Tank for Cherry Shrimp

[Nemo'sMom]

Looking for advice ....
I have a 3g Eclipse system that is fully cycled and recently empty. It had a small goldfish in it and now I would like to play around with it and create a planted shrimp habitat. I would like to get Cherry Shrimp and due to their cost and limited availability where I live, don't want to learn through their deaths I was thinking I would concentrate on getting the tank converted first, get all the parameters worked out and then get the shrimp.
Does anyone know if the little heaters for small tanks that go under the gravel would work? I don't remember the brand, but the look like a very small heating pad. Advertised that they can safely be place under gravel. They don't have a setting though and simply just raise the temp of the tank by a few degrees. Would this be adequate?

 

[MadridKid]

sounds like a really good plan. as far as heaters go though, you could purchase a 5 gallon heater and keep the temp settings real low...

 

[Nemo'sMom]

ah, did not think I could do that. Thanks for the advice ... I will have many, many more questions with this project!

 

[Newman]

I use one of those cheap ceramic heaters rated for a 5.5 gallon in my 2.5 gallon betta tank. if done right, you could actually keep it around a certain temp. i can keep mine at around 80F, a tad lower at night due to colder room temps. A word of warning though, smaller tanks as you know will be more suceptible to rapid temp changes, so you can accidentally overcook, or freeze your inhabitants over night if youre not careful and diligent at checking the thermo...

 

[Nemo'sMom]

I noticed the Cherry Shrimp have a pretty broad range of acceptable temperatures listed in the "sticky" post. I even saw a site that said they were ok down to 65F. Obviously rapid changes like you said aren't good, so i will definitely watch it. That's why I want to set it up ahead of time so I can monitor everything first and get it close to right before I put anything in there. Which brings me to my next question .... is there something I should be doing in the mean time while the tank is fishless to keep my bacteria population happy? Should I add a little fish food now and then?

 

[Newman]

Make sure its cycled first with ammonia. after you see 0 ammo, 0 nitrite, and some nitrate, then add some snails (you can add a lot) and feed those nightly with a TINY peice of alage wafer or shrimp pellet. this will keep the waste production up for the bacteria. also if you can get hem try putting an indian almond leaft into the tank to tint your water. the shrimp will enjoy it (and eating it once it starts to decay) its not going to harm your tank in any way. if you cant find the almondleaf online then find some dried up oak leaves outside and boil them. put 2 in for similar effect.

 

[Nemo'sMom]

Thank you, I will do that. I can get leaves this weekend. Numbers are still good on tank ... 0 ammo, 0 nitrite and +/- 5ppm nitrates. Tank has been well established for a long time. Next project will be a moss wall (hopefully I will find the time to do this).

 

[Newman]

The biggest problem that i find with a mos wall is not the time it takes to set it up, its the trouble of finding the right mesh... the window screen i got had very fine holes, that dont really allow the moss to grow through >_> I am soon switching to something with coarser holes..

 

[JRB__]

.... is there something I should be doing in the mean time while the tank is fishless to keep my bacteria population happy? Should I add a little fish food now and then?

I would warn against adding fish food as it contains phosphate and can lead to unwanted algae blooms.
What about 1 or 2 feeder fish? Cheap as and LSF will usually take them back when your done with them.

 

[Newman]

i'd just use pure ammonia. feeders can be a nightmare with diseases.

 

[JRB__]

i'd just use pure ammonia. feeders can be a nightmare with diseases.

very true.