Setup suggestions needed for newbie

[pelletube]

1 Gallon Setup TopView

1 Gallon Setup TopView WithCap

1 Gallon Setup SideView

10 Shrimps and 10 Snails in Bags

I setup my tank as shown in the pictures one day before the 10 shrimp and 10 snails arrive. It seems I will be waiting for about one month before the tank in ready for the shrimp.

Questions:
Any comments on my setup of the tank?

The small gravels/pebbles at the bottom were picked up from a remote mountain 5 years ago. Are these okay to use?

The larger rockers above are random rocks collected throughout (mostly natural). Are these okay to use?

The water was a used as Mustafa suggested (1/3-1/2) of suggested by the reef salt instructions.

From where can the algae start? Can I introduce something to the tank to start algae?

While waiting for the 1 month cycling, should the cap (with one small hole) be closed or opened?

While waiting the 1 month cycling, should I combine the 10 shrimps and 10 snails and place into one small glass container? (Ie for exposure to air and for larger volume?)

I initially had my own Marino moss balls inside (about 1 year old in tap water) but Mustafa suggested I removed those.

Petshrimp.com said no need to test nitrate/ammonia/pH etc—should I? Or just wait the one month cycling and all should be okay?

It is more complicated than initially thought to be, but I do intend to setup correctly the first time then have minimal maintenance afterward.

Any comments and suggestions would be great. Thank you!

[Dch48]

I really don't know how hardy these shrimp can be during a cycling process. They seem to be very resistant to nitrites unlike most other shrimp ( freshwater Amano shrimp are said to be immune but others are very sensitive). I think, and I may be wrong, that the main reason for waiting is for enough biomatter (both plant and animal based) to form that can serve as food for the shrimp. Maybe cycling with them in could work if they were fed something like spirulina or plant based foods every few days? I really don't know but I'm sure someone here can provide more insight.

[sliphorn]

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I setup my tank as shown in the pictures one day before the 10 shrimp and 10 snails arrive. It seems I will be waiting for about one month before the tank in ready for the shrimp.

Questions:
Any comments on my setup of the tank?

The small gravels/pebbles at the bottom were picked up from a remote mountain 5 years ago. Are these okay to use?

The larger rockers above are random rocks collected throughout (mostly natural). Are these okay to use?

The water was a used as Mustafa suggested (1/3-1/2) of suggested by the reef salt instructions.

From where can the algae start? Can I introduce something to the tank to start algae?

While waiting for the 1 month cycling, should the cap (with one small hole) be closed or opened?

While waiting the 1 month cycling, should I combine the 10 shrimps and 10 snails and place into one small glass container? (Ie for exposure to air and for larger volume?)

I initially had my own Marino moss balls inside (about 1 year old in tap water) but Mustafa suggested I removed those.

Petshrimp.com said no need to test nitrate/ammonia/pH etc—should I? Or just wait the one month cycling and all should be okay?

It is more complicated than initially thought to be, but I do intend to setup correctly the first time then have minimal maintenance afterward.

Any comments and suggestions would be great. Thank you!

..
Why did you order shrimp and snails before the tank is cycled? If you put them in you chance losing them, but you might as well do it. I would not feed anything. A 1 gallon tank has no room for error and food of any kind will pollute. You need a source of calcium to buffer the water; crushed egg shell is fine. Algae will naturally appear after several week and that is a good sign that the tank s cycled.
Is the water volume actually 1 gallon? Again, a small amount of water has no room for error.
Good luck.
..

[redhotshrimp]

Sometimes us newbies make mistakes...including ordering shrimp before the tank is fully cycled. This must happen on a regular basis -- many people express how hard it is to wait until the tank is cycled.

I'm stuck in a similar situation. Really appreciate any additional strategies anyone can offer to help get these shrimp past the cycling phase!

[Super Jess]

Get a smallish jar with a lid and pour the shrimp and their bag water into it. They probably shipped with a piece of yarn in the bag--throw that into the jar, too. Add a bit of your half strength saltwater mix if you need more water to fill the jar. Poke a small hole in the lid and put the jar somewhere it will receive indirect light and not experience temperature swings.

They'll be fine in there while you wait for your new tank to cycle. Do not feed them!

Pour the snails and their water into your new tank. They are tough little critters and will help it cycle.

As long as you rinsed your rocks thoroughly they should be fine. Make sure you add some form of calcium carbonate to buffer the water, ex. a piece of coral, some aragonite sand, a clean and uncoated shell, a bit of limestone. You can leave the lid on with the hole uncovered.

Visible algae on any surfaces in the new tank means it's ready for the shrimp. It may only take a couple of weeks, but could take longer. No need to test; visible algae shows the tank parameters are ready to go for the shrimp.

Good luck!

