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A fairly shrimple nano

Stripped back a bit, the blyxa was out of control so I've moved it elsewhere!

There's rotala at the back growing in, but I'm mulling a rescape, and/or removing some of the lava to allow room for more plant biomass

PXL_20220924_165243342.jpg
 
So I did the inevitable and switched things up, I wanted to try plant only for a bit, so I've stripped out all of the lava rock, so that I had much more room for the rotala, blyxa (re-added), staurogyne repens and ludwigia.

Problem is I'm still getting really bad cloudiness, which has been a problem for a while now!

My assumption would be that the dennerle corner internal filter isn't cutting it, but I've seen other nano cubes successfully run on it...

Could it be the co2 mist? Let me know your thoughtsPXL_20220926_171248230.jpg
 
Problem is I'm still getting really bad cloudiness, which has been a problem for a while now!
Not sure about this one. How long has it been hazy like this? Could be a bacteria bloom perhaps - maybe caused by decaying shrimp food? I would guess that it wouldn't take much to cloud up a 5 gallon / 20L tank.

You could try and filter over purigen or ac for a while and see if that helps?

Tank looks great though.

Cheers,
Michael
 
Not sure about this one. How long has it been hazy like this? Could be a bacteria bloom perhaps - maybe caused by decaying shrimp food? I would guess that it wouldn't take much to cloud up a 5 gallon / 20L tank.

You could try and filter over purigen or ac for a while and see if that helps?

Tank looks great though.

Cheers,
Michael
You raise a good point on the shrimp food, possibly been getting some trapped amid the carpet! I have a shrimp dish there, may have to start using it lol.

Hard to pinpoint when, but I'd say a few weeks now!

Thanks 😁 looking forward to the rescape growing in and water clearing!
 
You raise a good point on the shrimp food, possibly been getting some trapped amid the carpet!
Could also be a decaying shrimp carcass.
I have a shrimp dish there, may have to start using it lol.
Yes, those are very handy. I always feed my shrimps from a dish (I think you might have recommended it to me back in the day :lol:)

Cheers,
Michael
 
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Yes, those are very handy. I always feed my shrimps from a dish (I think you might have recommended it to me back in the day :lol:)
The other option is not to feed the shrimp. In a planted tank the neocaridina can sort out their own food from biofilm and that way they won't breed all totally out of control.
 
Could also be a decaying shrimp carcass.

Yes, those are very handy. I always feed my shrimps from a dish (I think you might have recommended it to me back in the day :lol:)

Cheers,
Michael
haha that sounds about right, I should have listened to my own advice :hungover::joyful:
 
The other option is not to feed the shrimp. In a planted tank the neocaridina can sort out their own food from biofilm and that way they won't breed all totally out of control.
I'd agree with this up to a point, but the population is at a level where i do think supplementary feed is necessary, along with the benefits a varied diet brings.

Definitely will be cutting back though to see if this combats the issue
 
Some changes to this tank, following the rescape, I've upgraded to the Chihiros C2 (not RGB). It's an ok light, not blown away by it or anything, since I like the Flexi mini, but the ramping function is definitely a bonus.

Also trimmed the carpet and vacuumed, which has helped ever so slightly with the continued cloudiness.

Away for a week so still not feeding shrimp foods, will be interesting to see what it's like on return.

Trying out a 12 hour photoperiod, following Christel kasselmann's logic, I'm using a 2 hour ramp each way, with peak 30% on this light. Hopefully won't return to an algae farm.

Also added salvinia, for some reason I lost mine i think when I removed for cleaning and forgot to add back in, but they'll help add shade too.PXL_20221001_114236997.jpgPXL_20221001_114230324.jpg
 
Some fairly big updates on this tank,

1) switched back to Flexi mini led
2) got bored with no hardscape so re-added lava rock
3) removed most plant mass to reset

the result is something that now resembles much more of a shrimp tank than aquascape, but the shrimp seem a lot more active, so it's not all bad.

Hopefully the Monte Carlo will spread and create a nice balance. Also managed to solve the cloudiness with salvinia!

PXL_20221027_172641166.jpg


 
Plugging along, but have to be honest, think I lost my way a bit with this tank a while back.

Plants are all healthy, but as someone recently pointed out, it's simply gotten a bit boring. I think this could be due to the lack of height, overrun hardscape, and maybe not enough plant variation/difference.

I'll be mulling a few ideas to rescape, but hopefully in such a way that I can preserve as much of the established ecosystem/soil as possible!

I will be browsing nano cube threads on here for ideas! 😋

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Most recent update...

Switched to tropica specialised ferts, noticing a big difference using it in my tanks, faster growth, brighter colours etc!

I also have a school of boraras uropthalmoides (least rasbora)

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Checking in, I've had to move this tank to a low tech set-up, as I'll be out of the country soon, for 3-6 months, potentially longer!

Soil is gone, along with all stem plants. Epiphyte only now for the foreseeable. The rasbora have also been moved on, to reduce bioload as much as possible.

My bloody Mary shrimp are the only inhabitants, the same small colony that started with the tank are going strong.

The rasbora definitely took a toll on numbers by tackling any shrimplets, despite the dense hiding spots!
PXL_20230327_170432269.jpg
 
Just been reading this thread and it's a shame you've had to strip it back but makes sense if your out of the country.

I think the way it looked in the picture before the last one was the best, loved the large plant mass and overgrown look.

Maybe it will get back to that one day 😁
 
Just been reading this thread and it's a shame you've had to strip it back but makes sense if your out of the country.

I think the way it looked in the picture before the last one was the best, loved the large plant mass and overgrown look.

Maybe it will get back to that one day 😁
Thanks!

Yeah it was pretty galling pulling the plants, but I don't know anyone that could take care of it in my absence unfortunately, doubtful even in its current low tech form! 🤷

Maybe some day!
 
Hey, just saying thanks for the updates. Appreciated.
I set up my 20 L cube also this weekend as i cleaned up my other tank.
Wishing i had put more effort into it now after seeing yours.
As usual i was strapped for time and a day turns to an hour when its Tank Business, or is that just me?
My 20 was more of a plant rescue tank at the moment.

Anyway.

Thanks.

Si
 
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