Jump to content

My 5 gallon planted tank!


Mydonkeyfish
 Share

Recommended Posts

I started qorking on a 5 gallon betta tank a while ago and my pearl weed just got here! I have done some research and since my tank is really tall ive decided to get shrimp instead specifically cherry shrimp from my lfs! I havent planted the pearl weed yet but i do have s. Repens, anubias, tiger wood, and fluval stratum. The tank has been running for about 2 weeks. I am really excited to breed shrimp and watch them climb my tiger wood!

16420301643762902333335620835139.jpg

16420301836754427665165793679221.jpg

  • Like 6
  • Love 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Mydonkeyfishthis looks like a great nano tank. Welcome to the hobby. 


I’ve been breeding and selling Neocaridina for the last 2 years. I too started with cherry shrimp and have raised Sunkist orange, golden back yellows, greens and blue dreams - I currently have gb yellows, greens and blue dreams. 


They do best for me at around 72 - 76 degrees F, some kh at 2-6 and a gh of 4-12, pH 6.5 and above ideally 7 or above. I use aragonite and crushed coral to buffer, often put cuttle bone in for them, always have wood (yours looks great), rock piles and plants. The rock piles are like nurseries for them. They don’t like flow, I use sponge filters (also provide loads of biofilm and occasionally I baffle a hang on back filter when I’m desperate (cut top and bottle off a water bottle and wrap what’s left of the bottle around the lip of the outlet).

Most shrimp keepers would recommend a minimum setup time of 4-6 weeks but ideally 12 weeks before adding shrimp to build up biofilm and generate a constant food source for them as they eat around the clock. There are supplements like Bacter AE which can supplement the biofilm but others don’t like using them. I’m somewhere in the middle - I’ve used it when I’ve needed to setup a qt or had trouble with a tank and rescued shrimp. Nothing beats algae, biofilm and time to create what they need. 

Plant wise I always recommend moss and subwassertang as plants that shrimp love. Pearl weed is great. S. Repens is not a low tech plant, that’s a pretty good light from the look Of it so hopefully it will do well for you. I’d put some root tabs and aggressively fertilize that plant. Plants with a lot of surface area are beneficial- cabomba, Taiwan Lilly, crypts. But have fun and keep trying different plants - my water is different then yours and that can make a huge difference plant wise. 9D88015E-5319-4DF3-8F20-9CAE23F33AAD.jpeg.e5d38a7cd14ecf122d01a9aa41b73053.jpeg7C7AD716-1E77-432A-BFAE-6A3444425AB8.jpeg.6d862bd56965c60c45e82794f77540fa.jpegCF5E224F-5C52-4025-A06B-9A5872CB3911.jpeg.6af5070e5f98a1bc66302daecce42e26.jpeg9475F6F0-768D-436E-8C0E-68984EB19223.jpeg.e614b94deb05a447cb98a248ab2c9812.jpegF0799B97-B529-4500-97DE-0B054C2B1147.jpeg.ae9f4319ad7251d324d3f492adf318d4.jpegC86A88A1-068E-40FD-BC32-9748FAD0F6B6.jpeg.581732b3d2d6a506846061b3c38490ad.jpegD0ABCA7D-F12C-40CE-8CF4-1B6139F5618D.jpeg.31ad7f5526c36beae165038aedb38cf3.jpeg1CAC81E7-C41B-49FF-889F-F0394E6652FD.jpeg.b0c390c1ee83342fd1ca2e692365d745.jpeg

Have fun and if you need any help let us know! 

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/12/2022 at 7:17 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Mydonkeyfishthis looks like a great nano tank. Welcome to the hobby. 


I’ve been breeding and selling Neocaridina for the last 2 years. I too started with cherry shrimp and have raised Sunkist orange, golden back yellows, greens and blue dreams - I currently have gb yellows, greens and blue dreams. 


