[Lupin]

Welcome back, Oceane.:wave: I do hope you visit here more often.:mrgreen: I've been missing your presence lately.:blueworry: :wink2:

I occasionally siphon around the plant base otherwise I only do water changes. As my tank is not heavily-planted at the moment, I can do siphoning without problem. For carpet plants, it is often suggested to just use a dip net when removing mulm.

 

[Lupin]

Thanks for the suggestions and thanks for the welcome back Blue. I've also missed the forum, but end of term was hectic. I've got rams and tetras in this tank do you think i could add ghost shrimps, if so how many?

You can. Not Amanos and cherries though or the rams will eat them.:blink: I had a female ram at 4 cm in size eating a guppy at half her size.:shock2:

 

[Lupin]

Could I have shrimp with plecos and angelfish? If so, what kind?

Ghost shrimps are good and so are Amanos. Since your tank is planted, there is less chance that your shrimps will be eaten by your angels. I wouldn't worry about plecs. They will not eat your shrimps unless the plecs you keep grow to more than 14 inches. Big plecs, at this rate, have a tendency to eat shrimps but smaller species don't.

 

[Lupin]

I guess Dawn miss your questions. I'll try my best answering your questions.

Bettababy, I have a few questions for you on these ideas... I have a built in livebearer tank and unfortunately, the way it was put in, there's only about 12 inches of tank visible - so 6" java moss wouldn't appeal to me - but the overall idea does. What would you recommend for a REALLY SHORT "groundcover type" of plant that would work with the livebearer tank, snails (as you suggest) and shrimp?

Try to just trim the javan moss. If not, you can go with Echinodorus tenellus or Riccia fluitans assuming your lighting is 3wpg or more. What is your wpg(wattage per gallon) of lighting?

Would either the snails or the shrimp get my molly and platy fry?

Your snails will not harm the fish. Your shrimps on the other hand probably will. I wouldn't worry about the fry. As long as you have thickets of plants, some fry will actually survive. Livebearer fry really do not need to be separated at all. They are quite prolific and you'll find it impossible to get rid of the fry soon once they mature.

How many snails (I assume the only ones you recommend for this "job" are the ram's horn's?) would I need for a 55g?

I'm not sure about ramshorns. I had them and they ate my plants.:shake: They reproduce too fast unfortunately so I may avoid them. Malayan Trumpet Snails are your best options. They eat detritus and often dig the bottom. This has a benefit which is the prevention of the build-up of anaerobic spots. Anaerobic spots are 'dead areas' which can be deadly to fish as they release toxins.

How many shrimp would I need, and are there other good options for this type of tank than the ghost shrimp?

Try either Amano or Red Cherry Shrimps. Dawn has already given you explanation in the other thread.

HTH
Blue