So I have had a 5 gallon tank just sitting here running, and it's been pretty decrepit and run over by guppy grass and algae. We've been putting off resetting it for months but recently we have been revitalized. My mom followed me into the shrimp store and was bedazzled by the pretty Caridina shrimp, so she's now getting my brother and I to fix up this tank from a green algae-covered mess into a nice clean shrimp tank. So here's the plan: we have acquired some old ADA-amazonia version 1, which from what I've heard is ideal for Caridina. We will then begin the bucket cycle method, by putting some in a bucket, filling with dechlorinated water, sticking an air tube into it, and then leave it for 2 months with weekly 100% water changes. While waiting for this, we plan to completely reset the tank by either selling or moving the inhabitants. The neocaridina shrimp will be either donated to a friend or sold online or to a lfs. The pygmy corydoras will be captured and moved to our other 10 gallon, so @AdoraBelle Dearheart you can rest easy now. We still haven't a plan for the Norman's Lampeye Killifish, but we'll figure something out. We will sell the plants online, as they're still healthy and good.
Once all the livestock and plants are cleared out, we plan to throw out all the old substrate. It's littered with shells everywhere so I don't think it's great for caridina shrimp. We'll also clean off the old driftwood piece with a bleach mix. We'll then replace all the media with fresh media devoid of bacteria. I'm not concerned about this as I will likely only do 6 weeks of the 2 months of bucket substrate, and instead use the last two weeks in the tank with plants.
Plants: Because this is now my mom's tank, I will likely be planting extremely sparsely or with slow growing plants, such as some mosses for the shrimp and then bucephalandra and Anubias as general plants. Once the two month cycling is over, we'll wait until there's no ammonia in the tank at all from the substrate, then add a variety of caridina shrimps that my mom will choose.
If anybody has any ideas just let me know, but for now this is the process.
Old tank journal: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/5-gallon-fluval-spec-v.472852/
Once all the livestock and plants are cleared out, we plan to throw out all the old substrate. It's littered with shells everywhere so I don't think it's great for caridina shrimp. We'll also clean off the old driftwood piece with a bleach mix. We'll then replace all the media with fresh media devoid of bacteria. I'm not concerned about this as I will likely only do 6 weeks of the 2 months of bucket substrate, and instead use the last two weeks in the tank with plants.
Plants: Because this is now my mom's tank, I will likely be planting extremely sparsely or with slow growing plants, such as some mosses for the shrimp and then bucephalandra and Anubias as general plants. Once the two month cycling is over, we'll wait until there's no ammonia in the tank at all from the substrate, then add a variety of caridina shrimps that my mom will choose.
If anybody has any ideas just let me know, but for now this is the process.
Old tank journal: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/5-gallon-fluval-spec-v.472852/