They do best for me at around 72 - 76 degrees F, some kh at 2-6 and a gh of 4-12, pH 6.5 and above ideally 7 or above. I use aragonite and crushed coral to buffer, often put cuttle bone in for them, always have wood (yours looks great), rock piles and plants. The rock piles are like nurseries for them. They don’t like flow, I use sponge filters (also provide loads of biofilm and occasionally I baffle a hang on back filter when I’m desperate (cut top and bottle off a water bottle and wrap what’s left of the bottle around the lip of the outlet).

Most shrimp keepers would recommend a minimum setup time of 4-6 weeks but ideally 12 weeks before adding shrimp to build up biofilm and generate a constant food source for them as they eat around the clock. There are supplements like Bacter AE which can supplement the biofilm but others don’t like using them. I’m somewhere in the middle - I’ve used it when I’ve needed to setup a qt or had trouble with a tank and rescued shrimp. Nothing beats algae, biofilm and time to create what they need. 

Plant wise I always recommend moss and subwassertang as plants that shrimp love. Pearl weed is great. S. Repens is not a low tech plant, that’s a pretty good light from the look Of it so hopefully it will do well for you. I’d put some root tabs and aggressively fertilize that plant. Plants with a lot of surface area are beneficial- cabomba, Taiwan Lilly, crypts. But have fun and keep trying different plants - my water is different then yours and that can make a huge difference plant wise. 9D88015E-5319-4DF3-8F20-9CAE23F33AAD.jpeg.e5d38a7cd14ecf122d01a9aa41b73053.jpeg7C7AD716-1E77-432A-BFAE-6A3444425AB8.jpeg.6d862bd56965c60c45e82794f77540fa.jpegCF5E224F-5C52-4025-A06B-9A5872CB3911.jpeg.6af5070e5f98a1bc66302daecce42e26.jpeg9475F6F0-768D-436E-8C0E-68984EB19223.jpeg.e614b94deb05a447cb98a248ab2c9812.jpegF0799B97-B529-4500-97DE-0B054C2B1147.jpeg.ae9f4319ad7251d324d3f492adf318d4.jpegC86A88A1-068E-40FD-BC32-9748FAD0F6B6.jpeg.581732b3d2d6a506846061b3c38490ad.jpegD0ABCA7D-F12C-40CE-8CF4-1B6139F5618D.jpeg.31ad7f5526c36beae165038aedb38cf3.jpeg1CAC81E7-C41B-49FF-889F-F0394E6652FD.jpeg.b0c390c1ee83342fd1ca2e692365d745.jpeg

Have fun and if you need any help let us know! 

Thank you! My s repens is doing well and has atually grown about 1 inch since i bought it emersed. I use flourish ferts and api co2 booster because i am saving for a co2 kit. I just bought frogbit, dwarf water lettuce and red root floaters to put in this tank!

Love your tank and your shrimp!

Edited by Mydonkeyfish
  • Love 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/12/2022 at 9:27 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

Great choices on the floaters I have dwarf water lettuce and red roots and love them. Glad to hear the S repens is going well needs good light and obviously at 1” you’re providing it. 
 

CO2 I’ve only done DIY and plan to convert the regulator from my beer setup to aquarium. 

i bought the pearl weed on etsy and the picture was on the day it arrived. My s repens is from petco and so is my anubias. The floating plants i ordered off of etsy as well. I will put my api root tabs in tommorow because my jungle val in my guppy tamk is a little to big.

On 1/12/2022 at 9:27 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

Great choices on the floaters I have dwarf water lettuce and red roots and love them. Glad to hear the S repens is going well needs good light and obviously at 1” you’re providing it. 
 

CO2 I’ve only done DIY and plan to convert the regulator from my beer setup to aquarium. 

i bought the pearl weed on etsy and the picture was on the day it arrived. My s repens is from petco and so is my anubias. The floating plants i ordered off of etsy as well. I will put my api root tabs in tommorow because my jungle val in my guppy tamk is a little to big.

I for got to say that i am going to put a piece of sponge over the intake so no shrimplets get sucked up. the tanks og filter was way to strong so i stuffed pieces of sponge in it and now it is perfect for floaters!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/12/2022 at 10:50 PM, Atitagain said:

I really like the look of that tank. I’ve been looking for a 5G-ish tank and it looks just the right height for what I need. Your piece of driftwood fits perfectly and I think shrimp would look great in there.

