Planted tank for cherry shrimp

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
LindsayBlum

LindsayBlum

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Messages
27
Location
Saint Louis
First off, this will be my FIRST planted tank. I have been in the aquahobby for over a decade, but have lacked the courage to go with live plants.

I have a 3 gallon eclipse aquarium with the stock lighting.

:confused:Any suggestions for substrate/lighting/plants that would be good for such a small aquarium? I will have only shrimp in this tank.

Advice or a link would be so appreciated!

Thank you!
 
Lindsay,
I have a 10g with cherry red shrimp (around 80-100 and counting). I have a gravel substrate, slate rock, wisteria plants, and LOTS of java moss, and a sponge filter and heater. I am not sure how much you can do lighting wise in a three gallon...I would love to hear other's ideas on that as well. I do not fertilize or do the CO2 in my 10g tank, but I think it is because my lighting is good that I don't have to use the other stuff. So, that leads back to the lighting question for a three gallon tank.
You will really enjoy a planted shrimp tank. They are so much fun to watch and they LOVE the live plants, in fact, I am not sure they would do as well without live plants as they eat a lot of algae and such that grows in/on them.
 
One of the best substrates IMO is Eco-Complete. May be a little expensive at $20+ per bag which could be used on probably six 3 gallon tank.

As for lighting, a regular 15 watt bulb would probably provide "high lighting" for that tank as it isn't too deep. You could always get one of the "energy efficient" bulbs that are less watts but close to as bright. Just curious...how many watts is the stock bulb?

If you are looking for shrimp let me know when you are ready. I've been selling a lot of them lately! I have java moss and some dwarf sag that would grow well in the tank. I'm getting a 100 gallon tank tomorrow and I'm making my 55 my new "planted shrimp tank" and I plan on using the dwarf sag in that tank as it makes a nice foreground plant.
 
I have to disagree about 15 watts being enough for high light on a 3 gallon aquarium. These small aquariums require a surprising amount of light to reach the various light levels.

How much light does the stock light provide?
 
My fault...should have been more clear. I meant to say a "regular style" bulb like one in a room but instead of using the incandescent 60W, for example, use a ~15W energy efficient one.
 
I run 26W of PC lighting on my 2.5 gallon, just to give you a reference. Like purr said, the WPG "rule" breaks down on tanks this small.
 
Ok...another light question.....I just got a 5g tank to keep as a QT tank for adding fish to my 29g. The light in my 5g is labeled 15W, but it is SO dim. I, of course, want to keep live plants in there as well. What bulb should I switch to that want overdo the wattage recommended for that socket? Thanks in advance guys....

Would this work: http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(iydcjmel2lk04l45gfvhb0r0)/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=998019804

Sorry for the hijack Lindsay....will not do it again....
 
Last edited:
You should be able to grow java moss well in that setup and the shrimp will love it. Just perform regular water changes and feed them once a week and your golden.

New2betas, you probably could upgrade to a screw-type CF bulb. However that particular bulb wouldn't be the best. I think "cool white" is 3k rating. You'll want a daylight bulb for best results.
 
Peyton said:
New2betas, you probably could upgrade to a screw-type CF bulb. However that particular bulb wouldn't be the best. I think "cool white" is 3k rating. You'll want a daylight bulb for best results.
Click to expand...
Got a link that you could show me the type of bulb I need....sorry, I'm a :n00b: that needs to see pictures...lol :silly:
 
new2betas said:
I feel silly now because I had one of these in another light fixture in my house:
SYLVANIA LIGHTING 13W/CF/MTWIST/C "DULUX EL" MINI FLUORESCENT BULB 13WATT
and I just put it in my 5g tank and it lit it up tremendously. The tank I have is hexagon and tall not wide. Wouldn't 3000K be okay for a 5g tank? It is amazing how much that one little bulb lit up that 5g tank....
Click to expand...

I got a great light on my hexagon right now, I forgot what type it is but the plants in the tank are so green. I got it at petsmart, it's a fluorescent bulb. Also if you put a sponge on the end of the intake tube it comes out of the filter better. I don't know why, but it does.
 
new2betas said:
Ok...another light question.....I just got a 5g tank to keep as a QT tank for adding fish to my 29g. The light in my 5g is labeled 15W, but it is SO dim. I, of course, want to keep live plants in there as well. What bulb should I switch to that want overdo the wattage recommended for that socket? Thanks in advance guys....

