5.5 gal shrimp/planted build

[gboduszek]

Trying my hand at shrimp tank.

Light: finnex ray2
Substate: aquasoil I believe
Filter: tom nano internal
Not doin CO2 from the start since I'm debating on plants still but mostly likely will add down the road.

Livestock will be red crystal shrimp since that what the fish store I work at has in stock and hopefully 3/4 Galaxy rasboras

Plants/scape is still up in the air but I grabbed a couple pieces of spider wood to put together to create a tree with.

Just waiting on the substrate and filter to come in to start cycling. Let me know what you guys think or any suggestions


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[gboduszek]

So got a couple pics of things coming together...

The tank filled with RO to soak the wood


And then here's a pic of the pieces of spider wood that I glued together.. Gonna push it down into the substrate so the bottom branches kind of like like roots from the tree.


Just waiting on the filter and substrate now which are coming tomorrow and the cycle will be underway.


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[gboduszek]

Tanks gonna look great next to the buckeyes national champs banner!



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[gboduszek]

So here's a very rough pic of things so far.. Got 6 gold white clouds to get the cycle going which I am going to take out and put in my 55 in a week or 2.

The plants and wood were just thrown in until I have so time to scape. Plants this far are blyxa jap, hygrophila compact, bronze wendtii, pennywort, and a bundle of Java is that I am going to tie onto the driftwood to get the tree look. Also haves bunch of rocks I am going to put in when I get to putting the scape together. Now it's just some time to cycle before the shrimp are added.


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[gboduszek]

So do you guys think CO2 will be needed for this tank with the ray2 light?


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[gboduszek]

So got around to scaping a bit today..

FTS

Right side

Middle

Left side

Pretty satisfied.. Can't wait for the moss to gross on/in


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[TXaquaFanatic]

That's a really nice set up!

 

[gboduszek]

That's a really nice set up!

Thanks.. Toughest part is patience.. Everyday I go into work it takes all I have to hold back on bringin 5 or 6 of the red crystals home


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[Nils]

I really like this tank! Can't wait to see shrimp in there. Scope looks good and so do the plants!

 

[Hunter73]

I think you have done a great job!


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[gboduszek]

So I haven't updated in a bit as I was mainly waiting until I got the shrimp but my impatience grew and I decided to reshape things to make the "tree" kind of stand out more.
I added some bacopa (caroliana?) to the back left corner and surrounded it with the hygrophila compact and then I put all off the blyxa japonica in the middle of the tank. In front of the blyxa I put a few pieces of baby tears down and then near the "roots" of the the tree I stuck some anubias petite. Gonna get some more to really fill out the root area of the tree.

As far as fish go I still have 6 gold mountain minnows but those will be taken out soon in favor of either Galaxy rasboras or some ember tetras. I also put in 3 Pygmy corys as well as a Sumatran blue cobalt goby to start nibbling some algae off of plant leaves.

Any suggestions on the scape or fish? Haha I'm still kinda debating on what I want the final stock to be as the tank matures. Definitely getting a few more Pygmy corys though. Never had them before but boy are they cool.


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[gboduszek]

Took out the pennywort and wendtii.. Do you guys think I should add the pennywort/somethin else back in somewhere? Or should I leave things as is?


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[TheresaM]

Nice looking tank!

Just note that any fish will potentially eat shrimp fry....

 

[gboduszek]

Ya I knew that could be a problem.. That's why I'm for sure switching the minnows out for Galaxy rasboras or ember tetras but I know even they will eat the babies. I'm hoping the densely planted areas will provide enough cover so atleast some baby shrimp survive to keep the colony going. If it fails though I'll just make the decision then on the route I want to go. Fingers crossed!


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[gboduszek]

So while the wait continues, I rearranged some things again. I added some purple cabomba where the bacopa was to get some color in the tank but everything else is about the same. The Java moss looks to be taking off some and in a week or so I'm going to go ahead and cut the rubber bands holding it on.

Live stock this far is
5 Pygmy corys
2 otos
A Sumatran blue cobalt goby

In the next couple days I'm going to take out the minnows and add the permanent fish. I'm kind of torn between the ember tetras and Galaxy rasboras.. Which do you guys think? Or should I go with 3 of each? If one tends to school more towards the top of the tank I think I'd prefer that..

FTS



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[gboduszek]

So quite the adventure last night. Just as I'm about to go to bed I notice the drops of water coming from a seam in the tank. As a desperation fix I globed up the entire seam with glue I have for my reef tank and said some prayers. Woke up this morning and it actually worked but looks like crap. Made my way to Petco to get another tank just now and OF COURSE the warranty is only 2 months for this size tank and OF COURSE the dollar per gallon sale is a min. Of 10 gal.. So quite the streak of back luck haha. Anyway I took the opportunity to add some Eco complete under my existing substrate as it just wasn't thick enough to really keep plants rooted.. Will get a pic later tonight after work


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[gboduszek]

Here she is.. Went with a deep blue tank for the black silicone



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