trying to set up 2 feet RCS tank

[citvengen]

Trying to set up a new 2feet tank for RCS.

please advise some recommended soil and pants (does not require CO2) to me. Thanks!

[metaphor89]

Most recommend ADA amazonia soil, but i using the normal type for shrimp de, so far still ok

[citvengen]

ADA soil PH rather low, seems to me more suited for those shrimps with low PH like CRS instead of RCS (prefer normal PH around 7).
Open for suggestion. Thanks.

[Aventador]

My nano RCS tank is on ADA Amazonia substrate. Shrimps are doing well and berried. Shrimplets growing fast too.

[magpie]

Red cherry shrimps are able to take low ph.

[Urban Aquaria]

ADA amazonia aquasoil is good for shrimp tanks (both RCS and CRS), mainly to buffer the pH to 6.4-6.6 and keep it stable... but ADA aquasoil needs more time to cycle and if you are running a shrimp tank with low demand plants without additional Co2 injection, it'll take longer for the plants to absorb all the ammonia and nutrients during the initial period. You'll have to be more patient to wait for the tank to fully stabilize before adding the shrimps.

If you are more focused on keeping shrimps, then maybe consider the soils designed for shrimp keeping like Benibachi, BorneoWild or RAC shrimp soils, those can be cycled much faster (some setups can stabilize and add shrimps within just a few days) and have beneficial minerals/qualities specifically for shrimps.

For low demand and slow growing plants, the popular java fern, anubias and cryptocoryne plant are good. For low demand but fast growing plants, go for plants like water wisteria, water sprite, cabomba, frogbits etc, these plants grow faster and help absorb lots of nutrients even without additional Co2 injection.

[qngwn]

For plants, you can try going with Mosses if you're not planning to inject co2. They do not require additional co2, and also require only low light for it to grow. The low light will help to keep your algae levels in check..

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[citvengen]

Thanks Urban Aquaria and qngwn bros for your advise. very informative for newbie hobbyist like me for start up.
I'm also having consideration to have rocks like tank with little plants like chilid setup.
Is it recommened for shrimp tank? Any advise?

[KilliNewbie]

i'd prefer to use alot of dragon rocks, then fill the whole available space with carpet plants like glosso, e. tennellus, hairgrass and maybe even riccia

[bennyc]

You have to becareful choosing rocks, be sure to have inert rocks. As some rocks will affect the hardness of the water.
do you mean nana on lava rock? If so, it is not a problem.

[citvengen]

Kilinewbie,I dont intend to have co2.
Bennyc, lava rock would affect hardness much right?

[KilliNewbie]

you don't need co2 to grow Glosso and e. tennellus

[qngwn]

Kilinewbie,I dont intend to have co2.
Bennyc, lava rock would affect hardness much right?

In general they do not affect the water parameters. Best to check with the LFS before buying if you're not familiar as they might have different variants.

Lava rocks are porous, which increases surface area for beneficial bacteria to cultivate on.

If you're planning to keep a lot of shrimps in the tank, if is important that you keep the water column sufficiently aerated as plants in low tech environments might not be able to replace the co2 in the water as fast.

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[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah, there are indeed different versions of lava rocks... for any new purchases, its best to place them in a tub of water over a few days and check if they change the pH of the water. I've tested some lava rocks from LFS that i assumed to be inert but when i did the soak test, the rocks pushed the water pH up from 7.0 to 7.6 after just a day, so have to take that into consideration.