shrimp tank

[CAPSLOCK]

what does the tank look like now? lets see a photo.

Seconded !

 

[exhumed07]

I'll do a pic after a water change. it's a dark water tank cause of the tannins. cause of the dark water it's hard to get a pic since well u can't see that the plants are green lol.

 

[exhumed07]

 

[Newman]

maybe some red crypts for that right back corner? or red tiger lotus would work too. the intake might destroy them though. I know that hygro can stand up to the intake, but now that i see your scape, i don't think it will fit in because it is green.
what were your other plant choices for that corner? i know you mentioned swords, which species? regular amazon grows too big and it's a plain green.

 

[exhumed07]

i was thinking an indian red sword

 

[Newman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF-l9kO_u6o
^found that when searching for what red indian swords look like. I have the red rubin sword (second one on the table) and it's a bit more green than what you would want. it's also super brittle.

I think your choice of sword is solid, go for it

 

[CAPSLOCK]

That looks really cool. I think the wood ended up looking super natural as an aquarium piece.

 

[exhumed07]

I was going for a look like say Cyprus on the bank of a swamp, stream, river. I looked at a lot of trees before I cut that one. tree wasn't going to live much longer anyway at least. had a huge ant nest in it. the tank was originally designed as a paludarium.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Yeah I remember the pictures from before. It looked cool then too. But I do really like it with the little plants around the "roots."

 

[exhumed07]

I'm liking it as well. I also have a mat of christmas moss starting to grow along the top of the wood where it tends to pop out of the water. i also had some hair grass floating around that got stuck behind the wood and is now sending up some grass inbetween the glass and wood. I'm just going to let it grow. if it grows out of the water it will get plenty of light and co2. then the roots will absorb more nutrients out of the water column. right now thats one of my biggest things. I want to rid the water column of phosphates and nitrates naturally. reduce water changes and provide clean clear water for the shrimp with as little work as possible.

 

[OrangeCones]

I have the red rubin sword (second one on the table) and it's a bit more green than what you would want.

In order to stay red, plants need sufficient light and the right nutrients. Otherwise, they will be green only.

 

[exhumed07]

I'm running dirt and high lighting. close to 3 watts per gallon. I've also got some red clay in the dirt for iron content. so the red sword should stay red.

 

[exhumed07]

well i noticed a baby pygmy cory cat in the tank today. well a bit bigger then a baby, about 3/16 of an inch long. I rarely see my cory cats but there is a spot where they can easily get behind the wood in the tank and wondering if they have been spending their time back there and also spawning back there.

 

[Newman]

nice! the tank is in good shape if they fry are surviving.

 

[exhumed07]

I only see the one. the baby tears really took a hit but are coming back. but thats to be expected when my lfs had them in a 5 gallon bucket for nearly a week with no light lol. but the shrimp have been molting but have not seen any berried yet. as for the cory cats i've only seen one so far. there could be more but no idea. I feed the tank every other day with some finely ground flake and half an algae waffer broken into a few pieces.