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7 Gallon Red Cherry Shrimp Cube (56k)

20K views 23 replies 10 participants last post by  deleted_user_17 
#1 · (Edited)
Equipment:
7 Gallon /25 Litre Nano Cube
Eheim 2213
Hydor Inline 200w
ATC 300 Heater controller
Black gravel
(The light is temporary - 12W 6500k)

Flora:
Java Moss
Taiwan Moss
Marimos
Java Fern

Fauna:
Red Cherry Shrimp
A cheeky snail or two

My first shrimp tank was a good introduction to keeping them, but it wasn't that shrimp friendly. Easy for the shrimps to get into the back filters :/ The glass was a bit worn. I will be able to have much more control over things with this tank (I hope!). I want to scape it a bit, but still have the main priority on the shrimp's environment.

I saw this tank and really liked it, hopefully I can do something nice with it. Just plan on mosses and low light plants.


Here it is when I first got it. I am going to run it without the glass top - I can keep my temps lower but I will have to top off more.


I found this interesting piece of wood, but after soaking it for weeks, it ended up being removed as there were lots of holes in that produced white mold. I got it from the vivarium section, so maybe it was never going to work. Ah well!


Substrate in. Cleaned off some silicon and had given it a good clean. I am going to stick with this substrate as it's easy to build up. I want to get some height going to make use of all the tank, makes it more interesting?


I stuck some moss on the wood. I liked the look, little did I know it would end up in the bin!


Here it is in the tank. Just running the tiny filter that came with it. I swapped this out for an Eheim 2213 eventually. It's now cycled, I'm adding ammonia daily to keep it going. The light was pretty crappy, so that is getting replaced. I also got an inline heater, just to keep the tank as free from equipment as possible. I hooked up a temperature controller to that today, as insurance against it going wrong.


Before I threw the wood away, I salvaged some twigs...


And made a little feature.


Here it is in the tank.


(I need to get a better photo than this) This is how it looks today. I cut up a piece of driftwood and stuck it to a piece of slate, then stuck on some moss. I don't think it will stay where it is, but it will do for now. The light is temporary. I am waiting for a clip on to come from China. I'll get an appropriate CFL for it. I also wedged in something to cover the background.

It's been running for 2 months now. Am starting to see some biofilm. Just waiting to get a stand for it and for the shrimplets in the other tank to get a bit bigger before I move them.

I will add the tubes and moss from the other tank, and hide the intake better. So I expect the light scape I have done so far to change.

When moving the shrimps, I plan to get the temps of the tanks the same, put the shrimps in a bucket, remove water from new tank and put tank water from the old one in.

Thanks for looking :)
 
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#2 ·
Yes, this setup is much cleaner than the other, nice job!

I really liked the first piece of driftwood you used...you should reconsider using it! The slimy white mold that builds up is typical of driftwood and nearly every piece will develop it after a period of time. It does go away though...and I've even seen my shrimp picking at it!
 
#3 ·
Thanks :) It's going to be very mossy I hope!

Ahh that piece of wood, I really like it too, but I spent weeks doing WCs with in a bucket before the tannins came out, then it just leached mold and that started to get everywhere.

It did calm down but still came out of some holes on the side and I got fed up with it and threw it away!!

I thought I was being patient with it, but maybe not!! :)
 
#6 ·
Well I finally moved the shrimp to their new home. I bought a unit for the tank to sit on that's at a good height for viewing and drilled holes in that so everything (filter, heater etc) could fit inside - I'm really pleased with how uncluttered it all is.

I'm still waiting for the light to turn up, so this lamp will be changed.

I lost an adult the day before I moved them :/ and I lost a juvenile about 2 days after I moved them over.

They have been in there about a week now and appear to be very happy. There are lots of places for them to graze and chill out.

The water is amazingly clear and the greens are super green. I'm planning on letting it grow out for a bit and will probably add a new moss at some point. I will maybe add something to the left-back corner to balance it a bit, but I'm not sure - I kinda like marimo moss corner, but it could do with some height.


I finally got to count how many shrimplets there were - 27. I still have two adult females, so all in all, 29 shrimp made it into the new tank. Hmm minus one juvenile means there are 28 in total now. Here they are in the bucket, while I move their water over and get things ready!


FTS. I'm really happy how this is looking. The plants are nice and green, the flow is good for the shrimp and there are a few different places for them to hang out. I sit and watch them for ages :)


Feeding bowl in, spinach time :)


As the tank was running for months before the shrimp went in, algae build up on the cholla wood...


