Stocking Reccomendations for UNS 45s

[EnvyDontKnow]

Hello! Iv'e been sketching out ideas for a scape inside of a 5 gallon UNS 45s. I plan to already have a school of around 6 orange rili shrimp! I also plan to home these with Kubotai Rasbora. Anyone think there is a better stocking option or does anyone have reccomendations? Keep in mind they need to be kind of hardy becasue I plan to do an fish-in-cycle due to reasons of avalibility. Any reccomendations welcome! Thank you!

 

 

[JettsPapa]

While I'm not opposed to fish-in cycles, assuming they're done correctly, I would strongly encourage you to not add the shrimp right away.  They are more sensitive to ammonia and nitrites than most fish, and they also need an abundant amount of biofilm to thrive, which you won't find in a new tank.  I generally recommend not adding them to a tank that hasn't been running for at least two months, and three is better.

Edited May 9 by JettsPapa

[NOLANANO]

Those are fine or chili rasbora. Rocket (aka clown) Killis would also be a good option.

[EnvyDontKnow]

@JettsPapa, Thanks for the advice. I thought about this too and got a little worried. Unfortunatly that (for the forseeable future) probably won't be possible and I'll have to get them with the supplies or a few days later, I have some water conditioners and ammonia/nitrate/heavy metal removers. Do you think those would work along with a buch of starter bacteria?

@NOLANANO. Do you think Galaxy Pearls would work as a substitute? I thought about those too.

[JettsPapa]

On 5/8/2024 at 12:51 PM, EnvyDontKnow said:

@JettsPapa, Thanks for the advice. I thought about this too and got a little worried. Unfortunatly that (for the forseeable future) probably won't be possible and I'll have to get them with the supplies or a few days later, I have some water conditioners and ammonia/nitrate/heavy metal removers. Do you think those would work along with a buch of starter bacteria?

I wouldn't try it.  By the way, when I said I wasn't opposed to a fish-in cycle if done properly, I meant testing often and doing water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels low.  I would not depend on chemicals to do the job.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I second that shrimp should wait a couple of months. They need algae and biofilm to thrive. A brand new tank simply doesn’t have that. 

[Yoshi]

Could @EnvyDontKnow supplement the lack of biofilm and algae with things like algae wafers and repashy for the first few months?

[Schuyler]

UNS 45 doesn't have a lid does it?

If it did, I would recommend a pair of killifish. Something in the genus Aphyosemion or maybe some clown killis. But I wouldn't bother if you didn't have a lid. Without the lid you may as well just put them directly on the floor lol

[JettsPapa]

On 5/8/2024 at 5:15 PM, Yoshi said:

Could @EnvyDontKnow supplement the lack of biofilm and algae with things like algae wafers and repashy for the first few months?

I wouldn't try it.  I've added shrimp to newly set up tanks with a seasoned sponge filter and abundant live plants in the hopes that would be enough, but invariably it wasn't.