SIP, my big momma shrimp, mother of colonies. Establishing first colony is hard!

Sorry @essjay , copy and pasting info you gave in another thread here, so I can come back to it and reference when I need it, hope that's okay

Does your water company give hardness as a number anywhere? Words can be misleading - mine says my water is slightly hard but at dH 5 is it soft as far as fish keeping in concerned.


If you want lots of plants you don't need to cycle the tank, the plants will do that for you.
Look on Ebay at the seller k2aqua. He sells shrimp safe plants and a lot of them are grown in vitro so they don't need sterilising. The main trouble we have with plants in the UK is those grown outside the EU and imported because they have to be treated with a snail killing chemical which will kill any shrimps or ornamental snails you may buy.


The main thing about the Tetra Starter line tanks is the filter and heater.
The filter contains a carbon cartridge which is not needed. If you get this tank, before you do anything else replace this cartridge with some filter sponge, any make cut to the same shape. Then just was this sponge and the biofoam media that comes with the filter in old tank water which you take out during a water change.
The heater is preset to 25 deg C which sounds as though it cannot be altered. If this is the case, I would replace it with an adjustable heater.

To be honest, I know they're probably more expensive but I would look at the Juwel Primo 60, or maybe the Eheim Aquastar 54 as they have the same footprint as the Tetra tank but with better equipment. I used to have the older version of the Eheim Aquastar (pre LED lights) and I know that the volume they quote included the air gap you have to leave above the water so it actually holds less than 54 litre. Juwel tanks usually hold nearer the quoted volume. And both tanks come with adjustable heaters and filters which contain sponges, no carbon. "

I had no idea I needed to see shrimp tower but yeh, works for me

yeh Sparky had collie in him too, probably the clever bit of him. Very kind offer I'm familiar with The Downs - had some mates who lived in Clifton - otherwise I'd get lost and go missing with your dog

mbsqw1d said:

I had no idea I needed to see shrimp tower but yeh, works for me

yeh Sparky had collie in him too, probably the clever bit of him. Very kind offer I'm familiar with The Downs - had some mates who lived in Clifton - otherwise I'd get lost and go missing with your dog

Click to expand...

Lol, she wouldn't let me send her off with a stranger without me anyway, she's a velcro dog. I was just teasing! Clifton is a nice part of the city, but there are better woodlands on the outskirts too.


I just checked out some youtube vids about buffing out scratches while I cleaned out my aquarium stand (it's amazing the amount of random bits of plastic and spare equipment that you aquire in such a short space of time, might start a thread about that - share your secret shame cupboard!) and have decided that it's way too much hassle and work to bother with doing on these tanks.

It's really useful to know though, since it would be worth it if you found a bargain tank of a good size, like a really nice display tank, and it needs restoring to its former glory before you set it all up. There's a good chance that my tank set up will change in a year or so, and I'll switch to a 30 gallon or something, so not worth taking the time out to do it on these smaller ones that will probably end up as shrimp or spare hospital tanks. I can still get some pretty decent photos of the fish, since the scratches are smaller and only in a few spots. Looks as though someone got some substrate caught between the inside glass and an algae magnet.

Good to hear she knows about stranger danger

I barely looked into the scratch fixing process, one of the first lines i read was that the tank needs to be emptied, so stopped there. Apologies if i sent you down a youtube rabbit hole

A comment on the mixing of different sands that was mentioned a few posts back. This is best not done, depending upon what you are mixing. Even tone sand, whether it be a basic tan sand (like one sees on the ocean beaches) or one of the mixes like the dark grey play sand I have that has black, white, grey and tank toned grains, tends to look better and give uniformity to the space and will visually make it seem larger. I have mixed substrates a couple times many years ago, and always regretted it.

mbsqw1d said:

Good to hear she knows about stranger danger

I barely looked into the scratch fixing process, one of the first lines i read was that the tank needs to be emptied, so stopped there. Apologies if i sent you down a youtube rabbit hole

Click to expand...

Don't apologise! like I said, it's good to know that it's possible for the future since even the upgraded tank(s) will likely be second hand too, and it'll be worth doing in that case. Just not this time on these little tanks No rabbit hole either, just played a couple of videos while doing other things.

Byron said:

A comment on the mixing of different sands that was mentioned a few posts back. This is best not done, depending upon what you are mixing. Even tone sand, whether it be a basic tan sand (like one sees on the ocean beaches) or one of the mixes like the dark grey play sand I have that has black, white, grey and tank toned grains, tends to look better and give uniformity to the space and will visually make it seem larger. I have mixed substrates a couple times many years ago, and always regretted it.

Click to expand...

Good to know, thank you! I'd love to see the tanks you have with play sand substrate sometime if possible, just to see the possibilities! Will stick with one kind then, I did wonder whether grain size might be different with play sand, and whether the 'good' sand would end up settling to the bottom and creating a layer effect rather than remaining mixed. I'll definitely be getting play sand for a larger tank then, and probably use this smaller bag of aquarium sand in the 10 gallon if I can find another bag or two and it's not too expensive, or save it for some other use. Will test it out dry and see how it looks.

Shame I can't get different shades, it would be this one and this one only https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3650574
since I know that Argos play sand is aquarium safe. Looking for play sand in other shades brings up a lot of ugly dyed colours that I wouldn't put in my tanks even if it was aquarium safe, which I'm positive it is not.

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

Shame I can't get different shades, it would be this one and this one only https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3650574
since I know that Argos play sand is aquarium safe. Looking for play sand in other shades brings up a lot of ugly dyed colours that I wouldn't put in my tanks even if it was aquarium safe, which I'm positive it is not.