24 hours later and they had eaten it all. Om nom!

Here are some more shots...










This photo makes me :)


Aww look, it's the special one! It still didn't grow like it's siblings. Always good to see him/her though :)







Thanks for looking :)
 
#8 ·
Looks great! As for the white mold that was growing on the DW, was it fuzzy like cotton? If so, that's safe for shrimp. In fact, they would have enjoyed eating that mold. As long as you boiled the wood, THEN the mold came out, it would have been safe!

Either way that new scape looks really nice :)!
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the kind comments guys, I'm really pleased with it. I don't think it would look anything like this if it wasn't for the forum, I've read and learnt so much here.

Fingers crossed that it stays green and that the shrimp thrive.

Diwu, it was kind of a white flat jelly. It started covering the wood where it was cut, then came out from the insect bore holes it had. Then it just started to get everywhere. I read up on it and I think it was just water mold, but as I didn't have anything in the tank to eat it, it was just going to spread.

I still have a tiny bit on the suckers that hold the spraybar and filter input, I think the shrimp will deal with that once they find it.

Cheers though, I will bear it in mind for the future :)
 
#16 ·
Thanks Microw :)

I bought it from pets-at-home of all places. They are sold as cold water tanks. It came with a filter but this wasn't very good. The tank and the glass are lovely though. It's 5mm ultra glass (whatever that is!) and has a lid and a sponge base too.

Best bit is that it was only £24! I went back and bought another one after I saw it set up.

I would phone ahead if you have any stores in your area, I think its proper name is just 25litre cube aquarium.

Cheers :)
 
#19 ·
Time for a photo update? Yes!

The tank's been ticking along ok. Well, apart from the 2 shrimp I lost last week. And one a couple of days ago :(

Two of them had that strange gap in their shell, I think it's from a bad molt. I am feeding spinach at least twice a week. Hopefully that will stop.

My water is all within parameters, except TDS which is around 250. I started using distilled water from the supermarket a month or so ago. That's made life easier but I think I preferred mixing RO. I'll see if I get any more fatalities.

As you will see, the rest of the shrimp seem to be happy with the conditions..

Ok, photos..


Here is a young Java fern coming through. In fact I have few growing now. I have a question... The tops don't look healthy, are the shrimps nibbling at them when they first start to grow, or is it something else?

Ok, no more questions..


As I feed spinach regularly, I wanted a better way to feed them than sticking my hand in, and weighing down the spinach with gravel. So I made this. It's a piece of fishing line, with a some gravel glued to the end. I then cook the spinach and thread it onto the line. I make a loop above it, as sometimes it floats up.

They really like it as there are lots of angles for them to feed, and I like it because I don't get my hands wet and I can drop it at front of the tank for better viewing.


Yumm


:)


Here is a male saying hello! (In a moody sort of way!)


Chilling like a boss :)


Here is the special one. It hasn't grown. Aww. Still cool though!


I know that a lot of people like these type of photos.. :)







Haha, we see you!








Hellooooo :)

And finally..



I spotted my first berried shrimp a day or two ago! This is my first berried shrimp, so I am rather happy about this :)

Also, I did a water change yesterday, and within 20 mins I saw a molt. Then a few hours later I saw a male go up the female and they totally get it on! They started on top of the driftwood, but fell off, locked together. Obviously I have never seen this before. I did take a few pics but I will spare you!

So by last night I had two berried shrimp!

I think I am going to make a cull tank. In the main tank I have one male that is hardly red at all and then there is the special one. So I might move them out into another tank and any others in the future that don't look so red. I will still look after them the same though :)

Thanks for looking! :)
 
#20 ·
That leaf does look like some type of vitamin deficiency. I can't say what exactly but I definitely have had to dose ferts in my shrimp tanks, as their poo just doesn't cut it.

As for your pictures, this one is my favorite!

very epic!

And great idea on that spinach hook :)! I don't like having my hands get dirty all the time either! You shouldn't feed everyday though. Maybe feed 3 times a week.
 
#22 ·
Glad you like the pic diwu :)

All my young java ferns have this problem, just at the tips, then they are fine. I don't really mind too much. I don't know anything about ferts, if there is an easy one that's definitely shrimp safe I might have a go.

Thanks GMYukonon24s :) I now have 3 that are berried. It's going to get quite busy in there if they all make it.
 
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