Fluval Ebi Shrimp Tank Build

[chipmunk]

Today I set up my 8 gallon Fluval EBI tank. I currently have it cycling with only drift wood and aqua soil in the tank. I plan on stocking it with all easy low-light plants and eventually fire yellow shrimp and orange eye blue tiger shrimp Tomorrow I am heading to my LFS to pick up some plants however I'm undecided of what I really want. I was thinking of using these plants:
Crypt Parva
Java, willow, flame, or pearl Moss (as a carpet and on the driftwood)
downoi (maybe)
staurogyne (maybe)
Anubis Nana
would Mini Fissidens be possible?
Any ideas or suggestions on the scape/plants I could use?

(the driftwood has rocks on it to weigh it down, once the wood is water logged ill remove them)

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Your setup looks nice.. great looking DW. Those certainly have potential for any of the mosses you're considering. You're shrimp will have nice contrasting colors too... can't wait to see this tank develop!

Following

 

[azmodan]

That driftwood looks awesome! Looking forward to seeing it draped in moss. Fissidens would be really nice.

 

[Ezzie]

Great to see another fluval EBI tank, ill be following since I have planted mine only issue I had was the filter blocks some space so placing driftwoods for me was a little difficult.

I attached a photo of mine

 

[chipmunk]

Your setup looks nice.. great looking DW. Those certainly have potential for any of the mosses you're considering. You're shrimp will have nice contrasting colors too... can't wait to see this tank develop!

Following

Thanks i picked up the driftwood at AFA 2 weeks ago, i love it! I think i want either pearl moss as the carpet, or mini fissidens if i could pull those off with low lighting and no ferts. Also either flame or willow moss on the top of the driftwood for the tree effect. Yeahh i knoww i cant wait to get my shrimp in there

 

[chipmunk]

Here is a pic of it this morning, looks pretty clear.

 

[chipmunk]

Great to see another fluval EBI tank, ill be following since I have planted mine only issue I had was the filter blocks some space so placing driftwoods for me was a little difficult.

I attached a photo of mine

Yeah i know, I hate the filter and cant wait to get a new one! Wow yours looks really nice, i cant wait to get it planted and watch it grow

 

[chipmunk]

Got some new additions, not complete though.
Anubis nana
alternanthera reneckii

I plan on ordering some Fissidens and nan petite. Any one know how staurogyne repens, alternanthera reneckii, and rotala indica would do under the stock 13w compact?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Is this going to be a plant focused build or shrimp? I know that OEBT are almost as touchy as CRS so the more 'demanding' plants you put, the harder it can be to be successful at keeping those shrimp, not to mention breeding. In other words, some of these stem plants might need co2, extra ferts, possibly excel (or glut). IME, Neocaridina sp. like the yellows have a better chance in plant focused tanks outside of low tech conditions.. it becomes increasingly harder with Caridina sp. I noticed a lot of shrimp keepers of the more sensitive type stick with low tech with just mosses and other low light tolerant plants. Just something to consider. The AS is definitely a good choice though due to the buffering capability.

 

[chipmunk]

Is this going to be a plant focused build or shrimp? I know that OEBT are almost as touchy as CRS so the more 'demanding' plants you put, the harder it can be to be successful at keeping those shrimp, not to mention breeding. In other words, some of these stem plants might need co2, extra ferts, possibly excel (or glut). IME, Neocaridina sp. like the yellows have a better chance in plant focused tanks outside of low tech conditions.. it becomes increasingly harder with Caridina sp. I noticed a lot of shrimp keepers of the more sensitive type stick with low tech with just mosses and other low light tolerant plants. Just something to consider. The AS is definitely a good choice though due to the buffering capability.

It's a shrimp focused tank, I don't plan on putting any CO2 or high light plants in it.. I just wanted to try the AR to see how it does , tonight Joey and I are going to order mini Fissidens, Anubias petite, and a variety of mosses.It will be mostly anubias and moss dominated.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Okay.. I was getting worried. OEBT's aren't cheap and just wanted to caution you.

Definitely start out with just Neo's. If they thrive and all other parameters checkout, then stock the OEBTs.

 

[chipmunk]

yeahh thanks, that was my plan.. in about two weeks Ill get some fire yellows

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Oh cool... guess you're well studied then. I'll just sit back and enjoy the show! Haha

So wait...rewind a bit, you mentioned you and Joey ordering some plants..are we referring to Joey aka: Jkeating8? Lol

 

[chipmunk]

haha yeah! he's my boyfriend

 

[chipmunk]

he's got me into all this crap! loll

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Oh okay... awesome! My GF got into this too thanks to me! Haha

Hey ... Joey is lucky though! U got him some nice goodies at AFA!

 

[chipmunk]

Haha yeaah its kinda addicting.. Joey and I ordered fissidens for a carpet in my tank, they'll come in on monday He got 2 Anubias petites for his tank also. Yeah i facetimed him while i was in AFA, he was so excited loll

 

[chipmunk]

Okay... where to start.. well since the last time I posted I got a ton of new plants. I got Fissidens which I glued onto a metal mesh for a carpet, however I ordered actual stainless steal mesh because I'm afraid of rusting. Also I chopped down the AR (which was just an experiment to begin with) and planted them farther back. Then I got an amazon sword, wisteria, dwarf sag, bacopa, a red tiger lotus, an Anubias petite, and Christmas moss glued to my DW. I planted everything before I put the DW back in because it kept getting in my way but now it's blocking the light to the AR. So later in the week I'm going to get a new lamp and put it on the side or something so that the AR can receive some light. I'm still using no ferts or CO2.

 

[Billbug68]

he's got me into all this crap! loll

^ This is hilarious!

 

[chipmunk]

^ This is hilarious!

it's true! haha