- Joined
- Jun 26, 2020
- Messages
- 2,072
- Reaction score
- 2,056
Around 4-5 months ago, I received an Alpheus randalli, the tiger pistol shrimp [EDIT: wrong common name, I meant A. randalli, the candy can pistol], from Diver's Den. I provided what I believed to be a suitable substrate for it to burrow in (CaribSea Special grade + a few pieces of rubble), in a tray around 1.5-2" deep and 6"x3". However, time and time again, I've noticed that this shrimp does not like the substrate I'm providing, or is just an outlier. Today, I noticed it wasn't even in a burrow, but instead was just doing its shrimpy thing on the bare glass of the tank. Ammonia and Nitrite are usually around 0 (API test kits are faulty, but 0-0.5 I think counts as 0), and nitrate is usually around less than 10 ppm, with a healthy sustained phytoplankton bloom taking up most of the nitrate. It's not the first time I've noticed this shrimp just out and wandering about away from its burrow, I've seen it do similar things before, using rocks that are ever so slightly together as a makeshift burrow.
This isn't really a problem for me, but I'd like to know if I can go ahead and reduce the amount of rubble and substrate I'm providing. I run my tanks bare, and the substrate bed is a large nutrient trap, something I don't particularly enjoy. I need a small amount of substrate to grow some macroalgae (C. prolifera), but if I can get away with a .5" layer, that would be significantly better for my tank.
This isn't really a problem for me, but I'd like to know if I can go ahead and reduce the amount of rubble and substrate I'm providing. I run my tanks bare, and the substrate bed is a large nutrient trap, something I don't particularly enjoy. I need a small amount of substrate to grow some macroalgae (C. prolifera), but if I can get away with a .5" layer, that would be significantly better for my tank.
Last edited: