5.5 Gallon RCS Tank

[Abeh]

This is my 5.5 Gallon Shrimp Tank. The tank is already 2 years old and the previous inhabitant was a betta fish. The substrate, and the rocks are old and aged so cycling the tank was obviously very short. I cycled the tank for 2 weeks. Never checked the parameters though :. The tank is currently on it's 2nd month and the shrimp are quite fine though I'm having concerns with the temperature since my lowest is at 29 and highest at noon is at 32. But surprisingly, the shrimp still breed in my tank even with that much temp.

Substrate: crushed laterite (1st layer) and fine river sand (these were untouched and still in the water for the past 2 years)
Hardscape: 2 hardwood DW, inert lava rock (these were aged in my tank)
Plants: Willow moss, Java moss, Anubias nana

Hardware
Light: Atman 13-watt 7200K PL clip-on (timed for 10 hrs)
Filter: Jeneca XP-09 HOB with built-in surface skimmer (my shrimp rarely get near to it and they can't get through since the slots are too small for them to get through)

• Modded intake and media (still using the old cartridges)

No CO2, weekly dosing with Tetra Plant Flora Pride (10drops/week)
10% Water change every week with declorinated tap water

picx:
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What foreground plants can you recommend aside from moss?

[Skoula]

Foreground plant?

Maybe Lilaeopsis Novaezelandie, Marsilea hirsuta.

You should open your akvarium evaporation of water could cooldown your tank water. Maybe use some king of fan at night?

Beware of low concentration of oxygen in tank! U should use airstone and pump if you spot strange behavior of shrimp.

As they are all on filter inlet or by the surface.

Have fun

[Abeh]

Oh the top? that's just a small piece of glass. The tank is pretty much open. The water is exposed to the air during filtration. My shrimp are doing ok. Regarding the temp, it's already the rainy season so temp is lower now. I do not know what you mean about the filter inlet but I placed a prefilter sponge on it. My shrimps do not go to the surface. They go to the top if they want to stay in the Java Moss on the DW.

[Skoula]

That's in that case is everything fine,

rainy season u say we have hot here. About 30C.

inlet of filter is tube where water enter the filter so we understand each other .

Keep as posted

[Abeh]

Added a red ramshorn snail... it's been with me for about 2 weeks now and so far, no eggs laid so I guess It's all well.

Now I saw (and of course learned) an actual mating session of my RCS and because of that, my first pregnant shrimp finally emerged (my shrimp are probably immature when I got them). I'm already looking forward to some babies soon

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[Abeh]

Update:

I now have 3 berried females and 2 saddled ones too. I'm on a roll!

[Skoula]

Nice mate, cg!

[Abeh]

Update:

One of my saddled females is now pregnant; now I have 4 berried females.

It's kinda weird cuz the average temp for this tank is 30 degrees C. I guess the shrimp that I got from the local breeder has adapted well and thrived in such temperatures. I guess adaptability of the shrimp will depend on where you bought them from IMO.

[Abeh]

Since it has been a month since my upload, time for some updates on my tank.

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All my 4 berried females gave birth to alot of shrimplets and they are all growing so fast. Now, I have 2 berried females again.
Added Rotala spp. (not sure about the species though) about a few weeks ago and it has grown for about an inch and a half. (I do not have CO2 dosing so it grows so slow)

My ramshorns multiplied to 6 of them but I need them anyway because GSA is appearing on my Anubias but right now they are doing their job

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Along with a lot of shrimplets in my tank, I made improvements and modifications to my filter. I replaced my DIY sponge prefilter on my intake with a real sponge filter. It's quite a tight fit though but it's a good thing for the shrimplets, getting some biological filtration, and visually more appealing too. Some of my bigger shrimplets sometimes venture around the top parts of the aquarium wall so to prevent them from getting inside the surface skimmer, I modified it with nylon string and intricate tying. Bought a USB fan and used it to cool the tank. I got the idea from a youtube video that I watched and it was a great idea. It's kinda not future-proof so I'll try USB powered computer fans in the future.

[Abeh]

My first update for the year 2014:

1. My rotala grew a lot since I last planted them and ever since they started growing, I propagating them by their cuttings so hopefully, I'll be getting that "bushy" look to them...
2. I upgraded the USB fan to a 12V computer fan and ever since my tank never rose above 29. Right now it's at 25 and it worked a lot better with it but I might consider buying a fan specifically for aquarium use such as the one made by ista...
4. My moss exploded in growth which is great news for me since I never had success with moss before... probably because the cheap moss that I was buying probably are terrestrial ones and died after a few weeks.
3. Breeding's doing well

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