29G Shrimp Tank

[myswtsins]

I need a new build in my life, wanna follow along? I've been planning/working on this for a couple weeks but just today made some solid final answer decisions so I can start sharing now!

Specs
Tank - 29g aquarium (probably my least favorite in respect to ratio but it is the biggest I can fit right now)
Stand - reinforced solid wood dresser (this will be upgraded in the near future)
Lights - Most likely just a couple CFL bulbs in those dome reflectors HIGH above the tank
Heater - None. The room stays between 70 and 76, if anything I need a chiller in summer.
Fauna - Red cherry shrimp, probably snails
Flora - Moss, Java ferns, Anubias for sure. Still debating..Crypts (my favorite plants) and Vals (never tried them) If I just do the first group I am don't need any "special" substrate or root tabs but I LOVE crypts. hehe

Things I am working out...
Filter - Undecided. I have a stack of HOB and canisters to sort through
Substrate - Really up in the air with this one. Dirt with sand cap? Pool filter sand? Colorquartz? Some oil-dri/SMS/Turface/kitty litter stuff? Leaning towards the last one at this point, looks good enough but gives me good CEC for any root feeders I MIGHT want.
Ferts and CO2 - I don't like to add them to shrimp tanks but I might try running this with increased lights and ferts and CO2/carbon for a few months to get the plants going strong then reduce everything back before adding shrimp.

I had to rearrange my entertainment area to fit the tank in. I really wanted an aquarium where I could ACTUALLY see it from a comfortable angle. I also had to build a platform for the tank because where it is located there is a patch job to the floor under the carpet making it grossly uneven and the tank straddled it. Excuse the mess, haven't cleaned up my work area yet.

Next step will most likely be getting the hardscape going. Figure I can determine substrate better after I have some sort of visual to work with. Here some of the wood I have lying around, need to find my rocks....

More to come soon!
ANY questions, comments and suggestions strongly encouraged!

 

[FreshyFresh]

Nice! That dresser is perfect for a 20L/29g footprint. I always liked 29s for a display tank.
This will be RCS heaven. I kept RCS in a little planted 10g and had to keep netting them out and giving them away I had so many. I still have a few straggler RCS that manage to stay out of view of anything that would eat them in my 55g.

 

[fishorama]

Sounds fun! I too love crypts, I have collectoritis pretty bad, lol. I've "heard" that they love a soil base but frankly it scares me a bit with ammonia early on & a mess with replanting. I have a bag of turface I've yet to try, I know it can a bit "floaty", maybe next tank.

I had an unheated 10g shrimp tank w/Flourite black sand, 2 CFLs that was a jungle. I made the mistake of keeping tiny rasbora maculatas, they looked almost like the shrimp in size & color. AFAIK they never ate shrimplets, I had probably 50-100 RCS even giving some away often. I prefer Eco to the sand if you want black, it's almost dust-like, hard to vac since it's smaller than shrimp poo but both have better CEC than inert substrates. My pool sand tank is not the best for crypts even w/root tabs & a couple years worth build up. Some of the easy crypts are ok, not fab, but I'm sorry I put some special 1s in there now, definitely stunted, if they're still there, sniff.

Of course my 10 was much shallower than a 29 but I rarely added ferts. How many CFLs would you have? I could grow many stems. Again, I have a CO2 set-up but I'm scared to gas my fish. Maybe if I started out without animals I'd be braver...next tank?

Whatever filter you use be sure to put a sponge on the intake(s). Even w/low flow, shrimp just love to graze on all the intake goodies & I had to rescue some shrimplets every eye-straining WC looking for "moving detritus". I also didn't feed too often especially after I thought all the rasboras died out, poor things, the survivors were quite skinny, more than once (oops). After your shrimp are firmly established & breeding well, some small fish that "may" eat shrimplets might be a fun idea. Dwarf corys, tiny loaches (or even kuhlis), dwarf rainbows are possibilities, maybe even cardinal tetras etc.

As for your "stand", is there room to add a few support pieces in the corners, even 1 x1s or angle iron? I'd "guess" a 20g long would be ok, a 29g is much heavier! You might want to try it to see if leaks occur before you really get it going & have an emergency situation (always at bedtime I think).

 

[myswtsins]

Nice! That dresser is perfect for a 20L/29g footprint. I always liked 29s for a display tank.
This will be RCS heaven. I kept RCS in a little planted 10g and had to keep netting them out and giving them away I had so many. I still have a few straggler RCS that manage to stay out of view of anything that would eat them in my 55g.

Thanks. At the height of the 29 I'd prefer it to be deeper front to back. I always have trouble getting a scape to look right in them. Having that problem again right now too. I hate arranging wood! But I LOVE how it looks!

Sounds fun! I too love crypts, I have collectoritis pretty bad, lol. I've "heard" that they love a soil base but frankly it scares me a bit with ammonia early on & a mess with replanting. I have a bag of turface I've yet to try, I know it can a bit "floaty", maybe next tank.

I had an unheated 10g shrimp tank w/Flourite black sand, 2 CFLs that was a jungle. I made the mistake of keeping tiny rasbora maculatas, they looked almost like the shrimp in size & color. AFAIK they never ate shrimplets, I had probably 50-100 RCS even giving some away often. I prefer Eco to the sand if you want black, it's almost dust-like, hard to vac since it's smaller than shrimp poo but both have better CEC than inert substrates. My pool sand tank is not the best for crypts even w/root tabs & a couple years worth build up. Some of the easy crypts are ok, not fab, but I'm sorry I put some special 1s in there now, definitely stunted, if they're still there, sniff.

