[Twimbo]

Well, I know I'm hooked now. I'm starting my second tank journal and will be posting my third very shortly.

I set up this quick and dirty Red Cherry Shrimp tank a month or so ago, in a spare 10 gallon tank.

However, it just wasn't much fun to look at. Anticipating a complete redo of my 38g tank in the weeks to come, I placed two plant orders this last weekend, with the shrimp tank in mind.

My 38g tank has a flourite substrate and I'm experimenting with a potting soil substrate in my 20g. So, I decided to give Eco-Complete a try in this tank. I'd only need one bag.

I'm really still a newbie, so ordering plants is something of a guessing game for me. Between my two orders, I had about 15 different types of plants arrive yesterday and today. I picked out some that would look nice in the shrimp tank and began to plant.

I'm really happy with the results. Now, to see if I can get these plants to grow in this tank. (NOTE: The floaters are left-overs that I plan to plant elsewhere in the next day or two).

The shrimp seemed very active and visible in this tank, with the plants and the black substrate. It was so much more fun to watch them this evening than it has been in the past. One of the females is clearly ready to have babies. I had not noticed this in the old set-up.

Specs:

• 10 gallon tank
• Temporary Lighting = 27 Watt Compact Florescent desk lamp
• Air driven sponge filter
• Heater (I need to check)
• I plan to add DIY CO2 tomorrow
• Ferts - I plan to go with the Seachem liquid ferts for now (including Excel)

Questions:

1) Any reason I can't stick with the desk lamp to light this tank?
2) Is DIY CO2 compatible with the air driven sponge filter - OR - is the sponge filter leaking all the CO2 into the air? Do I need to hook the sponge up to a powerhead?

Any comments or suggestions?

 

[lilsoccakid74]

The desk lamp will probably provide enough light for most plants. what kind of shrimp do you have?

 

[Twimbo]

Red Cherry Shrimp

 

[ZooTycoonMaster]

Wow you're off to a great start

If you want the 4 leaf clover to carpet, try planting a group of 1-5 plantlets in a checkerboard pattern 2-3" apart. That'll get them to spread fast:thumbsup:

 

[hydrophyte]

The looks great so far.

 

[Twimbo]

Same photo as yesterday.

Here is the current plant list - if I identified everything correctly (I have a list of everything I bought, but am not 100% sure that I matched the right name to the right plant, in every case):

• Marsilea quadrifolia (four leafed clover)
• Echinodorous acicularis (Amazon Sword compacta)
• Eleocharis acicularis (Dward hairgrass)
• Anubias barteri v. 'nana'
• Echinodorus quadricostatus (Cuban Chain Sword)
• Myriophyllum tuberculatum (red watermilfoil)
• Hygrophila polysperma 'sunset'
• Rotala sp 'nanjenshan'
• Alternanthera reineckii 'roseafolia'
• Crypt Walkerii

Purchased about half from Crispino Ramos, through the swap-n-shop. The rest from AQUARIUMPLANTS.COM.

Any comments or suggestions?

 

[Twimbo]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

I went ahead and hooked a small powerhead up to my sponge filter, rather than driving it with an airline.

I've now hooked up a DIY C02 system. I've got nothing other than an airstone, for a diffuser. Despite this, the plants seem to be doing well and are already showing signs of new growth.

 

[Twimbo]

Well, today I lost my 3rd shrimp in about 5 days. Nothing sudden, just the occasional dead shrimp. I started with about 15 Red Cherry Shrimp, so my population is getting low. Curious if anyone has any ideas, why they would be affected so slowly.

After the first two died, I thought it might be too much CO2, so I started using an airstone at night. But, last night the airstone was on and this morning one dead shrimp?

Any ideas?

 

[hydrophyte]

Still looking good. Do you still have the sponge filter running with an airstone. I would suggest using a powerhead instead. The surface agitation created by the bubbles will outgas all of the extra CO2 that you put in.

 

[Twimbo]

I did attach a small powerhead to the sponge filter a few days ago - and I've only run the airstone at night for the last two nights. I am a little concerned that I'm not getting enough circulation from my powerhead and am thinking about trying another one that I have in my drawer.

I put a drop checker into the tank yesterday and it showed green. I don't have one to devote to this tank yet.

 

[Twimbo]

New photo.... I'm seeing some real growth on a few plants. The four leaf clover has really thinned out, but also begun to spread.

 

[Twimbo]

At this point, I've still only introduced shrimp and snails into this aquarium. However, over the last week, I've noticed an abundance of visiting critters that I never invited into the tank (beyond hitchhiker snails). Most of these visiting creatures are barely visible, but others are a little larger.

