Shrimp for 20L/5g?

[Arnav]

So i have a soft coral dominated with one hammer coral 30cm cube tank which contains 20 L of water after rocks and everything, I already have a yellow clown goby, trochus and zombie snail, but my nitrates are pretty much non-existent; cyanobacteria is coming and my hammer is not happy with the lack of nitrates.

I'm already feeding heavily, but to add some more life and bioload I would like to add a shrimp -- I was thinking about L. keukenthali or a glass anemone shrimp, are there any other options that are reef safe and interesting - I would rather not sexy shrimp...

P.S. adding a photo of my goby because he's just so cute
I'm new to the hobby so would love some advice :) thank you!

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

#WelcometoR2R

No Sexy Shrimp?? I'm shocked, I love those little dudes, and aspire to try a small herd in a small tank.

I think your choices for shrimp might be limited by the small volume of your tank. In my experience, shrimp like cleaners and even Peppermints love to roam, and would appreciate more than 5 gallons. I will let others who've kept shrimp in a 5 gallon weigh in for sure on that.

I do not believe that adding a shrimp wil be a significant increase in bioload, such that your nitrate rises as a result.

That said, I think you have some other options to bring up your nitrate. I'd suggest first just feeding more. In a small tank, additional feedings should make an impact. If your phosphate is low, I'd suggest feeding Reef Roids, which is a coral food high in phosphate.

You could dose nitrate directly, but perhaps even better is dosing low-levels of ammonia that your corals can benefit from, and will result in elevated nitrate in the end. This thread has more:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ammonia-is-our-friend-thoughts-needed.1066535/

As does this thread:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/

I hope this helps and best of luck!

 

[Arnav]

Thank you so much!! The reason I was against sexy shrimp is that I've read too many stories of them nibbling on zoanthids, and that they need to be strictly target fed. I feed my tank 2x a day right now with frozen cyclops and mysis but in July when I go on holidays my only resort is an auto feeder (which I assume once I get my YCG used to pellets it'll be fine alongside the abundance of pods that I have) but I'm scared for the sexy's...

 

[Arnav]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

#WelcometoR2R

No Sexy Shrimp?? I'm shocked, I love those little dudes, and aspire to try a small herd in a small tank.

I think your choices for shrimp might be limited by the small volume of your tank. In my experience, shrimp like cleaners and even Peppermints love to roam, and would appreciate more than 5 gallons. I will let others who've kept shrimp in a 5 gallon weigh in for sure on that.

I do not believe that adding a shrimp wil be a significant increase in bioload, such that your nitrate rises as a result.

That said, I think you have some other options to bring up your nitrate. I'd suggest first just feeding more. In a small tank, additional feedings should make an impact. If your phosphate is low, I'd suggest feeding Reef Roids, which is a coral food high in phosphate.

You could dose nitrate directly, but perhaps even better is dosing low-levels of ammonia that your corals can benefit from, and will result in elevated nitrate in the end. This thread has more:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ammonia-is-our-friend-thoughts-needed.1066535/

As does this thread:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/

I hope this helps and best of luck!

Thank you so much!! The reason I was against sexy shrimp is that I've read too many stories of them nibbling on zoanthids, and that they need to be strictly target fed. I feed my tank 2x a day right now with frozen cyclops and mysis but in July when I go on holidays my only resort is an auto feeder (which I assume once I get my YCG used to pellets it'll be fine alongside the abundance of pods that I have) but I'm scared for the sexy's...

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Thank you so much!! The reason I was against sexy shrimp is that I've read too many stories of them nibbling on zoanthids, and that they need to be strictly target fed. I feed my tank 2x a day right now with frozen cyclops and mysis but in July when I go on holidays my only resort is an auto feeder (which I assume once I get my YCG used to pellets it'll be fine alongside the abundance of pods that I have) but I'm scared for the sexy's...

IME yes sexy shrimp will eat zoa's.
But no, they don't need to be target fed, just feed the tank and they will find the food.

 

[Cael Gallery]

How about 'Helicopter shrimp', Urocaridella antonbruuni? I've had some before and they were pretty cute, they spend a lot of time floating/hovering around the middle of the water column.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

A swarm of bumble bee shrimps is also a lot of fun to watch, IMO more entertaining than sexy shrimp.