Will HC survive in my planted shrimp tank?

[Shred]

(Hope you don't mind this being in the general section - I have a few different questions)

I haven't really had a go at a proper planted tank, what I have at the moment is just a mish mash of what I thought looked "about right" when I was putting the plants in. I know you all like pictres so here's a pic of the tank as it is.

Unfortunatly that green monstrosity is something I have to deal with in my new scape

I'd really like to have a simple planted tank, something like the the tank on the UKAPS homepage, with a nice rock hardscape and HC growing inbetween. However the tanks main function is to selectivly breed cherry shrimp, and I'm not sure how compatible HC and shrimp requirements are... Does HC need Co2? Are shrimps ok with Co2? And will HC need fertilisers? Because I've heard that they can be detrimental to shrimp as well?

Worst case scenario, I can do a similar scape to the rock/hc one but with java and flame moss instead, I'm sure I've seen that done somewhere before.

EDIT: Knew I'd forgotten something. The tank is 17 litres, and at the moment I have the standard Rena 10w light. However I intend on getting a Boyu overhead 3x8W (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BOYU-T5-8W-x-3-Aq ... 25551fde79) light for it, would this be sufficient lighting for HC or not?

 

[Bobtastic]

I'm not an expert but I'm lead to believe that HC is a reasonably demanding plant, certainly to get it to grow in a compact form. You would definitely need Co2 and ferts. I understand that you can grow it with relatively "low light" with plentiful Co2. Hopefully someone with a bit more experience will come along and give you some more (better) information.

 

[Shred]

Thanks for the reply Bobtastic, thats pretty much what I already knew but didn't want to hear to be honest!

 

[Shred]

Can anyone with a good knowledge of plants please recommend something which I could keep in this tank thats carpeting and not very demanding? I looked at glosso but apparently thats very demanding

Edit: Sorry I know I'm talking to myself here but fissidens seems to be a good option?

 

[NeilW]

It can be done but HC is one of the more demanding plants. It can be grown with liquid carbon but overdosing does a good job at killing livestock. Having said this cherries are meant to be really hardy. To my knowledge shrimp have no more aversion to CO2 then any other livestock but once again overdosing will result in dead shrimp. If you did want to grow HC your shrimp would benefit the plantlets by cleaning any detritus buildup.

HC will need fertiliser. If you don't want to go EI you will at least need an all-in-one solution. The thing to look out with shrimp is the copper content. In an 'ideal' breeding setup for sensitive Crystal Red Shrimp in Japan they run free of fertiliser, so shrimp in a planted tank are a compromise. However my Crystal Reds breed well in my tanks with ferts though so I'm sure Cherries won't care less.

That lighting would be fine but remember more light means you need to put in more carbon.

Take a look into Marsilea Hirsuta; its like an imitation, slightly bigger glosso but a lot less demanding.

Also check out some Oliver Knott low-tech carpet alternatives;
using bog standard Java Moss
http://www.pbase.com/plantella/naturesoil_stepbystep_layout2
using Marsilea Hirsuta
http://www.pbase.com/plantella/22liter

Hope any of thats helpful
-Neil

 

[ghostsword]

Can anyone with a good knowledge of plants please recommend something which I could keep in this tank thats carpeting and not very demanding? I looked at glosso but apparently thats very demanding

Edit: Sorry I know I'm talking to myself here but fissidens seems to be a good option?

Look at marsilea:

Creeping over 20cm away from the main plant:

 

[Shred]

Brilliant thanks for the links and info Neil. I think I'll stray away from the HC, and after seeing that Oliver knotts step by step you linked I'm quite inspired by how neat the moss looks. I'll bear the marsilea in mind but it looks a little too big for a 17litre tank, I think perhaps as a midground plant to breakup the transition between the rocks and moss it might look good.

So right now I'm looking at a moss carpet with echinodorus tenellus and possibly marsilea hirsuta in the back/midground. I've been eyeing up the nice Seiryu Stone on TGM as well... plenty of time to decide what I want, I'm in no rush!

Thanks for your help guys.