Looking for some advice on my first 10 gallon planted aquarium

[kaidemarco]

The aquarium has come out really, good, its definitely got a jungle look to it now. It has monte carlo, cardinal, amazon sword, anubis, tiger lily, java fern etc. A lot of the dwarf hairgrass has been unrooted and now just floats on the top, its ok because my guarami seems to like the shade. It's getting a a little out of hand though, and while I'm happy to give my fish places to hide, It's getting to the point where I'm worried if something dies it will be hard to find. I can count the fish (1 honey guarami, 6 neon tetras, 3 serpae tetras), but I have like 5 or 6 ghost shrimp and snail. The shrimp are basically impossible to find, I can find maybe one or two at any given time. One died the other day on the wall of the tank, and I started wondering if any other died and just got lost in the weeds. Also, I have been periodically removing water mold that has grown back by the java fern. So my questions are

1. If a shrimp dies, will it be bad for the tank? The last shrimp died, and I was so busy I noticed it but didn't make time to get it out until the weekend(just started a new job this week). By the time I went to remove it, it was 100% gone, I guess the other shrimp and snails went to town on it.
2. With this many plants, are water changes necesary? I know my bio load is on the higher side, but I did a water check after the shrimp died and everything, including nitrites, were 100% good. It's been a few weeks since I did a water change now.
3. Any reason in particular a shrimp might die that I should watch out for? Every once in a while I drop a shrimp food pellet in there but not often.
2. Are there any other benefits to trimming the plants, or can I continue to let it grow? (how would you even cut plants in a tank like this)
4.How to get rid of water mold for good, cause its gross

 

[Aiken Drum]

1. If a shrimp dies, will it be bad for the tank? The last shrimp died, and I was so busy I noticed it but didn't make time to get it out until the weekend(just started a new job this week). By the time I went to remove it, it was 100% gone, I guess the other shrimp and snails went to town on it.

Ghost shrimp are quite big, and your aquarium isn't. If an adult ghost shrimp died and wasn't removed you would expect it to effect water quality. The fish and inverts would eat it in short order, but its all nitrogen going into the water that your cycle hasn't established to remove. It would be short term, but if you see a dead shrimp remove it. If the water quality was effected you would expect to see signs in your fishes behavior and then look to do a water change and look to see if there is anything missing/ dead. Just something to keep an eye on same as any aquarium.

2. With this many plants, are water changes necesary? I know my bio load is on the higher side, but I did a water check after the shrimp died and everything, including nitrites, were 100% good. It's been a few weeks since I did a water change now.

You arent all that heavily planted, i would say thats moderately planted at the moment, but will will become heavily planted once the plants grow in.

While zero water change aquariums are a thing, its not always a good idea, and you need to other things instead of water changes, not just stop doing water changes.

One of the things that you would need to look at for a no water change aquarium is a very small number of fish and nutrient demanding plants. Your stock is quite heavy for a 10 gallon aquarium. And most of the plants you are keeping are low nutrient demand plants, so won't take all that much nitrogen out of the water. The plants you have that are more nutrient hungry would would do better with specialist lighting and injected CO2, so maybe not do all that well, and without light and CO2, probably won't take all that much out of the water. The plants may not do as much work as you expect.

You do water changes for more than just controlling water quality. While plants are taking up some of the toxic nitrogen compounds that fish release, they aren't likely taking up them all, and if they are taking up them all, you probably need to be dosing back more to ensure the fish get enough nutrients. Water changes also replenish essential minerals that used up building the bodies of fish, plant growth and the nitrogen cycle uses carbonate hardness. Without water changes, you would need to dose these minerals. Water changes remove harmful pathogens, parasites etc and keep them at a low level. Without water changes these can grow unchecked.

3. Any reason in particular a shrimp might die that I should watch out for? Every once in a while I drop a shrimp food pellet in there but not often.

