Moss/Shrimp Farm

[NoSvOrAx]

Well its official. I've got the fever.

So I'm putting together a tank (20L) to raise shrimp and exotic mosses. Flame, Erect, Nobilis, etc.

The question is, what is a good substrate to use?

Would there be any advantages in using a plant substrate like eco-complete? The moss isn't going to be rooting into the substrate and I'll be adding Greg's ferts.

And if the moss has no bearing on the substrate then is there a substrate the shrimp would perfer?

Still haven't decided which shrimp to try and raise. I've heard cherry shrimp are easy, but I'm also considering tiger, bumblebee and amano.

[bs6749]

You will probably want some sort of sand for the shrimp. If you are just going with shrimp only then I am guessing the finer the grains the better. They like to pick at stuff in the substrate.

[clubsuperduty]

Yeah get a smaller grain sand base I like ghost shrimp personally, but I did see some really nice wood shrimp that evercl92 had here is a link to her pics

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewto...801&highlight=

[fish_4_all]

I don't know if you will need a substrate if you will have that much moss. The moss will provide plenty of places fro the shrimp to hide and play and eat. Substrate would only make it harder to keep it clean unless you added MTS and ever then it could be a mess to care for. As for the moss, lots of driftwood, ceramic or other material that the "roots" can grab a hold of should be planty for it to thrive given good lighting and nutrients. The shrimp might appreciate the driftwood and if you make small caves out of they will have a place to hide if they want.

[7Enigma]

I would use just a small coating of sand (maybe 1/2-3/4"). I like PFS due to the larger size making it easier to gravel vac without sucking up all the sand and during PWC's so it doesn't cloud the tank, but I have no experience with shrimp. If they prefer finer sand, play sand size is probably better.

I would not use Eco-complete or other fert substrate as its a waste for the plants you want and will only cause clouding if you rearrange the tank.

I would have some good lighting over the tank so you can get good plant growth AND some algae growth. The shrimp will keep the algae at bay and you get a free food source in the process.

Check out GlitcH's thread in the planted forum as he has successfully created an INCREDIBLE shrimp/snail tank that requires no CO2 or ferts. It has to be seen to be believed.

[onah]

hey where is that post?

[7Enigma]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=87197