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60g moss and shrimp tank (56k warning)

7K views 36 replies 13 participants last post by  carlstreeter 
#1 ·
It seems like the thing to do when starting a new tank is to start a journal.

Since I actually have a vision for how I want this one to look, and what I want it to be, I thought I'd give this a shot. Previous tanks have mostly been hodgepodge affairs. There's a method to the madness this time.

The vision is to create something that isn't too busy, and mostly use texture, rather than color to create interest. My main tank has a ton of colorful plants. Here, I'm trying to stick with only green. Let's see how long that lasts. :)

I also want this to be a lower maintenance tank. So, no CO2.

So, the vision is to use a manzanita hardscape. Currently, I'm not planning any rocks. I'll probably also introduce some small pieces of malaysian driftwood as plant/moss anchors where needed.

For flora, I will use mostly moss attached to the wood, likely adding in some anubias, and various green stems. Especially to start. We'll see what stays long term. I'm also going to try an HC carpet. I've never had carpeting plants before, so we'll see how it goes, and if I actually like it.

The idea is to use multiple different types of moss and have the different textures create the interest. We'll see how that works out.

For fauna, I want to also keep the colors simple. Snowball shrimp inspired the tank, so they obviously get in. I'm also thinking of perhaps some wild-type tiger shrimp (more subtle coloration than CRS or Blue tigers). For fish, a similar palette, and they obviously have to be shrimp compatible. At this point, I'm thinking silver hatchets. And perhaps some of the more simple colored tetras. Bleeding heart maybe? Suggestions in this area are definitely welcome, but I'm somewhat limited by local supply. I'm not willing to have fish shipped in, since I'll already be having shrimp shipped in.

That covers the concept. Next, the equipment list.
 
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#3 ·
And, now to justify the 56k warning.

Here's the blank slate. The stand has doors. It just seems that I bent one of the hinges when I took it apart to paint it. So, the doors are on hold until I can get some new ones.



And here's the giant pile of work that arrived today, courtesy of Manzanita Burlworks. All I can say is wow. Highly recommended. I showed him a picture, told him what I liked about it, and he came back with a fantastic package.



Here's what I put together. Critiques welcome (and desired). The thin piece, 2nd from the right (mostly vertical) is going to be turned into a moss tree. I'm planning to zip tie on a few more branches at the top to create a more flat surface for moss. Hopefully, the weeping moss I got is true weeping moss.



Any comments on the hardscape?

Once I decide I like it, I'll take it apart, and get to work soaking and sinking the pieces I'll be using. Once I saw how much wood came, I decided against my initial plan of soaking everything, and sorting it out later.

One thing to note: I'm planning to use glass tops, so the wood above the top of the tank will be broken just below the top, or the piece will be buried a little. Between the hatchets, and living in a very dry climate, tops will be a must.
 
#4 ·
Love the wood! I definitely want to use manzanita (madrona) in my next tank.

I have driftwood and coconut shells covered in cladaphora in one of my tanks. It is really beautiful, but very slow growing.
 
#9 ·
@seds: There's a fine line between ambitious and crazy. I'll let you know which side I'm on once I figure it out. :) I'm not looking forward to planting this. There's going to be a ton of moss to place, and a ton of HC to plant. My hands hurt just thinking about it.

With the wood 2nd from the right, the plan is to zip tie some more branches to it where it starts curving horizontal, and use weeping moss on the top for a tree like effect. If I can actually make it look like I see it in my head, I think it will be cool. If I didn't have other plans, I would be looking for something else to put there. I don't like it as it is, either.
 
#10 ·
@!shadow!: It was a little over $100 shipped. They have other, smaller packages, but I had to get their biggest package to get some bigger pieces. I didn't want the look of a 4' wide tank with a bunch of small pieces of wood.

The upside is that I have a *ton* of wood left over. I barely put a dent in what I got. So, when I want to rescape my 75g.....
 
#14 ·
I think I crossed over ambitious, and into crazy. :)

I didn't really know how much work I was in for. The answer? A lot.

At this point, I'm most of the way there. I'm not sure how much farther I want to go with moss, but it's easy for now, since I'm out of most of the types of moss.

I used super glue (gel type) to attach the moss to the wood, rather than the conventional way of tying it. It's kind of a pain, but I was definitely able to get moss in places I wouldn't have been had I tied it. The tree would have been a real bear. However, if I were to do it again, I might tie most of it, and only glue the pieces that need to defy gravity.

