Box of shrimpies

[sourgrl]

Hello, TPT! Just getting into the hobby thanks to my 3 year old son's love of all things fishy. Before getting him a tank the only aquariums I was familiar with were saltwater and the average fresh water gravel and plastic plants set up. It wasn't until after I got his tank set up that I discovered the beauty of planted tanks. Now "just one tank" is becoming three! The tanks I've seen on the forum have been great inspiration as I become familiar with the hobby. So, I thought I'd start small and progress from there as well as share it with those who'd like to take a look.

This little 1 gallon tank was given to me by my sister inlaw. I thought it'd be a great way to get into a planted tank and hopefully some shrimp.

No mechanics of any kind. Substrate is just basic aqurium gravel. Hardscape consists of a piece of driftwood, a couple rocks, and an aquarium Elephant decoration from the LFS. Plants are regular and windelov java fern, frogbit, moss balls, and christmas/süßwassertang/java mosses. Light is from a standard cfl bulb and 3-4 hrs of indirect sunlight. The only plant not doing well is the frogbit; bummer, it's my favorite. My original plan was to add cherries but blue velvets and fire reds are very appealing. For now there's a couple ghosties calling it home.

Thanks for looking

[GMYukonon24s]

Nice setup!

[Knotyoureality]

Hurrah for minimal tech--my favorite. Seriously, out of 13 tanks in the house, I've only got filters on 3 of 'em.


Frogbit can take awhile to find it's footing in a new tank but if you don't start seeing some new growth, two main things to consider are lighting and fertilizers.

You might not be getting enough light, especially if the indirect sunlight you're getting doesn't hit at enough of an angle to illuminate the TOP of the leaves. Side light does little for these guys. Not sure what bulb you have, but consider switching it out for a 6500k bulb. No need to order from an aquarium place, just start sleuthing the lighting aisle at Home Depot (or your local equivalent).

In terms of nutrients, I've not found frogbit to be particularly choosy. Any reasonable liquid fertilizer dosed daily will go a long ways to keeping them lush, but with such a low bioload you'll want to do at least some supplemental ferts.

[Bananariot]

Crank up dat light for more growth xD

[sourgrl]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm dosing with Florish but I'm just figuring out the right dosing schedule with the light I have. I think my issue with the frogbit has been too much light but not enough ferts. I was just dosing during water changes, which I do twice a week. Upped that to everyday just before I turn on the light. Now I've got some new leaves on what's left so I think I've found a happy place between the ferts and lighting. *fingers crossed* The rest of the plants are doing very well.

[livebearer]

i am a fan of elephants , i just love this idea!

[Koi Kameon]

[QUOTE=Knotyoureality;2695434]Hurrah for minimal tech--my favorite. Seriously, out of 13 tanks in the house, I've only got filters on 3 of 'em.


Ditto. The simpler, the better as long as you don't overstock.

[MABJ]

What kind of cycling have you been doing with your tanks?

Even where there is no filter, it is important to have a bacterial colony built up.

I wouldn't really recommend more than 5-10 shrimp in something like this without a filter.

Interesting start so far.

My other suggestion is when you get lighting right, you don't usually need to dose smaller tanks with ferts.

[GMYukonon24s]

Nice start to this little tank!