# Killies Import > Planted Tanks >  My 29 gallon planted shrimp tank

## Piscesgirl

(clickable image to enlarge). 

There is a bit of moss on the driftwood thanks to Loh K.L. Thank you! He sent me some for a plant club meeting last year. Most of it is still sitting on my windowsill as I didn't have a proper place for it in my tanks (there is some in my 55 gallon but it's waging a war with Black Beard Algae so I'm not posting a picture of that tank!). Anyway, wanted to show off the moss and say thanks.

This tank has recently been completely redone and I ripped out all but a few stragglers of stem plants. I'm hoping for more ease of maintanance. I had a horrible time keeping kh up and lost my Crystal reds as a result, but a few handfuls of Onyx sand has finally brought the kh up to where I can ignore it again.

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## amber2461

Hey Deborah

Looking good, thanks for posting and the moss looks healthy. Sorry to hear about your Crystal Reds though.

Cheers

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## elmike

Nature is characterised by a fairly high level of entropy.  :Laughing:  
This tank is just that - a wild tank. Most aquarists are too much of a perfectionist to be capable of producing such a wonderfully natural-looking piece of nature.
I'm interested to know if you do pump in CO2 at all?

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## Piscesgirl

Thank you Marge...


elMichael -- Thank you, I like wild tanks  :Smile:  Actually I give up before perfectionism. hehe. Yes, I do use Co2. Originally, I used DIY Co2, and the tank did very well; when I switched to pressurized, that's when the kh was so important (especially because I pump co2 24/7). My water comes out of the tap with less than or 1kh. Very soft!

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## timebomb

Glad the moss is still alive, Deborah. You would have lots of it by now if you hadn't left them on the window sill. The Taiwan grows fairly quickly, when compared to the other mosses. 

I've been going through the pictures in "The International Aquatic Plants' Layout Contest 2004" book recently and I noticed that the award-winning tanks are those that emulate landscapes. It's hard to get that sort of look. Wild tanks are easier as when they are meant to be wild, you can just anyhow plant  :Laughing: 

Loh K L

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## Piscesgirl

> You would have lots of it by now if you hadn't left them on the window sill.


  :Opps:  I still do have more on the windowsill though  :Smile:  There is good much in the 55 gallon but I keep ripping it out because I'm fighting with BBA. I know the remedy is increase C02, but my loaches do not like the Co2. I've added an airstone at night and the BBA is not spreading like it was. I still plan on giving some to plant club members if they want some (there were no moss lovers at the meeting I brought it to and we meet irregularly). 


I'm hoping my C.Parva foreground will fill in some and make it look more landscaped although I totally lack the dedication to make the effort that the aquascaping winners do. Wild is good  :Smile:

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## FC

Deborah,

Singapore water is very soft too. We have about 1~2 degree of KH and about 3~5 degree of GH. Have you tried putting coral chips or lime into your filter? It will raise KH up by about 2~3 degree, depending on the water column acidity. Coral chips will provide Ca too while Lime give both Ca and Mg in good proportion.

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## Piscesgirl

Freddy,
I was trying to control it myself by using powdered calcium carbonate -- but I found I was adding it daily and the shrimp and snails (and plants) I suppose were all absorbing it as soon as I added it. So, finally I gave in and added a few handfuls of Onyx Sand by Seachem (It is Calcite, supposedly high in Calcium and Magnesium) and now the kh is finally at 3  :Smile:  My substrate is somewhat low anyway, so adding the Onyx sand was beneficial in that respect too. If I hadn't got the Onyx sand, I would have looked into getting a handful of coral chips. 

This tank looked completely different last year  :Smile:  I'll have to find it at the AGA site and post a link.

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## Piscesgirl

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.or...=0&vol=1&id=57


Here's that same tank last year -- a big case of collectoritis (I'm over that!).

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## ruyle

> Here's that same tank last year -- a big case of collectoritis (I'm over that!).


Deborah, don't feel bad...there's one poster's avatar on APC who has 
this meter that reads "Plant Expert" (as I remember) and over to the right
of this (the max setting on the dial) is "Collector" which is where the
needle is quivering  :Laughing:  

Bill

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## stormhawk

Deb, if its any consolation, I just love BBA.  :Laughing:  Its on the glass, almost everywhere. But I kinda like the look.

Nowadays, the whole surface is carpeted with duckweed and I have a huge bunch of hornwort in the tank which is fighting and winning the battle with the BBA for excess nutrients. I'm not sure what went wrong but hopefully it'll work out soon.

Nice tank you got there, simple and uncluttered. _Collectoritis_ works for some people but I prefer a spacious outlook with some clusters here and there.  :Wink:

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## Piscesgirl

Hehe Bill, I'll have to find out who that is. My needle seems to go back and forth! But, I'm finding myself lately with a fondness for java fern and anubias!!!!  :Shocked:

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## ruyle

> But, I'm finding myself lately with a fondness for java fern and anubias!!!!


My faves, too: here's some breeding tank pics, not as nice as your tanks
but I've finally been able to grow watersprite again, check out the roots:





I'm starting to "collect" more anubias!  :Laughing:  

Bill

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## whuntley

Bill,

Please don't toss any of that water sprite. Mine is growing too slowly.

