My 5.5G Shrimp & Moss Nano Tank - Aiming to convert into iwagumi layout

[HiJaC]

Originally Posted by Atl300zx

is that tiny amt of copper gonna affect the shrimp? i know they are sensitive.

should be ok since it is such a small amount and is consistant with most trace mix's which people use happily in their planted shrimp tanks.

personally ive been using the same mix in my 46G for the last year without any Amano shrimp loss.

The only things ive managed to kill shrimp in both tanks with are -

1. dropping a large bit of drift wood on one.
2. smashing up a large rock i had in the aquarium a couple of years ago to use as weights for anubias nana only to discover there were copper minerials in the rock and lost 10 amano shrimp which simply "dissapeared" in a week.
3. overdosing easy carbo or excel, which has a nasty active ingredient that shrimp really dont like.

Best Regards,

John

[Atl300zx]

That is good to hear. I tried shrimp once unsuccessfully. I coudlnt figure out why until i recently found out i have extremely soft water. Also explains why snails never lived long. I bought some GH additives recently, so hopefully invertibrates will be in my future soon.

[JohnPaul]

Originally Posted by Atl300zx

That is good to hear. I tried shrimp once unsuccessfully. I coudlnt figure out why until i recently found out i have extremely soft water. Also explains why snails never lived long. I bought some GH additives recently, so hopefully invertibrates will be in my future soon.

There are some shrimps that actually prefer softer (usually acidic) water. CRS (Crystal Red, not to be confused with RCS, Red Cherry) and its other color morph Crystal Black, definitely prefer softer, acidic water. Pretty sure most Tiger and Bee shrimps prefer the softer water also. (That's from memory so by all means double-check that info before going out and buying a bunch of them!)

[Alaris]

Any updates?

[HiJaC]

Hi,

Ok some up to date piccys. Nothing much has changed except things have grown in some more. The Downai has recovered from its time in my big tank without enough light although is a little paler then i remember it being....

I've tweaked the lights from 3 9w arc pods to 2 11w arcadia plant bulbs for ease of plugging stuff in, plants seem fine with this slight reduction though. Probably helped by the fact these are new bulbs compared to the old 9w's that had a years running on them.

I've moved the filter to the other side as i dont see it from the angle i sit at my computer and i've just tucked the heater in behind it so less visible equiptment overall.

I was away for a week and a bit and left my flatmate in charge of my tanks with little instructions on this one. There was no water change and he only dosed macro's one day and micro's another, no liquid co2. No visible algae outbreak from this tankfully as there were probably enough buffer nutrients in the water from the cut down EI to last the week without bottoming out. I have however noticed some ricca going black in a couple of places.... Hopefully this will not continue now i'm back to normal dosing.

So the pictures .....


1st October - Full Tank Shot


1st October - Front


1st October - Angled View


1st October - Close Up


1st October - Closer Still

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I've been trying some other carpet plants in another project so now have dwarf hair grass and HC growing that i'm tempted to switch into here at some point. For now i'm just happy blissing out in my little iwagumi shrimp world.

Questions and comments greatly appreciated....

Best Regards,

John

[Purrbox]

It's absolutely gorgeous! For some reason I want a tall plant in that back right corner (where the oto is hanging out), but that may not be in line with an igwami scape.

[Lager]

Sweet looking tank!

[Menagerie]

Once again--WOW!! It's such a clean, perfect looking tank!

[new2betas]

Beautiful!!