Plant Fertilizer

[showjyr]

I am moving my Red cherry shrimp population to a larger tank. I also want to start lightly planting the same tank. I have already started adding CO2 and have better lighting on the way. What are some good ferts taht would be shrimp safe? Hoping some of you guys that have shrimp also grow plants.

 

[GoldLenny]

As usual, lots of conflicting information on shrimp and it's no different in this topic either...

Here is what PlantGeek.net says about Plant Ferts in a Cherry Shrimp planted tank... http/www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=19

Plant ferts: I haven’t mentioned it yet, but plants are a big A+ in any shrimp tank, especially floating plants. Guppy grass, some floating pearl grass, etc.. many work great. Red cherries particularly enjoy hanging upside down from them like bats, many times using this leverage to skim the surface of the water for whatever goodies they can find. I would fertilize the tank as normal, and not worry about plantex csm+b having copper in it or whatever. PMDD, Seachem’s Flourish Trace, Tropica Mastergrow.. I’ve used them all in shrimp tanks without any negative effects.

Here is what PetShrimp.com says about plants and shrimp... http/www.petshrimp.com/articles/keepingshrimp.html

I don't generally recommend plants in a shrimp tank except for extremely slowing species such as java fern.. I used to advocate the use of very fast growing plants, such as Najas guadalupensis, Egeria densa, etc. for nutrient (i.e. nitrate, phosphate etc.) export. However, experience has shown that using such plants has adverse affects on the microorganism fauna in the tank, on which the shrimp feed. Fast growing plants compete very efficiently with the types of algae, bio-film and other microorganisms that usually grow in the tank and form a very important part of the shrimp diet, thereby turning the tank into a biological "dead zone." The plants take away both the nutrients and the light necessary for microorganisms to survive and thrive. In my Najas only tanks, the shrimp were not even grazing on the plant leaves as no food-organisms were growing on the leaves. Not only that, the fast growing plants actually do not eliminate most of the nitrate and/or phosphate unless your shrimp tank gets fertilized and has very high output lights. Water changes are really a better way to decrease the nitrate and phosphate concentrations in a shrimp tank.

A shrimp tank should not be fertilized. Although it might work well for a long time, fertilizers can accumulate in the water over time. As shrimp are very sensitive to organic pollutants in the water (which is basically what fertilizers are), they react adversely to fertilizer accumulation. It is not worth the risk of losing your whole shrimp population just to have a little faster plant growth.

Both are reputable sites with completely opposing viewpoints on plants and fertilizers. I just use easy to grow low light plants in my tanks anyhow so I don't have to do the CO2, fertilizer thing. I guess it depends on what you want. If you want a heavily planted tank, you will have to do what's best for the plants and then hope for the best with the shrimp. If you want a shrimp tank, do what's best for the shrimp and minimize the additives to the tank for the plants.

You could Google 'shrimp in planted tank' and read lots more info on the topic but I think you will generally find the above two opposing viewpoints widely spread among other sites and forums.

 

[Liam]

Not much to add to GoldLennys post except to say that I use Co2 in my shrimp tanks, mostly to reduce ph, the shrimp are fine with a full one point drop in ph caused by Co2. Many people keep cherry shrimp in planted tanks using the EI fert regime without problems, just don’t overdose and they should be fine.
Its probably true from what I have read and seen that shrimp in tanks with lots of leaf litter and few plants have better baby survival rates as the babies have more micro food to eat.

 

[GoldLenny]

One other thing I wanted to add. I originally had hornwort in my 10G tank with the cherry shrimp but with the more reading that I did, I decided to pull the hornwort. Hornwort puts out an allopathic chemical that inhibits algae growth. While this is a good thing in a "normal" planted tank, the shrimp and their babies need algae growth as part of their diet. I think there are a couple of plants besides hornwort that puts out this algae inhibiting chemical so check your plants out to make sure you aren't hurting your shrimp tank.

 

[Invader Xan]

I've been trying to find out info on this myself. Thanks a million guys!

 

[showjyr]

Well now i'm just stuck in the middle. Guess i'll go with no fert for know but i will still have about 2wpg and mild CO2. Don't know if i will have a big algae bloom or not. Gonna be adding Pellia, Java moss, Tiawan moss, Riccia, and a dozen or so Swords. Have to see how they do with now fert. One quaestion.....anybody know the min. substrate depth for swords? I want to keep the bottom clean so thin substrate would work best.