Help: Starting 10 gal planted tank

[Totenkampf]

there are not many good plant places on our side of town, there is a GHAC meeting this weekend in spring and there will be plants being auctioned off there. check the GHAC subforum for details.

also you may want to update your profile with your location, it may help with people offering you cuttings

the petsmart at 1960 and 45 usually has regular flourite for a decent price

[amirk7]

i did check that petsmart on 1960 and 45 but they do not have at store but i believe they have online and i will check out GHAC Subforum

[amirk7]

Thanks about letting me about GHAC Meeting that is very close to me and my parents live in same neighbourhood

[moganman]

Are you planning on raising any shrimp in the planted tank?

[amirk7]

yes .....................

[moganman]

Well I'm no expert but if u plan on breeding shrimp, I think the ferts will slow down the breeding.

[amirk7]

ok, Moganman
but its easy to breed shrimp? and
so what you have in your tank............... is it planted tank or shrimp?

[moganman]

Yeah shrimp aren't hard to breed. I have CRS and CBS shrimp and alot of different mosses. I also have some Taiwan Painted Fire Shrimp. I thought I sold all of them off, but I missed two females and one male. Both of the females dropped some shrimplets right after I sold the rest, and now I have about 30 or so shrimplets swimming around. Both of the females are berried again, so yeah, the breeding is excellent. I have a few plants and my growth has been minimal because I choose not to use any ferts, but my plants are still living and slowly growing. My concern is more focused on my shrimp breeding so that I can have alot by the time I upgrade to a larger tank and when my shrimp numbers get high enough I'll start to focus on growing my plants more quickly and not be too concerned with them breeding as frequently.

[amirk7]

how much you sell it for? probably buy some from you but can i keep shrimp and small fish like neon together?

[moganman]

I've never kept fish with shrimp, but I can only imagine that the tetras will eat the shrimplets when they hatch. Im not selling any shrimp at the moment. Maybe in a few weeks. You can add shrimp whenever you want, but the more difficult part with you is, you need to get the right plants, lighting, substrate, and ferts for your plants.

[amirk7]

i am getting seachem flourite substrate but could you suggest me what plants should i choose and lighting system not expensive one?

[moganman]

U need to get on inverts and planted section. I don't know any plant names man. I'm new to this. I'm just speaking from my limited experience. Ferts aren't natural for shrimp to consume so it makes sense that they would breed less and that's what I've been told from some experts. I know the ADA soil has always been given great reviews but I hear it's hard to find. I use Fluval soil. My light is just a 27w lamp that I hang on my driftwood. Not bright but it's really natural. I only use prime to dechlorinate my water and I have a crimson bee ball to help detoxify the water. My tank is 10 gallons. The advice given above from the other members was the best, but they didn't really talk about growing plants and shrimp at the same time. I don't think it's possible to maximize plant growth and maximize shrimp breedings at the same time but I could be wrong

[Totenkampf]

i have plants and shrimp together but am pretty new to dwarf shrimp other than amanos. i think excel may be harmful to them. i have never thought about ferts but some people do express that shrimp do better in water with a low TDS measurement. ferts would increase TDS but I dont know by how much. i have also observed that successful shrimp breeders seem to choose low light / maintenance type plants. i am told that RCS (neocaridina heteropoda 'red') will breed anywhere but i havent tried them. the normal 'wild' phase of this species isnt doing well for me in the tap water / excel planted tank that i was experimenting with. you may want to decide to optimize things for one or the other.

i am told that the only shrimp safe fish are otocinclus but i have seen even them take brine shrimp so they might go after shrimplets. i have microrasboras in with the shrimp and i think they might be shrimp safe but i am not sure since something is preventing the shrimplets from living long. i cant say whether it is predation or the ferts / water parameters.

[amirk7]

what is main reason to breed shrimp?

[mnemenoi]

Shrimp can be quite challenging until you get just the correct parameters and then its off to the races. There are a variety of different shrimp and is usually one for nearly any water parameter out there. Red Cherry shrimp (Yellow, snowball, blue pearl) thrive in our local tap water (conditioned) and any substrate that is inert or does not lower the TDS/Ph. Lights and ferts never phase them and I dose Excel like crazy and have never seen a drop in production. Bee shrimp (crystal reds, crystal black, and tigers sort of) tend to prefer softer water and low TDS, thus many use aquasoil/stratum/brightwell to achieve these results. They are harder to breed, but it is possible. Many avoid Excel in favor of CO2 as this lowers the Ph and when done correctly can assist in more stable water parameters these soft water shrimp prefer. Sulawesi shrimp prefer more alkaline conditions and it can be quite hard to replicate these among younger aquarists. They also like much higher temps then most (80-82), whereas most other bee and cherries prefer cool water without a heater (65-75). I think the best advice I could offer a young keeper is to set up your tank and start with cherry shrimp or another variety of them. Set up the aquarium and allow it to settle in for 2 months before adding your shrimp to help it develop the micro fauna the shrimp will need/want to feed on. Visit many local keepers and determine what you see that works and you enjoy. Ask about their schedules of feeding, WC, lighting, stocking, plant selection. These will come in quite handy when you need to have this information. We keep many shrimp tanks and do not mind helping out whenever possible