jcrabbit

Things are looking lively in my 5-gallon tank! What's new: A pinch of pearl weed Java moss Blue neocaridina A bit of trimming on the dwarf hair grass The shrimp are feeling secure in their new home and can be seen swimming all around the tank. They've been molting frequently. I've not had to feed them much since there's so much algae and biofilm for them to graze on. I'm now shifting my energy to my 40-gallon tank.

I added them to a separate 10 gallon tank to keep watch on them before adding them into the 40 gallon tank, where they will end up eventually. I am going with the advice from this blog post, specifically They seem physically ok. When it comes to shyness, The Internet says it's natural, given the change in environment. tldr; they are being quarantined, as far as I know how to quarantine things.

@Mynameisnobody I didn't add any meds since the fish look healthy. I do have the med trio available if any symptoms of bacterial, fungal, or parasite infection appears. Thanks for the feedback!

Hi everyone, I spent the last year of keeping neocaridina in a 5 gallon tank. This year, I got a 40-gallon tank with the intention of keeping fish. I started by adding plants and waiting until they are thriving and growing new leafs. I also waited until I had gone through the brown algae phase. Last weekend, I got ten emerald eye rasboras from a LFS and put them into my quarantine tank. My quarantine tank is simply a sponge filter in a 10-gallon tank, with some slate from my backyard for shelter. I keep the entire tank shielded from light for most of the day (Not in complete darkness, however). The fish have been very shy. They might swim around the bottom of the tank. When I remove the covers to see if they look healthy or not, I sometimes find them hiding under the slate shelter I've made for them. I'm not surprised that they'd be shy. I am, however, worried that they might not be eating. I'd break up flake food into tiny pieces and let them float. However, I'm not sure if the fish are eating. I guess I'm not sure if I should be doing anything different. My plan is to keep the same routine: Clean the tank of any debris and do a water change daily (unfortunately I forgot to clean the slates before adding them to my tank, so the water got a bit cloudy); Feed them three times a day; and keep the tank dark so they'd feel more secure. I'd love to hear if there's anything else I should be watching out for. Thanks, everyone!

I added a couple of critters today. I might have been overly cautious in waiting so long before adding anything, Next time, I might add critter a bit sooner once the plants are growing nicely. Today, I added two Nerites. The local fish store was out of red cherry shrimps, so they will need to wait for another day. Here they are at the end of the day, already starting to make a visible dent in the algae colony.

I can't believe it's been more than a month. Here's an updated shot from yesterday. Here's it is after a cleaning. It has been a difficult time for my plants. Unfortunately, the bacopa caroliniana from my original tank did not survive the transition. In hindsight, I did not provide adequate care to keep them submerged and healthy. On a positive note, the dwarf hairgrass and amazon sword from the original tank are still doing well. Since my last update, I have purchased an anubias nana petite, a pogostemon stellatus octopus, and a dwarf sagittaria. Unfortunately, the pogostemon and anubias are both dying. It is unclear what caused this, but it could be due to bad luck, the algae in the tank, or possibly just a temporary phase that they will eventually grow back from. Once the plants are established and thriving, I plan to add some red cherry shrimp to the tank. I hope it works out.

What is a safe level of chlorine/chloramine for an aquarium tank? I've seen the internet claiming a danger threshold at 0.1, 0.05, 0.005, and 0.001 ppm. The main issue is that there are not many test kits available that can measure chlorine levels with a precision of less than 0.1 ppm. This makes it difficult to accurately determine the chlorine levels in an aquarium tank. Say the safe level is 0.05 ppm. In my area, the water coming out of the tap has a chlorine level of 0.2 ppm. It would be very difficult to detect trace amounts of chlorine in water that has been diluted 40 times, even with a highly precise test kit. Given the lack of reliable data on this issue, it seems impractical to demand such low levels of chlorine/chloramine in an aquarium tank. It seems to me, for most aquarists, it may be more realistic to simply use a chlorinator whenever using tap water to ensure that the water is safe for their tanks.

