mikes 10 gallon shrimp tank

1075 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by mikeb524, Apr 21, 2014

mikeb524

Discussion Starter · Apr 21, 2014 (Edited)

Hey everyone i just went out yesterday and bought a 10 gallon aquarium. It was a used tank and had everything i needed to start a shrimp tank including shrimp. I5 came with about 25 rcs, a tetra in tank filter and a standard single bulb t8 light fixture and some very old broken down aqua soil.

Horror story...

i get home and i get up the aquarium and once i filled it up the tank sprung a huge leak.. I guess u get what you pay for

. quickly and frantically my girlfriend and myself emptied the aquarium and made a run to walmart to buy a new 10 gallon tank.

When we got home I then began the process of setting up the tank.

first I added some organic soil to the bottom of the aquarium. Just a thin layer maybe 1/2 inch. after thaat i took some of the old aquasoil that came with the tank and i added an inch and a half on top of the soil.

you can see the soil on the left and the aquasoil on top of the soil on the right.

Next i added some black beauty sand on top. and i began playing with the hardscape. I chose to use driftwood and here is what i came up with initially.

this has changed a little since. you can see in the final pics.

Finally it was time to plant. i decided to use anubius, green crypts, a stem of willow hygro, and some dwarf pennywart.
also i found some unknown grassy looking plants floating in a nearby lake today and i also planted some. reminds me of microsword.

right now i am hoping to just get the tank running smoothly in time for next weekend. i am recieving an order of about 25 Crystal Red shrimp and i definitely do not want any losses.

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umarnasir335

· #2 · Apr 21, 2014 (Edited)

Dude, keeping shrimp might be a difficult if your tank is fairly new.

Shrimp are way more sensitive to water parameters than fish, so adding any kind of shrimp, whether it be RCS or Crystal Reds will more than likely kill them. I would recommend that you use something like Seachem Stability to make your tank cycle faster, but hold off putting anything in there for at least 2 weeks.

P.S.: even if the filter you bought was used and seeded, I would still wait a week or two in order to avoid the ammonia and nitrite spikes that would happen in any new aquarium.

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mikeb524

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 21, 2014

umarnasir335 said:
Dude, keeping shrimp might be a difficult if your tank is fairly new.

Shrimp are way more sensitive to water parameters than fish, so adding any kind of shrimp, whether it be RCS or Crystal Reds will more than likely kill them. I would recommend that you use something like Seachem Stability to make your tank cycle faster, but hold off putting anything in there for at least 2 weeks.

P.S.: even if the filter you bought was used and seeded, I would still wait a week or two in order to avoid the ammonia and nitrite spikes that would happen in any new aquarium.

I know but I have used the seeded filter from the previous owner, substrate is all straight from an established tank ( except for the organic dirt) and so is 50% of the water. The driftwood too has came from another tank so there is plenty of beneficial bacteria. Also I will be running a sponge filter as well in the aquarium which is in the holding tank with the cherry shrimp right now.

So im thinking I should be okay. ( I hope!)

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bassistjon112

· #4 · Apr 21, 2014

Looks really good, a classic look. For me RCS have been really hardy.

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ctaylor3737

· #5 · Apr 21, 2014

Looks good, sucks getting a leaky tank but you can easily reseal it if it's in the seam.

-Chris

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mikeb524

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 21, 2014

ctaylor3737 said:
Looks good, sucks getting a leaky tank but you can easily reseal it if it's in the seam.

-Chris

I was thinking about resealing it but didn't have the time to reseal it and wait to use it unfortunately. I think I will reseal it though! If nothing else I can use it as a at tank.

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ctaylor3737

· #7 · Apr 21, 2014

Yea, I imagine your surprise. I came home to a hose blowing off my filter, wasn't fun.

-Chris

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mikeb524

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 21, 2014

bassistjon112 said:
Looks really good, a classic look. For me RCS have been really hardy.

Thanks! I am new to aquascaping. Plant growing isn't new tho. I've been keeping plants successfully for at least 4 years.

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mikeb524

Discussion Starter · #9 · Apr 21, 2014

ctaylor3737 said:
Yea, I imagine your surprise. I came home to a hose blowing off my filter, wasn't fun.

-Chris

Oo man that's scary. I hope that never happens to any of my canister filters

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