Heavily planted former DSM 10g shrimp tank

Since I've already spent a bunch of money on shrimp recently, I figured I'd start up my newest 10g slowly using the Dry Start Method.  The substrate is aquasoil amazonia and I've planted green crypt wendtii along the back and brazilian micro swords in front.

My giant swiss tropicals 4" cube sponge filter will serve as the centerpiece of this tank.  And before you say it - YES, the aquascape (and I use the term very loosely here) is pretty ugly; I'm an engineer by trade with little aesthetic creative capacity.  My goal is happy plants and eventually happy shrimp (though I'll call it success if just the plants are happy).

The tank is currently lit by 2 18W 6500K CFL bulbs in an incandescent reflector setup.  I don't have any substrate heating, though the room temperature shouldn't drop below 60F.

Per a forum post I found somewhere my plan is to mist once a day and do a decent air exchange every 2 weeks.  The top is covered in plastic wrap and secured by some cheap custom-cut glass (to support the light fixture).  I added too much water at first, so I siphoned it out until I had no standing water (this encourages cyanobacteria, apparently).

I welcome any comments, suggestions, etc.  Thanks for looking!

Edit: Merged photos into the 1st post.

2013:

Feb 5:
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March 14:
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April 14:
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August 11:
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2014:

February 11 - Submersed (Since 8/11/2013) with Chocolate Neocaridina:
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I had succes with Dry Start Method using HC. You can see some start-finish pictures for a 2.5 gal tank here:
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Also I had good growth in an other DSM tank for DHG(Eleocharis Parvula). In this set-up I also had Lindernia parviflora flowering.
I didn't seal the tanks, but I kept them cover with a piece of glass/acrylic allowing a small gap for air circulation. Of course I kept the soil moisted all time.
The catch is when you flood the tank, especially for plants like HC: you need CO2.
On your set-up will be interested to see if the Crypts will have flowers.
Good luck!

Nice - that looks great! Nice CPDs too.

Yeah, I chose easier growers so I wouldn't have to do CO2 once I fill it. We'll see how that turns out!

Flowers would be a definite win.

Thanks for the info!

Here's an updated photo. The crypts are getting bushier and reconfiguring themselves as crypts generally do. The micro swords are behaving as expected and taking off in all directions. I have another package of these to add to the tank this weekend to help speed the carpeting process (grabbed one of two good packages from Lacey Petsmart ).

Thanks for looking!

Edit: See first post, March photo.

Sweet. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Are you spraying with just water or adding anything to it?

I've been playing around with some emersed growth for aquarium plants and added some terrestrial ones too. The terrestrial has been getting some fungus though so I may remove those guys.

I've been spraying with just water every morning. When the water level gets too high I drain it with an air-line siphon until there's no standing water visible above the soil.

I cobbled together a new emersed grow setup over the weekend because we're going to start seeds for the garden this year. After we're done growing seeds for the garden I'll use it for aquatic plants. I had an old 24" Glo T5HO fixture sitting around unused that handily clamps onto a tub I bought at Lowes. I'm going to put a small heater in there, enough water to cover the heater, a small power head, and platforms to elevate the plants so they're not totally sopping. So far the top will be just plastic wrap, but I may come up with something fancier at some point.

pbmax wrote:I've been spraying with just water every morning. When the water level gets too high I drain it with an air-line siphon until there's no standing water visible above the soil.

I cobbled together a new emersed grow setup over the weekend because we're going to start seeds for the garden this year. After we're done growing seeds for the garden I'll use it for aquatic plants. I had an old 24" Glo T5HO fixture sitting around unused that handily clamps onto a tub I bought at Lowes. I'm going to put a small heater in there, enough water to cover the heater, a small power head, and platforms to elevate the plants so they're not totally sopping. So far the top will be just plastic wrap, but I may come up with something fancier at some point.

Oooh, sounds awesome.

That sponge block looks cool, I almost thought it was one of those Fluval Chi tanks.... fooled me!

Swiss tropicals sponge filter. So far it's not breeding for me

Added photo taken today, April 14. I kind of cheated between the last photo and this one by adding one more bag of L. Braziliensis purchased at Petsmart a few weeks back. The tank has really taken off since then though. The crypts in particular have started showing some substantial emersed growth. This will likely melt when (if??) I fill it, but the more robust root system should cause them to bounce back rather quickly.