I bought the wood thinking it would fit but it didnt at all so i had to cut some off but i reused them!😁

It is a marineland portrait 5 gallon tank and it is about 1 foot tall i think

On 1/12/2022 at 10:50 PM, Atitagain said:

I really like the look of that tank. I’ve been looking for a 5G-ish tank and it looks just the right height for what I need. Your piece of driftwood fits perfectly and I think shrimp would look great in there.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/13/2022 at 10:18 AM, H.K.Luterman said:

I have two of those tanks, and one was a shrimp tank for a while; really enjoyed it. I will probably go back to shrimp in it once the current occupant passes on (pea puffer). 

I really like pea puffers but i have never had one. Do you know if pea puffers and shrimp can live together?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I for got to say that i am going to put a piece of sponge over the intake so no shrimplets get sucked up. the tanks og filter was way to strong so i stuffed pieces of sponge in it and now it is perfect for floaters!

On 1/13/2022 at 4:30 PM, Expectorating_Aubergine said:

It's probably not the one you're thinking of. I'm growing out some utricularia gibba, not gramminifolia....

i was thinking about the gramminfolia but the utricularia gibba reminds me a little of hydrocotle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice looking tank! I really enjoy keeping shrimp but have had variable success. I’ve had some breeding but not nearly as much as I’d like. One of these days I’ll figure it out. Buy them from a local breeder if you can. They’ll be less expensive and more hardy in your water. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/13/2022 at 12:50 PM, Mydonkeyfish said:

I really like pea puffers but i have never had one. Do you know if pea puffers and shrimp can live together?

In my experience my puffers would take out every single shrimplet, but leave adults alone. I used to put off colored "cull" shrimp in the puffer tank, and then let them breed as a food source for the puffer. Worked out quite well, as long as new generations of undesirable colors were available to refresh the colony. The adult shrimp cleaned up the puffer snail leftovers, and that was helpful as well.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not to divert this thread too too much (my apologies), but I had a question for pea puffer owners ( @Brandy @H.K.Luterman etc) - have any of you cohabitated Heterandria formosa ("dwarf killifish" / "least killifish" / "dwarf livebearer") and pea puffers?  Just a thought as I had planned to do Neo shrimp and H. formosa, but this thread gave me an idea....  Thank you!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/14/2022 at 3:59 AM, PedroPete said:

Not to divert this thread too too much (my apologies), but I had a question for pea puffer owners ( @Brandy @H.K.Luterman etc) - have any of you cohabitated Heterandria formosa ("dwarf killifish" / "least killifish" / "dwarf livebearer") and pea puffers?  Just a thought as I had planned to do Neo shrimp and H. formosa, but this thread gave me an idea....  Thank you!

I've only ever had my one, and he's kept solo. So I can't comment on keeping them in a community. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/14/2022 at 1:59 AM, PedroPete said:

Not to divert this thread too too much (my apologies), but I had a question for pea puffer owners ( @Brandy @H.K.Luterman etc) - have any of you cohabitated Heterandria formosa ("dwarf killifish" / "least killifish" / "dwarf livebearer") and pea puffers?  Just a thought as I had planned to do Neo shrimp and H. formosa, but this thread gave me an idea....  Thank you!

I have tried puffers with each other, guppies, platies, and chili rasbora. Frankly, they all got hassled. They survived, but the puffers would allow them some small portion of the tank. The Rasboras were probably the least hassled thanks to being fast and a school, and inhabiting the top-mid level of the tank. However tank size plays a part, and if you have one puffer in a 20 gallon with lots of cover and some upper level speedy fish that works out ok. If you have 2 platies in a 7 gallon with 2 puffers they will be hassled into a corner and end up with nipped fins. The only reason I was so willing to try so many options was because I always had other tanks that I could shift fish into if it did not work out.

  • Like 2
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...