I am building out a 40 gallon Petco tank. The bottom has an area of approximately 600 square inches. I am trying to get a sense of how many carpeting plants to buy, but I'm having trouble finding a guide on it. For example, let's say I want to use dwarf hairgrass or pearl weed as the carpeting plant. Let's say the rule of thumb is to break a pot into 8 pieces and plant each piece one inch apart. That'd require 12.5 pots per 100 square inches. But is that the right approach? Of course one can always buy less plants and wait for them to grow in. So I know the answer is more or less "it depends on your budget." But I'm curious to hear how people estimate the amount of plants to buy. I'll also be getting plants to put on rocks and wood as well so I'm also curious on how to guesstimate how much to buy when it comes that scenario. Though I'm still trying to educate myself on what kind of plants are appropriate there. Thanks, John

I got started in the hobby a year and a half ago after my wife got me a 5 gallon nano tank. That's when I realized, after some research, that 5 gallons is too small for keeping fish. Well, it is not recommended for keeping fish. So my first aquarium pets are RCS. I am nostalgic for them, but I think I'd keep them in the 5 gallon tank to start with instead of trying to force them to live in a community tank. I am looking to develop a low maintenance planted eco system in the 40 gallon, with a diverse number of species: Snails, bottom dwellers, and schooling fish. I'm starting with choosing the right fish, then eliminating what won't work with them. I have a long list of fish that I'm doing research on. Which brings a few other concerns to mind I appear to have hard-ish water. The API testing strips says I have 180ppm of kh and gh. I appear to have 7.0 to 7.6 pH. This rules out things like the neon tetra and the green neon tetra. I talked to one of the LFS yesterday. The employee told me they get their fish once a week and monitor them for 1 day. That doesn't seem much better than buying fish online. I want to support my local businesses but I also want to be wise. @Guppysnail I will definitely check out the zebra danios! When it comes to overpopulating, don't guppies eat their young? How does overpopulation manifest itself?

Hi yall, I'm planning on getting a 40 gallon planted tank. I'd like to have a community tank with a few different fish. I have some assumptions I want to run through with the people here and get feedback. It's not a good idea to keep RCS in a community tank. It sounds like this is possible, but it seems to make things harder for a beginner. Right now I am assuming it is best to plan for a community tank that will not include RCS, which allows for including some fish that are not shrimp friendly such as the silver tip tetra. Fish are hardier/easier to keep than RCS, generally speaking. I.e., guppies will be easier to care for than shrimp, assuming timely water changes. i.e., start learning with fish before trying to setup a shrimp tank. It's better to buy fish from a local aquarium store than online. The main assumption is that the local store will likely stock fish that will thrive with the local parameters. It also means a more limited selection of fish to choose from. That's all for now. Thanks!

Thanks everyone! Love this forum!

Newbie here. It seems like there is really no harm in quarantining rcs. I plan on buying about ten RCS from a local store. The first time I got shrimp, I ordered from Aqua Huna. I had no idea what I was doing and I just added them to my 5 gallon tank. They turned out to thrive well, lasting about a year until I caused their death from poor care. This time, I am trying to do things right and avoid introducing pests and diseases. I will have a seasoned tank with just plants which I want to be their long term home. I can get another 5 gallon, un-planted tank for QT if they need to be quarantined for a prolong period. As a rule of thumb, I am curious how long to quarantine for. 30 days? 60 days? Somewhere in between? Do I medicate RCS during quarantine? Thanks in advance, John

My previous tank had a terrible scuds infestation, which devoured all my plants. Not only that, I didn't take good care of the tank, and my little troop of 10 cherry shrimps died off. I've cleaned out the tank and restarted it. I did my best to clean off the plants. I think they are scuds-free. I have an idea on how to deal with them if they return. Today, I've replanted my plants: Dwarf hairgrass, bacopa caroliniana, and an amazon sword. The sword & caroliniana are in really bad shape, but I feel hopeful that they'll survive. I'd like to try raising cherry shrimps again if this planted tank thrives once more.

My 5 gallon shrimp tank was invaded as well. The scuds devastated my plants. I'm planning on getting a second tank so I can keep some scud eaters. From the research I've done, it seems some of the shrimp friendly fish, like the ember tetras, will eat scuds without going after the adult shrimps. However, you'll need to find a second tank for your baby shrimps. Goos luck!

Hi everyone, I'm new to the hobby but has been following Cory for about a year now. I started with a 5 gallon shrimp tank, but am recently dealing with an infestation of scuds. In the new few weeks, I'll be cleaning it out and restart a new tank. Hopefully keeping my shrimps and plants alive through the process. I'm planning on building a 40 gallon tank as my next project.