12L Micro Tank

[carmstrong]

He's soo tiny!!! Omg super cute
 
I didn't think I would like shrimp but I just may have to get a few little blue buddies in my tank one day! 
 
Hows that moss ball? Is it worth having in the tank?
 
What other tankmates is Cobalt going to get?

 

[Mamashack]

Cobalt has already got platies as tank-mates in the 60L tank now. He seems to be coping with the extra space and the company so as long as I can keep the temperature stable at around 26° I might just keep him in there. My back is killing me after following this one round the tank waiting for it to keep still. I'm quite happy with this one

EDIT: Forgot to mention the moss ball. I think it is good to look at and is something soft for the shrimp to graze on. They are slow growing tho

 

[carmstrong]

He looks soo cool!!
 
Ya, the moss ball would make a good addition to my tank..
 
Ugh, the pain of waiting for a cycling tank  
 
It'll be worth it!

 

[Mamashack]

Woohoo!!!! On day 26 both ammonia and nitrite have cleared in 24 hours!!!
 
Unfortunately the little platies have died

. I couldn't see one of them for a few days and then yesterday I saw a shrimp munching on a tiny carcass. No tiny platies there at feeding time today. Not sure if they starved to death or whether Cobalt the betta harrassed them. Poor things! I never saw any aggressive behaviour, but I guess it could have gone on when I wasn't there or after lights out. So at the moment I don't have any occupants to go in the micro tank now 

.
 
The little shrimp are very good at hiding and I've only spotted one in 2 days so they are going to have to grow a bit before transferring I think. As  a bonus the assassin snail I'd replaced in the now shrimp tank (30L) has emerged from the depths and I now have 2 in there. They are competing for the algae wafers, but i reckon there's enough stuff in the gravel to keep them alive. Their juvenile shrimp pellets should be arriving tomorrow - should be interesting to see if the snails go after those too!

 

[Mamashack]

I've decided to put a couple of the amanos in the micro for now just to keep it stable until the blue ones are big enough to find (and catch!) and not have to feed maintenance doses of ammonia (and then have to do another water change). The temperature was about 0.2° different and the pH was exactly the same on the API chart so in they went without too much ceremony.
 

                   

There are still a few air-bubbles from the water change but hopefully they will disappear soon. Forgot to turn the flash off for the one with them both so it's not as clear because of the glare.
They've nothing to munch on as there's no leftover food to scavenge so I've given them some algae wafer to be going on with.
 
I hope there's more than one of the blue ones survived in the 30L - I only ever see one at a time and can't tell if it's the same one each time! I'll have to have them tattooed with 1,2 or 3 on their backs! lol

 

[daizeUK]

I hope there's more than one of the blue ones survived in the 30L - I only ever see one at a time and can't tell if it's the same one each time! I'll have to have them tattooed with 1,2 or 3 on their backs! lol

 
In the four months since I bought my six Amano's I've seen all six of them together just twice!  It's always a relief to know they're all still alive!
 
I wouldn't be brave enough to put shrimp in a newly cycled tank, I like to let mine run for several months first!

 

[Mamashack]

The amanos are relatively easy to spot in tanks the size I've got.
Since my last post, I've spotted 2 of the blueberry ones at the same time so that is a relief and I can tell the difference between the 2 I think! Just need to get the 3rd one spotted and memorised now.
Am curious why you wouldn't put shrimp in a newly cycled tank for months, daize. Is it just caution on your part or is there something I should know?

 

[Mamashack]

So far so good.
The amanos have survived the night in their new home.
Need to get a light source fo this tank - probably LED clip-on I'm thinking.

 

[daizeUK]

Am curious why you wouldn't put shrimp in a newly cycled tank for months, daize. Is it just caution on your part or is there something I should know?

 
It's often recommended that shrimp do better in a mature tank (six months) because they are more sensitive than fish.  That's the original advice I was given and I'm happy to stick to it.  I figure the shrimp will also be happier as they spend their entire time grazing and they'll find more to eat in a mature tank.  I'm sure there'll be someone else along in a minute to tell you not to worry about it though!

 

[Mamashack]

Yes I'd already worked out that they wouldn't be able to graze on leftovers so I've been giving them some crushed flake. They don't seem to like the algae wafers as I'm having to remove it all (well mushy) after 3-4 hours. I'll try them with the juvenile pellets I'll be getting thro the post tomorrow hoepfully for the blueberry babies and see how they like them.
My test results are ammonia 0, nitrite 0 this morning as expected
So am I right in thinking you're saying that setting up shrimp tanks from scratch is not a good idea then, daize?

 

[daizeUK]

My Amanos love algae wafers
 
I think it's okay to start a shrimp tank from scratch but I would plant it heavily and give the plants several weeks to settle in before introducing livestock.  Sometimes I've heard it suggested to add temporary fish such as your small platies while waiting.  That's pretty much what I've done with my shrimp tank anyway.

 

[Mamashack]

Unfortunately the little platies died a day or two before the tank was complete and the others at 2cm+ are too big for a tank this size.
So I'm going to have to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

 

[Mamashack]

Meet the new occupants of the micro tank:

Nerite Zebra Snails
 

Unknown snail that hitch-hiked on the new java fern plant ? common snail with spiral stripe
 
One of the zebra snails has a crack along one side which I didn't notice until I had it in the tank.
It doesn't appear to hmaper it's movements so far. I don't want to take it back if there's something I can do to help it get better.
Is there anything I can do or give?
Have seen in another thread about Settlers Tums being given to top up the calcium to aid healing. The only ones I can find are fruit flavoured and coloured.
Has anyone else heard of this or tried it? If so did it help? What about the colouring and flavouring?

 

[carmstrong]

Love the new snails! the shape of their shells are pretty interesting. 
 
i'd be curious about the snails repairing the shells.. a friend of mine has one that had a chunk of the shell break off when the snail decided to bungee jump from the top of the tank. lol

 

[Mamashack]

[Sad news from the 30L tank with the baby blueberry shrimp!
I saw one of the assassin snails and thought it looked an odd shape and when I looked closer it looked like it had 2 syphons! When I looked closer still one of the "syphons" was blue - the same blue as my baby blue shrimp and yes you've guessed it - one of them was being swallowed whole! It must have died for some reason and the assassin had come across the body at least I hope that's the case - I'd hate to think it was being swallowed alive! It was too far in to see which one it was]
 
Back to the micro tank -  there must be microscopic algae on the tank walls as both snails are all over the walls and are not the slightest bit interested in anything else. I've tried a slice of blanched courgette/zuchini and it has been been totally ingored in favour of the walls!
The amanos don't appear to be interested either nor in the shrimp food pellets I thought they might enjoy. They seem happy with the crushed flake.
Will leave it in overnight just in case they get the midnight munchies and see what it looks like in the morning.