FresH2O's Shrimp Tank

[Fresh2o]

Nice, that rescape back in December was a good choice, much cleaner look to the tank and as someone said it draws you in a lot more.

This tank was neglected (dećor wise) for a long time. As long as the shrimp were breeding I really did not care what it looked like.
I took a peek at its humble beginnings. Very open and with slopes. <Click here....> View attachment 172789

Currently the large piece of moss covered DW sits in the right corner. It creates a cave which would be ideal for shy fish. So far this has been a fishless setup. Low light and pretty much maintenance free.


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[Slavo]

I like the rescape as well. Looking good Fresh!

 

[Wy Renegade]

Made it through this evening beginning to end. You did a great job of journaling your experiences, very worthwhile read for those of us just getting started with a shrimp tank. I'll have to get more serious about water testing and do some checking on cuttlebone. We just got a new box pet store in town so I'm sure I can pick some up there. Also appreciate the information on the types of plants you used and the fertilizer discussion was helpful as well. I've not been using any ferts in my own tank at this point, and what I think are crypts (but could be a Java fern) is starting to show some signs of declining. I'll be adding some root tabs in there tomorrow. Do you mind sharing what else you are using for ferts besides root tabs or is this still a root tab only tank?

 

[Fresh2o]

Made it through this evening beginning to end. You did a great job of journaling your experiences, very worthwhile read for those of us just getting started with a shrimp tank. I'll have to get more serious about water testing and do some checking on cuttlebone. We just got a new box pet store in town so I'm sure I can pick some up there. Also appreciate the information on the types of plants you used and the fertilizer discussion was helpful as well. I've not been using any ferts in my own tank at this point, and what I think are crypts (but could be a Java fern) is starting to show some signs of declining. I'll be adding some root tabs in there tomorrow. Do you mind sharing what else you are using for ferts besides root tabs or is this still a root tab only tank?

Ha! I appreciate it. Hope it did not give you a headache. Not much goes on in this tank so there is no regularity of posts. For about 1.5 years I only used the AquaFertz Total, Phosphate, and Iron root pellets. But not at the suggested rate of 30/45 days. I skipped months. If I noticed the crypts looked not so good, then I would add more. A few months back I tried DIY Osmocote+ filled gelcaps. Really cannot say that in see any differences compared to the root pellets. Just costs a lot less. One nice thing is that the DIY stuff fits perfectly in the root pellet injector I got for the root pellets. Stab the substrate, push the knob, bam! Work is done.
No water column ferts or carbon source (glutaraldehyde) are added. I attribute that to the low lighting. I am toying with the idea of adding a new light to the planted tank and migrating the weaker light (Finnex FugeRay) to the shrimp tank. I'm thinking that will lead to more maintenance (trimming, etc). When I had crypt wendtii red under the FugeRay in the planted tank, it got large and IMO lacked decent coloration. Under the dual T5 NO it stays on the smaller side with uniform leaf size.


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[Wy Renegade]

Ha! I appreciate it. Hope it did not give you a headache. Not much goes on in this tank so there is no regularity of posts. For about 1.5 years I only used the AquaFertz Total, Phosphate, and Iron root pellets. But not at the suggested rate of 30/45 days. I skipped months. If I noticed the crypts looked not so good, then I would add more. A few months back I tried DIY Osmocote+ filled gelcaps. Really cannot say that in see any differences compared to the root pellets. Just costs a lot less. One nice thing is that the DIY stuff fits perfectly in the root pellet injector I got for the root pellets. Stab the substrate, push the knob, bam! Work is done.
No water column ferts or carbon source (glutaraldehyde) are added. I attribute that to the low lighting. I am toying with the idea of adding a new light to the planted tank and migrating the weaker light (Finnex FugeRay) to the shrimp tank. I'm thinking that will lead to more maintenance (trimming, etc). When I had crypt wendtii red under the FugeRay in the planted tank, it got large and IMO lacked decent coloration. Under the dual T5 NO it stays on the smaller side with uniform leaf size.


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Nope no headache here, just a lot of good stuff to digest. I'm not quite at a point of trying DIY fertilizer tabs just yet, so I'll check out that other one, think what I have now is just what was readily available at my LFS, and its been more than a few months since I added any. It would be a shame to move the light over and loose the nice red color of the C. wendtii, can't tell if you have more of the same in the front right or if it is something else, but the reddish tint to the two groups of plants helps to draw your scape together, at least in the pictures, IMO.