[redhotshrimp]

Hi Pelletube, How did your shrimp do? Just curious

[pelletube]

Hey redhotshrimp, Thanks for asking.

Thanks everyone for the helpful comments.

I put the shrimp into a cup and fill it with additional brackish water (thanks Super Jess!).

As for the snails, I place five of them into the 1 gallon tank (hoping this would aid in the cycling process) (thanks again Super Jess!). The other five snails remain in the cup w/ the shrimps. They seem to all be doing fine.

Then snails in the small cup appears to be breeding (about 2-3 tiny ones).

I'm still waiting for the tank to fully cycled -- ie, for some sign of algae. i don't see any yet. any suggestions are welcomed!

I have no plants (just some portion of the original water that came with the shrimp/snail mixed into the 1 gallon tank.

should i be adding food to the tank to speed up the cycling? or could it be that the room temperature is about 18'C (cold in northeastern US).

Thanks guys!

[Nellyville41]

I understand it’s hard to not order both the shrimps and snails at the same time but this should be a lesson learned if you ever want to start another tank. I currently have two tanks. A 1 gal and a 3 gal. But as far as your questions, you should be fine to add everybody into the tank in about 2 to 3 weeks. I never saw any visible signs of algae and it was about 6 or 7 weeks in since I started the tank. I added the snails right away since it would help cycle it faster. I asked and messaged Mustafa all the time about it too. Lol. So yeah once I added the shrimps, it was fine they did good. So my advice would be in a few weeks feel free to add them in. You won’t see the algae but it’ll eventually show up. Even if there’s one tiny spec you can see, then you tank is cycled and ready. Buy a magnifying glass with one that’ll let you see with around 10x. Look at the glass to see if anything develops. Also make sure you tank is getting indirect sunlight. I have a lamp with a sunlight bulb. Hope this helps.

[Dch48]

I don't know if you are aware of this but the snails you have are livebearers. They do not lay eggs but rather produce fully formed young one at a time. Even at that seemingly slow rate , they can multiply fast.

[Super Jess]

Then snails in the small cup appears to be breeding (about 2-3 tiny ones).

I'm still waiting for the tank to fully cycled -- ie, for some sign of algae. i don't see any yet. should i be adding food to the tank to speed up the cycling? or could it be that the room temperature is about 18'C (cold in northeastern US).

Haha, your snails are happy I would sit tight and give the tank another week, then just throw everyone in. Don't add any food! Speed is not your friend here; you want steady and stable. Mustafa says in most cases you can actually add shrimp after a week, but visible algae is the surefire sign the tank is ready. It might actually already be there. Do you have a magnifying glass? The beginning spots of algae are teeny tiny, but a magnifying glass plus strong light from behind the glass makes it easier to spot on the tank walls.

The temp sounds fine. Stick to your guns and your shrimp will be enjoying their new digs soon!

[pelletube]

Thank you everyone for the helpful comments!

The snails are now in their new tank and seem happy .

Thank you!

Any recommendations for brackish plants (that I can buy somewhere—kind of don’t want to pay for petshrimp’s shipping fee at this moment.)

Any tips and what I can add would be great! Thank you!

[Dch48]

Plants are a problem. There are very few plants that grow in brackish water and nearly all of them are far too big for an aquarium. Java Fern can survive in water with a salinity of 1.005 and maybe higher but the 1.010 these shrimp need would probably kill it. The macroalgae that Mustafa has does a great job of purifying the water. My one gallon tank has been up and running for 6 months now and when I do a water test, the nitrate level is always zero. The macroalgae must be absorbing it all and also preventing any other type of algae from growing because there is none. The tank is in front of a South facing window and the tank light is on for 10-12 hours a day (I don't use a timer). Between the 18 shrimp, a Horned Nerite snail, and the macroalgae using up all the nutrients, there is never any visible algae growth. Therefore I feed the shrimp a small amount of spirulina powder once a week.

[Dylan]

I tried to acclimate a Java Fern when I first set up my tank by slowly bringing the salinity up from fresh water. Java Fern will not grow in the salinity the shrimp do best in. I removed my java fern and returned it to fresh water when algae was growing on it (never a good sign).

[mike.d]

Any recommendations for brackish plants ...

I used to have a freshwater planted tank. For me, plants are an "even when you succeed, you fail" situation. My plants grew great. So great that I had to cut them back every 2 months. Then every month. Then every 2 weeks. Then they filled up the tank and I didn't care enough to cut them back anymore.

I have seen posts on this forum about people taking wild plants from brackish pools and putting them in their tanks. I haven't kept up with how that's working out. But that might be a good place to start.

[Ula Hula]

Regarding plants, just keep it simple and get what is sold on the petshrimp.com site: the chaeto and/or the mossball. That's it. Mustafa knows this stuff backwards and forwards and he says these are the two green things that should go in these tanks. Good luck.