[sfsamm]

I'll just start with 3 weeks is quite long to leave a tank unattended of any kind. That said a well adjusted neocardinia colony in an established system in a planted tank with automatic lighting would in all likelihood be ok. I want to stress ok, they too will likely still suffer in your absence.

With periods up to 3 weeks that you'll be gone regularly, I'd say no on the fish and just stick with the shrimp. And do the largest tank you can. If that's 12g do 12g, as stability is difficult to maintain in a small tank and stability is vital to keeping anything in a glass cage.

Heavy planting will be to your benefit, use a plant specific, non-ammonia producing, sand substrate and get the best of both worlds. I LOVE Flourite black sand for this. Floaters whether duckweed, frogbit, salvinia etc. I'd steer clear of water lettuce as it can grow large if happy and not maintained and if it melts it can do so quickly and crash a tank. Duckweed maybe a bit high maintenance as well because of how quickly it spreads it often needs manual removal weekly. Plants like anubias and Java fern are too slow growing to help maintain water parameters much and actual rooted plants such as crypts or stems are going to work better. Anacharis, mermaid weed, comboba, hornwort are some of the better options to pull nitrAtes.

Shrimp eat more of the biofilms in the tank that establish over time. Algae itself isn't exactly their main food source though their consumption of biofilms and scavenging habits do help control it.

Snails.... In 12g, no supplemental feeding for up to three weeks and no water changes either, personally I'd skip them for now and if things remain stable down the road you could probably consider a nerite (maybe two in a 12g).

Problems :
Cycle your tank with out stock and keep it stable for a couple months before shrimp are added.
Add only a few shrimp to start, maybe a dozen.
Skip the endlers that's just a tank waiting to crash over one starved endler kicking off to fiahland while your out and spiking Ammonia in a very precariously situated tank.

Encoragements :
I've left shrimp tanks with only botanicals for feeding for months, closely monitored. I used harder botanicals such as Turkish hazel, Guava leaves, Cholla wood, etc and did so in two tanks set up slightly different. One 5g was thick with Fissidens moss about 3" deep across a 17"x7" section with some Anacharis stems and a small Crypt variety, also included one fairly large and hollow piece of Malaysian driftwood, several pieces of Cholla (6-7 5" lengths), one Turkish hazel, 2-3 Guava leaves and a Monkey pot that had been in another tank. The other 10g tank has several orphan stems, something like 6 Ludwigia, 4-5 Rotala, about a dozen Bacopa, a softball sized ball of very happy Christmas moss, some Java fern, small Crypts, a bunch of Anubias in several varieties, and some Buce. Has some scrapy driftwood (Malaysian and Spiderwood I think), 3 pieces of Cholla, a bunch of little shrimpy things with lots of surface area like a couple 2" pieces of PVC screen pipe half buried, a pile of ceramic cubes, some dome things, and was entirely covered with water lettuce I was saving overwinter to start up my pond in spring. I also kept the tanks at 68-70°F. Reproduction was slow but still present. Both received 20% water changes every other week. Both only kept shrimp during this period. Both tanks were well established and running about 2 years when I started it, both were well prepared in advance and I was there pretty much daily if anything went sideways. Nothing did. So I can honestly say that it's entirely possible to leave neos for MONTHS unfed and water changes bi-weekly were plenty sufficient. I have never been one to slack my weekly maintenance so I couldn't convince myself to wait more than two weeks to water change. I imagine if you keep the fish and snails out and maintain an appropriately sized colony that you could find a way to clear 3 weeks on occasion without major issues.

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[sfsamm]

I know this is a rather obtuse remark but based on my experience with my 75 I have experienced good things this Year only after leaving it alone for a couple of weeks and letting nature take its course. It was rather eye opening!


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I've had this experience more than once with tanks I was having struggles with. Sometimes not touching it is just exactly what the fish Dr ordered... Other times though it's a very terrible idea but knowing what a tank needs only comes from observation, experience and sometimes a bit of frustration or experimentation. They're all different, every single one.

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[sfsamm]

That's valuable input. Thank you. I can do good tank management while I'm present but a couple of times a year I need to leave it. I can give it *less* light easily, if that's appropriate. I am more worried about the algal growth being too low than too high but maybe I can cross that worry right off the list.

I guess I could put a filter on it while I"m gone but I hadn't planned on that because I figure if I get some kind of equilibrium without a filter it might be best to not disturb it. I dunno, what do you think?

You need a filter on it from day one... Even if it's just air powered sponge filtration. That seriously isn't really negotiable. Sponge filters for smaller tanks are dirt cheap (like $2-$15) and you need a complete and stable nitrogen cycle if you hope to keep a healthy shrimp colony let alone considering adding anything else...

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[sfsamm]

Anything and everything "can" go wrong when you're not there. A 3 day trip can be a massacre and a mess if a power outage hits and say your air pump polarity reverses and syphons your tank... Oh yes check valves to stop that because it actually happens yet people still don't spend $.10 to prevent to.
It doesn't sound like you like what you've heard... And I support the experiment (crusify me non believers) because without at least somewhat educated experienced people testing the limits and trying new things the hobby would never be where it is today.
That said I'm not going to tell you what can go wrong. Murphys Law. That's all.
I will say that if you do the endlers absolutely skip all snail thoughts... In my opinion. Second I think they'll may well likely survive your outings but I do not think that it will be a healthy period for them.

I surely wouldn't risk one of my shrimp colonies for an endler or 5. Maybe I like my shrimp, maybe I don't like endlers, maybe I don't like the odds of what your considering, doesn't matter. You do you. Do it right, take your time, make sure you have as much time as possible like 6 months to a year before you ditch it for three weeks. Don't fail on the preparation and you might just succeed. At least I think there's a chance at this working out beyond the reaches of Murphys Law and statistics as I see them.

How about what could go right?? You might succeed. That's an easier question to answer.

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[sfsamm]

I agree with the concept but this sounds like a trial-by-fire situation rather than a controlled experiment where you can monitor things and step in if needed to prevent further suffering. The latter I support, the former I don't. If OP is really determined to go this route, the 3 week hands-off period needs to be thoroughly tested and confirmed successful while he/she is around, first. Anything else can, and probably will, result in unnecessary suffering brought on by selfish motivation, IMO.

I agree 100% with this hence why I've mentioned proper prep. You can't properly prepare for something like this by reading online. You must prepare and trial and watch and be diligent before just leaving... I regularly try new things that I've determined in theory to work but never do I attempt or leave an attempt without myself having time at least daily to sit down and take in exactly what is happening and watch very closely for any issues before they become real issues. And I'm always prepared to make all necessary changes or actions to correct issues that may arise. I myself have no intention on allowing my tanks to "feel" neglected even if I am not doing my routine maintenance.


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[sfsamm]

I agree with blacktetra on the plants. I don't think slow growers are in your best interest, but obsessively fast growers (like duckweed) are just as bad. A happy medium with plants that can quickly adjust to nutrient levels is best. They may be a little unruly after three weeks but not obscene and killing themselves or other plants off like duckweed is apt to do in the same period. Slow growers on the other hand just won't be pulling the nutrients from the water you're apt to need when you are away.
I also like crypts for a root plant that does well in lower light and star repens as both seem (for me) to grow in direct relation to nutrition and lighting available and at a pace that is absolutely easily managed once they adjust and get established.

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