Shrimp should only go into well established aquariums. You havent mentioned how long the aquarium has been running, but 3 months minimum for shrimp, 6 months would be better. New aquariums haven't built up enough biofilm and algae for shrimp to feed off.

2. Are there any other benefits to trimming the plants, or can I continue to let it grow? (how would you even cut plants in a tank like this)

Your plants aren't grown in yet, you will probably want to keep them trimmed once they establish unless you are wanting a jungle look. Just pull out complete leafs from the sword as it grows, remove the java fern and trim it down and replace. The anubias won't grow very quickly, so probably won't be a problem. The hair grass and monte carlo might not establish without specialist lighting and CO2. See how it goes.

4.How to get rid of water mold for good, cause its gross

Whats causing the mold? Uneaten food? New wood?

 

[kaidemarco]

Ghost shrimp are quite big, and your aquarium isn't. If an adult ghost shrimp died and wasn't removed you would expect it to effect water quality. The fish and inverts would eat it in short order, but its all nitrogen going into the water that your cycle hasn't established to remove. It would be short term, but if you see a dead shrimp remove it. If the water quality was effected you would expect to see signs in your fishes behavior and then look to do a water change and look to see if there is anything missing/ dead. Just something to keep an eye on same as any aquarium.

You arent all that heavily planted, i would say thats moderately planted at the moment, but will will become heavily planted once the plants grow in.

While zero water change aquariums are a thing, its not always a good idea, and you need to other things instead of water changes, not just stop doing water changes.

One of the things that you would need to look at for a no water change aquarium is a very small number of fish and nutrient demanding plants. Your stock is quite heavy for a 10 gallon aquarium. And most of the plants you are keeping are low nutrient demand plants, so won't take all that much nitrogen out of the water. The plants you have that are more nutrient hungry would would do better with specialist lighting and injected CO2, so maybe not do all that well, and without light and CO2, probably won't take all that much out of the water. The plants may not do as much work as you expect.

You do water changes for more than just controlling water quality. While plants are taking up some of the toxic nitrogen compounds that fish release, they aren't likely taking up them all, and if they are taking up them all, you probably need to be dosing back more to ensure the fish get enough nutrients. Water changes also replenish essential minerals that used up building the bodies of fish, plant growth and the nitrogen cycle uses carbonate hardness. Without water changes, you would need to dose these minerals. Water changes remove harmful pathogens, parasites etc and keep them at a low level. Without water changes these can grow unchecked.

Shrimp should only go into well established aquariums. You havent mentioned how long the aquarium has been running, but 3 months minimum for shrimp, 6 months would be better. New aquariums haven't built up enough biofilm and algae for shrimp to feed off.

Your plants aren't grown in yet, you will probably want to keep them trimmed once they establish unless you are wanting a jungle look. Just pull out complete leafs from the sword as it grows, remove the java fern and trim it down and replace. The anubias won't grow very quickly, so probably won't be a problem. The hair grass and monte carlo might not establish without specialist lighting and CO2. See how it goes.

Whats causing the mold? Uneaten food? New wood?

Thanks so much! A big reason I was asking about the water changes is because I may be moving soon and was hoping to leave my father with an easy-to-care-for tank. my local fish shop takes all donations, so that may be the route. The tank is about 6 months old. As for the mold, probably uneaten food, as all the wood is fake. I am always scared I won't feed them enough though, and the weaker ones will starve!

 

[Aiken Drum]

If you are looking for low maintenance for your dad, and 50% water change once a week on a 10 gallon plant is going to take less than 10 minutes, so that's pretty low maintenance in my eyes.

Personally, i would just stick with the anubias and java fern for low maintenance. The cardinal might do ok, see how that goes. I would remove the carpeting plants as they will probably need a little more input from you to do well. And remove the amazon sword and tiger lotus as they will probably outgrow a 10g aquarium by a significant margin unless you keep up with plant maintenance. Turn down the lights, and add a dose of all on one plant fertiliser like Seachem Flourish with your weekly water change.