 

[RadMax8]

Fresh,

I too started from the beginning and worked my way down. I've got some shrimp arriving tomorrow and I'm glad to have gotten a good primer. Couple quick questions for you:

What type of moss are you growing in there? I like the look of it.

How are the stars and ammania bonsai doing?

How do you think the light output of your two T5NO compares to two 13 W CFLs?

Thanks for your input, as always.


Definitely not wasting time. Nope.

 

[Fresh2o]

Fresh,

I too started from the beginning and worked my way down. I've got some shrimp arriving tomorrow and I'm glad to have gotten a good primer. Couple quick questions for you:

What type of moss are you growing in there? I like the look of it.

How are the stars and ammania bonsai doing?

How do you think the light output of your two T5NO compares to two 13 W CFLs?

Thanks for your input, as always.


Definitely not wasting time. Nope.

Hey! Thanks for taking the time to read this.
The moss is probably Java moss. There is some flame moss mixed in there.
Stars doing okay. Need to be trimmed and replanted. Ammania bonsai not so good. Won't stay rooted; weak growth. May move it back to the planted tank.
I think you might get equal or better growth with the 13w CFLs. Plus you can bump those up to 23w bulbs. The t5s NO are fine for the moss, crypts, and Bacopa.


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[Eggheadfish]

Rad I know you didn't ask me...haha, but I run 23w CFLs with my plants and it's more than enough (using 1 bulb on a 15g), I did have two but started having issues with algae so clearly enough light. Growing moss, ammania bonsai, bacopa caroliniana, ammania Mauritania, and some other plant I forget the name of no CO2 injection and getting good growth.

 

[TheresaM]

Just found this thread too, always nice to see other people's shrimp tanks.

Very happy with the MTS you sent, thanks again!

 

[Fresh2o]

Egg - Thanks for the info on the lighting; I'm certain Rad appreciates it.
Theresa - The 40-50 i pulled out of the tank put a small dent in the popular.
I think I'm not going to add the CPDs in this tank. They seem fine in the planted tank and I love the shrimp babies.


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[Eggheadfish]

Shrimp babies are awesome!

 

[Autumnsky]

Egg - Thanks for the info on the lighting; I'm certain Rad appreciates it.
Theresa - The 40-50 i pulled out of the tank put a small dent in the popular.
I think I'm not going to add the CPDs in this tank. They seem fine in the planted tank and I love the shrimp babies.


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Yeah, less shrimp babies with the CPD's.

 

[RadMax8]

I'm never one to turn away input! It's all good.

Fresh your threads are the best because you can see such an evolution from the early days to now. You've documented it all! I feel like I can skip a lot of steps from everything I've learned here.


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[Fresh2o]

Shrimp and snails enjoying dinner:

I scraped the algae/film off the from of the tank which normally don't do too often. Otherwise the shot would be cloudy.


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[fish wrangler]

No way those snails are the same in your other tank. You can really see the difference in the two.

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[serena00]

What are your shrimp and snails eating?


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
5.5g betta/ghost shrimp
3g betta
2g fry

 

[Fresh2o]

No way those snails are the same in your other tank. You can really see the difference in the two.
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They are the same group. I started off with 10 MTS in the planted tank and that quickly turned to a gazillion. About a year ago I moved a couple large, healthy specimens to the shrimp tank and they multiplied.
What you are seeing with those in the planted tank is the effects of mineral deficiencies in the shells. Even though I am dosing PPS-Pro ferts, the plants are consuming their share of nutrients. The pH fluctuations from CO2 injection probably aren't helping.

What are your shrimp and snails eating?

A variety of foods:
Kens veggie sticks
Omega 1 rounds
Hikari sinking wafers
Repashy 'Meat Pie' flavor gel food
Sliced, blanched zucchini


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[TheresaM]

Shrimp and snails enjoying dinner: I scraped the algae/film off the from of the tank which normally don't do too often. Otherwise the shot would be cloudy.

Really nice colors!

 

[Fresh2o]

Really nice colors!

Thanks!
New filter arrived! Fluval 206 was "out for delivery" for 14 hours.


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[Autumnsky]

Your MTS are very nicely colored and have a nice pattern! Great pic of supper pals.