hullo! nanotank shrimper here

[giadda]

Hi all!

As the title suggests, I'm a newbie shrimper and just got into the aquascaping world. I've always marveled at the aquascaped tanks via Google searches but never got into the hobby, until now.

I do have other finances so my budget was a little low to start with, so my nano tank's quite new with very few plants for now. I'm hoping it will flourish soon.



Here's my current nano tank setup:


30x17x20 cm glass tank
JEBO 501 filter
JEBO JB-13 lamp
soil and plants were left to the aquascaper.


Since I didn't know my plants, sorry, I'm posting some pics here. Wanted to cycle the tank first but my aquascaper friend gifted me with free 6 shrimpies, so freebies are most welcome. Planning to add more soon, but not sure if the tank's good to go yet.


If anyone would be so kind as to help me identifying my plants (lol) and if I have female/male shrimps, that would be great too.

I do welcome feedback and constructive criticism.


my super low tech nano tank:



my unknown plants lol



shrimpies



more shrimpies




Thanks for reading!

[wongce]

Welcome to aq....

[LioocK]

Red cherry shrimp


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[giadda]

Welcome to aq....

weeee, thanks for the warm welcome wong!

Red cherry shrimp

cool, thanks lioock!

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[giadda]

a quick update of my tank.
> bought HC and planted them. i know they might not be ideal for gravel and mineralized topsoil, but i just hope these plants do carpet.
> also bought cabombas for the back so my shrimpies have more plants to hide in.
> changed my filter to an Ista F100 hang on sponge filter

here's an updated pic of my tank uhm, pardon the background, as i've put my nanotank above my ref.


picture of the berried one i bought from the LFS (really hope she carries those eggs to term). hope i get shrimplets in 3 weeks or less


cute shrimp couple? sharing the SANYU shrimp vitality feeds i bought from the LFS


my feeder minibowl, which I hope will attract more attention in the long run. shrimpies prefer to hang back in my cabombas.


uhm, may have picked up some unwelcome stragglers with my HC purchase. are they good to share the tank with my shrimpies? need help identifying them too please


I do need help with a few questions:

1. I've bought the API PH tester, and I've settled on using Catappa or Indian Almond Leaves as I've read they help lower down the PH, but it's been 10 days, and PH's still at 7.8 - 8. Do I need to buy something else to lower down the PH?

2. I'm seeing several saddled shrimpets, but I can't seem to get them in the mood to "do their thing". I've done a 20% water change 3 days ago, but no dice. Any suggestions to get them in the mood to mate?

3. Do female shrimpies hide more than the males? I've found that my males are high and mighty strolling about the tank, but my beautiful red shrimpets are hiding underneath the stones more often.

4. Heard HC needs CO2 and am considering dosing flourish excel. But with saddled and berried shrimpets, I'm hesitant though. Any thoughts?

5. My tank's water is greenish brown, what with the Indian Almond Leaves. Since they're not lowering the PH as I planned, I'm planning to remove them. Should this clear my tank water? I'd love to take pictures of my tank with clearer water and share the love to my non-shrimp tank loving friends who've called me weird for my new hobby, lol.


I really can't wait for my shrimplets.

Once again, any suggestions or feedback is most welcome!

[Urban Aquaria]

uhm, may have picked up some unwelcome stragglers with my HC purchase. are they good to share the tank with my shrimpies? need help identifying them too please

Those are common pond/bladder snails... they are harmless, but can breed quite fast and tend to look abit unsightly in larger numbers in the tank. If you are not too keen on having snails in the tank, it'll be best to remove as many of them (and their egg cluster) as you can find.

1. I've bought the API PH tester, and I've settled on using Catappa or Indian Almond Leaves as I've read they help lower down the PH, but it's been 10 days, and PH's still at 7.8 - 8. Do I need to buy something else to lower down the PH?

If your tank water is still alkaline after adding ketapang leaves... then it may be due to your source water (aka tap water) being already high in PH and mineral content so its keeping the PH high, or the rocks and gravel in the tank is buffering the PH and GH higher.

Just do some PH tests on your tap water and perhaps remove the rock hardscape or gravel to reduce their possible buffering effects.

The alternative is to use distilled or RO/DI water for your water changes, that will reduce the GH and PH of the water over time, and allow the ketapang leaves to create more PH lowering effects.

Cherry shrimps can adapt to live in higher PH environments so its actually not essential to lower their PH, its more important that the conditions are stable. The shrimps will still benefit from grazing on the bio-film that develop on the ketapang leaf surfaces, and the leaves do have anti-bacterial/anti-fungal properties, so its still good for them.

2. I'm seeing several saddled shrimpets, but I can't seem to get them in the mood to "do their thing". I've done a 20% water change 3 days ago, but no dice. Any suggestions to get them in the mood to mate?

Saddled shrimps will usually only mate after their next molt, as once they mate and get berried, they can't molt during that period of time while carrying developing eggs. Therefore its just a matter of time before they are ready. There are some shrimp products like "BorneoWild Dance" which encourage mating behaviors (along with molting and growth), so i guess you could purchase those type of products and see if they help. Otherwise just let nature take its course.

3. Do female shrimpies hide more than the males? I've found that my males are high and mighty strolling about the tank, but my beautiful red shrimpets are hiding underneath the stones more often.

Shrimps hiding under stones or plants are usually those that have just molted, so they will hide while their new shell hardens. Incidently, this is also when the female shrimps release pheromones after molting too. The male shrimps detect those pheromones and start swimming all over the tank looking for the females to mate, hence you see them out and about more often.

4. Heard HC needs CO2 and am considering dosing flourish excel. But with saddled and berried shrimpets, I'm hesitant though. Any thoughts?

HC will definitely grow faster with Co2 injection, of course that also requires a corresponding increase in nutrients and light availability too. If you are more focused on maximizing shrimp condition and breeding, then its better not to start doing Co2 and excel dosing... while those additions are relatively safe "if" done properly, there is always a chance of overdose or the weaker shrimps not being able to withstand those effects. So its up to you to decided which aspect of the tank is more important, the shrimps or the plants.

5. My tank's water is greenish brown, what with the Indian Almond Leaves. Since they're not lowering the PH as I planned, I'm planning to remove them. Should this clear my tank water? I'd love to take pictures of my tank with clearer water and share the love to my non-shrimp tank loving friends who've called me weird for my new hobby, lol.

Removing the ketapang leaves and doing a series of water changes will gradually clear away the yellowish tannin tint in the tank. So if you prefer a tank with clear water, then just remove the leaves.