New fluval flex 9 gallon

[Fishnerd360]

New nano tank, going to clear it up a bit tomorrow, still thinking of stocking but I think I’ll get a single ram and some tetras.
Seeing a big open space in the middle, even though no plants grew yet, I’m thinking of getting a possible sword plant or hornwort/cabomba. Here’s the hard scape and tank setup.

 

[Fishnerd360]

Got a couple more plants, also a dwarf lily in the back. And a panda garra and some snails by accident to take care of some algae. I’ve been seeding this tank with live bacteria and sand from an existing tank. Might get a temporary molly since I had good luck with those eating hair algae off plants.

 

[Fishnerd360]

Saw a pair of German blue rams at my lfs with the female swollen with eggs, but would buying a pair just about to spawn a good idea?
Here’s an update on my tank, the gourami will be in there temporary. Algae is finding balance on the plants, but growing on the walls.

 

[Fishnerd360]

Algae is finding more balance, going to get cherry shrimps to help eat the remaining algae so there will be a minimum growth. Guess I won’t get rams then, any cichlids or gouramis that can coexist with cherry shrimps? Maybe checkerboard cichlids unless they get too big? Once I get a colony started, I can probably move a bunch into a 2 and 5 gallon so that can leave the option for rams again.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Its filled with water???? Neons would be cool

 

[Fishnerd360]

Its filled with water???? Neons would be cool

Yeah, I’m trying to look for a small pair or a single centerpiece fish since the gourami I had before died. I was thinking about neons as a schooling fish, but they don’t really stay close together and cardinals may be too active.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Tank looks good, will be very nice once algae sorted out. I think it may be a bit small for rams tbh. Cherry shrimplets will be eaten by just about any fish because they are so small; adults should be safe from tiny fish. Getting any fish to really school tightly in such a small tank may be tough as well, I find in small spaces they don't feel the need as much. I've got a school of baby neons and ember tetras in a 6g long and they pretty much just all swim around wherever they want.

If it were my tank and I wanted cichlids, I would probably go shell dwellers. Would need to add some shells and buffer pH (crushed coral etc) and the shrimps would be toast. But should be able to get rid of algae by dialing in light/ferts balance. The shrimps will eat algae, but won't leave you with a spotless tank anyway, always better to fix the root cause of the algae than get janitors imo.

 

[Deadeye]

A puffer (dwarf or maybe red eye) would look great in there. It shouldn’t completely destroy the shrimp population. Only issue is it severely limits tankmate options.

 

[Fishnerd360]

I found the reason why I got algae, and it was a pretty dumb mistake of leaving the tank lights on for 14 hours, but for the past few weeks I’ve been leaving it on for 8 hours. I didn’t have a timer and was kept forgetting to get one. If I get any centerpiece fish, I’ll probably wait for the shrimps to breed a ton so I could move some to a 5 gallon. That way if anything wrong happens, I’ll still have a colony. Is $20 for adult multifasciatus a good price? There is a fish store an hour+ away that had babies for only a few dollars compared to my lfs for $20.

 

[Gourami Swami]

For adults $20 bucks is not too bad. Maybe a little high. If you can get younger ones for only a few bucks, I'd do it. First I would make sure your pH is correct, they like it high.
If you are serious about wanting a breeding colony of the shrimps though, I would forget about fish. Pretty much any fish will eat shrimplets, certainly the ones we are talking about.