RCS and Least Killie 10g Build

[Galligak]

Greetings fellow Earthlings! I just pulled up my 10g from the depths of the basement to my room for redoing It currently is home to one male betta that is to be moved to another tank. I figure that I should move all of my fish/inverts from my MAJORLY overstocked 5.5g to a nice roomy 10g.
Here's my plan:
NPT with organic dirt covered with black sand
2 13W CFL 6500K bulbs
No heater necessary
Need to find a filter...
Get a nice big(ish) piece of DW

Fauna:
10+ Least Killies (Heterandria formosa)- give or take a few, plus they're breeding
20+ RCS (Neocaridina heteropoda)- give or take a few, plus they're breeding
Maybe Tiger shrimp (opinions?) or low grade CBS (are they really that much harder, opinions? Experiences? I've read a lot on them, but I really don't feel like I know much.)
Perhaps an Asian Stone Cat (Hara jerdoni)-opinions? Experiences? Once again read a lot, but there's not much on them

Flora (or what I have currently):
rotala rotundifolia
java moss
java fern
Bacopa Carolina
Guppy Grass
Frogbit
Dwarf Sag
Anubais afezelii
Marimo Balls
Cardamine
Hyrogphila sp. 'Tiger'
Cabomba caroliniana
Crypt parva
Crypt ciliata
Wisteria

Current 5.5g Home:


Future 10g Home:


I'd love to hear your opinions/comments on things I know that I'm horrible when it comes to aquascaping and such so I know I'll need your ideas/help when the time comes.

Hopefully I'll get going on actually doing things in the next week or two!

 

[Scottyhorse]

I would add a heater to keep the temp stable.

 

[Galligak]

I would add a heater to keep the temp stable.

I thought about that, but I tested my water in the 5.5g without a heater for a month or so once and it maybe changed a degree or two, so I'm going to attempt it without. Plus it is away from any vent/heater/fan and I keep my room fairly stable. I have an extra heater at the hand just in case though Thanks for the warning!

 

[Scottyhorse]

What is the temp at?

 

[Galligak]

What is the temp at?

71F. That's pretty much what the house stays at all year long.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Okay. IMO that's a little cool, but should be okay

 

[Galligak]

Okay. IMO that's a little cool, but should be okay

I think it'll be okay considering that's what they've been at. Thanks!

 

[Scottyhorse]

Yeah, since they are breeding and everything...

 

[kardash]

Looking forward to this build! Good luck

 

[Galligak]

Looking forward to this build! Good luck

Thanks! I think that the hardest part of this will be catching all of the babies! I've seen about 5-6 of them and I'm really not looking forward to that... Oh well, it's for the best!

 

[kardash]

It is pretty difficult to catch the babies. I had to transfer some RCS babies from a 30G to a 5.5G and that was VERY difficult. Whatever you do, don't get mad/stressed because you can't catch them. I did that exact thing and it did no good. Just be calm and collective!

 

[Galligak]

Quick question for everyone: would a microworm culture be good for the killies? I know, I know silly question but I just want to know. I know that live food is always better for fish than pellets and flakes, but will the microworms be too small? I try feeding them black and blood worms (both live and frozen) but I end up having to scoop them back up and cutting them into 3rds. I thought that maybe since microworms are small they would work better, but they're for fry... I mean I guess I have fry so that'd be a reason, but will the adults eat them as well? Sorry... I have a tendency to ramble!

 

[jetajockey]

Least killies and rcs are good in low 70s and upper 60s, so no biggie.

Microworms are great and they'll love them, although they may miss a bunch because they settle on the substrate.

 

[Galligak]

Least killies and rcs are good in low 70s and upper 60s, so no biggie.

Microworms are great and they'll love them, although they may miss a bunch because they settle on the substrate.

Awesome. Thank you so much! I'm ordering a culture right now actually.

 

[Galligak]

I'm cleaning out the sand right now:

And I pulled out all of the plants from the two tanks. It's was pretty sad to see all that work pulled out...

Goal tonight is to get all of the sand completely clean and maybe get it in

 

[Fishperson]

Cool! I had a vision just like it seems you did about a 10 gallon tank! Setting up new ones are always fun! Good luck, and will be following.

 

[Galligak]

Cool! I had a vision just like it seems you did about a 10 gallon tank! Setting up new ones are always fun! Good luck, and will be following.

Thanks! It's definitely an interesting combination. My tank always seems to be full of life

 

[kardash]

That's great progress Excited for this.

 

[Galligak]

Ok, I took down the 10g completely. The sand is mostly ready to go in it. Took out all of the least killies and RCS. I counted the killies and I have 20
About to go clean out the rest of the 5.5g and then get everything in that one then do the 10g!

(Forgot to add pictures!)

 

[Galligak]

That's great progress Excited for this.

Thanks! I'm excited about this! I'm up 400% from when I started with the killies