10gal Shrimp Tank!

[Amunet]

So, the 10gallon tank in our computer room is now my invert tank.
Currently housing 10+ juvenile cherry shrimp that I just got in the mail today and some trumpet snails.

When I first got the tank, it was used for bettas.
Divided down the middle, male on one side, female on the other. I miss those bettas
It also used to be on my nice big corner computer desk

Switched to eco complete.

When those 2 bettas died. Scooted the divider over some, got a few female bettas and another male and a few more plants
Was having a bit of a brown algae problem

Eventually added some crushed coral to the substrate. Hated the way it looked but needed something to help keep the pH from continuously crashing.

And the tank claimed most of those bettas The tank remained empty until we moved house.
Gave away the desk to my brother, so bought the tank its own stand.
Also put in an unruly killifish in to the tank that was in our 29gal. Said killifish is now happily living in the 125gal tank.
No full tank shots but you get an idea lol
It also housed some platy for a short period of time. Some of them died, but the others were eventually moved to the 29gal.

After we got the 125gal set up and eventually cycled, out went the killifish, and in went ghost shrimp. For some reason, they all ended up dying. Still wondering about that. I don't THINK I added any kind of copper whatever to the tank, but I'm not really certain.
I got a bit disheartened for a bit and ignored the tank... so well.. it wasn't looking too good.
It didn't help that the tank was infested with staghorn algae b/c the TWO filters in the tank were pieces of crap. Had an internal and a HOB filter, and both of them had lost so much flow that only trickles of water was coming out.

Eventually went out and got a new filter for the tank, cleaned it up as best I could, took out the fake decor, added a small piece of mopani and added a layer of sand

Ordered some vallis, cleaned up the small sword plant that was in the tank, and planted it all. The vallis came in horrible condition though. Planted it anyway, hoping it would come back ok. Also stole a little bit of the java moss that's in our 125gal

Bought 10 cherry shrimp, and just recieved them today, all alive and kicking! WOOT! They're SO tiny though. I just hope they're hardier than the ghost shrimp.
Acclimating in the bag... a couple of them were no bigger than ants. I'm surprised the seller even noticed them enough to catch and bag them lol

And finally in the tank They're so hard to spot lol

And a photo of one of the big trumpet snails in the tank. There are only a few in this tank since it was never really overfed. The ones that are in it though have gotten pretty big.. well big for trumpet snails I guess.

Left

Right

So yeah.. REALLY hoping the vallis will survive and start to come back up. I wanted the tank to just have this nice grassy look w/ all of the vallis in it. I just don't have much of any luck with this plant though. The corkscrew in the 125 seem to be doing ok, but just regular vallis never seems to do well for me. Hope I can find some more corkscrew hehe
I'm getting some marimo balls in the mail that will be going in to the tank.
Uuuuhm.. what else.
No CO2... only going to be dosing with Flourish & Potassium once a week, and Excel every other day.
And yeah... just hoping everything will work out


EDIT:
Forgot to mention that the seller of the cherry shrimp sent them with a stalk of hygro? That's what is up front.
Also there is a stem of hornwort in the tank and a couple tiny little crypt plants.

 

[Amunet]

As far as I can tell, all shrimplets are alive. Well.. all of them that I can see.
That's a good sign at least lol.
Vallis still isn't doing well. SO freakin angry about that. Hoping it's like crypt plants and will start growing some new leaves... sigh.
The wood in the tank is def releasing some tannins. Tank has a yellow color to it lol.
It's all good though, if it helps the shrimp

The hygro that was sent w/ the shrimp looks to be doing well. Looks like it's actually grown some. Or at least just straightened out.
Crypt in the back is looking good. The leaves are still tiny, but growing at least.

 

[Phage]

Aww the shrimp are so cute!

For the marimo balls, are you going to leave them round or cut them to make them flat, sort of like a carpet? I cut my moss balls and I like them better flat.

