# Ferts and Amano Shrimp



## Axelrodi202 (Jun 7, 2009)

I currently have a 15 gallon tank that I would like to start growing more plants in. The tank has been set up since summer 2008, and now has an isolated kribensis (killed his mate and an amano shrimp), a male tiger endler's livebearer (will most likely end up moving him to my 46 gallon tank), and 9 Amano shrimp. The substrate is red flourite, and the light is a Coralife T5NO Double Strip light that's bulbs have not been replaced since the start of the tank (I know, I know, I should replace them annualy, but my dad thinks otherwise). The cover is really dirty; it has a lot of gunk and some glue on it from when it cracked, so I'll replace it soon. I hope to add some small schooling fish, most likely Boraras to the tank soon.

Now on to the help part. Right now, the tank is pretty low maintenance. The main plants are vals, which I really hope to thin out this weekend. There's also a decent amount of HM that's shaded by the vals, and a few crypts and mosses. In addition, I have a nice red ozelot sword and some E. vesuvius in the tank. I've added some Limnophila aromatica and L. mini to the tank recently, as well as a bit of Blyxa japonica. I hope to grow more stem plants, namely Rotala goias, R. wallichi, R. macandra 'mini', Cabomba furcata, and glosso in the tank, as it does have very high light and a good substrate (the tank is very bright despite the above mentioned cover, imagine what it could be like with a clean one). However, I am a bit concerned about liquid fertilization and carbon supplementation. As for CO2, I will probably go with liquid supplements. I know I could set up a DIY system, but I'm afraid I'll run into a particularly busy week or two and the system will dump the mix into the tank, killing everything, or something along those lines (CO2 isn't my forte). Excel is bad for shrimp I've heard. Would the Brightwell Aquatics FlorinAxis fertilizer be safe with shrimp and any small fish? What effect would heavy fertilization, especially of iron, have on the aforementioned organisms?


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## Axelrodi202 (Jun 7, 2009)

Anyone?


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## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

Whether using Excel or another carbon substitute with sensitive animals (shrimp), take your time to build to the manufacturer's recommended dosage and go slow if you decide to exceed that dosage, while, of course, realizing the manufacturer has a maximum dosage for a reason. The active ingredient in Excel is toxic in high enough concentrations, just like CO2 is (but different chemicals).

Excessive Iron dosing is said to cause sterility in animals. Large amounts of heavy metals, particularly Copper, are said to kill inverts. The functioning word here is "excessive": for example, many of us have dosed CSM+B, a micronutrient with both Cu and Fe, with breeding colonies of shrimp.

However, none of these supplements you're listing appear to address any of the other macronutrients, and if you're experiencing less-than-ideal growth you should not only be thinking of Carbon supplements but the other macro nutrients. Focusing on only Carbon and micronutrients on a mature tank will likely help but not resolve your issues. 

A point, though: your sword, probably your Crypts, and many of your other plants mature to a large size. In such a small tank, this can lead to pain when it's time to pull such heavy root feeders, as their roots will eventually spread across most the tank. Your bigger stems like L. aromatica will be easier to manage, but not by much. You have a good idea in looking at R. wallichii and it may serve as a good replacement (fast grower but smaller leaf diameter). 

HTH


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## Axelrodi202 (Jun 7, 2009)

I will dose K as well, and I use mainly the N and P that comes from fish food. The crypt wendtii has been there for two years and hasn't grown very big, I took him when he was too small because I was too eager to propogate plants back when I was just starting planted tanks. The other crypts are Cryptocoryne willissii x lucens, which don't get that big for me. The sword is one of the smaller kinds, its never gotten bigger than it is now, and its been there for around a year. Thanks for the help. I'll gradually build up the doses of each fertilizer to the suggested levels over a week or two.


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## virgo888 (Jun 25, 2009)

i dose KNO3, CSM+B, IRON, Calcium, Mg, PO and EXCEL. my amanos are fine.


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## virgo888 (Jun 25, 2009)

also, my gecko and sunsets are huge and proprogating like crazy.


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