# A couple of beginner questions



## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Hi everyone,

the more and more I read up about aquarium keeping, the more questions I get  . Here are a few that I can think of off the top of my head that hopefully some of you can help me with:

1.) If I get an inert substrate such as sand, is it possible to grow plants in it or would I have to dose with fertilizers or keep several fish to provide nutrients? What kinds of plants would be ok in inert sand?

2.) I've noticed that filters often come with cartridges. If I took the cartridge away, would the filter turn into only an aerator or would some filtration still occur?

3.) In a planted tank with minimal bioload (e.g., 10 shrimp in 10 gallons), how much filtration is necessary or would simple aeration be enough?

Thanks to anyone who can help me out! Things seem a lot more complicated now that I've got access to all this information


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## Matthew RJ (Mar 2, 2014)

*questions are good*

Welcome and keep asking questions.

I'm not sure I can give you exact answers to all your questions, but let me try:

1) I've never used sand, but plants will do better (need?) fertilizers, and possibly CO2. Some plants want to be fed through tablets in the roots, and others through the water stream.

2 & 3) - I've only used filters with cartridges, and my smallest tank was 30 gallons. I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to filter the water.


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Hi Matthew RJ,

thanks for answering my questions!

For the plants question, I was trying to avoid using fertilizers because I'm planning a shrimp tank and I've heard that fertilizers could harm the shrimp. I also wanted to start out with something a little low maintenance so maybe I'll just stick with mosses D:

For filters, when I was younger I had fish and only had a bubbler/aerator and those fish lived for several years. I hadn't actually heard of a filter until recently and thought that those were just fancy aerators so they're an entirely new concept to me  A lot of these filters have cartridges with carbon as well and I'd like to avoid carbon (and maybe cartridges altogether?) because I've heard that that could lead to shrimp deaths as well.

I had also heard of some low-tech shrimp tanks that were unfiltered, but heavily planted, hence my earlier question about plants and sand.

Basically, I'm trying to aim for a really low-maintenance shrimp tank that would still keep the environment healthy for the shrimp. Sorry for the lack of clarification


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Hi Atom,

You can get some substrates that don't buffer PH down but will still be good for plants. I _believe_ Fluval Plant stratum is OK for this application, as it will feed your plants a bit.

I have not used inert before, so I can't say for sure. If you keep shrimp, they do not take very well to a large amount of fertilizer dosing.

For the other two questions:

In my tanks, I typically buy a HOB filter, put a small sponge over the intake, and then put a sponge in the bottom, and Bio Media on top. EX: http://www.petsmart.ca/fish/filter-...d36-16983/cat-36-catid-300089?var_id=36-16983

Shrimp like lots of Oxygen in their water. The best thing to do is to add an air-driven sponge filter in tandem. This aerates the water, and provides a nice big place for them to feed on bio film, especially good for babies!

On my 8G tank I have a small dual sponge filter, and an Aquaclear 20 filter. The AC20 model may be a bit overkill, but they are reliable, quiet, and have adjustable flow.

Be sure not to use carbon filters, they can have detrimental effects on the shrimp.



Atom said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> the more and more I read up about aquarium keeping, the more questions I get  . Here are a few that I can think of off the top of my head that hopefully some of you can help me with:
> 
> ...


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Great woopderson  thanks for the detailed response.

I've seen a lot of people talking about the aquaclear 20 maybe i'll aim for something similar then and add a sponge on it and see how that goes.

Thanks to both of you for clearing up my questions!


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

No problem, glad to help! I strongly reccommend the sponge filter or airstone. When I was running just my AC20, I lost one shrimp due to lack of oxygen. A dual sponge filter goes for $4 on ebay and you can run it off a 10g rated air pump which is also pretty low cost.


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Oh sorry about the shrimp death  thanks for letting me know. I may just make a DIY sponge filter as well as having a HOB. Excuse my ignorance, but do HOBs run on air pumps or is it a completely different thing hooked up to it? 

So if I were to have 2 filters running (HOB and a Sponge filter), would I need to get 2 air pumps? 

Thanks again!


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

All good, a hard lesson learned! HOB filters have their own motor, and do not use an air pump. Just put a small sponge over the hob intake so shrimp don't get sucked in.
So here is what you need:

HOB Filter
Small sponge for intake
Bio media for HOB
Air Pump
Sponge filter


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Thanks for that list! It really simplifies what I'll need to get. I think that's what I really needed to know after the importance of each component was explained. Thanks everyone


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Glad go help


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## Reckon (Mar 6, 2013)

Atom said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> the more and more I read up about aquarium keeping, the more questions I get  . Here are a few that I can think of off the top of my head that hopefully some of you can help me with:
> 
> ...


Thanks for giving us the context for your tank because how you treat the tank will vary considerably based on your goals.

In the context that you plan to keep shrimp, they don't create a high bioload; this means that unless you are doing funny things to soil the water, there isn't too much ammonia or nitrite that needs to be cleaned up.

1) Inert substrate is exactly that - no nutrients to begin with. That means you will either need to dose the tank or wait for fish poop to absorb into the substrate for root feeding plants to feed from. However, you can try keeping plants that are a bit more resilient to lean conditions. These include 'low tech' plants. Mosses are also great for shrimp to pick at and are easy to keep.

2) You usually need some water movement or aeration to ensure there is enough O2 in the tank, this is less important if a) you have a smaller bioload; or 2) if you have live stock that aren't finicky, like cherry shrimp. CRS are probably a different matter, they tend to be more fussy. What makes a filter, well, filter is the sponge/floss which acts as a mechanical filter as well as a biological filter. The sponge or floss increases surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow on. Beneficial bacteria is necessary for the nitrogen cycle - which changes toxic ammonia and nitrites into less toxic nitrates. Nitrates is what plants mainly take in (though to some extent they will take in some nitrites and ammonia as well) as a nutrient. If your tank is not 'cycled' then it is more toxic for your shrimp. Furthermore, algae feeds on ammonia more than plants so you can see a bloom of algae as well.

3) For shrimp tanks, it is popular that people simply use moss as their plants to soak up nitrates and a sponge filter to both aerate their tanks and provide a surface for beneficial bacteria to grow on. As you surmise, shrimp don't generate a high bioload and they'd rather prefer a stable environment. That probably means it's easier just to keep the tank low maintenance. Avoid dosing, plants that are hard to keep, die easily and foul the water, and big water changes.


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey Reckon,

thanks for such a detailed response  you pretty much confirmed what I had assumed and also brought up things I hadn't yet considered. I'm now finalizing the things I'll need to get and it's looking like I'll need:
-Mosses
-HOB filter + cartridge (not carbon)
-sponge filter
-sponge pre-filter
-air pump

So this should fulfill the plant requirements and oxygenation/filtration requirements while being safe for the shrimp I think.


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## Mykuhl (Apr 8, 2013)

Hi Atom,

I don't know how soon you plan to start up your shrimp tank but when you are ready I can sell you my 10(approximately) juvenile Painted fire red shrimp(a very red variety of cherry shrimp), 1 golden fan shrimp, a big clump of Taiwan moss, a used aquaclear 50 HOB filter, a brand new ATI Hydro sponge filter and some Java fern and anubias nana plants as well as a package deal if you want. Just let me know.


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

You're a bit out of my usual neck of the woods, but I'll send you a PM and maybe we can set something up. Those sound like useful things to get a tank going


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