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3.5G Betta Paludarium for my Office

20K views 129 replies 15 participants last post by  Basil 
#1 · (Edited)
History of Tank

The 3.5G is a rimless rectangular tank with black silicone. I bought it in early 2011 to house a half-moon betta. Went for a short vacation, came back home and there he is lying dry on the floor... :eek:

Then i decided to start a shrimp tank. I had a couple of danios from my 10g, so I temporarily put them in the tank after to help with the cycling. Have been rearing Cherry red shrimps for a months plus, then I realized how heavy maintenance it is to have a cherry shrimp. A little shift in water conditions, and they molt, if they're not ready to molt, they'll die molting. Also, I was having trouble to get some MALE shrimps to get them to breed. All I got from LFS seems to be female eventhough the shopkeeper says they are male..

But, Whatever, Now, I have a pretty betta in there. I haven't chose a name for him yet. I'll let my kid choose it for me later.

Current Spec:
3.5G.
Hob Filter
No CO2, No Ferts
Ikea Lamp with CFL bulb.
ADA Soil Amazonia
Ambulia
Bacopa
Rotala of some sort
Couples of DW that looks like a sunken ship!

Current Condition of the tank

 
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#2 ·
Ok, here are some pics... finally I got 3 Red Cherry Shrimps.

The Tank: (3-4gallon ish)


Close up:


Another shot:


I notice one of the shrimp is doing swimming laps.. while the other 2 just grazing around. I guess I got 1 male and 2 female (not really sure). But I hope so...

I am planning to add some stem plants on the left later. Probably just take some from my 10g.

COMMENTS?
 
#11 ·
Good start! That tank looks way bigger than 3.5 gallons. That's a compliment.

The best part of multiple tanks is you can share parts, pieces, and plants to make them look better. The bad part is more water changes!

Sometimes I was much happier with my inexpensive tank made from spare parts than I was my big expensive fancy tank. Maybe you'll find the same.
 
#15 ·
Bad news. Second shrimp died on me. He started off being inactive (not grazing, but just sit around with less movements).. then suddenly he just died.

There is now 1 shrimp in there, and he is looking pretty healthy, actively grazing on the mosses and plants.

I think the main reason for the death is the non proper acclimation. Getting more shrimps today.
 
#16 ·
I just added 5 new shrimps. I did the acclimation for 1 hour. (mixing of my tank water into the LFS water gradually over 1 hour)... all of the shrimps are AOK till today and actively grazing my mosses. AND!!! I SPOT ONE WITH RACING STRIPES!!! Crossing fingers for berried shrimp later!! HOO AHH!

Here is the snapshot from side:
 
#26 ·
Okay.... it seems my shrimp dislike that super white pebbles. They seem to be keeping away from it. LOL. So I decided to take it off. I tied the plastic branch to a small pebble and put some christmas moss on it and tuck it at another corner of the tank.

 
#27 ·
LOL. Maybe due to their prey instinct? Since they blended into the dark colored substrate they want nothing to do with the white pebbles. I must say I really like your layout in this tank. And that bonsai tree idea! I really liked how you had it in that glass cup thing. I will totally be stealing that idea! I have bare bottom shrimp tanks (had a bad experience with black sand and a HOB filter semi-exploding) so having little vases inside would look cool :p
 
#28 ·
I have been noticing the same for my tetras as well. They dislike anything bright white. Like when I take a piece of white tissue paper and wipe the external wall, they'd be zig zagging at the speed of light in there!!

Yeah, I actually like the glass cup in there as well.. with some dark colored pebbles, it would be nice. That'd be a nice addition to your bare bottom tank! Good luck with that.
 
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