Two Foot Planted Shrimp Tank *Dry Start*

[Rebel]

. Really needed a seasoned scaper's help to enlighten my understanding of aquascape.
.

Haha I certainly would not call myself that.

It's definitely good to get some input from other though. Sometimes glaring stuff can't be seen by you due to personal bias. If you are new, you should just keep to simple lines, depth and rule of thirds and you will create a harmonius scape.

The problem with that tank is that the natural dimensions are not harmonius. ie not panoramic.

[Orcustus]

Haha I certainly would not call myself that.

It's definitely good to get some input from other though. Sometimes glaring stuff can't be seen by you due to personal bias. If you are new, you should just keep to simple lines, depth and rule of thirds and you will create a harmonius scape.

The problem with that tank is that the natural dimensions are not harmonius. ie not panoramic.

Could you please explain the harmonious dimension part? Are you referring to the hardscape or the tank dimension itself?

[Rebel]

no the tank itself. The better scaper tanks have 60x35 ish (height) aspect ratio. more of a panoramic view. Long and thin(ish) if you get my drift. 120x45x45 is a perfect aspect.

[Orcustus]

I see. Thanks for explaining.

[Orcustus]

Week 7 Update:

HC grew really well and closed a lot of the gaps in the past week. At this rate I should be able to flood the tank in one week's time.

I have started pumping CO2 into the tank this week so I'm not sure if there is a correlation, though I am kicking myself for not starting CO2 sooner.

There are four patches of HC that have significantly slower growth than the rest. I think I might have had a bad batch from one of the tissue culture boxes.

Dwarf Sag is basically a weed at this stage. It is a constant battle of pulling runners from HC carpet everyday. I am seriously thinking about uprooting all the Dwarf Sag if anyone has a better recommendation for mid-ground shrimp-friendly plants.

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[Rebel]

Are you pumping CO2 into tank while dry starting? Thats pretty cool but be careful because your plants will soon only have 40ppm compared to 440ppm CO2 in the atmosphere. They may protest a little.

[Orcustus]

Are you pumping CO2 into tank while dry starting? Thats pretty cool but be careful because your plants will soon only have 40ppm compared to 440ppm CO2 in the atmosphere. They may protest a little.

Yikes I haven't thought about that. Maybe I will pump ten bubbles persecond at the initial period of flooding to help easing the transition? Or maybe I should let it remain dry for a little longer to have some cushioning for die backs, though my patience is running thin...

[Rebel]

Yes having very high CO2 at the beginning is quite helpful.

[Orcustus]

Week 7.5 Update:

Finally lost patience and flooded the tank today.

Before flooding:
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After flooding:
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The water is pretty stained from tannin, do I need to change the water or does it go away?
I tested the water, Nitrate and Nitrite are 0, but there is a small amount ~0.25 ppm of Amonia.
Does it mean the tank was cycled during DSM? Do I need to put any bacteria into the tank?

[Rebel]

No need to put bacteria. Just wait out that ammonia/tanins as your filter needs to cycle.

[Dylightful]

The ammonia is most likely leeching from your substrate. You will still need to cycle the filter.

[Orcustus]

I see. That makes sense.

Does someone know if Glass shrimps can be kept with cherries and CRS? They are a little bit bigger, would they prey on the shrimplets?

[Rebel]

AFAIK yes you can.

Make sure they are not Macros however. They will cause destruction enough to give you nightmares.

[Orcustus]

AFAIK yes you can.

Make sure they are not Macros however. They will cause destruction enough to give you nightmares.

Thanks Rebel. Never even heard of Macros before! It almost looks like a Yabby/shrimp cross.

Lucky they haven't yet been introduced to metro Melbourne yet according to that map.

[Orcustus]

Week 10 Update:

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2 weeks after flooding, added a bunch of anubias/buces/ferns. Plus 1 x Crinum, tiger lily, crypts. Ripped out half of dwarf sag, added some stem plants.

Live stock wise added some ghost shrimps, blue dream cherries, 4 mystery snails, some ottos and borneo suckers.

Really wished I did some research before buying the snails. They are like a wrecking crew constantly burrowing into the substrate, uprooting all sorts of plants regardless of size. They also eat heaps of HC and S.Repens. Every morning I wake up to a floating salad of debris on the surface.
However they are really fun to watch. Using air bubbles to fly around in the tank and all sorts of shenanigans. I just wished I didn't buy 4 of them.