Resurrecting the shrimp tank

[jcrabbit]

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.

[nabokovfan87]

Looks awesome!  I would suggest adding a piece of wood for the shrimp. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

Maybe add some rocks and hardscape, along with some Wonder Shells to get a bit of calcium in there for building up their exoskeleton. 

[jcrabbit]

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.

[jcrabbit]

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.

[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.