Tank Setup - Before & After. For fun, post a photo of your tank and tell us about it .....

[attygirl]

I decided to update my seven year old tank that had six shrimp.

I added 25 shrimp and macro algae. I then decided to update the entire thing last week with a new tank and decorations. For the new one, I used black sand as substrate based on info from someone here. The smaller lava rock with the hole is from ebay and about a month old and is the only decoration I took from my original tank. The tank is 5.5 gallons (yet only required 4 gallons of water) and “rimless.” However, the glass top does not fit very well due to there being no rim. The large lava rock and the other decorations, except the shells, are from Petco. Shells are from Petsmart. Since I decided to use new decor, I am going to be patient and let it cycle before transferring the shrimp. I only have a few snails left in my original tank so I plan to buy more from here in a couple of weeks.

While everyone posts photos of their tanks, it would be nice to have one thread/place to look for tank setup ideas ....

Thanks for reading

[SuperProofer]

Very nice!

I thought there was a thread for tank pictures, but when I looked for it the other day, I couldn't find it. But agreed, would be nice to have a stickied post so people could get ideas from each other.

[SuperProofer]

I'm curious to see how the shrimp look against the blue plants - I'm thinking of blue decor in the future. You'll have to post more pics when you get your shrimp.

[attygirl]

SuperProofer - thanks for your comments! I will post more photos in a month or so when the shrimp are added. However, I have one blue plant in my original tank and if you enlarge the photo, there is a shrimp on a blue leaf ..... he was kind enough to pose for me .

[SuperProofer]

Ah yes, cool. I like it!

[attygirl]

UPDATE - I finally transferred my shrimp from the vase to the tank. The vase had been in service for 7 years with no water changes - just topping off the water as needed. Trying to capture the shrimp with a net while still full of water was impossible. So I used a measuring cup and started taking water out and putting it in a separate bowl. I also took out all of the decorations and shells. When there was a few inches of water left, I used a small cup to capture several shrimp at one time and then scooped them out of the cup with a tablespoon (thanks to the person on the this forum that suggested that ) and put them into the new tank. I also used my shrimp net at this point, but ultimately decided it was easier to use the cup/tablespoon method because the shrimp did not want to swim out of the net. I think I killed one shrimp when trying to scoop him out of the cup using the tablespoon because it looked like his “end” was missing when I put him in the tank, yet he swam away.

When it looked like all the shrimp were out of the vase, I started to remove the substrate by tablespoon to find any hidden shrimp or snails. I was not expecting the mess that occurred at that time by disturbing the substrate (blue gravel) - green cloudy water. As I removed the substrate I found a few snail shells, they did not appear to be alive. I also scraped out a green thick film that was coating the bottom of the vase and covered with gravel - was not expecting that and it was pretty gross - not sure what it was. Also, a lot of the blue gravel had lost its color and turned pink which made it difficult to see if any shrimps were left behind. Ultimately, I think I transferred them all .... or at least I hope so. It sure did not feel like I transferred 30 shrimp. Not sure I would want to do this again and half way through I was thinking I should just keep two tanks.

My original tank never really had green algae, but had brown algae on the decorations and shells. However, when I was removing the decor, I noticed that some of the shells and rocks had what looked like black mold on them. I was going to add a few of the shells to the new tank but decided not too- not knowing if the black mold looking stuff was healthy.

So, now its a wait and see if the shrimps will thrive in the new tank and breed. The new tank has the macro algae I bought earlier this summer. However, I am thinking that I have too much crap/decorations in the new tank and should remove some so the shrimps have more room ....

Thanks for reading.

[attygirl]

2nd UPDATE - I wrote above that I thought I snipped a shrimp in half when transferring him to the new rank. Today, I saw a shrimp swimming backwards with a strange movement. I looked closer and image my surprise when I saw the shrimp had its tail missing - I think (hope) this is the one I snipped:

Pretty amazing

[attygirl]

3rd UPDATE: After SEVEN years of having a vase tank and no berried females, today, image my surprise to FINALLY see a berried female!!!

I about fell out of my chair and it really made my day. I still can’t believe how happy I was to see her. Could all of my original surviving 6 shrimp have been the same sex?! Oh well, better late than never ..... fingers crossed that she can hold them and I will see babies in a month or so ...

[Bluemonk]

Congrats. It’s nice to see you are so enthusiastic even after seven years of keeping these guys. And what a beautiful red color she is. Do you supplement her diet with anything other than the algae?

[attygirl]

Bluemonk - thanks for commenting. I have been feeding the shrimp Spirulina powder every two weeks. I was doing this because I have no visible algae after 3.5 months:

However, I have noticed that the snails are reproducing so, based on what I read here, I may be over feeding. Since I finally have a berried shrimp, there should be enough food. I have seen her a couple of times since my last post and she is still carrying the eggs .

There is a shadow or film on the sides of the tank that I was told is the start of algae:

So, now I may only feed once a month - just the amount that sits on the tip of a toothpick.

If anyone else has any thoughts on my lack of visible algae and whether I should continue to feed or feed more often than once a month I would love to read them.

Thanks for reading.

[attygirl]

4th UPDATE: Yup - BABIES!!!!!
For the last few weeks I have not seen my berried shrimp. I was worried that she had lost the eggs. Today, I noticed two floaters, but was only able to get a photo of one:

I then saw the berried shrimp still carrying 4 eggs though trying to release them:

And, as if things could not get any better, I saw a second berried shrimp:

Cannot wait to see more floaters ... . But, still no visible algae and the last time I fed the shrimp was Christmas. Should I feed?? Thanks for reading.

[attygirl]

Vorteil: thanks for your response. I added shrimp and have 55 in the tank - though I only see about 20 on any given day. What do you recommend? Should I feed more often? Should I remove some of the macro algae - I divided it into two because it grew in my prior tank. I thought I needed macro algae in the tank to help with the biological filter and keep things stable. Thank you.

[attygirl]

Vorteil - Thanks for responding. I will keep the macro algae in the tank and up my feeding so there are more nutrients in the tank. I am still only seeing one floater now and the berried shrimp that was trying to release the babies has not been seen since I last posted. However, I saw my first molt a couple of days ago that was pretty cool:

A shrimp then knocked it down and started to feed:

So maybe my tank parameters are not too bad ....
Thanks for reading

[attygirl]

5th Update - More berried shrimp! So my floater went into hiding ... hope it’s okay. But, today I saw two berried shrimp!!! It’s a big deal for me .... since it has taken so long for them to breed! One looks like she is ready to release the eggs ...

And the other looks like she will be carrying for a few more weeks

Thanks for reading

[attygirl]

6th Update: Yup, more BABIES!!!

The shrimp released her larva and I now have 10 floaters hanging out ......

Can you find them all???
Plus, I have two berried shrimp and saw a molt so maybe another berried in the near future.

It’s fun to see them thrive but it looks like my macro algae is dying...Thoughts?

Thanks for reading.

Edit ... just looked at photo on iPad ... I think there are 11 - look at the macro algae ......