3g Shrimp Tank Timeline!

[captaincritical]

Well everyone, it's official - I've contracted multiple tank syndrome.

I've been helping a friend set up her very first tank and got sucked in by a good deal at Petsmart on a nano tank. It's a 3g "crescent" aquarium and it will be home to a small colony of Blue Velvet shrimp, a colour morph of the common RCS. It'll be my first fully-planted tank right from the get-go, so probably I'll have a lot of questions.

Anyway, here's what I'm working with:
3g tank
LED lights (suitable to support low-mid light plants)
Fluval Plant and Shrimp Stratum
Tetra Whisper 10 Filter (hoping to downsize to a 3i if I can find one)
Heater TBD

Here's the setup on day 1, immediately after adding substrate and planting:

Mmmmmm, substrate soup!

After it settled:

Gosh, that filter is huuuuge. Why would they include such a huge filter? Odd.

Added some little vals that I took from my community tank:

We've got an aquarium society auction coming up in early may and I plan to pick up a bunch of plants there to fill out both of my tanks.

To cycle the nano tank, I added some seeded media from my larger aquarium. I didn't test the water day 1 because I assumed it would just be the same as my tap water. Boy, was I wrong! I'm thinking the substrate caused an ammonia spike in the beginning.

Day 2:

Minimal nitrites, but juuuust starting to show up. I was impressed that things were happening so quickly. Go bacteria go!

Day 3:

Wow! I've never seen my nitrites so high since I started in this hobby. My ammonia went from 2.0 to 0.5ppm in about 24 hours, which seems pretty amazing to me.

What's also very interesting is that the Fluval Stratum has lowered my pH a great deal. Out of the tap, my pH reads about 7.6. In the nano tank, it's reading around 6.6. This makes me wonder... is this going to cause a problem for me when I do water changes? I'm planning on only changing 25% at a time, but I know RCS are sensitive to pH swings. Any input?

Thanks, all!

 

[Brookster123]

Ohh boyyy.. That didn't take long sweet setup! I just got some new shrimpsters too!! I think you're going to need a water treatment bucket going.. I've set one up for my fry tank, just a 5 gal bucket with heater and airstone for aggitation.. Keeps ph swings at bay..

 

[captaincritical]

Thanks, Brookster! How did I know you'd be along to help me out?

So the water treatment bucket... I have space for a bucket or two in a closet that the cats can't get in, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I've got an extra filter and heater too, so that's fine. Would I set it up with more of the substrate so that the pH in there drops too, or would I need to do something else to get the pH levels close to the same? Some other product?

 

[Brookster123]

Thanks, Brookster! How did I know you'd be along to help me out? So the water treatment bucket... I have space for a bucket or two in a closet that the cats can't get in, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I've got an extra filter and heater too, so that's fine. Would I set it up with more of the substrate so that the pH in there drops too, or would I need to do something else to get the pH levels close to the same? Some other product?

because I have no life HAHAHAHA awwwwww oh so the substrate drops the ph??? Hmmm that's a new one, I just gas off my tap so it doesn't shock the fry, I'd imagine adding the substrate would be a must to match ph, are we sure this substrate is absolutely necessary in your shrimp tank?

 

[GreenLily]

I'm tagging along because I've been thinking about shrimp.. and maybe I can convince the better half to let me set up a shrimp tank... Hmm..

 

[captaincritical]

Hahaha aww. What I was TRYING to imply is that you're a sweetheart and have always been very helpful.

I wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary, but it was the easiest planted substrate for me to obtain. It's got great reviews on Amazon and all the other websites I've checked. I've also got a shrimp-keeping friend on Instagram who recommended it highly. I'll have to ask him also.

I'm thinking that if it buffered the water that much in the first place, a small water change shouldn't cause that large of a swing. I could always space my water changes out to three tiiiiny ones a week or something.

 

[captaincritical]

I'm tagging along because I've been thinking about shrimp.. and maybe I can convince the better half to let me set up a shrimp tank... Hmm..