Photo added to the 1st post.

Awesome growth. Never thought Crypts can grow emersed but you've done an awesome job with them.

The Braziliensis almost look like UG

One problem.. I think your sponge is stunted. not enough sponge ferts?

Im a bit inspired to do one of these too now.

Yeah, unfortunately the sponge has failed to thrive. Could be cuz I haven't added the lifter yet...

Thanks! From what I've read crypts are fine emersed, but they'll probably lose all their leaves when the tank is flooded. We'll see; regardless, the beefed up root system should make them bounce back pretty quick.

I do have some BGA growing on the surface, but this was expected. Keeping the water level under the surface supposedly helps prevent it, but I've done a pretty good job of that and it's growing anyway. I'm keeping it vented a bit now in an attempt to curtail its growth, but that doesn't seem to be helping much yet. The next step is going a day or so between misting - I currently mist once a day. Thankfully it's not on the plants, just the substrate.

I hadn't heard of UG until I binged it just now - and yes, it does look like it The leaves have fattened considerably since I planted the LB.

Since I'm not crazy about more work I think I'll leave the tank as it is for at least a couple more months.

I built a 12" glass terrarium a few weeks back and just planted it with glosso last Friday. It has a 12" finnex fuge ray LED fixture over it and so far the glosso seems very happy! I'll start a thread on it when I have a decent amount of growth to share. I'm using Miracle Gro Organic Choice Garden Soil in that setup.

Nice please share the picks when you get the chance.

Here's the last dry update to this tank.  One might argue I've waited way too long and I'm going to have a melting debacle on my hands after I fill it, but whatever.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?  

It's been growing like gangbusters with no sign of slowing down since the last update.  I plan to fill it today after I put in a heater and a lifter for the cube filter.  My plan as far as ferts go is the same as my 3g amazonia2 tank - nothing.  I have all root feeders in the tank so ferts shouldn't be necessary for quite a while.

If it survives submersion relatively well I'll post new photos down the line

Here's the photo; I've updated the first post as well so you can see the growth between April and August.

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Hi pbmax,

Good job! The Lilaeopsis brasiliensis came in really, really nice!

Thanks! I generally misted it once a day and left a small gap along the front of the tank to facilitate some evaporation, rather than letting it air out for any length of time. The air gap also helped control the cyanobacteria that popped up in a few spots.

It's filled now; we'll see what happens.  

So far so good - nearly 2 weeks and no wholesale disaster just yet. The tank insta-cycled, which I suppose is because bacteria had already built up in the water in the substrate over all the months it was "dry". It's gobbling up carbonate hardness like crazy, but given amazonia's ammonia production capabilities, this is expected. I've been adding Seachem Alkaline Buffer to keep the PH from crashing. I boosted the GH a little as well with some Seachem equilibrium - should be about 7 dGH right now. I added some floating plants when I filled it to take up any extra goodness that may be drifting around in the water since I have all root feeders in the tank.

I added a single female Malawa shrimp yesterday (canary) and so far she's doing just fine.

In a week or two I plan to buy some chocolate neocaridina to add to the tank. I've wanted these for quite a while now and it looks like I finally have somewhere to put them!

I hope your crypt doesn't totally melt! I have some in my tank that are making a total mess, I hope I don't lose them.

Heh, thanks, me too

I have submersed crypts in at least 6 other tanks at the moment - most are doing pretty well, but they're melting a bit in one of my other tanks. The crypts in this tank will melt some, it's just a question of how much. Hopefully the root system is healthy enough to pull it through the melt fairly quickly. So far nothing catastrophic has happened.

Crypts melt for all sorts of reasons - nutrient imbalances, flourish excel, any change in water parameters or temperature, etc. How long have you had yours? They're especially prone to melt right after being added to a new tank.

I added them about a week ago, they had huge roots so Im not too worried.

Yup, that's normal then. Where did you get them from? I've been getting tissue culture crypts from Petsmart lately - these have done really well for me.

I got them, and a huge bundle of other plants, from a guy off craigslist!

Assuming they were grown submersed, you should be setup for success already. Regardless, they're hardy, as long as you're patient

Awesome! I've never grown Cryptocoryne wendtii before, any tips?