 

[Amunet]

I like them round
If I can find some vallis that actually wants to live for me lol, there really won't be much room to flatten one out. I might try it though.. we'll see

 

[Phage]

I never thought I would say this but, that is one nice looking trumpet snail. lol
Good luck with the vals, I hope they do good. How big are the moss balls?

 

[Amunet]

Lol, they are nice when it's only a few snails You stop noticing how nice they can look when the tank starts to become overrun with them heh.
Have a few really big ones in our 29gal tank as well. They don't look as good though b/c they have algae growing all over their shells heh.

Haven't gotten the mossballs yet
Hopefully tomorrow, if not, then hopefully get them Monday and they won't be dead lol.

The first time I got them, they were a pretty decent size. Most of them were slightly bigger than golfballs. 1 or 2 of them were just a tad smaller than a golfball.
Hoping it's the same for the new ones coming in

 

[Phage]

Mine were in the mail 25 days, I think yours should be fine. They are good survivors.
My snails are all brown, yours have pretty spots and stuff lol.

 

[bagu]

nice!

so small!

 

[Amunet]

BLEH... I am SO frackin PO'd that the vallis is dead. So angry that I wasted money on them.
SIGH!

Anywho... photos I took tonight

Well this was from earlier today. A few of the shrimp were gathered on the wood. Tryed zooming in for a better photo, but our camera sucks

Vallis dead dead dead dead dead. Leaving it in the tank to hopefully help keep the beneficial bacteria up since I'm sure the shrimp are't creating very much bioload.

Crypt doing pretty well... Couple new leaves have popped up.

Hygro doing very well. Not sure why it's growing at an angle though *shrugs*

And a decent photo of one of the lil shrimpkins... as you can see, they've colored up pretty well. Fairly certain that they've already grown a good amount as well.
They all seem to be doing well, I just hope it stays that way.

And a tank shot.... nice pee yellow tank... lol

Hopefully will be able to find some vallis somewhere that will live for me dangit! I'm not giving up on the grassy look for this tank!

 

[azzaknight]

i have the same type of hygro phelia. i started of with 2 plants and its grown so much i now have 4!! its a very nice plant. what other plants are you going to get for the tank?

 

[bagu]

sorry about the vallis =(

 

[Amunet]

i have the same type of hygro phelia. i started of with 2 plants and its grown so much i now have 4!! its a very nice plant. what other plants are you going to get for the tank?

I'd like vallis to be the main plant in the tank.
I just want it all over the back and sides.
If I can't get that though... then I have no idea what other plant to get. Maybe try some crypts.

 

[Amunet]

Alrighty, so ordered some vallis on the net lol
Corkscrew, jungle, and nana? Wasn't sure what the nana one is but got a couple anyway just to see
Also got some more dwarf sag and got 2 crypt plants.

The dwarf sags are going in to the 125, 1 of the crypts as well.
Corkscrew val is going in to the shrimp tank, 1 of the crypts, and maybe the jungle and nana. Depends on how healthy everything looks.

 

[Amunet]

Some new photos
Still haven't gotten in the vallis... so I'm not real hopeful that it's going to get here in good condition. We'll see though.
I did get the mossballs in earlier this week. No photos yet.... they're all just lined up in the front of the tank heh. The shrimp seem to really like them though

Anywho.. photos!

Wittle itty bitty baby skrimp! It was about the size of a medium size ant. SO cute!

Another wittle baby and the "giant" trumpet snail behind it lol

And misc shrimp photos

They like their algae wafers... I broke up little pieces off of a wafer, and apparently a teeny tiny little piece is enough for them lol

HOPEFULLY I'll get the plants tomorrow and they'll be in good condition so I'll actually be able to post up some plant photos next heh

 

[loraxchick]

dont feel sorry about losing all your ghosts...they are notoriously hard to keep. there are many "ghost shrimp" species and many of them are actually brackish. they are also more sensitive ime than other shrimp.
LOVE the cherries. ordiering some soon myself. and also love the snails. im a big invert fan
hope you find some suitable plants. i have vallis and it is doing ok...not great, just ok.
crypts are great. ive had one for over a year and it is HUGE! lovely little plant.
good luck with your shrimpies