The Planted Tank Forum banner
Cancel

Setting up a new shrimp and planted tank

1130 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  mahoro, 
mahoro
Hi guys.. new to this forum and kinda new to aquarium too... had some when i was a kid.. but thats about it... have a 20g tropical terrarium now with a screen cage top to create a second level (sorry no pic yet.. getting a new cam for my self for xmas) it has around 8 gal water in it with some land mass in the middle and a wood that leads up to the second level it holds 2 res, one red belly, a chinese water dragon and a cuban tree frog... all baby size... it also has some crab and hermit crab in it to eat the junks... in the process of getting a 55gal for the turtle when they get bigger, anyways back to the main topic...
i want to set up a 20g - 25g tank for shrimp and plants... what i have in mind now is get a tank that comes with a top and lightings... (i was thinking about getting a eclipse3 system, but saw a lot of bad reviews about it) and set it up with a external hang in the back filter, ugf with reverse powerhead flow setup, a jbj uv sterilizer and the hagen co2 system (might hook it up to a diy coke bottle system in the future) i need help on if thats the right kind of setup i need for a shrimp/planted tank... and what else do i need... what kind of gravel and etc etc...
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
FrostyNYC
Probably not the best idea to go with an UGF in a planted tank. For a 20-25 gallon, you may be better off going with a small canister filter, or good HOB that disturbs surface tension as little as possible.

Popular substrates are ADA Aquasoil, EcoComplete, and Flourite. Others are laterite and soilmaster select. Doing a search on here and looking thru the substrate section will give you tons of info. I really doubt you need the UV sterilizer, unless you're prone to really bad green water or disease outbreaks.

Keep in mind that most shrimp are sensitive to ammonia and nitrates/nitrites, and do best in an established tank. You may be better off starting off with some hardy fish and a couple ghost shrimp until things get rolling, and then move on to amanos and cherries, and work your way up to difficult shrimp from there. Good luck!
Reply
Save
Like
mahoro
ah thanks.. i cross off the ugf with powerhead system from the list... it was idea from a friend's shrimp tank.. cept he has all plastic plants and rocks...but he does have a all plant tank with nothing else in it but snail... he has the uv stuff in his... so i guess thats out of the list as well.. so i should cycle it for few weeks.. then add some fish in it then the shrimp? i really just want a tank full of plants and shrimp.. no fish what so ever... how do i do that?
Reply
Save
Like
mahoro
for my 55g turtle tank i was going to get the rena xp3... that should work very well for the 20 - 25g tank right?
Reply
Save
Like
evercl92
mahoro said:
for my 55g turtle tank i was going to get the rena xp3... that should work very well for the 20 - 25g tank right?
Click to expand...
XP3 for the 20gal? That's way overkill, too much current. An XP1 would be plenty.

mahoro said:
so i should cycle it for few weeks.. then add some fish in it then the shrimp? i really just want a tank full of plants and shrimp.. no fish what so ever... how do i do that?
Click to expand...
Without some source of ammonia, you can't have a cycle. Just letting the tank run for a couple weeks really doesn't accomplish anything.

Start off with the plants - lots of fast growing stem plants.
You need to decide if you are going to get into CO2 and fertilizers, to determine what kind of lighting you'll want.

Then, I see 2 options:
1. Add a couple or 4 cheap fish (typically zebra danios), to start the cycle. The plan will be to remove these in a week or two (RES food, perhaps), then add your shrimp.

2. I've never 'cycled' a shrimp tank. They don't produce nearly the amount of ammonia that fish do. I've just planted the tank, and added shrimp. I may have waited 10-15 min before adding the shrimp, to let them acclimate.

I don't see any point in cycling a tank if it's going to be for shrimp only. I'm not saying start off with 200 shrimp, but you could certainly get 20-30 to start with.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
W
evercl92 said:
I don't see any point in cycling a tank if it's going to be for shrimp only. I'm not saying start off with 200 shrimp, but you could certainly get 20-30 to start with.
Click to expand...
You need to cycle a shrimp only tank regardless of the amount of shrimp.
Reply
Save
Like
mahoro
i use feeders to cycle my res tank... and do a 70 - 80% wc everyweek... its got enough filter to run a 100gal tank... water stays nice and clean and clear and it doesn't stink up the home either... thats why i figure to use xp3.... so i guess i'll also cross that off from the list and move down to xp1 or 2... i was thinking about start with a lot of plants first for the first few weeks.. then add in around 20 shrimp to start... i do want to end up with at less 50 or so shrimp...
i don't know much about plants other then java moss, java ferm, swords... i am planing on making a moss wall for the bg, i guess i'll have to figure out what other plants i want too... can someone give me a list of easy to take care, low light setup too...
Reply
Save
Like
O
In my experience if you are throwing 20 shrimp into a 20gal tank thats 1/3 or more filled with moss (or some other plant) then you don't need to "cycle" it. The moss already had bacteria on it and the moss itself should remove any ammonia the shrimp produce.
Reply
Save
Like
mahoro
hmm... got my aquarium today... a 34gal with top, 2 sets of lights a nice stand, and even comes with the eheim ecco 2234 on for only 150, its inside my kitchen loaded with water for leak test... need to order some new hoses for it tho... its a bit too short, hope to get a new cam soon so i can start some kind of dairy of some sort...
next step is to get some of those aquasoil
Reply
Save
Like
mahoro
okay.. my 34g tank is around 22inch high, 13inches wide and 30inches long... how much aquasoil will i be needing to get?
Reply
Save
Like
ikuzo
there's this substrate calculator around.
http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html
Reply
Save
Like
mahoro
ah sanks... i got 2 bags of those soil today and started on the tank.. will start up another thread in the photo section...
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
The Planted Tank Forum
A forum community dedicated to Aquatic tank owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about flora, fauna, health, housing, filters, care, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Tank Journals General Planted Tank Discussion Equipment Fish Shrimp & Other Invertebrates
Top