JettsPapa

I would not recommend a dwarf gourami. It's difficult to find one that's healthy and won't kill everything else in the tank. I don't disagree with honey gouramis for the centerpiece, but pearl gouramis are rarely aggressive toward other species if they're kept in groups instead of single. Here's my recommendation: For the centerpiece, 3 pearl gouramis or 5 honey gouramis, with females outnumbering males. Ten or so of your favorite mid-size rasbora, tetra, etc. I'm a big fan of serpae tetras, especially in planted tanks, but there are many good options. I also like black neon tetras, lemon tetras, and pristella tetras, and they have been pretty much trouble free for me. 6-8 of one of the smaller Corydoras species or. a pair of Bolivian rams for the centerpiece, skip the corys (since the rams spend most of their time near the bottom), and up the mid-size shoaling fish to 15 or so.

Most of my sponge filters have a lid from a to-go cup with a hole in the center for the straw floating at the top with the air line passing through the hole. It still allows for some water movement at the top, but cuts back on the splashing, and it floats up and down to stay on the surface. It works well, and I like the price. If it gets cruddy it's easy enough to replace. By the way, I'm not smart enough to figure that out myself. I saw it on an LRB Aquatics youtube video.

I wash mine just like I do the rest of the household laundry, but they also aren't used directly in the tanks. Only for wiping up spills and drying my hands.

I like these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088C13CRK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1. They're 15" long, so almost 50% longer than the standard ones, and they seem to be well built. The ends fit together well enough to grab and remove hair algae.

My work tank is just a 5.5 gallon, and I change one gallon every week or ten days, so hauling that much water isn't a problem.

I also have a small office tank. I bring water from home for water changes. You might try that.

I don't have time to look for it now, but I saw a video where @Cory used a shop vac to remove a bunch of it.

It's this one.

I would stick to the neocaridinas. I've corresponded with someone who is much more experienced than I am at keeping shrimp, and he said that while it's possible to keep both in the same tank it's not for beginners, and neither one really thrives.

If it was me I'd probably just stick with the rasboras, but if you want something else I'd suggest a trio (1M, 2F) of honey gouramis, or maybe 6-8 Corydoras pygmaeus (not both).

A few years ago I was at the place I posted about above and the guy in line ahead of me was telling the lady what he wanted on his taco. He pointed to the bin with the cilantro in it and said "Put some of that parsley on it please." I didn't bother to correct him, and the lady behind the counter probably didn't hear him, so she loaded him up with cilantro. I've often wondered what he thought about his parsley.

The best come from my local convenience store that has a food counter. When I stop in around 6:15 to get breakfast every morning they have at least two people making food and two more serving it, and I'm pretty sure they all grew up speaking Spanish. Great food (including tortillas they make right there from scratch) and nice people, which is why I stop every morning. Technically they're burritos, and not tacos, but I don't care.

I don't know. I can try to post better pictures this evening.

I used pool filter sand in mine. Plants do just fine.

I start my standard 20 gallon tank with 1" of dry cow manure, then 1" of potting soil, and topped off with 2" of pool filter sand. I didn't do anything to prepare the bottom two layers.

Most common "pest" snails only eat dead plant leaves.

I use pool filter sand in my tanks with blue shrimp, and Black Diamond sandblasting sand in the tanks with red or yellow shrimp. I don't see why black shouldn't work just fine for orange ones.

Yes

Mine arrived yesterday. It is much appreciated, and @Zenzodid a great job selecting the items.

I disagree. Someone who is knowledgeable about carpentry, or evaluating existing furniture, can have just as much peace of mind using a homemade stand or repurposed furniture as someone one who buys a dedicated stand. I've also seen dedicated stands I wouldn't trust.

Are you determined to make your own? There are many tanks out there, including most of mine, that are on various pieces of steel or solid wood furniture. It may be a challenge to find one the right size, but it's worth looking. Thrift stores or online sites for used items are good places to start. There are several reasons for using furniture instead. It often has doors or drawers for storage, and don't require any woodworking skills.

My daughter-in-law has her 55 on a sideboard.

I probably can't find it now, but I have a picture of a nerite snail cleaning the glass, going along about half buried in the substrate, with an army of neocaridina shrimp following behind foraging in the substrate it had stirred up. I don't know that I'd consider them invasive. If you over feed their numbers will increase accordingly, like many snails. Otherwise they aren't really a problem (at least in my experience). After receiving the initial batch I have intentionally added them to all my other tanks. I like that they keep the sand aerated.

I posted some guidelines in another thread (see below). You might get some useful information from it. One thing mentioned there that I can't stress enough is to let the tank "season" for several months before adding the shrimp. As far as colors, I'd say just get whatever color you think you'd like best, though if the tank you're planning to put them in is already set up you might want to let your substrate help decide. Red and yellow shrimp show up best on dark substrate, but blue ones just about disappear on dark substrate and look much better on lighter ones.

Thanks again.