Earlier I spotted some red worms, that I assumed were bloodworms, wiggling around in the surface of the substrate. However today, I spotted a bunch of very white stringy worms, slithering across the glass. Much thinner and longer than the bloodworms (if that is what they were).

I don't have anything to worry about, do I?

Any idea what the long slinky worm that I found today might be?

I may introduce some very small fish into this aquarium soon, just not sure if I should wait a short while to see what else appears - or hurry up with the fish?

 

[ZooTycoonMaster]

Sorry I can't help you with your worm problem, but most fish should eat up most of the worms in your tank. So it wouldn't hurt to put a few small fish in, although they may eat some baby shrimp.

Also, the Marselia isn't dying, it's adjusting from emersed growth (out of water) to submerged growth. Soon it'll be darker green, smaller, and have 1-3 lobes on its leaves.

 

[Destroyer551]

Any updates?

 

[angelicodin]

Amazing the before and after pictures you have here.

 

[Twimbo]

Any updates?

Hey, so nice of you to ask!

In fact, I think it is time for an update.

After my last update, I had a small issue with cloudy/milky water. I added a small HOB filter, thinking the cloudiness might have been related to my DIY CO2 set-up. I heard someone had success clearing up the water after getting yeast in the tank, with an added HOB filter. The HOB filter didn't seem to help any, however I was patient and after 2-3 days the water began to clear. Its been about 5 days now and I think its almost back to normal. Some chart I saw suggested milky water indicates a bacteria bloom. Any thoughts?

Anyway, the small uninvited critters in my tank seem to have dimished a bit, but they are still in there. Just some added interest in the tank. I bought 6 Emerald Eye Rasbora because they are small, would add interest to the tank, and they could eat the other little critters. However, at the last minute I decided to put them in my 20g tank for now, until I get the shrimp breeding. That way, if the shrimp don't breed, I can't blame it on the fish.

Virtually all the plants in this tank are showing real growth. The 4 leaf clover seems to be doing ok, but is not growing as quickly as I expected. It shot out some shoots in the first couple days, since then growth has been very slow. But, it seems to be stabilizing.

My pygmy chain sword has had a baby and seems to be spreading in the front left of the tank.

I've had a few saddled shrimp, but the only berried shrimp died in the first week I had the tank set up. Since then, I've not seen any shrimp with eggs. Some of them seem to be acting as if they had eggs (fluffing them up all the time), but I can't see any eggs there. Every day, I watch for baby shrimp. So far, no luck.

 

[Twimbo]

Just saw another "berried" female. Maybe this one will actually hatch some eggs. I'm a little nervous, because her eggs look black. As I recall, my previous "berried" female had orange eggs.

Anyone have any info or comments on the proper color for Red Cherry Shrimp eggs?

Thanks,

 

[dj2005]

Just saw another "berried" female. Maybe this one will actually hatch some eggs. I'm a little nervous, because her eggs look black. As I recall, my previous "berried" female had orange eggs.

Anyone have any info or comments on the proper color for Red Cherry Shrimp eggs?

Thanks,

RCS eggs will either be green or yellow (same goes for the saddles, obviously). Once the eggs are close to hatching, they will turn darker, nearly black. At this point you should be able to see the eyes of the unborn shrimp if you look closely. To be concise, dark eggs are good and means that the shrimplets will be hatching soon.

 

[Twimbo]

RCS eggs will either be green or yellow (same goes for the saddles, obviously). Once the eggs are close to hatching, they will turn darker, nearly black. At this point you should be able to see the eyes of the unborn shrimp if you look closely. To be concise, dark eggs are good and means that the shrimplets will be hatching soon.

Cool!

Just found another berried shrimp. Eggs are green and she can hardly carry them all. They are practically trailing behind her. I bet that these are very freshly laid. I now have at least two berried shrimp. As far as I know, the tank currently has about 15 shrimp. The most I have been able to count at once (during feeding) was 13. Usually, I'm lucky to see 10 at a time.

 

[Twimbo]

About two days ago, one of my two "berried" shrimp turned up dead and I couldn't find the other one for a day and a half. However, late this afternoon, she finally turned up and looks healthy.

Anyway, I was a little concerned, because my first berried shrimp also died (several weeks ago). There are another 10 shrimp in the tank, all of which appear to be fine, so I don't think I can do much about it.

The other change in the tank, is that I did move 6 Emerarld Eye Rasbora's into the tank, because of all the little tiny critters that were appearing. Anyway, I don't think that they will pose any problem and can't imagine that they had anything to do with the recent death. They (the fish) stay away the substrate all together and really stick to the top of the aquarium. This is the first time I've had a fish that is so clearly a top of the tank swimmer. They also school very nicely, especially given that its only a 10 gallon tank. I think that they will do well with my Red Cherry Shrimp.