Crypts are pretty undemanding and low maintenance. They're root feeders, so if you have a non-nutritive substrate, use root tabs an inch or so under the roots to improve growth.

hey pbmax, did you ever think about attaching java to that cube when you fill it up? Might do well at giving a more natural look. Annnnnd, when the heck are you gonna fill that bad boy up?

Nope, I never considered that.  You're right, that would look more natural, but it would also make cleaning a bit of a pain.  I clean my sponge filters rather vigorously, contrary what some folks advise on here; I wouldn't be able to do that without destroying the moss.  It is food for thought, however; I might just try it.

It's been filled since the 11th!  Go back to page 1

I have new occupants in it as well, as of yesterday.

Looks good, you obviously are super into your planted setups. I am too scared to try dirt, I don't know enough about everything yet.

About the crypts; I got a crypt wendii red that I put in my 10 gallon. It totally melted within about 2 weeks, but with patience it has come back to almost the size it was when I first got it. I'm not sure I would buy more in the future, but it has been cool to watch it appear to die, then come back full-force. There are even some little side shoots that I didn't see before, and that's without any nutrients in the substrate, just tahitian black sand

Heh, yes, I am. I got into the hobby for the plants; the fish and shrimp are a nice bonus.

Dirt isn't too bad. You have to use the right stuff (too many nutrients are bad), initial planting can be tricky (sand cap to keep everything in place and dirt out of the water column), and keep an eye on the PH - dirt leeches ammonia which results in the cycle producing more acid than usual which gobbles up KH pretty quickly. I boost the KH on 2 of my 4 dirt tanks because of this.

The wendtii red in my 29g spread all over the tank. It still melts in places, but that doesn't seem to slow it down.

Here are a couple of photos I took of the tank today in all of its submersed glory!

I have a bit of green spot algae, lots of limpets, and a huge volunteer ostracod population, but otherwise it's growing very well. The chocolate neocaridina have been breeding very well and I have quite a few very stunning specimens (none of whom are visible in these photos, however... heavy planting does have its draw-backs ).

The 1st post has also been updated.

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Nice!

We'll that sucks. My 10 gallon has been a cesspool of algae for months. These pictures completely disappoint me.


That been said....


Looks great pbmax, I  am     <--- green  with   envy. This tank has become a wow factor of 10.

SiRWesDragon wrote:Nice!

Thanks!

fishNAbowl wrote:We'll that sucks. My 10 gallon has been a cesspool of algae for months. These pictures completely disappoint me.


That been said....


Looks great pbmax, I  am     <--- green  with   envy. This tank has become a wow factor of 10.

Thanks! That's probably the nicest thing anyone's said about any of my tanks.   With this tank, less really is more. It's just amazonia and root feeders plus potassium sulphate once a week and a 50% water change every 2 weeks. The chocolate shrimp help a bit with keeping the thing clean.

I don't post photos of my faceplant 20g or the amount of cladophora I yank out of several of my tanks every week.

Yeah, I don't get it. My 1st planted tank was a 55. My 1st real planted tank is my 140. It took a couple months but it's busting out the seams with gorgeous plants. Then my 30 gallon; It took a while but it's doing well. It seems the smaller tank I go the harder it gets to maintain for me. In my 10 gallon I just lost 1 of my puffers, another school of Pygmy Corys and a baby bristlenose. Just got done yanking all the yucky plants, and replanting, scalping out of the 140 gallon. Same pattern now for 6+ months. I am about to toss this tank. So disappointing, it's a nice little metal frame tank, and looks good in the entry way in the house...

I had a 10g that killed all sorts of inverts and looked pretty horrible for a while, but it recovered and now it's once of my nicer tanks.

More recently I purchased a phosphate measuring kit and discovered that the food I'd been feeding in that tank was causing more than enough residual phosphates in the water - enough that I didn't need to add any phosphate ferts to the tank.

Similarly, nitrates were remaining higher due to the age of the tank, over-feeding, and no vac'ing, so I use just potassium sulphate in that tank now as well.

I've reduced feeding (it houses my blue velvet shrimp; they don't need a ton of food) and my algae woes are all but gone now. I have cladphora, but it likes what plants like so there's nothing to be done there apart from manual removal.

nice