How To Set Up An Algae Farm?

That's right. Use a few stones so you can be growing algae on some while others are in the tank. Choose the sunniest windowsill you have (assuming we get some sun!) and if you have any ammonia add a drop of that to the jar. Algae love ammonia and light!

Hmmm, does anyone know if adding a drop of aquarium plant fertiliser would help too?


Shops do like getting the label wrong!
Apple snails do come in stripes but if you are in the UK you'd be lucky to find them in the shops now that importing them has been banned. The easiest way to be sure is by looking how much of the snail's body is outside the shell when it moves. With nerites you only see the feelers while apple snails have a lot more of the body visible.

Thanks Richard 

Cherry shrimps do breed like rabbits when they are happy. I have them with pygmy cories and Sundadanios, both small fish which don't seem to eat the baby shrimps. Or at least not many of them.
The problem is that amanos are just about the only shrimp I can think of that can't breed in fresh water. Well, the females do carry fertile eggs but the larvae can't survive in fresh water when they hatch. Do you/will you have any fish other than otos in the tank? Cherry shrimps should be safe from predation from otos but it depends what other fish are in there/planned. Though with 54 litres, you won't be able to keep fish big enough to tackle adult shrimps. You might be able to keep the shrimp population under control with fish that will eat the newly hatched shrimplets.
But having said all that, I don't seem to have a problem with standing room only for shrimps. I have to go through the bucket at every water change and remove about half a dozen shrimps of varying sizes that I've sucked up, and there are always a few tiny baby shrimps. The tank does have lots of java fern and hornwort so maybe I have babies because there is hiding room for them. Maybe the cories and Sundadanios are eating a fair number of baby shrimps after all.