New to planted tanks starting 33 long and 6 gallon iwagumi style tanks

[Mike&stef]

Been keeping fish for a while started out with 20 gallon for a year brother gave me a 55 gallon which was fun for community fish and cichlids. Now I decided to try plants so I downsized and found a 33 gallon long which has the same footprint as the 55 but not as tall. Guy who I boght it from said to check this forum for advice

the 33 gallon long has a ehiem 2217 canister, lilly pipe, bought a 48" shop light from home depot and put 2 t8 32 watt daylight bulbs in it so far seems to be working well. Driftwood, rocks, gravel, some xmas moss, micro sword and few other small plants. dosing excel every other day
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6 gallon fluval edge came with adequete led lights suposdely to grow some plants. I added a 10k led strip found on ebay to grow even more. DIY paintball co2 with glass diffuser and drop checker, gravel and black sand. Hc, microsword and xmas moss, one oto and I had cherry shrimp and CRS in it but my co2 went nuclear and killed all my shrimp but one.
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Now I am considering getting rid of my co2 and finding some hardy shrimp that can survive and thrive with my water I get from the well which is pretty hard. Or do I keep the co2 and go buy some ada aquasoil to keep ph down and stable? Where is the best place around town to get good plant substrate other than buying online?

I can get RO water from the watermill express places they have all over town but not sure if that water is any better than the water we get from the well on the property.
My goal is to have shrimp thrive and I can transport them from my 33 gallon to the 6 gallon and basically keep the best looking ones in the 6 gallon. Also to add some german bue rams to my 33 gallon and having them breed
Sorry for all the questions all at once just want to get things rolling again and get my shrimp population back up.

[Totenkampf]

DIY paintball CO2 can be as tricky as yeast reactors IMO so if you are going low tech then maybe do away with that. I have not had good fortune with breeding shrimp in tanks that i dose excel but some others havent had that problem so maybe a better quality CO2 rig is the answer. there are shrimp that do well in hard or soft water but in either case it seems to be best if the TDS is low. I have found the water well water to be excellent in this regard. a pH lowering substrate is a good idea if you go for bee shrimp. rams will surely eat the shrimplets if they are in together. they sometimes, depending on the personality of the fish, eat adults i have read. mine eyeball the amanos on occasion but they are close to the same size lol.

[mistahoo]

I like! Thanks for posting pics!

[Andrew_B]

33 longs are by far my favorite small tank footprint. Cant wait to see the progress.

[Mike&stef]

I have not tested the well water for tds but ph comes out 7.8 and I am sure it's high in calcium due to our shower head and water stains we see in the bathroom. I would do water changes 10-20% in the 6 gallon and would use water I put aside a few days before to sit and get room temp before adding it slowly to the tank. On a few occasions I would have dead shrimp. Not sure what's shocking them other than hard well water.

I have seen someone selling hardy red and yellow shrimp on Craigslist and I was wondering what other types that could thrive in my well/tap water?

Introducing blue rams to the 33gallon will be after I carpet the tank and plants are thriving well. I also want to have 100+ shrimp living and have plenty of hiding spaces before I add the rams

[Totenkampf]

I have not tested the well water for tds but ph comes out 7.8 and I am sure it's high in calcium due to our shower head and water stains we see in the bathroom.

doh! i meant watermill water. very low in TDS.

[Jozle]

DIY paintball CO2 can be as tricky as yeast reactors IMO so if you are going low tech then maybe do away with that. I have not had good fortune with breeding shrimp in tanks that i dose excel but some others havent had that problem so maybe a better quality CO2 rig is the answer. there are shrimp that do well in hard or soft water but in either case it seems to be best if the TDS is low. I have found the water well water to be excellent in this regard. a pH lowering substrate is a good idea if you go for bee shrimp. rams will surely eat the shrimplets if they are in together. they sometimes, depending on the personality of the fish, eat adults i have read. mine eyeball the amanos on occasion but they are close to the same size lol.

I know what you mean. I have a Crown tail betta and a couple of gouramis living together with my sakura. Sakura are in a population boom right now because they're not being bothered by the fish.

