What To Do With A 35l

[jamieneaves]

hi,
not sure where to put this because its got a bit of both plants and fish
i have a spare 35l and i am trying to decide what to do with it. i would like to create an amano style tank but is 15w in a 35l tank enough for good plant growth (with medium-high light level plants)?- i would use very rich substrate and some CO2. also, does anyone have any suggestions for fish - i would like to keep a colony of cherry shrimp - and would like some interesting tnkmates, maybe a couple of sall feature fish or a group of tiny ones?
or should i go for a completly different setup to an amano?

also my tank has a ph around 7.8, so soft water species (like kribs) cant go in

 

[fish.com1]

hi,
not sure where to put this because its got a bit of both plants and fish
i have a spare 35l and i am trying to decide what to do with it. i would like to create an amano style tank but is 15w in a 35l tank enough for good plant growth (with medium-high light level plants)?- i would use very rich substrate and some CO2. also, does anyone have any suggestions for fish - i would like to keep a colony of cherry shrimp - and would like some interesting tnkmates, maybe a couple of sall feature fish or a group of tiny ones?
or should i go for a completly different setup to an amano?

also my tank has a ph around 7.8, so soft water species (like kribs) cant go in

If you are keeping cherries or any dwarf shrimp like cherries for that matter, you can't have fish in the tank with them because they are much messier than shrimp and will pollute the water which the shrimp won't tollerate. Also fish will eat the cherries babies because they are only 2-3mm long at birth. Cherry shrimp will breed readily in an aquarium so be prepared to sell/give away some of the offsprin, as you can only have about 30 cherries max in a 35 and thats including the babies. Don't know much about amanos but you will need two different tanks to breed these shrimp, becausethere young require saltwater as they go through a larval stage. This is very difficult.

With the plants 15 watts in a 35 will give you around one and a half wpg which is low to medium level lighting. If you want to go higher get an arcadia arc po, they fit to the side of the tank and you can get them in 9 or 11 wattts.

Hope this helps.

 

[jamieneaves]

thanks very much - i will probably add some more lighting then! i will decide later on between shrimp and fish

 

[aaronnorth]

If you are keeping cherries or any dwarf shrimp like cherries for that matter, you can't have fish in the tank with them because they are much messier than shrimp and will pollute the water which the shrimp won't tollerate.

Where have you heard that? So that means everyone who has shrimp & fish together should imediatley split them both into seperate tanks? I have a load of RCS and black neon tetras (i also have kept them with endlers) and they have grown & reproduced fine, there may be the odd few that are eaten but most of them survive, just give them plenty of cover.

With the lighting you actually have 1.6wpg (15w/ 9g = 1.6wpg) which isnt a bad level. plants you can grow include:

Anubias
java moss
java fern
bolbitis
moss balls
hygrophillia polysperma
cryptocorynes.

 

[jamieneaves]

sorry, just noticed the replies! thanks for the help, i have found a way to add another florescent tube into my hood, but im gonna have to use a drill and lots a cable ties - which will hopefully get lighting levels up double!