Few quick questions from a beginner...

[In2wishin]

Originally Posted by thechibi

For what it is worth, I found investing in one of Peter Hiscock's plant encyclopedias and poking around SnS for plant pictures both very handy.

The SnS is a good place to get fish. Most snails are fine! There are some super cool ramshorns, applesnails and more. Umm. Well, there are a few nanofish that are safe but might eat some of the babies - hiding places are good. Otocinclus cats won't eat them, though. My Corydoras habrosus are so chill, I've seen the baby shrimps bop into them and send the catfish running off. >_> Or the big shrimp poke them or ride on them. I think they're either doleful or laid back...

I am really happy with CPD's in my shrimp tank. I have seen them poke around the shrimp food when there were lots of little shrimplets eating and they only grabbed a bite of food, never a shrimp. Whether they go for the super-tiny just born, I don't know but my colony is growing steadily so they aren't doing significant damage if they are.

[thechibi]

CPDs, chili rasboras, um, I think strawberry rasboras seemed to be good picks. It's important to remember that fish don't read their species profiles, so it can be hit or miss. It's probably good to have a hospital tank in case you need to quarantine or move some guys or keep them away until you can sell/trade them.

As far as moss, super glue, string and all that? Both are good approaches with their own merits, so neither is really superior. I like the fishing wire because I can undo it any time I like. But lots of people love the super glue, too. Some folks even grind up the moss and just let it go that way.

Cholla wood is a good decor too and neoshrimp has an awesome leaves/cholla wood/shrimp kibble pack. People have told me to be careful if you use Seryu stones though. Actually, be careful with rocks period and make sure you know exactly what they are before putting them in.

[Kunsthure]

Let's see, fish I've kept with shrimp... Green-eyed rasboras and pygmy cories were the last to share a tank with my RCS. There's also been a molly, guppies, platies, paleatus (sp?) cories, a very unusually mellow betta, black harlequins rasboras, julii cories in an emergency. All were safe. Any tetras will destroy shrimp, even neons.

But it's best to stick to things like micro-rasboras, like my green-eyed. Msjinkzd is a power seller here and she specializes in micro fish. Check her out if you don't have a good LFS.

-Lisa

[pejerrey]

Lisa, this doesn't look like its been growing for a long time, it looks like you superglued it the same day or the day before!


I think thechibi's looks waaay better than yours!

Lol! :P

I'm hi-joking the thread, sorry!

[acitydweller]

I think a 200 watt heater on a fluvial ebi tank is overkill considering your ambient temp is around 72-74 already. Maybe go for a 50w.

Remember that less is more and keeping things simple makes things easier to correct. The biggest challenge for most of us is getting the water parameters to where these Shrimp thrive. The difference between keeping them alive and thriving is seeing them walk around sluggish at the bottom, spending most days hiding or trying to escape the tank in contrast to seeing them graze on biofilm all over the tank, swimming at all levels of the tank, chasing each other or seeing many many baby shrimps all active in the tank. It's quite a sight if you've never seen a successful tank.

The happiest I have been keeping shrimp is seeing dozens of little red and white candycane specs wiggling in a dense thicket of moss then watching these guys grow over the following weeks.

With that said, stick with few types of plants. It makes netting and tank maintenance much easier. In nano tanks, try to adjust the aspect ratio to make the tank look larger than it really is. These are just some tips on how to have fun with all this.

Enjoy and share some photos when you have some.

[Kunsthure]

Not that I'm trying to be a pushy saleswoman, my lace java ferns are small and would work great in a small tank (because they used to ).


That DW Is about 8" tall, I'd say. I had many plants growing on it that started from two about two years ago.

-Lisa

[CoolhandLocke]

Out of town over the weekend, but have had a change of plans. The ebi order got cancelled (long story) and after reading about people getting busted tanks I decided to go with my original "want" which is a seaclear acrylic. A friend of mine has one and really liked the look of it so I believe I'm going with...

Seaclear 20 gal

Total change-up, but it's bigger and I can do more with it in the long run. It comes with basically nothing though so I'm going to go ahead and order a filter in the next few days. Without going too in-depth with things, any good recommendations on a filter for that kind of tank? I've been reading about sponge vs. HOB vs. Canister vs. UGF and it gets a little overwhelming to say the least lol.

[Kunsthure]

Liam (Mordalphus) has a DIY UGF that runs off a canister that apparently works really well. I have HOBs on my two smaller tanks (two per tank). Lots of shrimpers swear by sponge filters but I think they're so unsightly and don't move as much water as an HOB. The more water that goes through the filter, the cleaner your water will be. Plants need the water movement and the shrimp need the clean water: win-win. AquaClear makes the best HOBs IMO (I just happen to have one the perfect size for your tank ). If you go HOB, use two. It makes for cleaner water and it gives you a backup in case one dies. But you *must* have some sort of pre-filter on the intakes or else shrimp will get sucked up. I use the sponges from AC filters as my pre-filters. Make a slit in it and slide the intake in. I found out a few days ago that the sponge for the AC 50 cut in half is the perfect size for one intake.

-Lisa

[pejerrey]

I would change the word vs for and.

Have a sponge, an hob and a canister.

Run the DIY UGF with the canister as Lisa suggests, and use a fluval sponge in the intake of the hob. You can add an air driven sponge, but I think with the small fluval is enough. The hob is easy place to use carbon or purigen or plants.

I have one tank with all of the above and another one with two canisters doing the UGF and sponge.

A lil example:

[82nd_Airborne]

Just a word about stocking, I've had 2 orders from Msjinkzd aka Rachel aka Invertebrates by Msjinkzd, and they have been great. The first even had a berried female, so bonus. I know I've seen great things about all the sellers listed in this thread too, but just thought I'd drop my 2 cents.