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What's a good carpet plant and moss for a .5 gallon shrimp tank?

3K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  Daisy Mae 
#1 ·
TLDR: I am completely new except for lots of searching google, this forum, and reddit. I want to plant and shrimp a really small tank with a carpet (what do shrimp like in carpets), a moss tree (I have heard shrimp really like the moss?), and some sort of hideout (any ideas?) with a plant on top, using only daylight if possible (maybe DIY co2, but its a tiny tank so it would have to be scaled back).
I got a marima .5 gallon betta tank that I thought looked nice, and figured it would be a cool tank for a really small walstad planted shrimp tank. I plan on having some sort of carpet on the outside of the inner cube, a "moss tree" in the middle section, a hideyhole thing for the shrimp to play in, and two or three shrimp. I plan on putting it beside a window for the whole day instead of getting a light since the tank is so small and I want plants that don't need co2 or tons of light.

Here is what I think would grow without extra light or co2, but I don't know if they would be good for the shrimp.
Hydrocotyle tripartita http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/4458/4458) - Most likely this. This apparently grows fast in less co2 and water but I don't know how good it would look in such a small tank because it apparently grows upwards a lot, although I could have it grow up one side.
Marsilea Hirsuta (http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantde...ta(010TC)/4428) and Crenata (http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantde...a(010BTC)/4762) - I think would look the best even though this grows slower, crenata may be too small though.
Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo' (http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantde...9;(025TC)/4442) - Would probably look terrible in the conditions but i'm not sure.


These are the mosses I have found for the moss tree or possibly the hideout. I don't like the look of many mosses like java moss or spiky moss, and flame moss might not work too well since it grows straight up.
Phoenix Moss (http://www.aquamoss.net/Fissidens-fo...s-fontanus.htm) - This looks the best in my opinion, and I won't have to trim it which is nice. Tropica (http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantde...nus(002F)/4390) says that they need more light than most mosses, but I think it will be fine.
Vesicularia dubyana 'Christmas moss' http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantde...nus(002F)/4390) - This looks the second best.
Vesicularia ferriei 'Weeping moss' (http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/4398/4398) - This looks ok but not as good as the other two, and needs to be trimmed more which might be annoying.
Flame moss (http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/4403/4403) would be awesome in the tree but I do not know of a good way to attach it. I would like it on whatever I have as shelter and if possible having it as a carpet would be cool.
Some questions I have are: I know to dry start it, but how long would it be before I add the shrimp in a small tank? I also have no idea which shrimp to use, though I guess neo or RCS would be good. I want to be able to see the shrimp easily so I imagine red cherry shrimp would work well. I have also seen scuds used to clean up the tank, which might work well for a low maintenance.

Bump: Also, Do I add in snails and stuff during the dry start, and how do I get them. I also don't know what chemicals I need to add - I heard the walstad method had enough chemicals but pretty much every post mentions either press. c02 or excel/flourish. What is the difference between these and which should I add?
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Would you perhaps consider something a little simpler for your first project?

I am only suggesting this because you said that you are completely new, and this is quite an ambitious project.

It's just that a small tank is more difficult to set up, and the more elements you want to put in it, the more difficult it becomes to do it well.
A small tank is also more difficult to keep stable for livestock, and a half gallon is very small. i.e. difficult to keep stable water chemistry, stable temperatures etc.

On the plus side, you don't need much by way of materials, and water changes are easy.

All my tanks are smaller than ten gallons, by the way. And if I ignore any of them for a week (going away e.g.), the changes are obvious.

I applaud your decision not to put fish in it, RCS for livestock is a very good choice. You can also add a snail or two (ramshorns, Malaysian trumpet, bladder snail/pond snail).

I think you could do well with a moss carpet (fissidens or flame on mesh), and a moss tree. If you wish to add the Hydrocotyle tripartita, a few sprigs at the base of the tree would look really nice. The tree may be placed in a corner, I think, so you can have a green field (ie the carpet) to view shrimp feeding and antics.

With these plant choices you will not need an active substrate so something like coarse black sand would look good with the green moss and show up red shrimp very well. Good for scale as well. You can put a root tab under the Hydrocotyle to provide nutrients for it.

How does that sound? I tried to pick the elements of your plan that are do-able for a beginner while maintaining true to the theme.

Oh, the hideout, I have seen someone glue together small rocks to make a hideout. You can put this on base of tree beside or opposite Hydrocotyle?

PS with these suggestions, no need for additional CO2 or dry starting. Excel is just a non-gaseous form of carbon that plants can utilize.
 
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