What to do with my 1 gallon tank? Shrimp? Snail? Plants only? what will live happy?

doubleatheman

Hello all, first post here on TFK, Ive been on the Betta forums for a bit now.

I had a 1gallon tank purchased for my Betta, but upgraded the tank because I found it would be too small for a happy Betta, or any kind of fish for that matter.

I want to keep something in it, and Ive decided on some kind of snail, shrimp or plant. I want to pick something that can live in it, and not be miserable, or die :(.

It has a UGF, light (7 watt incandescent).

I also had a leftover Penn Plax small world filter (carbon/ammo remover/sponge box filter) I put in this tank. I know ghost shrimp are sensative to ammoinia, main reason for the small filter.)

I know shrimp don't like strong currents so I have a check valve on the air pump limiting it to about 1/4th the normal amount of bubbles.

It's unheated. (Room temp 65-80)

It's pH will be 7.6, with hard water. I treat our tap with PH down (it starts at 8.6)

It has some cheap plastic plants in it now (the ones that came with the tank actually)

I want the ghost shrimp the most, probably just 1 for this size tank. I would do two, but it would be crowded right?

We had ghost shrimp in the past in our community tank, but they got sucked up by the filter :(, but others died for other unknown reasons. We determined our water was pretty hard.

I don't really want a snail, but if that's all you think I should keep in it, so be it.

Also what kind of live plant does well in such a small low light tank? if any?

Thanks!

Angel079

Was I you here's what I'd do but I'll say up front I have housed shrimp farms for many yrs so you being more new to it I am not sure how comfi you'd feel about this.

1) Toss the fake plants and replace with live, here's a good site if you need a plant supplier www.sweetaquatics.com
2) Set up tank with fine gravel or sand (and remove that UGF thingy there)
3) Go to your established tank, unplug the filter and take the sponge out. Wash that dirty sponge out quite well in the 1g tank that's filled with conditioned water and put back to your new bigger tank
4) Buy about a dozen ghost shrimp. 2-3 may day (may not) and the rest will live in there just fine.
5) do a weekly w/c of about 40-50% with conditioned water but since its stuffed pull with live plants no filter for shrimp needed

Now I suggest ghost shrimp cause for one they're pretty cheap for a beginner so losses won't cost you too much and 2) Most importantly they don't breed like most shrimps will, they carry the eggs a few weeks and then larvae will hatch and those often don't grow up thanks to the parents. So you'd not have the issue that the tank is crowded/ overstocked in a few weeks, being such a small tank that would be a real concern.
Attached my 2g to give ya a idea

Attached Images

1g planted.jpg (46.2 KB, 117 views)

doubleatheman

1) Live plants are more work and im still new at this, but live plants do sound cool

2) I have fine gravel in the tank now

3) The sponge cartage in my Betta tank is still new, I am probably going to start this mini tank after my Betta is cycled, so then I can take the Betta's sponge and put it in this mini tank.)

4)12 for one gallon!?!

5) The little filter is super low flow the way I have it set, (less than 1GPH), still think i should remove it? weekly water change sounds perfect.

Yeah I don't want them breeding! that's good they dont.

Thanks for the pic and reply!

Angel079

1) That's a complete myth! Adding plants actually results in less work for you because it helps you keep the water cleaner Look at my tanks, bunch plants - I'd not do all that is it was adding bunch work for me.
If you bought stem plants you'd have to trim them every once in a while yes; But if you get plants like Java Fern, Anubias, Small Swords you have to do non of that
2) Wonderful, perfect for plants
3) Just cycle the lil tank fishless, set it all up and add a FEW (1-2) flake's from the betta food each day to feed bacteria and let it grow to establish.
4) Yea any group size from 8-12 will do in that size
5) I will ONLY suggest to skip the filter and take it out under 2 given factors 1) Plant the tank full with plants 2) Weekly water exc.

doubleatheman

What is the easiest kind of live plant for newbies?

And this is the filter I have (pictured below), other than the UGF I know I have to remove if I go with plants. I can use it with the plants in the tank.

The whole 1 inch of fish per gallon does not really apply to shrimp? cool, Ill proibly start with 3 or 4 because I would be scared that that's too many. but if it works for you, I might end up eventually having that many.

Cool I'll start the fishless cycle then :) (I forgot about that)

Thanks!

LisaC144

YEAH! +1 on shrimp and LIVE plants. The list Angel gave you is perfect. I'd also add maybe a moss ball. In a 1g tank it would look great and shrimp LOVE to climb all over them.

Angel079

Yea I know this filter it'll do fine with shrimp.
For plants like I said abuve anything like Java Fern, Anubias, Small Swords will be easy on you; I'd just stay away from stem plants for this small sized tank.

The whole 1" per gallon rule for fish already is way outdated and really not applicable; much less for shrimp. Like I said was it a shrimp that multiplies quick then I'd also suggest less being Ghost shrimp I have no concern suggesting 8-12 for this tank.

I had put together a lil Guide for newcomers to the shrimp world you may find rather useful http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/f...keeping-37012/

doubleatheman

Read your guide thanks!

I do worry about my hard water, I have some "brackish" water treatments from our old tanks we were trying to make the water less hard with. I may use that.

So how long should I wait before tanking the "cycled" media from my Betta? Since my Betta is only one week old the tank itself is not cycled.

Can I take the media from the Betta tank and put it in the shrimp tank now and cycle them both at the same time? (Just throw a few flakes in to feed the bacteria.)

Also the gravel in the tank I just realized was not cleaned from the fish it had in it 7 years ago, its been in storage all that time. No chance of any bacteria/disease coming back?

I'm probably going to not go with live plants at first, I know that probably does not make you happy.

Thanks for all the feedback!

iamntbatman

As for the plants, if you get some down the road, Java Moss and Java Fern are pretty much indestructible. Shrimp really like crawling around in Java Fern looking for bits of food, so that's a plus.

Hard water is more than fine. Shrimp actually thrive in hard water as they need it for proper exoskeleton growth.

doubleatheman

Here are my new friends (3 of them):