Would this work: FEIT ELECTRIC BPESL315 TRIPLE TUBE FLOURESCENT BULB 15W SOFT WHITE

Sorry for the hijack Lindsay....will not do it again....
Click to expand...

15W is how much energy is required to run that bulb. It tells little about how bright the bulb is. Intensity is measured in lumens among other things. That's what I was saying earlier about getting a more energy efficient bulb (uses less wattage) that is just about as bright (lumens).



new2betas said:
I feel silly now because I had one of these in another light fixture in my house:
SYLVANIA LIGHTING 13W/CF/MTWIST/C "DULUX EL" MINI FLUORESCENT BULB 13WATT
and I just put it in my 5g tank and it lit it up tremendously. The tank I have is hexagon and tall not wide. Wouldn't 3000K be okay for a 5g tank? It is amazing how much that one little bulb lit up that 5g tank....
Click to expand...

3000K is the temperature of the bulb. Plants can only use a certain spectrum/temperature of light...the rest is basically junk for them. I'd look for something in the 5000-10,000K range as suggested. Smaller bulbs can have the same spectrum as large bulbs but that doesn't mean that plants can use them. Take actinics for exapmle. They are basically worthless for plants but they do show colors of fish better than other lighting. That's why you see actinics in SW setups and not FW.
 
bs6749 said:
3000K is the temperature of the bulb. Plants can only use a certain spectrum/temperature of light...the rest is basically junk for them. I'd look for something in the 5000-10,000K range as suggested. Smaller bulbs can have the same spectrum as large bulbs but that doesn't mean that plants can use them. Take actinics for exapmle. They are basically worthless for plants but they do show colors of fish better than other lighting. That's why you see actinics in SW setups and not FW.
Click to expand...

Just to clarify a bit. While 3000K is outside of the recommended range for plants, it will still be of some benefit to plants just a bit less likely to have peaks in the right ranges. The color will also be awefully yellowish in appearance. A bulb that is in the 5000K-10000K is most likely to be beneficial to plant growth and make them look good.

Actinics aren't just for show in SW aquariums, they actually benefit the corals which need more light in the blue range due to their water depth in the wild.
 
That's why I said "basically worthless". It would be much better IMO to go with something in the 5000-10,000K range to get the most out of the bulb.

I thought I remember hearing something about actinics being good for corals but I couldn't remember...not really into SW setups. Makes sense that longer wavelengths penetrate the water more deeply though.
 
Whoa! Thanks for all of the good information! And new2betas, don't worry about hijacking...your questions are probably things I haven't yet thought of so I really appreciate all the help.

The aquarium I have is: Eclipse System 3 Aquarium by Marineland - Aquariums - Fish - PetSmart
and all it says is "9 Fluorescent Lamp" for the lighting section with a product number of "T5-6W". On this website, Eclipse System 3 they say that the lighting is "9" full spectrum, Natural Daylight fluorescent lamp that is ideal for plant growth".

Other than that, I am having a hard time figuring out the color rating.

To neilanh, all I want to do is to have the proper plants for the cherry shrimp to thrive and be happy. It looks like I should get java moss.

Also, the aquarium dimensions are: 13" long x 7" wide x 11" high. Again, thanks for all of the advice. I love this forum!
 
If I am right daylight bulbs are around 10,000K and you should be fine IMO. The lighting should be sufficient as well since you are looking at mainly java moss. Other good plants may be dwarf sag, anubias barteri var. nana, smaller crypts, java fern, etc. I'd keep to "medium light" plants and you should be fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

nanofowlrboy
Plant Identification
Replies
1
Views
384
Fishfur
F
E
Cherry Barb Bully- HELP!
Replies
4
Views
626
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
J
Aggressive Cherry Barb
Replies
3
Views
978
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
B
Should Angel fish go first in new planted tank.
Replies
3
Views
382
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
Danio8
Low kh
Replies
3
Views
751
Autumnsky
Autumnsky

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom