10g rcs tank: tankmates and water quality questions

jbradt

jbradt

this is bat country
May 9, 2008
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outback, NY
Real Name
I. P. Daily
hey AC,

i've been without a tank for a bit over a year now, and it's time i got one set back up. I'm looking at doing a 10g low-tech, planted rcs tank. I've got the equipment sorted out: 1-1.5 wpg T5 lighting, small cannister filter (eheim ecco, i don't remember the model number right now, but it's the smallest one they make). My overall vision for the tank is about 3/4 of it HEAVILY planted, with a small open space for some sort of hard-scape.

on to the questions:

tankmates: i'd really like to find some odd-ball little fish to go along with the shrimp. it doesn't matter so much if it's a single or a small group, but i'm really looking for the "interesting" factor. i've got a couple of ideas already, but i'm hoping someone can hit me with something i've never seen before.

water quality: the water in my house comes from a well. the well water has sulfur in it, and it is very hard. i can cut the hardness by mixing it with local spring water, but i'm a little concerned about the sulfur. will it harm the shrimp or fish? i'd like to be able to use the tap water in the tank to take out some of the work of lugging water all the time, but i don't want to risk the inhabitants.

TIA for any thoughts or advice!
 
Hmm...the red cherry shrimp make "interesting" companions more difficult. 10 gallons are great for Tanganyika shillies like N. brevis or multifasciatus or even a single dwarf juli, but that won't work with plants and RCS.

3-4 kuhli loaches could be fun in there. With heavy planting, they're more secure and are often out quite a bit...literally hanging around on plants.

Another option would be a Badis species, or other dwarf labyrinth fish such as croaking gouramis, licorice gouramis, honey gouramis, etc. Maybe even a pair of blue rams or one of the smaller apistos such as A. borelii.

Eric
 
jbradt said:
water quality: the water in my house comes from a well. the well water has sulfur in it, and it is very hard. i can cut the hardness by mixing it with local spring water, but i'm a little concerned about the sulfur. will it harm the shrimp or fish? i'd like to be able to use the tap water in the tank to take out some of the work of lugging water all the time, but i don't want to risk the inhabitants.

TIA for any thoughts or advice!
Click to expand...

My water comes from a well and has sulfer. I haven't had any issues with the water and the ghost shrimp and bamboo shrimp (died after a yr) were active and happy. Sulfer isn't really harmful, it just smells bad.
 
Vincenia said:
My water comes from a well and has sulfer. I haven't had any issues with the water and the ghost shrimp and bamboo shrimp (died after a yr) were active and happy. Sulfer isn't really harmful, it just smells bad.
Click to expand...

Awesome... that's good to hear! Thanks for that.
 
A 10 is a bit small for a pair of rams, especially if they pair up. 20 is a better size for that. Besides, watching my electric blue rams hunt RCS is kinda funny, until they spot one that's actually small enough to eat. Then, I'm mildly annoyed. Garras, maybe? I don't know how they do with RCS. Someone already mentioned badis. Maybe some of those nifty microdevario kubotai? Unfortunately, my brain is working less well than normal, and I'm drawing blanks on other size appropriate fish that won't actively prey on your RCS.
 
The research that I've done on badis describes them as carnivorous. has anyone had experience with them and RCS together?
 
They may take some young shrimplets but wont be enough to have a negative impact on the population. My 29 and 40g have RCS and a few different species that eat babies but the shrimp pop. still grows.
 
If they're carnivorous and prey on invertebrates, the small shrimplets are at risk. However, if you're planting as heavily as you've indicated, a few dozen will get eaten, and the rest will figure out that hiding in the plants is a good strategy. The half full grown RCS in my tank have no fear of my rams or angel.
 
nice. so it sounds like if i let the shrimp colony establish itself before adding the fish there should really be minimal impact. Thanks for that. I'll definitely have to keep these guys on the list.
 
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