Help Gearing up Shrimp Tank

I just picked up a Marineland 5.5 gallon (16x8x10 inches) with a glass canopy. So now my questions:
For beginners, it's recommended to start with a 10 gallon tank... you'll have more stable water parameters than in a smaller tank.


1. I want to do a dark substrate so that the shrimp "pop" potentially even black substrate
Black Diamond Media Blasting Sand or any black media sand is fine... the Black Diamond costs $8 for a 50lb bag.


2. I want to plant, what plants do you recommend?
I'm not great in regards to plants... I have crypts, hornwort, java moss, flame moss, java ferns, lace ferns (windelov), moss balls, and pieces of some anubias plants that were either not thriving (nor were they dying) or a tiny piece of the rhizome broke off from the main plant. Some people like banana plants, swords, pelia moss, subwassertang moss, etc.


3. I plan to use a submersible filter so they can breed. For a 5 gallon, any recommendations?
Air driven sponge filter. They can breed in tanks with HOB's too, but sponge filter is all you really need with shrimp.


4. Same for a heater as the filter.
Most the heaters for that size tank are geared for betas. That said, the shrimp may do fine in room temp water. Ideal temps are 68-72 degrees, but can handle slightly cooler or warmer temps. (this goes back to stability.... where-in a 10 gallon being recommended)


5. Any light recommendations for a tank that small to make plants grow? (No CO2)
A CFL bulb around 6500k is probably sufficient. It may help to have root tabs and *maybe* fertilizers to help the plants grow. (there are shrimp safe fertilizers out there!) Shrimp don't create a lot of waste, so it's harder for them to provide nutrients for the plants.


Basically, what should I put in there to make it a great place for my shrimp to have a happy thriving life.
Maybe at least one decoration that the shrimp can use to hide in (shrimp caves, driftwood, cholla wood, or?), plus plants (moss is great!), a little algae growth and stable parameters.



Just so you know, it helps to have a GH and KH test kit, preferably liquid test kit. Shrimp require somewhat specific parameters, although Neos are a little more forgivable than some of the others. If the GH is too low or high, they may not be able to molt properly and die. Likewise, a diet too high in protein (and I don't know what the limit is... but they do eat a lot of algae!) can cause deformities.

https://www.discobee.com/blogs/news/17030569-dwarf-shrimp-water-parameters

Just my 2 cents:

1. The Fluval Shrimp Stratum is nice for a couple of reasons. It helps to buffer water, decent substrate for for plants, somewhat dark color, and with such a small tank it won't be too expensive.
2. Easy plants that grow at slower rates, so you're not having to thin out that 5 gallon every week. Java moss will provide excellent cover for the baby shrimp. Mini java ferns will provide some cover and look nice. Anubias nana petite is an awesome, near bulletproof plant. Plus all of these do well with minimal care.
3. I like the looks of the Azoo Mignon 60 filter. It has a prefilter sponge over the intake and gives you more options if you ever want to add carbon or other media.
4. Try with no heater and monitor temp while tank is cycling. You probably wont need one as long as the room stays around 72. If you do go for one, get something tiny like an Aquatop NH-15w and use a controller like an Inkbird as a safety net.
5. Finnex clip light is nice and small with a decent spectrum. Most other small led lights are just blue/white. Keep in mind that lights give off heat, so something like an incandescent hood right on top the tank will cook it.

hiding spots: java moss, small pieces of driftwood, cholla wood, slate. You can break up slate and make little caves, or lean slate pieces on wood, etc. You'd be looking for small thin pieces of slate, likely the stuff at the bottom of the bin where its sold from.

I'm doing something similar in my office at work and this is the stuff I have it whittled down to for me. Good luck and keep us posted on your project

Zoidberg, thanks for the reply! I'm definitely not a beginner to tanks, just to shrimp, that being said, I would have loved a 10g or more, I just don't have room, this is sitting on my desk with my work computer. The desk isn't that big!
You're new to shrimp, so I would consider you to be a beginner, and still wouldn't recommend anything smaller than a 10 gallon, unless you are fully aware of GH, KH and TDS and learn how to do water changes in a shrimp tank. With fish, you may be fine just pouring the water back in, but with shrimp, it's better to put the water back in via an airline hose, and with such a small tank, probably best to use air valves to drip it back in.

How does that black diamond do with rooted plants, is it too fine for them to really put down root? Do the shrimp like a sandy substrate over say a small gravel? Should I put something like Flourish in there as well with that sand?
My plants seem to be fine in the Black Diamond Media Blasting Sand. Maybe they'd do better in soil or substrate for plants? Maybe they'd do better with root tabs? And regular dosing of fertilizers?

All I can say is that I have at least two varieties of crypts, the larger variety, the biggest plant is about 7" tall, and the smaller variety, they reach up to 3" tall. I got the plants in clusters, and broke them up to provide more cover. They did melt after getting them, but grew back just fine.

I don't have root tabs and only infrequently fertilize and the plants and shrimp seem to do fine. Pretty low tech setup. I did end up removing one of the hornwort plants because it kind of overgrew in the tank where-as all the other hornwort didn't grow quite as fast.

I'm not super familiar with BFL bulbs, I don't want to "overlight" my tank and cause a huge amount of algae (Even though the shrimp may like some of it, they don't want an entire forest of the stuff) What kind of bulb do you recommend and light system to put in? I use LEDs in my other tanks.
If you can find an LED light for your 5 gallon, then I'm sure that'll be fine!

I use T8's and T5's. These are hoods though, except for the T5's which is just an aquarium light but not a hood. I did recently get an LED hood, and the first time I plugged it in, it worked fine, but I didn't leave it plugged in, and it hasn't worked since. It's a used hood though, so I can't return it for a new one. I was planning on using it, to see how it compares to the other lights, but since it doesn't work... well, kind of hard to compare.