Wright

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## ruyle

> Bill,
> 
> Please don't toss any of that water sprite. Mine is growing too slowly.
> 
> Wright


Let me know when you want some  :Wink:  
I've been using KNO3, KH2PO4, TMG, Flourish, and Excel....seems to be
working quite well.

Bill

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## Piscesgirl

> Deb, if its any consolation, I just love BBA. Its on the glass, almost everywhere. But I kinda like the look


Heheehe!  :Laughing:   :Laughing:  Well, maybe I better take your stand on it because everytime I start to think I'm gaining some ground in the war, it rallies again  :Sad:

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## Piscesgirl

Looks like you have some great growth, Bill!

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## Piscesgirl

Here's an update of the Shrimp tank. The moss is a little bit 'tufty' and blowing about only because I removed a good much a few days ago. It's been growing very well.

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## ruyle

Looking good, Deborah! Is that EC you're using for substrate? Luv the
variegated beefsteak begonia on the right side, where did you find it?
I'm kiddin'...but what is it?  :Confused:  

Bill

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## Piscesgirl

Thanks Bill.  :Smile:  Yes, that's Eco-Complete but I've mixed in a bit of black sand and also some Onyx Sand for buffering. Prior to the Onyx sand, with the addition of pressurized Co2, my tank sort of crashed and I lost my Crystal Reds. I have a few more now, and things are much better. 

That 'Begonia' is a Green Tiger Lotus (I believe) Nymphaea lotus 'Green' or Nymphaea zenkeri 'Green.' If you want some I can send you some next time it sends out a runner. There's possibly a runner under there now, I'll find out next water change. I keep trimming it drastically hoping it will get the hint it needs to stay small.  :Smile:  

I got it from a guy, along with some other plants that 'bit the dust' in my tank crash, from Maryland who drove down to pick up some of my Crystal Reds back over a year ago, back when they were flourishing. His english wasn't real good so I couldn't ask him what the plants were. Of the plants that passed away, I most miss the Eriocaulon  :Crying:   :Crying:   :Crying:

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## ruyle

> Of the plants that passed away, I most miss the Eriocaulon


Hummm, would that be Eriocaulon setaceum? Craig Thurman has some,
known as the "Tornado Plant" in SG  :Wink:  I had a standing order for some
with Charley (Lowcoaster, New York) that finally came through.

LMK if this is the variety you were after. I had Charley send them direct
to Craig, and Craig was wowed by the size and health of the plants.

Bill

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## Piscesgirl

Yep it was the setaceum. It's such a nice plant and was easier than the Toninas, although I'm not quite sure where I would put it in the aquascape right now if I had some again.. The water is too hard in my Killi tank for it to do well there.

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## ruyle

Craig has set up a 30 gallon tank with peat/Red Sea Florabase for substrate
and at least 50/50 tapwater/RO water, CO2 injection, good light, to grow
these and the Tonina. We too, have hard water in Northern Alabama  :Rolling Eyes:  

He's had very good luck with Tonina with the above setup and hopes the
setaceum will like it, too.

Bill

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## Piscesgirl

My water is actually super soft -- but the Killifish tank is mostly Onyx sand, so that tank's water is hard (well about 6 kh). I put two handfuls of Onyx sand in the Killitank to raise that tank to 4 kh. There is a chance some shell type substrate is also in the killitank from when I poured some Malaysian Trumpet snails in there from a Cichlid keeper. 

Did you want the Lotus? I just looked and it seems that there is another one in there.

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## ruyle

> There is a chance some shell type substrate is also in the killitank from when I poured some Malaysian Trumpet snails in there from a Cichlid keeper.


Deborah, MTS are the bane of killikeepers! They have a voracious appetite
for killie eggs. I had to break down 2 tanks to bare glass, new substrate, to
rid them. Of course, with the walkeri, you don't have them in a setup where
eggs can be collected, MTS or no.




> Did you want the Lotus? I just looked and it seems that there is another one in there.


Sure, but only if it doesn't affect the harmony of your 'scape!  :Smile:  

Bill

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## Piscesgirl

Oh it won't disturb my scape -- I actually keep wondering if it belongs in there to begin with; but, how to keep it clean of hitchhikers when I send it to you. Didn't realize MTS were so dangerous. I kinda like them  :Smile:

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## Piscesgirl

An update of my tank! The moss is doing very well and I've passed some along at my last plant club meeting. I intend to pass a bit more along later. I love this aquascape because it is much less work than it once was! I only have to remove a crypt or lotus every once in awhile when they try to spread to where I don't want them to go!

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## FC

Hi Deborah,

Yeah, the tank looks good and you had used the available space well. The plants look very healthy too!

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## ruyle

Deborah, it's a great 'scape, like the driftwood, too. But I'm thinking...29 gallons and it's just for shrimp  :Laughing:  They can certainly spread out in that
size of real estate  :Wink:  

Bill

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## Piscesgirl

Thank you Freddy and Bill! Yes 29 gallons gives my shrimp a little leg room  :Smile:  They are quickly filling it though, especially considering all the snails in there too.

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