hi bro!
welcome to shrimp keeping! I am relatively new to the hobby as well so I would try my best to explain and share what I had learnt so far and also from others.
5 red cherry shrimps in 1ft tank seems ok. but just that most will advise you to get a 10 gallon tank instead allowing you house more shrimps. higher volume will also deter any swings in water parameters improving their mortality!
that being said, myself and some other started out shrimp keeping with a 1ft tank as well =))
woods and moss and sponge filters are great for a shrimp tank you can't go wrong with them. but as for your substrate choice, you might want to consider an inert substrate like sand. active subsrate like ada amazonia buffer down your ph value (mine was 6.2). while rcs neocaridina prefers neutral to alkaline water. at the same time it leeches out ammonia during your cycling, resulting in longer cycling period needed. since you are not using any plants that needs to be planted into the soil thus I think using inert substrate like sand will save time and simplify things for you.
I didn't use those powder to start my tank too. I jus used liquid form of beneficial bacteria to start my cycle =) what I heard is powder form takes a longer time to get things going. since they are in a dormant form as powder, they dun work as fast as bacteria in as liquid form. but perhaps they are more efficient than using liquid bacteria in the long run? I'm not sure.
just sharing what I learnt so far. hope to hear what other experts here have to say! hee
Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk
Bookmarks