Planted Shrimp Vase

I’m new to this forum and also shrimp keeping which I find totally fascinating. I read up as much as I could before starting my planted vase, cannot believe the wealth of info out there on shrimp.


Here's a Google Photo Album of my setup: https://goo.gl/photos/45C4ZB4nDbunWsi46



I have 2 adult Sunkist Shrimp and one Horned Nerite Snail. One of the shrimp was pregnant when I bought her and she just had her babies, there are photos of her releasing the babies in the link I provided. I almost lost her when she became stuck in netting the store put in her bag of water but she managed to wiggle free. The planted tank is actually a heavy leaded glass flower vase with Aquasolum substrate, about 1-1/2 gallons. It has been up and running for about 1-1/2 months. No filtration or heater, lighting is a desk lamp running a 13watt CFL for 12 hours. I’ve been wrapping a blanket around the sides of the tank at night for warmth.


I’d love to hear what some of the pros think about a couple of recent issues:


1. Is surface film really a concern? I've been removing it with a paper towel but should I be doing that? Noticed a baby hanging from it yesterday so maybe a good thing but doesn't it cut back on oxygen to the tank? I've never let it get too thick.
2. I've read that overfeeding is one of the worst things to do so at first was feeding one small fish flake every couple of days but have stopped doing that since the shrimp seem to be doing fine grazing on the Anubias, Wisteria and Java Moss.
3. Lately the Wisteria is disintegrating. There are oblong shaped white "somethings" on the Anubia stems and some have cracked open (see one of top photos in link). I notice slow-moving oblong shaped critters grazing on the Wisteria. Could these be baby Nerite Snails or more likely freshwater limpets? Also see a different occasional tiny creature jumping thru the water, possibly Daphnia?
4. Shouldn’t I remove any dead Wisteria leaves to eliminate ammonia buildup and replace them with fresh ones that have bluegreen algae from my betta’s tank?
5. Initially I was only running the light for 4 to 5 hours in the evening. Then I read that 12 hours is optimal so I put the light on a timer, on at 11am off at 11pm. Shrimp seem to appreciate the extended light period and are more active. The tank is next to a window but this time of year getting cold and not a lot of sunlight.

I’m using a Canon PowerShot Elph 360HS for now which does an OK job with photos. Thank you for any responses.