There are some issues. I don't know if I love the pennywort, but my RCS like it, and I have a ton, so I guess we'll see.

The piece of wood that goes on the left side doesn't want to sink. I may have to resort to extraordinary measures to get it to sink. The main piece in the middle isn't quite there either, but resting a rock on it seems to be keeping it in place. The rock will come out at some point.

It also seems like my fissidens is dead. I think I'll give it a week or 2, but I'm not holding out a lot of hope. I think it just wasn't getting enough light where it was in my other tank.



Time to wait, now. I probably also have a spot for fissidens and 2 more types of moss. I'll probably wait until I ID the "unknown" moss (see next post) before I decide which types I want.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Fauna:
10 lamp eye tetras
8 silver hatchets
4 otocinclus

Flora:
Hemianthus callitrichoides
Fissidens Fontanus (probably dead, though :()
Pennywort
Didiplis Diandra
Bacopa Caroliniana
Mayaca Fluviatilis
Anubias Coffeefolia
Notocyphus lutescens (rare liverwort)
Suesswassertang
Flame moss
Willow Moss - Frontinalis antipyretica
Willow Moss/rare - Frontinalis hypnoides
Taiwan moss
Unknown moss (likely either taiwan or peacock. Sold as willow, but clearly not)
Weeping moss (Sold as weeping. Don't know yet if true weeping or not)
Blyxa Japonica
Cabomba Carolinia
Rotala ?? (Seller thought it was indica, but I'm not so sure.)
Plant similar to mayaca fluviatilis
riccia fluitans
 
#17 ·
The only thing I see you might have issues with is the HC. That plant, usually requires higher light to carpet out, or else it will start to grow vertically, 'reaching' for light instead of horizontally. Also, if you're running Co2, which HC does wonders with, the many sponge-filters you're using might contradict and work against it.
So far it's looking pretty good though!
 
#18 ·
Planting the HC was a bit of a pain. I bought trimmings from someone, rather than getting it potted, so it was really just break off a small portion, stick it in. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. I haven't worked with carpeting plants before. I thought moss was an exercise in patience...

Re lighting, I don't think that should be an issue. If anything, I have too much light for this tank. No CO2, no swords or other plants with big leaves, and a 3x54W T5HO catalina fixture (w/individual reflectors).

I'm thinking that if I have issues with the HC, it's more likely due to the inert substrate, or lack of CO2 than lack of lighting.
 
#22 ·
Just be careful then about algae. If you do have more than enough light, and no Co2, you might have some issues. Just keep an eye open.
 
#23 ·
It's in our living room, so I won't need an eye open. It will be front and center. :)

I'm aware that algae may be a problem. I've started with a fairly short photo period. I forget if it was 8.5 or 9 hours. I do have the flexibility in the fixture to run either 1, 2, or 3 bulbs, and may need to go shorter with photo period. I may also put in some floaters. Probably riccia, since I can grow it in mass quantities in my high tech tank.

We'll see what happens, I guess.

This is the first tank I've done without a gigantic sword plant that wants to shade everything within a 2 foot radius. It's definitely bright in there. Should make for cool viewing of the shrimp once they arrive.
 
#25 ·
A quick update after a week:
I added some more plants. Floating riccia, Blyxa japonica, Cabomba Carolinia, a plant with similar structure to mayaca fluviatilis, but with darker leaves. It may end up being mayaca once they are growing in the same conditions. Don't know yet. And a rotala that was represented as R. indica, but I'm not so sure. It doesn't really match the pics I have seen. I'll grow that one out a bit too, before worrying much about ID.

My last piece of manzanita is *almost* waterlogged. You can see it on the left. It doesn't float, but left on its own, it will pitch forward. I have a couple of pieces of malaysian driftwood holding it in place for now. That seems to be working OK.

All of my manzanita seems to have the white fungus on it. I can't wait for that to go away. And the water is noticably brown. Not as bad as before the water change yesterday, but definitely full of tannins. I may have to start doing water changes 2x-3x per week for a little while. I don't want the pH to fluctuate too much once the shrimp arrive later this week.

I added some silver hatchets, and some otocinclus. This is probably the one toughest on the tank inhabitants--the addition doubled the bioload. At this point, any additional inhabitants will be small percentages, and should be easier to deal with.

Here's an updated pic. The blyxa and rotala are hiding. They need to grow a bit before they will be visible in the right rear.
 
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