I don't really want any fish, but I'm open to suggestions if there's something that would love my parameters...
I did want a betta once upon a time, but I don't think I can properly care for one (because of the water)...
I've been wanting shrimps (especially cherry) for a couple of years now.
Disclaimer: I'm a poor college student so I can't really afford to do anything too expensive to support my interests.
At the moment, I have a 20-gallon high aquarium.
It has a 40-gal sponge filter, this substrate, and a chunk and a half of Mopani wood.
I've kept 3 nerite snails in it for about a year now along with 6 marimo moss balls, 4 of which are still super bright green.
I had an Anubias sp. but I moved it into a terrarium. I had some other stem plant's but they all died after a while.
I've added some plants above the water. Pothos, dracaena, and a sweet potato. Just so the roots will grow into the water (it's only been a few weeks now).
I have some duckweed, amazon frogbit, and a few moneywort floating about as well.
I want to add ground covering plants but I still have to research them a bit.
I was warned that too many plants would not do well without an appropriate amount of bioload, so things might change.
Now, the water here is very hard, but it's stable.
For a quick estimate, I used some swabs I had handy (I know they're not a favorite).
I tested 2 weeks ago and again a few days ago, the results were similar:
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0-20 (not quite 0 but not nearly dark enough for 20)
"Total Hardness": 300 (maxed out) (is this the same as 18+ GH?)
"Total Alkalinity": 300 (maxed out)
pH: 8.5 (maxed out)
Water temp: 70°F +/-2 degrees (I don't have a heater, I'm open to getting one)
(I have a water test kit, and I can get more accurate readings if you think it'll help).
I had some questions regarding this though,
Thanks for any help!
I did want a betta once upon a time, but I don't think I can properly care for one (because of the water)...
I've been wanting shrimps (especially cherry) for a couple of years now.
Disclaimer: I'm a poor college student so I can't really afford to do anything too expensive to support my interests.
At the moment, I have a 20-gallon high aquarium.
It has a 40-gal sponge filter, this substrate, and a chunk and a half of Mopani wood.
I've kept 3 nerite snails in it for about a year now along with 6 marimo moss balls, 4 of which are still super bright green.
I had an Anubias sp. but I moved it into a terrarium. I had some other stem plant's but they all died after a while.
I've added some plants above the water. Pothos, dracaena, and a sweet potato. Just so the roots will grow into the water (it's only been a few weeks now).
I have some duckweed, amazon frogbit, and a few moneywort floating about as well.
I want to add ground covering plants but I still have to research them a bit.
I was warned that too many plants would not do well without an appropriate amount of bioload, so things might change.
Now, the water here is very hard, but it's stable.
For a quick estimate, I used some swabs I had handy (I know they're not a favorite).
I tested 2 weeks ago and again a few days ago, the results were similar:
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0-20 (not quite 0 but not nearly dark enough for 20)
"Total Hardness": 300 (maxed out) (is this the same as 18+ GH?)
"Total Alkalinity": 300 (maxed out)
pH: 8.5 (maxed out)
Water temp: 70°F +/-2 degrees (I don't have a heater, I'm open to getting one)
(I have a water test kit, and I can get more accurate readings if you think it'll help).
I had some questions regarding this though,
- Is this at all salvageable for any freshwater shrimp (or other inverts)?
- Should I resign myself to keeping only snails?
- Would a faucet filter/water softener attachment thing lower pH?
- Also, what is alkalinity?
Thanks for any help!