Indostomus Paradoxus and a shrimp tank

[beastie]

Will start a journal for this tank, though I suspect I may need a lot of help

This tank has weird dimensions, 56 cm x 25 cm x 36 cm and since april 2021, was turned into a shrimp only tank. Tank has no heater, a sponge airfilter with a large sponge. 70% of the tank is java moss, although a lot of the moss is covered in green hair algae. There is some limnobium, some cryptocoryne, some egeria densa. Leaf litter, a ceramic cave, a cholla wood stick. 

There are around 20 adult red cherry shrimp, no idea how many babies. Two ramshorns, unfortunately the brotia herculea I had there for a year didnt survive my week long vacation.

 

I have added 8 indostomus paradoxus on the 7th of march 2023. They are amazing, but I can already foresee some problems.

The fish only hangs out in the bottom space between to substrate and the moss. This means food distribution is a nightmare, because whatever I put in there, gets sucked into the moss, where the fish dont go and I dont know. Means the fish at the bottom wont get food, means the food in the moss will get spoiled.

The fish doesnt move much. It hangs in a place, UNDER leaves too, inside the cholla wood, near the plants. And it hangs there, sometimes it swims backwards, forwards aaand that is all. I have seen some attempts at hunting, the artemia, the microworms, but I have also seen the artemia bouncing on its head while the fish did nothing.

I am having trouble deciding how much to feed. I assume the fish needs constant food source, given how tiny it is, how small its mouth is. But if I feed there is no visible enthusiasm, no dashing to eat the food that would indicate the fish is hungry. They sort of behaved this way right after I put them in the tank, they hanged more together, they would dash around, hunt the artemia, even saw one fish swim upwards on the right side in the open area. Since then, I didnt even see the eight of them all at once and I have seen no attempt at active swimming or hunting. I am brewing an infusoria culture from a dried pellet, I have microworms and I fed baby brine shrimp in the beginning for three days in small doses

Who is enthusiastic about my feeding is the shrimp, the guys havent stop moving around since I added the fish. 

 

I wonder if I should give it some time and hope the fish manage to eat the food I am providing, or if I should do some changes, like removing most of the moss

Thanks, any advice will be appreciated

 

 

Edited March 13 by beastie
different picture with a better resolution

[TOtrees]

I had a few of these a year or so ago, and I feel your pain/confusion. They’re very cool little fish, but oh so shy. 

My concern was always the possibility of a hydra infestation, because of always having live BBS in the tank, and because these guys are such a slow eaters.

You might consider starting a culture of Daphnia, or better yet, Moina. 

[beastie]

On 3/13/2023 at 2:00 PM, TOtrees said:

I had a few of these a year or so ago, and I feel your pain/confusion. They’re very cool little fish, but oh so shy. 

My concern was always the possibility of a hydra infestation, because of always having live BBS in the tank, and because these guys are such a slow eaters.

You might consider starting a culture of Daphnia, or better yet, Moina. 

Exactly, hydra, possible planaria, algae... I wonder if adding one small fish would help maintain anything. Not a school of fish, those would outcompete, even the smallest boraras. Also darios are out, they also sit at the bottom, which is not what one wants. Something upper/middle layer that would help control the food, the hydra,... but not make the other fish starve or even cause potential fry to be affected.

Or maybe an amano shrimp could do similar job

[TOtrees]

I think you're simply in for some trial and error. My general suggestions/concerns/thoughts:

The fact that the sticklebacks are so small, and such slow eaters, and only (mainly) eat live foods will be problematic. Personally, given what I learned having them in the past, I'd go with a species only tank, and be prepared to tear it down/restart it occasionally (to deal with hydra). I don't think the indos will eat the shrimp or the shrimp will eat them, but I'd want a setup where I can manage or mitigate overfeeding with bbs. They like small tubular hides, so some pvc of cholla or whatever on a thin gravel base. A few plants for structure, preferably fake so they can be nuked. Floating plants or hornwort for water quality if you want (throw it out regularly and just keep enough to get it going). A bit of java moss won't hurt, but be prepared to throw it out if it gets full of hydra/detritus/etc. A few shrimp and SNAILS to help with cleanup, but no so much that you have to add food/etc to keep them going, bc it won't help the indos. 

I'd avoid the other fish option. You really need the bbs or baby daphnia or whatever to be in the water for long enough for these little guys to take their time eating. Anything that eats the bbs fast enough to avoid/reduce the chance of hydra will undermine how much food the indos get. 

These are my ramblings, based on having these fish for a few months. I'm not an expert, and maybe others here can offer better options.