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Hi All,

I have always wanted some Cherry shrimp. So, the past weekend I went to some garage sales and found a nice brand new 5 gallon tank. One of those all in one systems with the bio wheel.
Now, I am setting it up for a shrimp only tank, well maybe a snail as well.
A few questions.
What besides Java moss is a good plant or plants to have in the tank? I dont want messy plants but hardy ones that the shrimps will like.
I am going to well plant the tank but dont want over crowding of plants either.
I also know that the shrimps like algea so I will let the tank cycle and have some good algea growth for them before buying the shrimp.
I saw somewhere but cant find it abot growing rocks with alot of algea. How do I do that exactly?
Also, what kinds of sinking pellet food will they eat and thrive on?
One last question. Should I maybe put a couple and I mean couple of small fish like tetras in the tank with the shrimp to keep things even with the bio and all?
I love shrimp! Cant wait to get them. I am going to start with only 4 and see how it goes.
I am addicted. I am up to 3 tanks now with all sorts of cool stuff.
Thanks for the help.

Need to know the amount of light to recommend any plants. The shrimp don't really care what plants you grow so long as there is lots of them but light does matter alot in choosing plants. Also if this is a hex tank it won't grow many plants or hold many shrimp. The tank is too tall with too little substrate space and surface area to be useful for much. If it's a corner or standard eclipse 5 then it will work. They tend to have limited light and filtration though. About the only other thing besides java moss that will grow in most any light conditions is java fern and possibly some crypts like wendtii varieties.

By cycling do you mean your adding a source of ammonia to the tank or just letting it sit? If you add nothing to the tank(no fish, shrimp, food, or pure ammonia) it's not technically cycling. Your not growing any of the bacteria needed to keep the tank stable. It does give your plants time to grow which can shorten the cycling time when you do start a cycle but if your not adding an ammonia source it's not actually cycling.

To grow algae in the tank just add more light. If you want to control it a bit better then put the rocks in a jar or clear container of water with a little plant fertilizer or fish food and leave it sit on a windowsill or anywhere sunny. Algae will start to grow and then you can add it to the tank. The algae will die after awhile if you don't have enough light and if you have lots of light with few plants it will probably start to take over the place. Aside from algae they will also eat most sinking foods such as crab and lobster bites, shrimp pellets, spirulina pellets, and veggie flakes.

If you want baby shrimp don't add any fish at all. Any fish will eat baby shrimp especially with how small cherries are. Plus tetras are schooling fish that belong in groups of around 6 or more to be happiest. That would max out the stocking of your tank pretty quickly.

Another thing to add, is that it would not be advisable to put fish in with shrimp in such a small tank. Shrimp in general, and red cherries in particular, are very susceptible to ammonia, and if you do not keep up with water changes on a regular basis or if your filtration stops for any reason, with the fish in there the ammonia levels can spike very quickly.

I have a 3g red cherry tank, and had 2 very small otos in there with the shrimps, and the filter got clogged and didn't run well for about 12 hours. My ammonia levels went off the charts and I lost 3 shrimp. I'm surprised I didn't lose more.

Listen! Do you smell that?