The Evolution Of A Nano Tank And A New Shrimp Keeper

[Triggs]

Hey all what's cracking?So a few months ago I started into the shrimping journey with a small 20L nano tank. It's one of those kits you buy from K-mart for like $20 lol I had been running a large 100+ L, all in one 'ocean blue' style tank that was planted out and had a few Guppies in it. However it became over ran by BBA and I decided I wasn't going to re-do it all until I learned how to run a tank that was properly balanced. I decided on a 20L because I'd heard the smaller the tank, the harder it is to balance and decided that would be the path I'd take to learn with. I figured if I can balance a 20L then the 100L should be a pinch.

This is the original setup before I added plants. I started the cycle with one of my female Guppies from the main tank. I added some River pebbles as I was still trying to work out what substrate to use etc.

Tank:- Kmart $20 cheapo start up job :-DLighting:- Aqua One 30cm 8w T5filter:- air driven corner filter with noodles, rocks & filter wool.plants:- Single potted Anubias Nana Petite.

Once the filter had been cycled I decided apon "UP Aqua - Shrimp Sand" as my substrate. And picked out a few low maint plants. At this point I'd more or less just placed the plants where they'd fit etc rather than looking for a more clean or nice layout. I was having a hard enough time keeping them healthy without throwing prettyness into the factor as well lol.

Tank:- Kmart $20 cheapo start up job :-DLighting:- Aqua One 30cm 8w T5filter:- air driven corner filter with noodles, rocks & filter wool.plants:- Several Anubias Nana Petites, Some on rocks and others planted into the substrate (Rhizomes all above substrate), Some Water sprite to both help with nitrates as they're fast growing and to also be a mini playground for the shrimps, Java moss for the shrimps and shrimpets to feed off, And some Rush (Which I've sinced removed) because well, I thought it looked cool? lolLivestock; Cherry Shrimps.Since these photos I've rearranged the plants to suit what I wanted more. I've removed the Rush and placed the moss rock in the middle of the left hand side to allow it more room to grow and make it more of a stand out feature. All the Anubias were moved closer to the filter and cluttered together to give the shrimps a hideout and to use as a planted style 'shrimp cave'. The moss and water sprite have grown well and the tank is still nice, healthy, balanced & algae minimal.Once I fix my camera I'll post more updates on how the tank looks now.Thanks all for viewing. :encouragement:

[fishmosy]

Your cherries look happy and healthy mate. Great tank.

[Gbang]

looks great either way!!!

[Dean]

great write up mate, nice work with the tank as it look great.

look forward to the updated shots :)

[Loach]

Nice!!

Those cherries are very high quality mate :), plants look very green too.

[Triggs]

Thanks guys, I've been putting a lot of effort to make sure this tank is as good as possible. Really wanna upgrade to higher quality shrimp in a larger tank with more plants but I don't have much spare cash so am trying to do it as budget as possible.

I'm about to move to my new place soon, so once I've done that I'm going to start setting up my 1.5ft 10gal and will put some different plants and shrimp in it and see how I go.

Thanks for all your kind words :-D

[lachie1998]

Nice tank Triggs, lush plant growth and simple filtration, love it!:cheerful:

[Triggs]

Nice tank Triggs' date=' lush plant growth and simple filtration, love it!:cheerful:[/quote']

Cheers, I love them little corner filters. Gives the ability to change the filter media to anything you want, Can throw in matrix, purigen or what ever you wanna use really. They're pretty good on tanks 20L or under.

Mine's 20L in that photo and my readings since cycling it all has always been 0 ammonia, nitrites and 5ppm nitrates. I was initially worried about shrimplets being sucked into it. However I've watched them swim into it and feed off the filter wool and swim back out again without issues but I guess with a larger or stronger oxygen pump this could pose a risk.

[Triggs]

So I've finally got my camera sorted, So decided to take some update shots of my Nano tank for everyone before it eventually gets shut down and moved to the new place and re-set in the 1.5ft tank -woo-

This is how she stands at the moment. Please excuse the shocking photography, I'm the worst photographer with the worst Camera in the world. And all the other photos here show how bad mine really are! lol.

P.s my water isn't actually green, It's crystal clear. The light going through the plants etc just makes it appear to be green.

[lachie1998]

looks good triggs and i realy like those cherrys:applause:

[Triggs]

Thanks mate.

I've got some shrimplets floating around in there too but my camera is too crap to actually pick them up lol.

Can you spot the Glass Shrimp in there? :P