Wavemaker that is safe for Sexy shrimps?

[Levinson]

Hi, I'm planning a new 30 gallons nano build with many many sexy shrimps (along with other animals).
I would like a small wavemaker/powerhead in it but I'm worried that the sexy shrimps (especially the smaller ones) will get inside and get killed.
What do you think is the likelihood of this happening?
And are there any wavemakers for nano that is safe/safer for the small sexy shrimps?
Cheers

 

[Bucs20fan]

Sexy shrimp dont move off of rocks, more specifically their anemone very often. I have crazy flow and they never come anywhere near the powerhead. Sexy shrimp also dont do well like other shrimp if they dont have something to host. You may have wandering shrimp if they cant find a home.

 

[Levinson]

Sexy shrimp dont move off of rocks, more specifically their anemone very often. I have crazy flow and they never come anywhere near the powerhead. Sexy shrimp also dont do well like other shrimp if they dont have something to host. You may have wandering shrimp if they cant find a home.

@Bucs20fan Thanks for the post.
It's good to hear that they don't like coming near the powerhead.

I once had a 30g nano with sexy shrimps (a little over 100 of them, I got lucky breeding them) without anything for them to host or a wavemaker. So I don't know what the sexy shrimps are like around a wavemaker.
This time though, I want to try adding an anemone (and some corals, etc) and thought those guys might want some more flow.
Just in case I ever get lucky breeding the sexy shrimps again (though very unlikely), I want to know if the wavemakers might be safe for the small, younger sexy shrimps that can easily fit through the gaps of the wavemaker grill through the sides or the back (the sexy shrimps are quite small even after several months of growth in the isolation box ).

 

[Bucs20fan]

@Bucs20fan Thanks for the post.
It's good to hear that they don't like coming near the powerhead.

I once had a 30g nano with sexy shrimps (a little over 100 of them, I got lucky breeding them) without anything for them to host or a wavemaker. So I don't know what the sexy shrimps are like around a wavemaker.
This time though, I want to try adding an anemone (and some corals, etc) and thought those guys might want some more flow.
Just in case I ever get lucky breeding the sexy shrimps again (though very unlikely), I want to know if the wavemakers might be safe for the small, younger sexy shrimps that can easily fit through the gaps of the wavemaker grill through the sides or the back (the sexy shrimps are quite small even after several months of growth in the isolation box ).

Flow is the devil for all fry, fish included. So the answer to your question, is yes a powerhead could and probably would cause losses to fry. Until they are large enough to grip to rocks they would be in danger.

 

[Levinson]

Flow is the devil for all fry, fish included. So the answer to your question, is yes a powerhead could and probably would cause losses to fry. Until they are large enough to grip to rocks they would be in danger.

hmmm... well if that's the case, I might have to reconsider keeping an anemone .
The small sexy shrimps wouldn't exactly be fry since they've morphed and settled to the ground, been in the grow out isolation box for some time and all but still, now that I think about it, it sounds risky.

 

[Bucs20fan]

hmmm... well if that's the case, I might have to reconsider keeping an anemone .
The small sexy shrimps wouldn't exactly be fry since they've morphed and settled to the ground, been in the grow out isolation box for some time and all but still, now that I think about it, it sounds risky.

I dont know the specifics or if shrimp will share a host, but you may be onto something with having anemones, specifically rock flowers, they are cheap, easy, and sexys love them. Having a few rock flowers, would probably work wonders for the fry to be safer.

 

[Soren]

I've got no experience with shrimps, but you could make grates to cover the wavemaker(s) with smaller gaps to prevent smaller creatures from being sucked in.
For my wavemakers, I have 3D-printed covers for this purpose to ensure that my cleaner gobies cannot fit in. The issue with this method is that the structure of the grate has to be strong enough to not be destroyed by the water movement, so some of the flow will be blocked by the grate itself, limiting wavemaker flow. Also, the smaller the gaps, the faster they can clog, which means they will need to be cleaned more often. I always print extra covers so I can just swap in a clean one and then take the dirty one for cleaning at my leisure.

A grate small enough to prevent fry being pulled through seems difficult to manage without making a very large cover to allow enough flow by having a large number of tiny holes. Mesh materials could be used, but offer challenges of their own.

Here is a picture of my 3D-printed cover on the wavemaker in my Work Desk 40B tank. The gaps are 1/16-inch wide by about 1/2-inch long. Note that it is almost dirty enough to need cleaning (about once a week or so):

 

[DaJMasta]

They're pretty fast and are strong swimmers over a very short distance, so I think the risk of one being sucked up is pretty low. I've had them living in a tank with a standard small size Koralia pump and they've never been sucked in. As mentioned, though, if you want the spawn to survive, you definitely can't have powerheads - they do not mix. Typically, when raising larvae, you use air bubbles for flow and you try to minimize edges and ledges that they can get caught on or bump into. I'm quite surprised you were able to get the larvae to settle in a normal tank - I take it you didn't have any fish interested in the feast of larvae either?

 

[Levinson]

@Soren Thanks, it looks like something I could consider.

@DaJMasta Yes, in fact, I didn't have any fish at all. The suspended larvae were harvested and moved to isolation after they were born so they didn't actually grow in the tank.
Now that I think about it even the small settled adults don't get pulled into it, the floating larvae might get pummeled by the wavemaker before being harvested. Doesn't sound like a good idea.

 

[DaJMasta]

Ah, in that case, you can just try to identify the evening they'll be released and turn off the pumps for that night. I've collected a few spawns this way, and between being able to see the eggs peak out under the abdomen and the slight green coloration the day of a pending molt, it's not too hard to figure out which day you'd want the pumps off for. You can also catch the one shrimp and move them to the larval raising container, but mine have had somewhat of a tendency to drop their eggs when caught.