Jump to content

Hello from Michigan


Recommended Posts

Hi everyone. I kept fish fairly successfully growing up with only basic knowledge, but have been out of the hobby at least 10 years.

After watching aquarium co op videos for months, I feel like I've learned so much. A couple weeks ago I got my old 29 gallon tank out of storage and decided to set it up. My first planted tank.

It has a mix of eco complete and two kinds of flourite for substrate. Along with lots of rock work from found rocks, and a few pieces of wood. Plants are hornwort, dwarf sagittaria, cryptocoryne wendtii red, and an anubius leaf that seems to be hanging on (Idk if I added the plant too early and with not enough fert, or possibly not enough light because I had a super weak light at first. I didn't plant it, just had it on some rocks).

Also have some new java fern I have yet to photograph. And a few pieces of locally found terrestrial moss that seems to be doing ok so far submerged. 

Stocking is currently 20 cherry shrimp which I'm hoping to breed, a bunch of little plant hitchhiker snails, and two assassin snails (though I usually just see one) to keep the little ones in check.

Sponge filter and a light my friend had left over from an old tank. No heater but stable around 73 Fahrenheit. Water test all pretty standard and stable, just a touch on the alkaline side. 

I have seen a couple shrimp molts that I think indicate good health. Any experienced opinion is welcome. The assassin snail I see seems to hang out peacefully with the shrimp so far. They were climbing on his shell at one point.

I'm happy to be back with such a cool hobby.

20210709_080859~2.jpg

20210713_092041~2.jpg

20210714_120114~2.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 week update, plants are starting to take off, especially the hornwort. Moss seems to be doing well. Water parameters remain stable, shrimp seem to be doing well. Coloring up and molting. I saw 2 little shrimplets, but I'm still not sure if they're new or they snuck in with the originals. Assassin snail is cruising around keeping the hitchhiker snail population under control. A little bit of algae on the back corner of the tank but nothing major, and the shrimp seem to graze on it sometimes. Hopefully babies start popping out in the future.

20210720_074740~2.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome from a Chicago frog lover! 🐸

Also, I advise against adding any more assassin snails, especially if you've got some algae, because your pond snails will eat it. I, too, re-entered fishkeeping with live plants after a lengthy hiatus, and I thought that pond snails were a bigger deal than they actually are, so I deployed a fleet of assassin snails. Now I have an overbreeding problem and algae all over the two tanks where I put them. No, they won't eat your shrimp. It's not unusual for shrimp to graze on whatever surface, including other tank residents; I've seen them graze on both assassins and African dwarf frogs. The former don't care, and the latter tolerate it for a moment but then hop away.

Regarding the shrimp molting, if tank parameters are good, it's most likely a sign that they are growing, and if they're not eating the molts right away, then you are giving them a healthy diet. Saul Goodman. 😁

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/25/2021 at 8:14 AM, Theresa W said:

Welcome from a Chicago frog lover! 🐸

Also, I advise against adding any more assassin snails, especially if you've got some algae, because your pond snails will eat it. I, too, re-entered fishkeeping with live plants after a lengthy hiatus, and I thought that pond snails were a bigger deal than they actually are, so I deployed a fleet of assassin snails. Now I have an overbreeding problem and algae all over the two tanks where I put them. No, they won't eat your shrimp. It's not unusual for shrimp to graze on whatever surface, including other tank residents; I've seen them graze on both assassins and African dwarf frogs. The former don't care, and the latter tolerate it for a moment but then hop away.

Regarding the shrimp molting, if tank parameters are good, it's most likely a sign that they are growing, and if they're not eating the molts right away, then you are giving them a healthy diet. Saul Goodman. 😁

Did you have any issues keeping the frogs and shrimp together?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not at all, although I must tell you that it wasn't my first choice of habitat. I had been keeping a 5.5 gallon shrimp tank with wild form and cherry neocaridinas, and everything was great until scuds crashed it about 6 months ago. It took me a long time to find out what those little silvery crustaceans were, and I didn't know that they could be harmful until they crashed the tank. I spent two days fishing out every neo that I could save, and of the options available, the frog tank had the most space and least predatory probability, so I put the shrimp in there. The population has been going down, I suspect as a result of the ricefish in there eating the shrimp fry, but there is still a population. The frogs aren't eating the shrimp, though. All my tanks are pretty well fed, which keeps everybody happy and kinda lazy. Be advised that this is one of the two tanks where I'm having an assassin snail overbreeding problem, I assume driven by the frogs' high-protein diet. (The other is the betta tank, probably for the same reason.) My longer-term plan is to set up the 20-gallon tank that I got in the alley behind my apartment building, and I'm going to re-home the ricefish there, along with a handful of rainbowfish and rasboras from another tank. I'm hoping that the shrimp population in the frog tank will go up a little afterward.

Short story long, you can have frogs and shrimp in the same tank, but whether the combination is successful depends on other things going on in the tank. Give it a try! The worst thing that can happen is that you'll have to put the frogs in another tank and get some more shrimp. And is that really so terrible? Anyhoo, your tank is lovely and I wish you many baby shrimplets!

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greetings from another Michigander!

Shrimps and snails are so much fun to watch! You have a beautiful tank.  I have a small group of cherries that I hope will breed someday as well. Though I'm still working on dialing in some parameters (using reverse osmosis well water so pretty much lacking in any and all minerals).

Hope to see more of your tanks as you progress!

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...