Of course my 10 was much shallower than a 29 but I rarely added ferts. How many CFLs would you have? I could grow many stems. Again, I have a CO2 set-up but I'm scared to gas my fish. Maybe if I started out without animals I'd be braver...next tank?

Whatever filter you use be sure to put a sponge on the intake(s). Even w/low flow, shrimp just love to graze on all the intake goodies & I had to rescue some shrimplets every eye-straining WC looking for "moving detritus". I also didn't feed too often especially after I thought all the rasboras died out, poor things, the survivors were quite skinny, more than once (oops). After your shrimp are firmly established & breeding well, some small fish that "may" eat shrimplets might be a fun idea. Dwarf corys, tiny loaches (or even kuhlis), dwarf rainbows are possibilities, maybe even cardinal tetras etc.

As for your "stand", is there room to add a few support pieces in the corners, even 1 x1s or angle iron? I'd "guess" a 20g long would be ok, a 29g is much heavier! You might want to try it to see if leaks occur before you really get it going & have an emergency situation (always at bedtime I think).

Thanks for all the info on substrates, big help! I'll forgo the inert sands then and stick with some oil-dri. I've used it before and like it, just wish it was darker like the turface pro was.

Thinking 2 CFL to cover the spread. Don't be afraid of CO2, be cautious maybe but it is so worth it...if you like being really hands on with your tanks cuz it does make stuff grow like weeds! hehe

Sponge on inlet, check. Hoping to get some habrosus corys one day and this could be a nice home for them! But don't get me started on that, have been wanting habrosus for years! Can never find them when I have a home for them and this would not be a home for them for years still. I also really want furcatus rainbows, rams, eartheaters, rabbit snails, mudskippers.....so many things so little room for aquariums! lol

Stand is already reinforced on the sides and around the bottom. it should be more than sufficient, I always like to over build so if I am confident in to holding up it should be fine. Even without any alterations it is WAY better than those pressboard stands that my old 29 was on, scary!

 

[fishorama]

You won't have to wait years for habrosus, do it! After your shrimp are established, you will not be sorry! They are adorable! & will only eat the tiniest of shrimp, if any. Pygmy corys are also very cute & are more mid water fish, you can easily have a bunch of both! There, I'm not just a loach freak, it's all bottom feeders that're cute... including shrimp! Might be the whiskers, lol.

I know you're not a newb, I didn't mean to make it sound that way, if I did. Can't wait to see your tank build. Pics!

 

[myswtsins]

Ok, maybe a year then. I really love having a strictly shrimp/invert tank so I would want to enjoy it for at least a year before changing it. I could always put them, corys, in my 72g. Which will be getting another remodeling this summer when they all go outside (1st time trying summer tubbing, excited!).

I'm a bottom feeder lover myself and I think the whiskers are a part of it! lol Had pictus cats as a kid, best whiskers ever! *drool*

I still feel like a newb sometimes but no I didn't feel that way from your post. You gave me lots of good info and I appreciate that! More pictures coming later today, once I get the wood slightly decent and worth showing.

 

[fishorama]

Pictus were 1 of the dream fish when we first got into the hobby but have never gotten around to keeping. So many fish to try & I no longer want to take care of too many tanks.

Is the black (gray) Turface no longer available? Someone gave me a bag but I don't know if 1 is enough for the tank I'm sorta planning. My plant club is a bunch very generous of enablers, so I don't need CO2 to have jungle tanks, lol. What size tank would you guess a 50lb bag give 2-2.5 inches? I used quite a bit of pool sand in my 75g...Sorry to derail your thread...Would you guess or know if a thin layer of soil or ada soil would be a good idea under the Turface? I'd like a really crypt happy tank!

 

[myswtsins]

Not even close to happy with my wood so no pictures yet, sorry. I want pictus again myself, I was so young when we had them that I feel like I never had them. I TRY to keep it under 5 tanks at a time, ideally i like 2 MAYBE 3 but I always get carried away. lol

Turface grey is no longer available, sadly! "Sorta planning"? Aren't we always? My GUESS is that amount of turface would just cover a 40 breeder with 2". Everyone seems to swear by dirt these days. I tried mineralized top soil and wasn't very impressed. BUT I have certainly considered using the dump miracle grow organic and cap method so.... But if you are looking for another "filler" with that turface I've had good luck with Oil-Dri from wally world, not as dark as the turface but it's fired clay like the turface and of similar size. I've pre-charged the oil-dri with nutrients too. Just throwing out ideas.

 

[Belltrain]

So your only going to stick with red cherry shrimps? There are a lot of cool shrimp out there you could mix. Definatley with a 29.

 

[myswtsins]

For now at least. And there are not that many that have the same water requirements that won't interbreed. And my water parameters are at the very high end of RCS as it is, pH 8.0-8.2 GH 10 KH 7 so I'd have to start messing with my water to make others happy. Which I COULD do fairly easily cuz I have a RODI system but I'm happy not have to mess with it for awhile. But out of curiosity, what would suggest adding?