Choosing Fish And Shrimps

I've been looking at so many combinations of fish for my hard water tank, but I'm really conscious of Algae growth so have been thinking shrimps.  Never had them before and sound interesting to own but most fish I add to the community creator are likely to see my shrimp and think mmmm lunch.

Am I being over paranoid about algae and really shrimps are not required?  I really like the idea of having a natural cleaner.

Having said all that, look at nerite snails  They don't eat all types of algae, but they do eat some.

I agree. All that detritus breaks down to make CO2, and other plant nutrients, so even if these are not added from an outside source they can still build up.

Hi Marcus,

One of the most important things to keep in mind is that the intensity and duration of the lighting dictates the nutrient requirement for the plants. So, that means carbon from either carbon dioxide or liquid carbon products. Then, the macronutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Then the micronutrients - iron, magnesium, etc.

To keep things simple, start with the easy plants. Take a look at the Tropica and AquaFleur web sites which, if I remember rightly, put plants into several categories. Going back to nutrients, I see that Eco-Complete Planted has a detailed list of the nutrients that it contains.

What I am beginning to appreciate about planted tanks is that if you look after the plants and they are growing well, they will starve any algae spores thus preventing algae growth. Perhaps there is one exception and that is something called blue-green algae (BGA), which is not an algae at all despite its name. It is a form of bacteria. That can wait for another day.

That's enough science for the moment. Regarding fertilizers, I have recently started using TNC products. You will find them here:

https://thenutrientcompany.com

JPC

Thanks for the replies, I'll try answer the questions posed.

The plants in the tank are all Tropica and all under the Easy section.  Early days but most look to be getting bigger.  I guess in a two week tank that's a small positive.

I've had experience with blue green algae in the small tank.  Still got trace amount and being very cautious in transferring the fish to the new tank from it.  It's also the reason I've not used the media in that tank to help cycle the new one, could be over cautious but don't want any cross contamination with it being bacteria.

So liquid fertilisers, really needed in addition to decent substrate and do they affect the water conditions in any way?

The fish on my list has moved around so much but fairly confident in saying we will have Dwarf Rainbowfish, Rosy Tetra, Cherry Barb, Bloodfin tetra and penguin tetra.  Most seem ok with shrimp but for some colour we were hoping for Dwarf Gourami and they come up as potential to attach Shrimp.

I guess I could add them last once the shrimp have gotten bigger (assume they grow)? They will then be too big to eat

Thanks Sue, I was after some colour and the Dwarf Gourami was suggested to us by our local maindenhead aquatic centre.  Many of the fish we have on our list have a base colour of silver. 

Just need a space of something but avoiding live bearers really as I don't want a tank full.  Shame as they seem to have the colour.

Thanks all,

The tank is new so light at the moment is on for just 6hrs a day and it's the Fluval AquaSky LED 16w with 42 LED's and has a rating of 1,100 Lumens.  Not sure on the Kelvin rating, it's just on the app's sunrise, daytime, sunset, night time program.

I do need to do a little research to work out if I need to adjust the red/white/blue LED's to assist the live plants.  I'm trying to go for a fairly fully planted tank but it's all early stages.

I've not used any fertiliser yet, I'm waiting to see how the Caribsea Eco-Complete substrate works out.  No CO2 yet, was going to try and avoid that.

Hi Marcus,

Plant lighting can get complex so I'll keep things simple. 1100 Lumens is bright lighting - as perceived by the human eye. FYI, the light that I have over my community tank is 1032 Lumens (at maximum brightness). So I know what that looks like. You will need to remind me of your tank dimensions. I think you're wise to stick to 6 hours a day lighting ON (known as the photoperiod). I know very little about the Fluval AquaSky. I don't think they publish the actual light spectrum for this product. Ideally, we need to know the actual wavelengths of the red and blue LEDs. Also, is it dimmable? Almost certainly, the light will be too bright on maximum setting.

Your plants need a source of carbon and, I agree, you are wise to steer away from CO2 at the moment. Arguably, carbon is the most important nutrient. So, you have a choice of liquid carbon products. There are plenty to choose from. @Matt uses liquid carbon, if I remember rightly so you could ask him.

JPC

The tank dimensions are 55cm x 55cm cube with a height of 65cm

I will admit the plant and nutrients is baffling and so far I've planted and hoped.  There is way too much contradictory information which makes the internet and painful and often useless source of info.

The tank dimensions are 55cm x 55cm cube with a height of 65cm

I will admit the plant and nutrients is baffling and so far I've planted and hoped.  There is way too much contradictory information which makes the internet and painful and often useless source of info.

Hi Marcus,

Based on your tank dimensions, you have a brightly lit tank. I asked about your lighting - specifically, is it dimmable? And you will need a supply of carbon - whichever route you choose to follow.

You are entirely correct about the internet. There is no end of contradictory information. So, you have to decide who you can trust. Only you can make that decision.

JPC

Oh dear, I'm about to be contradictory. I don't use co2 but rely on naturally available co2 dissolves in the water. I have had great success using this method as described on my site www.scapeeasy.co.uk

The link I posted on gluteraldehyde was sent to me by Juris the famous German aquascaper who felt it summed up his experiences with the product well. I have also lost a lot of fish whilst using liquid co2 at less than the recommended dose daily. When I stopped the losses stopped. I repeated this not quite believing it. The same happened again.

As such im afraid i have to disagree that a source of supplemental carbon is needed ... it will be the limiting factor to plant growth if non is added. This is not a problem, we just need to balance this out with low lighting and reduced fertilisation.  This leads to a slow growing low maintnenace aquarium (but NOT to poor plant health as many would have you believe).

The best thing to do given the wealth of contradictory information in the internet is to follow the approach from one person and only that approach as you can be sure that the differnet component factors are balanced effectively in this approach, its when we mix approaches that we encounter problems.