The whole setup with tank, substrate, filter, lighting, plants, and a decorative rock came to about $90 CAD, which really isn't bad at all. Of course I'll be spending $30 on shrimp because I have to have the pretty blue ones... but for everything brand new, I think that's pretty decent.

 

[azmodan]

Hey captaincritical, nice start! Is that a java fern you have in there? If so make sure the rhizome is above the substrate.

 

[captaincritical]

Hey captaincritical, nice start! Is that a java fern you have in there? If so make sure the rhizome is above the substrate.

It is! I didn't realize that java fern has the same substratophobia that anubias do. Thanks for letting me know!

 

[captaincritical]

Just a quick update today, nothing too fun going on.

I purchased this filter yesterday hoping that it would be more suitable for this size of tank, and WOW is it ever awful.

It's air-powered and incredibly noisy. To top it off, the air pump that comes with it vibrates so hard that it wouldn't even stay on the table where I keep the tank. I'll be returning it ASAP.

Ordered the following equipment today for the nano tank in hopes that it'll work out a little better. I just can't justify using a filter that takes up a third of the tank and will probably suck up any baby shrimp I might eventually have. Anyone have any experience with these? The reviews I read and the videos I watched seemed promising.

Did an 80% water change today to get my levels down to readable numbers. Also wanted to see how quickly the substrate changes the pH of my tap water. Looks like it works pretty quickly! I think I'll be okay with small water changes a few times a week.

Looks like it won't be long now before I'm cycled!

 

[rhsoto94]

Since it's a small tank you can get water from those dispensers in front of grocery stores. The ph is usually around 6.2-6.6 in my area for them. A 5 gallon container would last you a few weeks if your only changing 25%.

 

[captaincritical]

Since it's a small tank you can get water from those dispensers in front of grocery stores. The ph is usually around 6.2-6.6 in my area for them. A 5 gallon container would last you a few weeks if your only changing 25%.

That's probably a good idea. Would I have to re-mineralize it, do you think?

 

[rhsoto94]

I don't know what the water goes through exactly but it does describe it goes through reverse osmosis. I'm not a water specialist but I use it for my my shrimp and havent had a problem. Plus your just cutting it with your already mineralized tank water.

 

[azmodan]

Captain, how about an Azoo palm for your filter? I ran one on my 3 gallon for a long time and was very satisfied, plus it doesn't take up important real estate like an internal filter. It also comes with a prefilter sponge so your shrimp will be safe.

Lucky for you they're on sale too!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9821

 

[Coursair]

I've used Azoo Palm filters before. Nice little filter and adjustable.


Smoke signals from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cfosgate]

I use these in my shrimp and fry tanks. They are air-powered and VERY quiet while moving A LOT of water. They are all over eBay and can be had for leas than $5.00. I recently bought a 12-pack for $16.00.

 

[Brookster123]

I think the idea of using a 50/50 mix of tap and distiller water would work great captain! You could even fiddle with the ratio to get your oh right where you'd like it??? As far as air pumps.. A tetra whisper 10 is far and away the quietest I've used.. I'd highly recommend it!

 

[treemanone2003]

I use these in my shrimp and fry tanks. They are air-powered and VERY quiet while moving A LOT of water. They are all over eBay and can be had for leas than $5.00. I recently bought a 12-pack for $16.00.
View attachment 233811

These ARE super cheap and effective. What I did with mine was leave one bare for the first 30 days and then put the second on so after 60 I knew I would always have an "extra" so to say. Takes a little less stress and worry away for those "oh crap what now" emergencies that may come up.

 

[captaincritical]

Thanks very much for the suggestions, everyone! I'll see how the equipment I ordered does in the tank and then go from there. Lots of options, it seems.

Looks like I might be cycled already. I'm going to wait for my new filter and heater to get here before I add any shrimp to make sure everything's good, obviously, but that was pretty darn fast!

 

[cfosgate]

Hurray. Love to see a cycled tank.