Hi. It's been over 5 years since I've had any tanks up and running. But recently I've been daydreaming of setting up a planted tank in a 20-gallon long. I don't think I want fish, and instead I'm considering shrimp, snails, or other invertebrates. My two priorities are this: (1) a peaceful tank--so nothing that eats live food, its own babies, or its tankmates; and (2) a sustainable tank--so nothing that will breed so much that it outgrows the 20-g. I had originally thought of cherry shrimp, but I hear that I'd soon have hundreds and would need to cull them somehow, or sell the extras, etc., and I don't want to deal with that. Ideally I'd like something a little more active than snails. Does anyone have any recommendations that might fit what I'm looking for? Thanks!
Ideas for a peaceful, sustainable planted tank w/ invertebrates
- Thread starter LeahK
- Start date
A 20L sounds like an ideal setup for this IMO. I've got a planted 10g red cherry shrimp tank that I've had going for a little over 2yrs now. They do breed like crazy, but you should be able to slow that down by feeding lightly. I've got some floating wisteria in this tank and the substrate is covered with Java fern and anubia. I add zero ferts or CO2 to this setup. I do have some celestial pearl danios in there though.. and a lone silver hatchet. I have given bunches of RCS away and I feed them to my other tanks.
I don't know if they'd truly overpopulate the tank, of if they'd self-regulate themselves of sorts, based on food supply and available space. I know in my 10g, I eventually had way more tiny ones than big ones. Probably 20+ smalls for every big.
FWIW, I just broke down my 10g today and put it in storage. All of it's plants, snails, RCS and fish were transferred to my 29g. As much as I like 20 longs, I like 29s better. Same great footprint and a lot more height.
FWIW, I just broke down my 10g today and put it in storage. All of it's plants, snails, RCS and fish were transferred to my 29g. As much as I like 20 longs, I like 29s better. Same great footprint and a lot more height.
