I Know It Crops Up All The Time, But .....

[scubadoo]

I have a 190l Juwel Trigon

Stocking:
5 no. danios (mix of zebra & leopard)
8 no. serpae tetra
8 no. neon tetra
6 no. corydora trilineatus

Stats
Temp : 26 deg.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: about 10-20ppm

My main concern I suppose is the serpae tetra which do have a reputation for being a bit nippy - and they are, but being in a group of 8 means that they tend to only bother each other.

I'm intending to get about 6 amano shrimp to start with and see how things go.

 

[moray]

they should be ok, though the tetras and danios can be nippy, give them plenty of places to hide. good luck

 

[jayjay]

Sounds fine to me, the tetra probably won't be too bad if they have somewhere to escape to.

 

[Bloo]

Should be fine Just make sure you have some caves and wood for the shrimp to hide in/underneath.

 

[scubadoo]

Thanks for that peeps - will get some over the next few days.

Goodbye algae !

...... I hope

 

[Bloo]

What algae are you dealing with ?

 

[scubadoo]

Its not too bad really, but a bit of brown growth on my plants mostly.

I've cut down the lighting times to start controlling it and will reduce it further if need be.


Mind you when I did my maintenance the other night, I seemed to have a bit of black? growth / algae on the glass which is something new - unless that is the brown stuff dieing off

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Its not too bad really, but a bit of brown growth on my plants mostly.

I've cut down the lighting times to start controlling it and will reduce it further if need be.


Mind you when I did my maintenance the other night, I seemed to have a bit of black? growth / algae on the glass which is something new - unless that is the brown stuff dieing off

watch out incase it's black beard algae, if so, kill it all now before it spreads, it's a complete nightmare

 

[Bloo]

They won't touch anything on the glass. And depending on how large your tank is / how many plants you have and how many shrimp you get, you may not see an immediate result. However I know for a fact how great they are so they will be a benefit to your community either way

Remember the are highly nocturnal and you may struggle to see / find them. They often hide behind a filter or heater or under bogwood.

If you can afford it, stick at least 10 in there.

 

[scubadoo]

That many eh?

I'm not expecting miracles, just an improvement - plus I want to keep them - its a bonus really if they keep any algae in check.

I might start with a few less - just in case they turn out to be an expensive snack for the other inhabitants and then add more if its all OK.

The other option would be to get a few MTS - they may help with the glass and also with turning my sand substrate. I'm just a bit nervous about introducing them in case I get overloaded with the things.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

The other option would be to get a few MTS - they may help with the glass and also with turning my sand substrate. I'm just a bit nervous about introducing them in case I get overloaded with the things.

so long as you don't overfeed you shouldn't get swamped with mts, I don't know about them cleaning the glass though. Best I've found for that is apple snails.

yeah that sounds reasonable numbers of amano's, i've about 6/7 in my 120l tank I actually see plenty of them, they keep the tank spotless, I've actually just increased the photoperiod so there's a bit more for them to munch on so they don't eat my plants!

 

[Bloo]

That many eh?

Yep. I had 10 in my 20 gallon. You have a 50 gallon. So if you really want to see an effect, you'll have to increase the numbers a lot. But it's absoltely fine to start off with just a few to see if they survive
They are the most amazing substrate cleaners too.

 

[scubadoo]

Well I went to the LFS and got 9 to start with.

They were 3 for £5.

They are already having a positive effect and have sterted cleaning my plants nicely and so far so good on the compatability front - mind you I can only ever see 3 or 4 at a time maximum. A couple of them are quite large though (for a japonica) and even the cories are a bit wary of them.

Now my little girl has decided she wants us to get some MTS but I'm not sure - I dont want to be forever plucking the blighters out and being over run by them.

 

[Bloo]

Good to hear they are doing well - that's a good price too. My shop sells them for £2.50 each.
Yes, it's quite surprising how "bolshy" these shrimp can be and stand their ground when mature. I've often seen some larger fish approach them, when they almost go into a "rearing" position on their back legs - front legs & feelers waving in the air to fend off the larger fish. Surprisingly works !!

I don't blame you not wanting MTS. They are nasty little chaps (but that might just be because snails give me the creeps !) and produce in the blink of an eye. Though it's said that unless you overfeed, you won't have a population problem with them. I'd say stick to the shrimp

 

[scubadoo]

I don't blame you not wanting MTS. They are nasty little chaps (but that might just be because snails give me the creeps !) and produce in the blink of an eye. Though it's said that unless you overfeed, you won't have a population problem with them. I'd say stick to the shrimp

I think that for the mo' it'll just be the shrimp - give them a chance to work some long cleaning shifts

I'm not convinced about the overfeeding theory - I read a lot more posts about people being over-run with snails than of people saying its easy to regulate the population !

I wouldn't mind some more shrimp with a bit more colour - maybe some cherry shrimp, but I'll wait a while and let things settle in the tank for a few weeks before deciding.

Thanks for the advise / comments on this thread bloo