Supershrimp newb

[Joiebot]

Hi guys,

I decided to post the progress my shrimp and snails. Got ten shrimps as well as the one macroalgae, 10 snails, calcium carbonate rocks and substrate from Mustafa on January 23 this year. I made the rookie mistake of not cycling the tank earlier. I had set up a 1 gallon tank on the 20th. I also added a lava rock and a plastic plant that I got from the pet store. I also connected the LED light to a smart device to schedule it 12hr-on and 12hr-off.

One week in, I see something green growing on the calcium rocks. I ordered from petshrimp two mossballs and a basalt rock. I decided to add the snails the next day and wait another week to see if I should add the shrimp. The next day, I found that of the snails birthed another snail. I also added two shrimp mossballs in hoping to quicken the cycling process. On day day 11, I found a tiny mossbal (1-2mm) and the snails seem to be contently eating the biofilm. I pretty left them alone and not fuss over them

On week two, there three of the calcium carbonate rocks had algae growing on it. I gambled and added the shrimp to the tank. In the first eight hours, they seemed to be doing fine and one of them molted (at first, I thought it was a dead shrimp lol).

On week three, all the shrimp and snails are still alive and eating off the biofilm and algae. A few molted.

On the fourth week, all ten shrimps and eleven snails are still alive. The macroalgae has grown alot bigger. Algae on the calcium carbonate rocks are gone, so I fed a tiny bit of fish food. Some of them ate it and I think it took all day finish it. With that I think it was too early to feed.

Week five: Some algae starts to grow on the lava rock and basalt rock. Two more mossball buds appear and second macroalgae starts to form into a tangled ball.

On week six and seven, nothing much happens, but I topped off the water for the tank. However, I learned that snails can float and shrimps take advantage of that to eat the biofilm.

Week eight: I found tiny creatures swimming near the surface. I think they’re copepods

Week nine, two mossball buds appear, the algae on the lava rock and basalt rock are gone. The eleventh snail has grow three times its size. I changed the light schedule to eight hours a day since the macroalgae is growing way to much.

Last week, I saw that one of my shrimp has berried with five eggs which I did not think it was possible. However, I won’t be surprised if she dropped all her eggs though. All in all, it worked out since I followed the instructions.