Click to expand...

That linked sand is excellent. Go for it!!!

Sand for aquaria must be "safe" which means natural, not coloured with dyes, as well as non-angular and not rough. Cories for example are filter feeders, and they take up a mouthful of sand, filter out food, expel most of the sand via the delicate gill slits, and swallow some of it with the food. The sand must be able to pass through all this without harm.

Dry sand and wet sand of the same type will look different. I was surprised how much lighter my very dark grey mix of play sand is in the tank under the light and water. But to the fish it is fine, that's all that matters.

I have never been able to take photos of my tanks that were true in colour rendition of the sand, for reasons that are beyond me. But the two below of my 10g some years ago are the closest. That is the dark grey play sand mix I have in my tanks, but in the tank the white bits are no where near that obvious. Odd.

When I looked for play sand there were several different types of sand at the store. Play sand came in two shades of tan, one was very light and the other was a medium tan. I took the medium tan since I wanted a darker sand. They had a darker orange sand that looked good like a dark clay. If I change over my shrimp/platy fry tank to sand I may look at it again. I saw at least 10 different colors of sand there. They also had several colored sands that were artificially colored that I avoided.

Byron said:

That linked sand is excellent. Go for it!!!

Sand for aquaria must be "safe" which means natural, not coloured with dyes, as well as non-angular and not rough. Cories for example are filter feeders, and they take up a mouthful of sand, filter out food, expel most of the sand via the delicate gill slits, and swallow some of it with the food. The sand must be able to pass through all this without harm.

Dry sand and wet sand of the same type will look different. I was surprised how much lighter my very dark grey mix of play sand is in the tank under the light and water. But to the fish it is fine, that's all that matters.

I have never been able to take photos of my tanks that were true in colour rendition of the sand, for reasons that are beyond me. But the two below of my 10g some years ago are the closest. That is the dark grey play sand mix I have in my tanks, but in the tank the white bits are no where near that obvious. Odd.

Click to expand...

Thank you, that tank looks great! It's very tricky to take colour accurate photos, so many variables.

I will definitely use that Argos play sand in one of the tanks then, thanks go to both of you

I would like to have a darker substrate in the other 15 gallon, both for contrast so it has a different look to it than the other tank, and because I think the red cherry shrimp would 'pop' more against a dark substrate. How about this one? The price isn't too bad for 20kgs. https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/sand/1...MI_a2Mu_Dy6gIViaztCh1VfgWsEAQYESABEgJf4PD_BwE

I can't figure out whether it's inert or not though. I know some substrates sold as shrimp substrates are meant for caridinas and not neocaridinas, and would affect pH and kH.

Byron said:

Dry sand and wet sand of the same type will look different.

Click to expand...

Oh yes, sorry, I meant test it out dry to see if the 5kg bag of sand that came with one of the tanks would be deep enough, or if I'd need to get another bag or two of the same one in order to use it. Eyeballing it, it doesn't look as though 5kg would be enough. I know not to make it too thick, but it doesn't look great when it's too thin either. If I can find another of the same sand, it would be nice for the ten gallon.

Retired Viking said:

When I looked for play sand there were several different types of sand at the store. Play sand came in two shades of tan, one was very light and the other was a medium tan. I took the medium tan since I wanted a darker sand. They had a darker orange sand that looked good like a dark clay. If I change over my shrimp/platy fry tank to sand I may look at it again. I saw at least 10 different colors of sand there. They also had several colored sands that were artificially colored that I avoided.

Click to expand...

Ooohh, nice to have a good selection! Where did you go to see it in person? I have no idea where you would go to to buy play sand other than Argos, or online, which can make it hard to really see the shade via a photograph, or might come from some dodgy place and not be aquarium safe.

We have Fleet farm, Lowe's and Menards that carry sand. Each has a fenced in yard next to the store that has bags of sand and other building supplies that you can check out. I bought from Merards.

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

Thank you, that tank looks great! It's very tricky to take colour accurate photos, so many variables.

I will definitely use that Argos play sand in one of the tanks then, thanks go to both of you

I would like to have a darker substrate in the other 15 gallon, both for contrast so it has a different look to it than the other tank, and because I think the red cherry shrimp would 'pop' more against a dark substrate. How about this one? The price isn't too bad for 20kgs. https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/sand/1...MI_a2Mu_Dy6gIViaztCh1VfgWsEAQYESABEgJf4PD_BwE

I can't figure out whether it's inert or not though. I know some substrates sold as shrimp substrates are meant for caridinas and not neocaridinas, and would affect pH and kH.

Click to expand...

I went looking for that too, no luck. But if only shrimp are going in that tank, it really doesn't matter. Fish would be a very different thing, both from the inert aspect and also the grain size and roughness/angularity which I cannot possibly tell from photos. Shrimp fine.

Byron said:

I went looking for that too, no luck. But if only shrimp are going in that tank, it really doesn't matter. Fish would be a very different thing, both from the inert aspect and also the grain size and roughness/angularity which I cannot possibly tell from photos. Shrimp fine.

Click to expand...

Oh, guppies are going in the same tank as the shrimp as well. So looking for something inert really. Will keep looking! Thank you

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

Oh, guppies are going in the same tank as the shrimp as well. So looking for something inert really. Will keep looking! Thank you

Click to expand...

No problem for guppies either, they are moderately hard or harder water fish. I was more concerned about the roughness, which won't matter for guppies either as they are not substrate fish. So whether this sand does or does not dissolve calcium, shrimp and guppies are fine.