Shrimp tank is up and running!

I was thinking a lot what to do with the 1.8-gallon tank that came with my orandas. I initially wanted some fish, but I've learned that it is a tad too small for that. So I did some research on shrimp, and ended up getting 8 bloody mary neos.
This tank was never shut off after my orandas moved to their big tank. For about 2 months, it was home to my lonely ramshorn snail. I've slowly been adding plants to make it more beautiful and habitable. Water parameters have been stable, and I feel like I have done enough research, so it was time for some shrimp friends.

Here they are! pardon the scratches on the tank..I made the newbie mistake of deep cleaning the substrate in the tank.
I started with some moss balls, which I wanted to put in my goldfish tank (bad idea), so it stayed in this tank.
Then I got the wood with some moss from another fishkeeper. Not really sure what kind of moss it is, can anyone identify it? (side story: it came with a damselfly nymph, which I promptly removed from my tank).
The frogbits are from my planted tank that's currently cycling--I have to clear that out every week! They like to hang on the roots.
Then I made a little moss wall (Christmas tree moss) because I learned that shrimps love moss walls.




I'd appreciate any comments on what I can do to make this tank better. Do I need more plants? are 8 neos enough for now?
I might add a red ramshorn or two, is that a good idea?

goldfish_is_orange said:

I was thinking a lot what to do with the 1.8-gallon tank that came with my orandas. I initially wanted some fish, but I've learned that it is a tad too small for that. So I did some research on shrimp, and ended up getting 8 bloody mary neos.
This tank was never shut off after my orandas moved to their big tank. For about 2 months, it was home to my lonely ramshorn snail. I've slowly been adding plants to make it more beautiful and habitable. Water parameters have been stable, and I feel like I have done enough research, so it was time for some shrimp friends.

Here they are! pardon the scratches on the tank..I made the newbie mistake of deep cleaning the substrate in the tank.
I started with some moss balls, which I wanted to put in my goldfish tank (bad idea), so it stayed in this tank.
Then I got the wood with some moss from another fishkeeper. Not really sure what kind of moss it is, can anyone identify it? (side story: it came with a damselfly nymph, which I promptly removed from my tank).
The frogbits are from my planted tank that's currently cycling--I have to clear that out every week! They like to hang on the roots.
Then I made a little moss wall (Christmas tree moss) because I learned that shrimps love moss walls.

View attachment 117132
View attachment 117133

I'd appreciate any comments on what I can do to make this tank better. Do I need more plants? are 8 neos enough for now?
I might add a red ramshorn or two, is that a good idea?

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It is looking very nice and will get quite beautiful as it matures. I would not add any more shrimp because if there are females and they get berried you may end up with lots of them! Are you using the plants for filtration? How often are you doing water changes? One snail would be plenty for that size tank in terms of bioload (they are big poopy heads!)
Have you looked at Hornwort? It has the advantage of being a great nitrogen consumer therefore very little algae problems, and can be treated as a floating plant so you can rearrange as your wall gets denser.

Thanks for your comments.

eatyourpeas said:

Are you using the plants for filtration?

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Yes! I was hoping they'd help with filtration. Not sure how effective they are now, because the shrimps have only been in there for a few days. Will need to keep track of my parameters for the next few weeks.

eatyourpeas said:

How often are you doing water changes?

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20% every 7 days before the shrimps, but I'm increasing that to 20% every 5 days now. I did a water change the same day the shrimps arrived.

eatyourpeas said:

Have you looked at Hornwort?

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Yes, I have. I can't find them on any of the LFS I've visited. I'm looking at local fishkeeping groups for some tips on where to find them. If I do get my hands on these, should I do away with the frogbits? I might have too much shade if I keep both. Or should I keep both, but in smaller quantities?

goldfish_is_orange said:

Thanks for your comments.

Yes! I was hoping they'd help with filtration. Not sure how effective they are now, because the shrimps have only been in there for a few days. Will need to keep track of my parameters for the next few weeks.

20% every 7 days before the shrimps, but I'm increasing that to 20% every 5 days now. I did a water change the same day the shrimps arrived.

Yes, I have. I can't find them on any of the LFS I've visited. I'm looking at local fishkeeping groups for some tips on where to find them. If I do get my hands on these, should I do away with the frogbits? I might have too much shade if I keep both. Or should I keep both, but in smaller quantities?

Click to expand...

You can put the Hornwort towards the bottom of tank, just don't plant it in the substrate. Keep the frogbits, they are nice.

I was able to run my shrimp tank without filtration until I got the snail. I did put a small air stone to help with water movement and oxygen exchange, and the shrimp love riding the very fine bubbles.

Other easy plants to consider: Cryptocorynes, Vallisneria, Chain Swords (this will propagate via runners quickly). I have had very good growth from the Cryptos as they seem to like the shrimp water parameters.

Your water changes should stay on the smaller side as shrimp like stable parameters.

eatyourpeas said:

Other easy plants to consider: Cryptocorynes, Vallisneria, Chain Swords

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Which cryptocorynes would you recommend? I tried doing a search, and there are a lot of types (undulata, lutea, wendtii, flamingo, etc.), and they look very different from each other.
I'm not fond of how Vallisneria looks, but the Pygmy Chain Swords look cool! I might consider those.

eatyourpeas said:

Your water changes should stay on the smaller side as shrimp like stable parameters.

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OK. Should I stick to a weekly change, or maybe every 2 weeks? I imagine I'd have to do top-offs if water changes are less frequent.

Thanks for the tips!!

goldfish_is_orange said:

Which cryptocorynes would you recommend? I tried doing a search, and there are a lot of types (undulata, lutea, wendtii, flamingo, etc.), and they look very different from each other.
I'm not fond of how Vallisneria looks, but the Pygmy Chain Swords look cool! I might consider those.


OK. Should I stick to a weekly change, or maybe every 2 weeks? I imagine I'd have to do top-offs if water changes are less frequent.

Thanks for the tips!!

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I have Lutea and Wendtii. Like you, I have an aquarium with a small footprint, so the narrower leaves work better. I have Wendtii as the filler between rocks and it works pretty well. Luteas are little workhorses, easy care.

I would stay with weekly water changes but 10%-15% and see how that goes.

Good luck! I can't wait to see what you do.

eatyourpeas said:

I have Lutea and Wendtii. Like you, I have an aquarium with a small footprint, so the narrower leaves work better. I have Wendtii as the filler between rocks and it works pretty well. Luteas are little workhorses, easy care.

I would stay with weekly water changes but 10%-15% and see how that goes.

Good luck! I can't wait to see what you do.

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OK, got it. Thanks a lot!!

Update! I got some hornwort and Vallisneria. Tank looks more complete now.


Some close-ups of the inhabitants: