First Shrimp Setup

[Just Add Water]

I found a good deal on this 5g rimless tank on FBmarketplace. 10”x10”x13” made by Fluval. I set it up initially with the waterfall style filtration system it came with. (used filter media from my fish tank to cycle it) The filter did well at first, then starting having issues staying primed. I replaced the filtration with a sponge filter and added some pothos and wandering Jew to the top. There are 5 Cherry Shrimp and 4 Ghost Shrimp. I added one Otocinclus today because my glass was getting a little slick with algae. My water test today is:
Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia 0
GH 180
KH 240
PH 7.8 to 8.0
Please let me know if you see any red flags.
Thank you

 

[Ram419]

Nice! I'd be curious to know how the wadering jew does. I have some in my backyard and pondered trying to put some in my aquariums.

 

[betta4ever!]

It's looking great!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF

2 issues with the single oto: They are a social fish, that need to be in groups of 10 or more; a 5G tank is much too small for an adequate group of these fish.

Secondly, they constantly forage for algae, and will starve to death if there is not enough natural algae present in the tank, which is the case with a newly setup tank.

I would rehome/return the single oto.

We shouldn't buy fish to be "workers" in our tanks; it is the fishkeeper's responsibility to maintain tanks, not the fish.

 

[Just Add Water]

My Oto is from my established tank. I can return him to his buddies. I wasn’t thinking about needing to stay with his school when I moved him. Easy fix. Thanks for the reminder! Thankful for groups like this that keep me on track.

 

[Slaphppy7]

My Oto is from my established tank. I can return him to his buddies. I wasn’t thinking about needing to stay with his school when I moved him. Easy fix. Thanks for the reminder! Thankful for groups like this that keep me on track.

 

[Glenn407]

Looks nice. I toss the idea around often about doing something like that some time. The only shrimp I ever had was in one of those Ecospheres someone gave me as a gift one time. If I remember correctly one lived to be near ten years old!

 

[Just Add Water]

Update: tank is doing quite well. I now have 9 cherry shrimp babies that were born in the tank. Everyone else is doing great! My ghost shrimp are huge now and have taken on a blueish/gray hue. They are very comical during feeding time. The adult cherries look happy and healthy too! They love the plant roots!