Can my tank be too small for shrimp breeding?

The bigger the water volume, the less fluctuation happens in an aquarium compared to one with a smaller water volume. This is certainly true as a general rule for all aquarist. However, does it mean that everyone need to have big tanks to keep shrimp?

Apparently not, shrimps can live comfortably in smaller tanks, they can even breed given that the challenge to house them in smaller tanks will be higher but definitely possible. I have tried on a very small tank at 8 litres and with 1 pair of shrimp. They manage to breed as well. It has a tiny little filter but it works well for them. It’s a pity I didn’t take any good pictures before i decommissioned the tank for a bigger one.,

I would say that regardless of tank size, as long as the condition and the number of shrimps are kept to what the tank can handle, even a smaller tank works. Personally what i like to do for breeding small groups of shrimp in smaller tank and then transfer the shrimplets to bigger grow up tank. For my breeding tanks, i’ll use 40 L tanks and house
1-2M to 5-10Females and once the shrimplets are out, i’ll transfer them all into the 80-100L tanks for them to grow up. This is generally for selective breeding. If you are not concern about selective breeding than definitely you can keep a lot more shrimps in a 40L.
For more sensitive shrimp or larger breeding groups, i’ll use the 80L tanks to breed them. For example a 80L tank we can consider putting 2-4M and 20-30F to get them breed for selection.
In my opinion it doesn’t matter what size of tank you have i do prefer larger tanks if the breeding project is big. If i would like a small colony just for keep sake, you can go any tank size you possibly can handle. The smaller the tank the higher the margin of error so smaller tanks require good knowledge of maintaining water parameters. Do not let tank size deter you from keeping shrimps which i think is a good start for my new hobbyist venturing into the hobby.

With lesser shrimp, you would also have to feed smaller quantities and everything would be in smaller proportion. While i get the question if i can use lubao for smaller tanks? Yes you surely can provided there are sufficient shrimp in the tank that can consume the biofilm. From the pictures I have shared you can see that most of tanks I will use lubao. It has been part of my breeding process as there are many advantages that goes beyond a grazing material.

While there are many types of grazing material i like to keep my tank less busy so that i have space to see the shrimp do their day to day thing and easier from a selection process standpoint. However, i too have planted tanks which i too enjoy the additional greenery in it.

Ever since i have tried and fail many times on how to use lubao in different size tank, finally after many failed attempts i manage to get it right and wanted to share this valuable information on my other blog post.

While water parameters are indeed more stable in larger water volume, if one is able to control the fluctuation of the water in a smaller water volume, you will still be able to keep and breed shrimps! Hope this post shared some valuable information.