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

[HiJaC]

It's Fissidens fontanus and one of my favorite mosses. I'm actually at a point where I should trim mine back fairly severely. Feel free to PM me and I can see about putting together a plant package for you.

Thats a lovely offer but i really doubt it is going to get to me alive in Edinburgh, Scotland.

It's a real shame too as i know plenty of people over here in the UK who would love it, since its just not available.

 

[Purrbox]

You might want to update your profile with your location information. Mosses are pretty resiliant and ship very well. I just wouldn't have a clue what the shipping requirements are to ship aquatic plants from the US to England. If you wanted to research the shipping requirements, I'd still be willing to give it a go if it's legal and not prohibitively expensive.

 

[HiJaC]

You might want to update your profile with your location information. Mosses are pretty resiliant and ship very well. I just wouldn't have a clue what the shipping requirements are to ship aquatic plants from the US to England. If you wanted to research the shipping requirements, I'd still be willing to give it a go if it's legal and not prohibitively expensive.

updated now. i'll check out the postage when i have time tomorrow.

thanks again for the offer.

best regards,

John

 

[LindsayBlum]

I was just searching threads about cherry shrimp and found your post. Your tank is SO beautiful!!

 

[HiJaC]

I was just searching threads about cherry shrimp and found your post. Your tank is SO beautiful!!

don't know about that. i wasnt happy with it hence the iwagumi idea.

i've actually been sorting this out today.

here is a sneak preview.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/atta...888784_1_538f53ea2cf1d55eaf91330b6a24bd4e.jpg


Need to wait until the ricca grows a bit and make a few more stones for a better carpet.

I tried to follow the sanzon iwagumi style with one large rock and two smaller ones which represent a big buddha with two smaller buddha bowing down to it. It looks better then this photo shows tbh and i can't wait until the ricca fills out.

Best Regards.

John

 

[new2betas]

John,
What are the plants wrapped in? Are the plants that are wrapped the ricca? I can't wait to see it progress....Where's your little shrimpies? I only see about two in there. And, what kind of fish do you have in there??

 

[HiJaC]

John,
What are the plants wrapped in? Are the plants that are wrapped the ricca? I can't wait to see it progress....Where's your little shrimpies? I only see about two in there. And, what kind of fish do you have in there??

Hi,

Currently there are 2 oto's and the 7 remaining RCS from the previous setup, i also bought in another 10 today, so 17 in total.

I was tieing the ricca down with cotton but it was giving an uneven finish so i did a little shopping for nylon netting. I couldnt find anything of the size i wanted but stumbled apon one of those old fashioned shower scrubs for 75p in ASDA-wallmart when doing my grocery shopping. A little snip later and i had a meter long tube of net with the perfect size i needed.

It makes attaching ricca SOOOOOOO much less time consuming. Cover rock in a thin layer, twist till tight on the back, place a cable tie over the end and tighten, snip excess tie and net.

I've still got to work out the dosing on this tank so things arn't really growing atm. A job for tomorrow me thinks.

Best Regards,

John

 

[Purrbox]

I really like the direction you're taking this aquarium. I look forward to seeing more pictures once it's grown in.

 

[HiJaC]

I really like the direction you're taking this aquarium. I look forward to seeing more pictures once it's grown in.

Thanks Joy, your compliments and advice are always welcome.

Dosing -

Since i'm using liquid co2 and a bit lazy over the weekends i'm going to try and get away with the cut down dosing regime i use on my main tank. The difference on this one being that i'm going to use RO water instead of my tap water to avoid silicate and phosphate issues.

Monday - 50% water change, 10ppm N, 10 ppm K, 2 ppm P, 10ml of Kent Botanica GH mix (will be testing this to aim for GH about 4)
Tuesday - Trace Mix
Wednesday -
Thursday - 10ppm N, 10 ppm K, 2 ppm P,
Friday - as Tuesday
Sat -
Sun -

My trace mix doesnt have any magnesium in it as ive mentioned elsewhere on this site. I was adding it seperately on my main tank but stopped recently when i ran out, nothing much has happened and i'm debating restarting now i have it back in stock.

A carefully balance blend of the 6 essentials trace elements that are required for healthy aquatic plant growth.

This trace mix is designed as the source of trace elements for growers who mix their own N-P-K fertiliser.

Made using top quality matierials, with all metals fully chelated which means it is up to 5 times more efficient than sulphate based mixes. It contains the following elements:

Boron 1.06%
Copper 0.23%
Iron 8.2%
Manganese 1.82%
Molybdenum 0.15%
Zinc 1.16%

With the RO water on this tank i need to add the GH to keep everything happy, this is a new thing for me but from i have read and the instructions on the bottle i see GH mixture is just magnesium and calcuim salts mixed to a 1:3 ratio.

I presume this is why my suppier sells their trace element mix without magnesium, as some people wish to use GH boosters which already contain it....

I've also never done a ricca tank before so any advice on tweaking this nano dosing schedule is appreciated.

Best Regards,

John

 

[Atl300zx]

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

 

[HiJaC]

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]

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

----------------

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!!

 

[HiJaC]

Hi,

A couple of changes on this tank since my last updates. I've switched the filter over to a Dennerle nano filter with spraybar. It is custom made for shrimp tanks to avoid sucking up little shrimplets.

I also stumbled apone the lovely Dennerle pressurized CO2 kit which i just had to try. Only £50 too!

Dennerle CO2 CO2 Crystal Line

The tank looks basically the same but OH MY GOD does it pearl! So much so that after 6 months of growth using easy carbo ive had to redo all the ricca stones.

6th Dec 2008 - Pearling like mental. Note the height of the ricca on the furthest left of all the rocks, a good inch of matting.

9th Dec 2008 - Ricca redone after the whole matt lifted from its moorings.

Note how much the Pogostemon helferi has bushed out. Although i think i'm lacking some trace dosing due to the yellow of the new leaves.

Best Regards,


John

p.s OH MY GOD! I've just had an oto jump out of the tank after i wrote this and land on the floor next to me!! insane.