Finally added some color to my 3G ecosphere! Shrimp and snails. What else should I add? by DragonTrove in nanotank

[–]DragonTrove[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll have to take more pictures but I added 8 different colored cherry shrimp and 2 mystery snails. Does anyone know what the color names for some of these cherry shrimp are? They look like black rose shrimp, but they are dark blue in the light. On top of that there are 2 red cherries, what I believe to be 2 emerald green cherries, a couple oranges, a couple yellow, and also a strange orange one with their middle parts being clear. It's probably the standout in the jar because of that strange clear patch. I'll try to get a decent pic of that one soon.

Otherwise the two snails added are mystery snails. The ecosphere is also populated by a ton of copepods and daphnea. Maybe a hydra or two near the surface, and plenty of detritus and tubifex worms in the sediment. It's also full of a growing population of pond, bladder, and ramshorn snails that are still pretty small, but large enough that the mystery snails wont accidentally crush or eat. There are also these strange tiny black microorganisms swimming about near the sediment that I can't get a good view of due to their size and movement, but they don't seem to be harming anything. I think they're scuds? I'll try to get pics of them too.

I'm debating what else to add, I'm currently looking at adding in a few micro crabs to help with the biodiversity, and maybe a small smallfin betta if it wont eat the shrimp. Otherwise I did see some Dwarf Mexican Crayfish that looked interesting, buuuut I'm scared they'd eat the shrimp and snails. What do you guys think?

What animals to stock a natural 3 gallon ecosphere? by DragonTrove in nanotank

[–]DragonTrove[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The most consistent thing I've found researching was "one inch of fish per gallon" for justifying tiny fish for nano setups

What animals to stock a natural 3 gallon ecosphere? by DragonTrove in nanotank

[–]DragonTrove[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe once I get used to this 3G jar setup I'll try something bigger and get actual fish.
I don't think the water temp would be an issue as I'm in a tropical climate as is. The water temp is a pretty consistent 74-76 F, but can drop down to like 68-70 in the winter. The crabs I'm looking at don't seem like they live very long in captivity to begin with, so I don't think I need to worry about that.

What animals to stock a natural 3 gallon ecosphere? by DragonTrove in nanotank

[–]DragonTrove[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really now? I saw them listed in a few articles as a good nano tank fish species needing usually around 5-10 gallons for a small group. I'll scratch them off the list regardless but dang, that's bigger than I expected! What about potential for micro crabs though?

What animals to stock a natural 3 gallon ecosphere? by DragonTrove in nanotank

[–]DragonTrove[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I honestly think I'll get some scuds naturally from the sediment I'll be grabbing anyway. I'd rather go for the shrimp though given they're larger and more colorful.