# Advice on critters



## brumbird (26 Oct 2014)

Hey folks

Its a way off yet (have just moved house and have a tonne of renovating to do) but to keep.myself sane i am making a planted tank plan for my 54 litre Juwel Korall.

I am really keen on trying to replicate something along these lines:

http://www.tuncalik.com/2009/09/biotope-in-my-study/

The tank will be in a south east facing window so am hoping that i wont need lighting. What appeals to me about this is the emergent planting and the ecosystem style approach. I realise that with the smaller volume there will to be a fair bit more input in terms of maintenance and feeding. I hope to have a pair or small group of dario dario.

My question is: what invertebrates could i introduce to act as a food source for the fish? Are daphnia a bit big for such a little fish? I will have leaf litter to encourage infusoria but wanted to have a couple of species of amphipod/crustacea type critters that would live in the tank but not be wiped out by the fish. Any ideas what i could get in the uk?

Any help would be appreciated


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## Tim Harrison (26 Oct 2014)

I'd put everything I could get my hands on in there and give them chance to establish before introducing fish, inc daphnia. If your tanks are anything like mine you'll find loads of different inverts colonizing from plants anyway, polychaete worms, ostracods, cyclops etc. I guess the trick is keep as few fish as poss to help maintain a stable predator/prey equilibrium. As for amphipoda/crustacea type critters, I've just been to my LFS and they had at least 2 different spp. on sale as live food...
Good luck, looks like a fantastic project, maybe think about starting a journal.


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## brumbird (26 Oct 2014)

Thanks for the quick reply troi 

I had thought about pond dipping (new house has a beaitiful established wildlife pond) but wasnt sure if i might introduce something unwanted into the tank. I had damslefly nymphs come in on some plants in my big tank and they are mean critters! I bet its a bad time of year to catch anything though.

Glad you like the sound of it, i am hoping with just a couple of tiny fish it will be ok even though its a small tank. Have already bought wood which will break the surface and some weeping moss which is growing like a weed in apint pot on my kitchen windowledge. 

I will certainly think about a blog, there are loads of good ones on here which i have enjoyed reading - i love the banyan forest one! Might have to try and grow some tree seedlings myself 

Am also looking into the idea of floating cork islands to put plants on - has anyone tried this successfully?


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## Tim Harrison (26 Oct 2014)

Ahh...the Banyan Forest, one of my favorite all time scapes.


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## Michael W (26 Oct 2014)

Hi, 

This thread will may be of use for you http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/asellus-aquaticus.34425/. I believe I've read a post by Darrel on the Apistogramma forums commenting that he had put a handful of java moss from shrimp tanks into a dwarf cichlid tanks and the shrimps in the moss will be fair game for the inhabitants. He will repeat this process whenever possible. The shrimplets from the moss will be adored by the dario darios.


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## brumbird (26 Oct 2014)

Thanks for that link Michael, i think that might be perfect especially if its something i could find in the wild. Ugly bugs but if they do the job im happy.

Love that google translate of the article, hope they dont grow as big as donkeys


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## Michael W (26 Oct 2014)

Their appearance is quite off putting I must say.


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## ourmanflint (26 Oct 2014)

Buy a few bags of daphnia from any old shop and add them water and all to the tank as you set it up. That will add huge amounts of microfauna to help get your ecosystem going. I've got a big water tank at the allotment and its full of mosquito larvae, mayfly larvae, daphnia and cyclops. I now just grab a tub if everything living and chuck it in the tank with my Parosphromenus, all the escapees provide on angoing food source for when I go on holidays.


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## Michael W (26 Oct 2014)

Regarding Daphnia, the links and info in this thread is very good http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/daphnia-farm-in-the-garden-pondering.22445/


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