[Mike&stef]

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Hc is not rooting and speeding as well as I expected it to; possibly low light still or not enough ferts in the tank?
Aquascape is flat I had a nice incline for a bit but it seemed to flatten out over time

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180 view of the tank still looking for a black pre filter sponge to cover that hideous ehiem intake. Made a shrimp condo that will eventually be covered in xmas moss, and my tree that will fill out eventually.

I am planning on picking up some more substrate maybe another 15 pounds to help with scaping but also to help with the water chemistry. Thinking aquasoil. I plan on adding it a few handfulls at a time or using a old 20 gallon tank and letting the ammonia cycle out. I also need to pick up some ferts micro and macro I am assuming, because I noticed my microswords have holes in their leaves. In the 6 gallon the sword has some dark spots so all a lack of nutrients...?

Does fish gallery have good prices on ferts and substrate or does anyone know of a good deal around town? Also any advice on the aqua scape is appreciated

[Totenkampf]

HC needs pretty good light from what I have read, I have no personal experience with it though. The stock LEDs that come with these nano tanks are usually poor in regard to PAR. High pH and lack of enough CO2 / ferts may definately be a cause. The gravel yopu are using is pretty coarse, many plants dont care for that. Aquasoil would be good but it is hard to terrace if thats what you want. Its so light that it flattens out many times.

FG has a large selection of quality goods but they are def not the least expensive in town. Not sure who has the best value since I tend to get that stuff online.

[madehtsobi]

New to planted tanks starting 33 long and 6 gallon iwagumi style tanks

Just get Amazonia soil from adg
Themselves here locally n Houston.

Free shipping on the 9L.

[Jozle]

I use an outdoor fluorescent spot light for my HC. They love it.

[Mike&stef]

Got my eco-complete substrate today went with this instead of ada aquasoil because of the price. My plan is to add a handful everyday mix it in with the gravel. Did a recent water change and started to add RO water from watermill express and will continue so for top offs and partial wc's in the future. Also picked up 5 yellow a 5 cherry shrimp today and added them to the 33 long tank.
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I have a new 150 watt fluval heater was wondering if its completely necessary to use it since it doesn't get to cold here or should I get store credit for it and buy more tetras.? Just wondering since plants and shrimp dont seem to mind chilly water...

All the fish in the tank are known except these two guys anyone know what they are? I was given these and they seem to be ok in the tank they have not harmed or eaten any fish. I have some endler fry that were spawn in the 55 gallon survived transition and have been left alone in the 33 gallon. So I assume that they are not aggressive and will leave my shrimp alone. Bottom dwellers are a otos, upside down catfish (he is pretty small) and a mini pletco (fullsize he is like 2ins)
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once the new substrate is in hopefully my dwarf hairgrass can root better and spread giving me a carpet effect.
Next I need to start looking into dry ferts any suggestions.? Right now I am dosing seachem flourish and excel as well as api leaf zone; is this overkill or will this suffice till I can get some good ferts?

[Mike&stef]

I use an outdoor fluorescent spot light for my HC. They love it.

My hc seems to like the lighting its nice green and I have seen growth I think my problem is my substrate is to coarse like someone else mentioned. I do have 5lbs of black sand mixed in the gravel I think I may buy 5lbs more sand and dump it in the tank that way the hc can get better roots

[Jozle]

My hc seems to like the lighting its nice green and I have seen growth I think my problem is my substrate is to coarse like someone else mentioned. I do have 5lbs of black sand mixed in the gravel I think I may buy 5lbs more sand and dump it in the tank that way the hc can get better roots

I think sand is your problem. There really isn't much nutrients in the sand unless there's some waste build up already in it.

[brandon_rss18]

After purchasing some Amazonia substrate from City Pets, I wouldn't recommend anything else. I have only had my South American planted 30g up and running for maybe 2 weeks, but all of the plants I put in it are thriving! It is 30 bucks a bag, but one bag would work for a 33 long. Check it out online, there is a bunch of helpful info on it. If you are putting South American fish in your tank, it is also really good for them as it also softens the water.