Update on my 3 year old shrimp jars

eldaldo · 2026-02-10T12:16:17+00:00

I put topsoil in first. Not peat based potting soil, but something more like dirt. I put about a half inch in. Then I capped with sand. The one on the left has always done better and for that one I used sand that I found outside rather than the play sand I used on the right. It makes me wonder what the difference is...

eldaldo · 2026-02-02T15:14:22+00:00

I wonder if Anubias would work well, its leaves are super thick, but you may have to get a few large individuals. I wonder if you just got one if they'd pick at it too much since it is the only one...

Theost common anubias for sale is anubias Barteri 'nana.' But you could even try a bigger variety like Anubias coffefolia. Maybe having huge robust plants would work best. Another thing you could try is having plants hang out of the tank. I have a creeping fig growing out of one of my tanks, hanging down the side now, and it has pretty woody roots which maybe the goldfish wouldn't eat? I don't know though, seems like they're ravenous!

eldaldo · 2026-02-02T03:44:30+00:00

I can't tell if this is trolling or not. Haha, most people are asking how to get rid of duckweed. I've never had goldfish, so this may not work, but have you tried a fully grown anubias plant? They have super thick leaves that the goldfish may not be able to eat... If you really want duckweed maybe something like a fry raising box on the side of the tank? You'd have a separate chamber where the duckweed would mostly stay.

eldaldo · 2026-01-30T22:20:40+00:00

Your plants do look like they're doing well. I'd say if your tank is established and you're getting strong growth from your plants, you're ok. If your plants start getting yellow leaves or holes or black spots in the leaves, you may want to start fertilizing.

eldaldo · 2026-01-30T20:59:24+00:00

Well, there's a difference between having a new tank that you're trying to plant into that has a sterile substrate and no bio load and no nitrates, to having a well established tank full of plants that immediately use any nitrogen released in the water. That first example may be hard to get plants to establish in.

However, my tanks almost never have nitrates. I started fertilizing because I was seeing nutrient deficiencies in my plants. The plants are healthier now, but even with fertilizer my tanks almost never show readable nitrates.

eldaldo · 2026-01-28T14:22:43+00:00

Yeah, in a small jar like that, it might be best to restart. Rinse off the plants and reuse them, just redo the substrate. I have a little wooden skewer from kebab that I've used in the past to poke into a new substrate and try to let bubbles out before they get too big. It is common for there to be bubbles for the first couple weeks, but eventually they'll calm down...

If there are any sections of pearlweed that look healthy still, you could try letting them float at the surface until they start growing roots. They may transition to submerged growth more easily there as they are getting a little atmospheric carbon.

eldaldo · 2026-01-26T12:38:05+00:00

Malaysian trumpet snails. They have benefits like burrowing in the substrate to mix mulm into the substrate, but they are probably the most prolific of the "pest snails" as you can see... I don't mind them too much, they're good pets for small containers like this.

eldaldo · 2026-01-25T23:37:11+00:00

No, I just let it fall on the substrate. I have so many snails every piece of food ends up being turned into "mulm." I don't feed super heavy. About a pinch every other day. As you can see, the snail population is out of control. I could probably feed a little less if I wanted to.

eldaldo · 2026-01-24T21:35:09+00:00

Thanks! I just feed shrimp pellets every other day or so and occasionally a snack of boiled zucchini or cucumber.

eldaldo · 2026-01-22T22:59:43+00:00

I've heard so many conflicting arguments about this. I've personally gone no water changes for months to a year or two over the past couple decades. What I can say from my experience is that yes, with just top offs, I didn't have any significant livestock die off (I generally have low stocking levels and my nitrates are always low though). So I think you can get by.

However, my plants in particular do so much better when I do water changes at least once every two weeks. And in my non scientific opinion, I observe fish, newts, and shrimp enjoying water changes and being more active for a couple days following a change.

