Drift Monkey's Planted Shrimp Bowl

[GMYukonon24s]

That's a nice lamp for the bowl.

[Drift Monkey]

So I went to the LFS today and picked up some dwarf hair grass and a crypt crypt wendtii. I tried to plant them and it basically wasted a LOT more time then I should have and making a mess of everything... In the end, I just ended up redoing the whole thing...I found some gravel to cap the soil off, so I decided to just use it instead of the sand this go around. I kept some of the river plants and re-planted them is well.

Still cloudy:



Only problem is, I bought some cherry shrimp, thinking it'd go smoothly and they'd go in their new home tonight. I guess they're staying in some tupperware for a bit...any idea how long I should wait before dumping 'em in?

[Drift Monkey]

Originally Posted by GMYukonon24s

That's a nice lamp for the bowl.

Thanks, I had it laying around...might as well use it!

[Newman]

for DHG and the crypt, perhaps a dry start (make it humid though) would be best. the HG will spread way faster that way. drain it until there is a little water at the bottom, put plastic wrap over the top and keep it humid. the plants will grow fast and well. in a month you'd have a full and complete looking tank
you'd want to separate the DHG a little more though.

as for the shrimp, you should either have the bowl cycled first or have it full of lush plant growth(via dry start) to have them ave the best chances of surviving.

let me know what you decided to do and i can further help you get this bowl going.

[Drift Monkey]

Originally Posted by Newman

for DHG and the crypt, perhaps a dry start (make it humid though) would be best. the HG will spread way faster that way. drain it until there is a little water at the bottom, put plastic wrap over the top and keep it humid. the plants will grow fast and well. in a month you'd have a full and complete looking tank
you'd want to separate the DHG a little more though.

as for the shrimp, you should either have the bowl cycled first or have it full of lush plant growth(via dry start) to have them ave the best chances of surviving.

let me know what you decided to do and i can further help you get this bowl going.

Hmmm...I hadn't considered a dry start for the bowl. I feel like a picked the wrong plants now...this is quickly becoming more work than I bargained for haha. So maybe I can have the DHG growing around the crypt in the middle? I was also thinking about getting some dwarf sagittaria and putting it somewhere...

Anyway, for the dry start...would I be removing all of the gravel in order to let the plants grow out? Or will the DHG grow through it? As for separating the DHG...I'm assuming I'd just need to gently pull it apart until I have maybe 3-4 small patches to surround the crypt with?

I can always toss the non-rooting plants in another tupperware I suppose...that's where my shrimp are living right now....they seem to be doing fine.

I am also debating starting another small project in my now empty picotope...but that might have to have its own thread...

[Drift Monkey]

Welp, it's officially dry now...everything seems to be doing ok. Answer my questions Newman!

[FisheriesOmen]

Lol your just like me when I first saw his shrimp bowl and asked him questions constantly for a month :P. Good times

[Drift Monkey]

Been a while since I updated, so here she is. I let her dry start for several weeks then filled her up. I just gave a DHG another trim because it was starting to breach the water surface.

Unfortunately all 3 of my cherries died...so I'm going to have to grab some more...but not until I figure out what the problem is with that. The water has been clouding up for some reason, and I think it's just been a combination of the dying duckweed and snail poop.

In other news...I got a Fluval Ebi as a graduation gift!

[albirdy]

have you checked your water parameters?
are you sure the potting soil isn't leaching?

[Newman]

looking nice!

what snails are in there? during weekly water changes, you could take out decaying plant matter.

then test to make sure its cycled and make sure you arent getting cloudy water. after all is good get some shrimp

[Knotyoureality]

Originally Posted by Drift Monkey

Hmmm...I hadn't considered a dry start for the bowl. I feel like a picked the wrong plants now...this is quickly becoming more work than I bargained for haha. So maybe I can have the DHG growing around the crypt in the middle? I was also thinking about getting some dwarf sagittaria and putting it somewhere...

