Beginner’s Guide to Keeping Shrimps: Interview With Abhisek Mallick
Meet the Expert: Abhisek Mallick
Abhisek Mallick from Kolkata is a prominent figure in the international shrimp circuit. Since 2008, he has maintained over 400 tanks and is renowned for his expertise in Crystal Red Shrimp.
He’s the only Indian to judge the Shrimp World Cup Germany 2019 and has presented multiple papers at international events.
His articles have featured in Practical Fishkeeping and Caridina Magazine, and he has contributed to Indian publications like Mid Day and Times of India.
From his 15 years of experience, Abhisek has shared with us some tips on keeping shrimps successfully!
Let’s go through them!
Best Food for Shrimps
Abhisek’s Advice: Use color enhancing feeds like Teraa Rang or Shrimp King Color.
Remember: Strong genes are key. Set up a proper tank, maintain water parameters, and buy from reputable breeders. Keep an eye on temperature.
Caring for Baby Shrimps
Expert Tips: Ensure a stable tank with lots of biofilms. Use powdered feed like Teraa Tots for small babies after two weeks. Cover filters properly.
Common Shrimp Diseases and Prevention
Abhisek’s Insight: No direct treatment for shrimp diseases. Be proactive with tank maintenance. Avoid insecticides near tanks and be cautious with tank additives.
Q4: Ideal Shrimp Tank Setup
Abhisek’s Preferences:
- Caridina Tanks: Use ADA Amazonia soil and RO water with Bee Shrimp Remineralizer. Keep TDS under 150ppm, GH at 5, pH under 7.0, and temperature below 24°C.
- Sulawesi Tanks: Neutral substrate, RO water with Sulawesi Shrimp Mineralizer. Maintain pH above 8.0, temperature between 22°C and 28°C.
- Neocaridina Tanks: Normal gravel, RO water with Neocaridina Remineralizer. Keep TDS at 500ppm, GH at 8, pH above 7.0, and temperature below 28°C.
- Common Factors: Use LED lights, sponge filters, and prefer floating plants and mosses.
Common Shrimp Keeping Mistakes by Beginners
Abhisek’s Observations:
- Aquarium Cycling: Cycle your aquarium for at least 3 weeks.
- Water Parameters: Know each shrimp species’ needs and stabilize parameters.
- Quarantine: Always quarantine new shrimps for two weeks.
- Mixing Species: Avoid combining fishes and shrimps to increase shrimplet survival.
Abhisek Mallick’s insights provide a comprehensive guide for both beginners and experienced shrimp keepers, emphasizing the importance of proper setup, maintenance, and care for successful shrimp keeping.
For those of you who are interested in more detailed answers, here’s the whole interview with Mr. Abhisek Mallick
Interview With Mr. Abhisek Mallick
Q1. What is the best food for feeding shrimps? (to enhance coloration as well as gain higher quality offspring)
There are color enhancing shrimp feeds like Teraa Rang, Shrimp King Color but dont expect overnight results if your shrimp’s gene pool is not strong. So invest in this matter – set up a proper tank, maintain proper water parameters, buy from a good breeder (ask them about genepool) and then start using color enhancing shrimp feed. This will be the way how things should be done. And shrimps are temperature sensitive so please keep an eye on the same.Â
Q2. When shrimps start having babies, what extra care/steps should an owner take to ensure all the babies are well taken care of?
Please ensure you have a very stable tank with a lot of biofilms inside the tank. A stable tank with loads of biofilm will ensure better baby survival rates. Use powdered feed like Teraa Tots, Shrimp Kind Baby feed etc to ensure small babies get their feed. But again these commercial feeds will start getting accepted after 2 weeks onwards, prior to that biofilm is handy. Ensure that if HOB, canister filter then inlet is covered properly.
Q3. What are some of the common shrimp diseases and are there any home remedies that a beginner can apply immediately to help the shrimps?
Generally there is no treatment for shrimps. They give very less time to do any kind of treatment, so its better to be proactive than reactive to ensure that shrimp tanks, parameters are properly maintained.
One FYI – Avoid spraying insecticide like hit etc infront or near vicinity of your shrimp tank it will wipe out the entire colony. Also be very sure what all you are putting inside a shrimp tank, dont put active soil, indian almond leaves, alder cone etc altogether which might drop the acidic level of the tanks too low. Shrimps dont do well <5.5 pH.
Q4. What does an ideal shrimp tank look like to you? What should the tank include to make it an ideal shrimp tank in your eyes? (substrate, filter, light, plant, etc.)
We prefer smaller tanks because we have multiple years under our belt. But we suggest to go for a 2*1*1 tank for caridina/neocaridina.Â
Caridina (Bee shrimp genus) – We prefer ADA Amazonia as soil, with Teraa T Probiotics as a beneficial bacteria setting agent, also Glasgarten Bacter AE or ADA Bacter can be used for the same.
Water – RO with Bee Shrimp Remineralizer
Filter – Sponge filter with good aeration
Light – LED, as they dont increase temperature.
Plant – We prefer floating plants, mosses, ferns tied to driftwood. We avoid stem plants as while maintaining them there are chances of soil disturbance and release of ammonia pockets.
Parameters – TDS <150ppm, GH – 5, PH – <7.0, Temperature <24c
Caridina (Sulawesi) – We use Neutral substrate/gravel, with Teraa T Probiotics as a beneficial bacteria setting agent, also Glassgarten Bacter AE or ADA Bacter can be used for the same.
Water – RO with Sulawesi Shrimp Mineralizer
Filter – Sponge filter with good aeration
Light – LED, as they dont increase temperature.
Plant – We prefer floating plants, mosses, ferns tied to driftwood. We avoid stem plants as while maintaining them there are chances of soil disturbance and release of ammonia pockets.
Parameters – TDS <150ppm, GH – 5, PH – >8.0, Temperature 22c to 28c
Neocaridina – We prefer Normal gravel with Teraa T Probiotics as a beneficial bacteria setting agent, also Glassgarten Bacter AE or ADA Bacter can be used for the same.
Water – RO with Neocaridina Shrimp Remineralizer. Avoid tap water if it’s untreated or you dont have control on the same.
Filter – Sponge filter with good aeration
Light – LED, as they dont increase temperature.
Plant – We prefer floating plants, mosses, ferns tied to driftwood. We avoid stem plants as while maintaining them there are chances of soil disturbance and release of ammonia pockets.
Parameters – TDS 500ppm, GH – 8, PH – >7.0, Temperature <28c
Q5. What are some of the most common mistakes beginners make while keeping shrimps that you have experienced? Also kindly explain the correct way.
The common mistakes I have encountered or seen are –
1. Aquariums not cycled – please ensure to cycle your aquarium for minimum 3 weeks or more
2. Water parameters – Each shrimp species have a different requirement, so study about it make your parameters rock solid and then put shrimps
3. Quarantine – As a hobbyist we put new shrimps into existing tanks without quarantining, don’t do that. Quarantine the new shrimps in a separate tank, ensure their water parameters and their permanent home water parameters are the same in 2 weeks time.
4. Mixing fishes with shrimps, this reduces the chances of shrimplet survival
About Author
Hello, I’m Muntaseer Rahman, the owner of AcuarioPets.com. I’m passionate about aquarium pets like shrimps, snails, crabs, and crayfish. I’ve created this website to share my expertise and help you provide better care for these amazing pets.
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