The purchase costs of the aquarium, the furnishings and the shrimp. But also the maintenance shortages of the aquarium and the food for the residents.

• What kind of aquarium do you want?

  Think of the size and shape. Shrimp can be kept in an aquarium from 20 liters. Think about; the more volume, liters of water, the more stable you can keep the water values.

• Where do you put the aquarium?

  It is important to determine in advance where the aquarium will be physically placed. Too much sunlight causes higher temperatures, less regulatable water temperature, et cetera.

• Which filter do you choose?

  Which filter is most suitable for your aquarium? This depends on where you put the aquarium (in terms of sound) and what the purpose of your aquarium is. We have a separate page describing the filters.

• What temperature do you want in your aquarium?

  We ourselves breed the shrimp around 22ºC (71,5ºF). Shrimp can be kept at room temperature. If you choose a heating element in your aquarium, you can use approximately 1 Watt per liter of water as a guideline. This is enough to keep your aquarium at the desired temperature.

• How are you going to set up your aquarium?

  It is important to consider in advance what you want in your aquarium and how you will set up the aquarium. Think of the ground cover, plants, wood, decorations, et cetera.

• What type of shrimp do you choose?

  Not all shrimps are easy to keep. If you are just starting with shrimp, we recommend starting with fire shrimp. They are slightly less demanding than, for example, the Crystal Red Shrimp.

Step-by-step

View the step-by-step plan for starting an aquarium especially for shrimp here.

Download the step-by-step plan with a handy checklist in PDF here