Anyway, for the dry start...would I be removing all of the gravel in order to let the plants grow out? Or will the DHG grow through it? As for separating the DHG...I'm assuming I'd just need to gently pull it apart until I have maybe 3-4 small patches to surround the crypt with?

I can always toss the non-rooting plants in another tupperware I suppose...that's where my shrimp are living right now....they seem to be doing fine.

I am also debating starting another small project in my now empty picotope...but that might have to have its own thread...

Personally, I've had stayed with your original set up and let it develop to see where it went on its own. Part of the beauty of small bowls like this--and I've nine going at the moment--is testing things out thru reasonable levels of trial and error. My main shrimp bowl has cardamine lyrata and crypts in fluorite. Without heavy feeding or fertilization and just indirect lighting, growth has been slow, though the lyrata has broken surface and is starting to grow emerged and the shrimp are now climbing among crypt stems instead of over the leaves. When the crypts get too big I'll see how they respond to heavy pruning to force them to throw out new small leaves or start pulling some out. By then, who knows? Maybe I'll be ready to break down the entire bowl and move 'em into a larger tank.

[Drift Monkey]

Originally Posted by Newman

looking nice!

what snails are in there? during weekly water changes, you could take out decaying plant matter.

then test to make sure its cycled and make sure you arent getting cloudy water. after all is good get some shrimp

Thanks, but I've since torn it down when I moved. I am gonna start it back up pretty soon though I think...I need some plants for it though. I like your little LED lamp...was it from Ikea? I think using one of those next go would be much cleaner if it's strong enough to sustain the plants.

They were just pond snails I'm sure...hitchhiked into the bowl.

The good news is, I started my 'real' first planted shrimp tanks (Ebi and Edge)! The threads are somewhere around the Planted Nano Tanks forum, check 'em out and tell me what ya think!

I'm thinking of just stocking some culls into the bowls...that'll be a good home for 'em!

Originally Posted by Knotyoureality

Personally, I've had stayed with your original set up and let it develop to see where it went on its own. Part of the beauty of small bowls like this--and I've nine going at the moment--is testing things out thru reasonable levels of trial and error. My main shrimp bowl has cardamine lyrata and crypts in fluorite. Without heavy feeding or fertilization and just indirect lighting, growth has been slow, though the lyrata has broken surface and is starting to grow emerged and the shrimp are now climbing among crypt stems instead of over the leaves. When the crypts get too big I'll see how they respond to heavy pruning to force them to throw out new small leaves or start pulling some out. By then, who knows? Maybe I'll be ready to break down the entire bowl and move 'em into a larger tank.

Yeah probably, I can always go collect more plants from the river again! We'll see...this thread will get an update when I start my bowl back up!

[Newman]

I am glad pond snails never made it into my bowl. pretty unheard of - having a planted tank w/o pest snails :P jk

yes the lamps is from ikea for about $20. i got mine off [Ebay Link Removed]
it may or may not be good enough for actually growing out plants to fill a bowl. i grew mine with a 11W CFL, and then in the last few months replace with this LED. it has done a good job of keeping the plants alive and well. They do grow, just probably not as fast as under the CFL. its only 1W after all lol.

I have some extra yellow shrimp in my bowl if you want them.

[Drift Monkey]

Originally Posted by Newman

I am glad pond snails never made it into my bowl. pretty unheard of - having a planted tank w/o pest snails :P jk

yes the lamps is from ikea for about $20. i got mine off [Ebay Link Removed]
it may or may not be good enough for actually growing out plants to fill a bowl. i grew mine with a 11W CFL, and then in the last few months replace with this LED. it has done a good job of keeping the plants alive and well. They do grow, just probably not as fast as under the CFL. its only 1W after all lol.

I have some extra yellow shrimp in my bowl if you want them.

Yeah...I was trying to figure out some way to rig up a 3W+ LED setup for a bowl...that'd be nice. We'll see.

I'm actually cycling the ol' Picotope for another shrimp tank (addicted much? ), so I may take some yellows off your hands soon enough! ...and I guess that means ANOTHER thread...