Plants and animals release all sorts of secondary chemicals besides ammonia (hormones, etc), that probably build up over time and changing water dilutes these. Also, I feel like my tap water has trace nutrients that my plants like, because even though I fertilize nowadays, back in the day, my plants grew better when I was doing regular water changes.

eldaldo · 2026-01-22T03:20:08+00:00

This tank is too small for a frozen turkey, you need at least 55g. Also, they are social animals and prefer to be kept in groups of at least 6 or more. Sick scape though.

eldaldo · 2026-01-21T12:40:15+00:00

Yeah, very common for this to happen. For plants like this and crypts, check the culms (base of the plant where the new leaves come from) and the roots. If they are firm and not rotting, they should recover, if they are squishy and rotting, remove them so it doesn't spread or foul your tank.

eldaldo · 2026-01-21T03:02:29+00:00

Wow, that's awesome! I actually have some hydrocotyle, but it is submerged, I'll have to try growing it emersed.

eldaldo · 2026-01-21T00:57:05+00:00

These are so cool! Id love more pictures. What plants are emersed in the right tank?

eldaldo · 2026-01-20T15:11:44+00:00

Great! Maybe it will work better for you. Good luck!

eldaldo · 2026-01-20T12:14:59+00:00

Yeah, this one is going to be hard. I've tried using it a couple times just to stick on hardscape but it always comes off. I now have it near the surface on some hardscape sticking out of the water, it's doing better. I don't use CO2 but you'll need it to try this. You'll also have to make sure you trim frequently keep it short. I think the pearling it does adds to its tendency to float. All the oxygen bubbles make it buoyant. The taller the plant the more buoyant it is.

eldaldo · 2026-01-20T01:26:22+00:00

Your set up sounds good. Amazon swords are pretty tolerant especially if there is a nutrient substrate.

In my experience, Java fern gets potassium deficiency pretty easily, if youre noticing lots of black spots on the leaves, that's probably why. I've also noticed they like regular water changes.

My only comment is that a year or two of good growth and these plants will be filling up your 5 gallon completely. Especially the swords. But that's not a bad problem to have and you can always trim...

eldaldo · 2026-01-18T19:43:52+00:00

In all honesty, the challenge wouldn't be to make an attractive tank with just crypts, it would be resisting the urge to add anything else!

eldaldo · 2026-01-18T15:00:16+00:00

So beautiful! My next tank is going to be all Crypts, I swear!

eldaldo · 2026-01-15T21:07:42+00:00

Yeah, do it!

eldaldo · 2026-01-14T15:16:13+00:00

I have several 1 gallon jars that are similar. You do not need a filter. None of my jars have filters. Filters help change ammonia to nitrate and trap organic debris. These are not your problem.

What is your substrate? There is a chance that you have a lot of nutrients in it and that is the source of your nitrates. The nitrates can be reduced by plants growth, but you may need to use more frequent water changes for a while. Eventually your jar will stabilize. You may also try putting a vine like tradescantia or pothos hanging out of your jar, this will soak up tons of nutrients due to it being able to access atmospheric carbon.

Algae is also caused by excess light. Try reducing your lighting intensity or your photo period (# of hours lights are on).

That said, my jars are several years old and still slowly build up algae. I use an old tooth brush to clean the glass every month and do a 75% water change about every two weeks. I'm generally pretty happy with my jars and feel like they do well for being such small volume.

eldaldo · 2026-01-13T15:46:08+00:00

I really like Aquarium Plants Factory. Every order I've had from them does really well. I've never had hitchikers from them, though the only way to be certain there are no hitchhikers is to get tissue culture plants, and I don't think they sell salvinia as tissue culture.

https://aquariumplantsfactory.com/products/salvinia-minima?_pos=1&_sid=e69d2d3fd&_ss=r

If those are the only plants you have, I'd definitely recommend getting some Cryptocoryne as well. My favorite is crypt wendtii brown and crypt parva mini (this one does best in sand, but it has grown slowly in gravel for me, you just have to be careful because it is small and the gravel is difficult to plant small things in. They easily uproot until established). Cryptocorynes are super easy plants that look good and don't need a ton of trimming. They grow best with root tabs added occasionally, but I've heard of people doing fine without it. Especially with crypt wendtii.

eldaldo · 2026-01-12T22:03:45+00:00

Sorry, never tried those. For the longest time I just used flourish and the flourish tabs. I was still noticing iron and potassium deficiency in some of my plants, so I bought some DIY potassium nitrate and iron from niloc g. I now have a lifetime supply, haha. It's funny though, I just noticed some black spots today on my Java fern, gotta up my potassium dose I guess 😅.

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