# Starting a 30g shrimp/planted tank. Help please.



## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

Hey there all. Starting a 30g tank that I will be planting. Have the tank so far will be getting more hopefully tomorrow. Need some advice on what to use. 

My questions. 

looking at doing a fairly heavily planted tank with driftwood. Lots of mosses, 3 types of buce, possibly some kinds of "grass" and Anubias etc. Some easier plants. Stock will Including Dario Dario's as well as a bunch of shrimp looking for some possible tank mate recommendations. 

1- Will fluval stratum be fine for substrate? And how much will I need for a 30g (36x12x16) 

2 - lighting. I have a dual t5 ho unit. What lights do you recommend. I was thinking 1 life glo and 1 Aqua glo. 

3 - filtration. Looking at a hob with sponge attachment most likely but have also been told about using a sponge filter with a mild powerhead. Or a bubbler. I have had bad experience with bubblers so that's a last resort. 

4- cycling. I've been told that it's best to cycle with tap. Then top with ro. In BARRIE so we have higher ph tap water. 

Any ideas help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 



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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

4rdguy said:


> Hey there all. Starting a 30g tank that I will be planting. Have the tank so far will be getting more hopefully tomorrow. Need some advice on what to use.
> 
> My questions.
> 
> ...


1. What are you looking for in a substrate? Something to grow plants or to keep caridina shrimp?

2. I would go with both life glo, but it depends on your preference, as long as it's not too blue.

3. I wouldn't use a sponge filter in a planted tank, it doesn't give enough flow.

4. What kind of shrimp are you planning to keep? Neo or caridina? If neo, then you can go straight tap. If caridina, then you can cycle with tap and top off with RO. You will also need appropriate substrate for caridina.


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## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

1-As far as substrate I was looking for a happy medium?

3- would a hob be ok with Shrimp or would they get sucked up? What's a good solution for the intake on the filter 

4- I was thinking some blu rili. Red rili. And maybe some green jades. So I think those are classified as news I think?¿?




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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

1 + 4.) Those shrimp you listed are neos for sure 

In that case, you might not need a buffering substrate like Fluval, Akadama, ADA, Netlea, etc. These products'll bring the pH down quite a bit and neos might have a tough time adjusting.

Maybe a good alternative would be a substrate like Seachem Flourite. It's planted substrate that doesn't affect the pH.

_BUT_ if your tap water is as crappy as mine, you might be forced to go with RO water and a buffering substrate (Fluval, ADA, etc.). I have well water that's softened so the GH ends up being 0 whereas the KH is 15+  In this case, it's better to start off with a "blank slate" like RO and remineralize it to the appropriate GH and KH for the shrimp.

I suggest testing your tap water's pH, GH, KH, and possibly TDS to get a better gauge on what approach is best. The plants you listed (moss, buce, anubias) might not even really need a planted substrate.

3.) You can use a pre-filter sponge over the intake and some people even use panty hose. In my community tank I put an aquaclear filter sponge on there, but the pores might be too large to stop shrimplets.


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