# new 1gal pico



## thereddarren (Mar 19, 2010)

Hey all!

This is my 2nd el natural, a tiny tank I made for my mom's kindergarten class. She already has a 30g but it can't even support elodea and she wanted plants.

For those interested, here's the flora/fauna:
Micro Swords
Dwarf Sag
Ludwigia
Frogbit
Neon Tetra x5

The driftwood is some boiled, very well aged cedar that was found out in the yard. Substrate is pool filter sand and Miracle-Gro Organic Potting Mix, with some crushed sea shells sprinkled on top for aesthetics. What do you think?


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

what kinda light
what size tank

looks good for el natural


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Wow, just one gallon is a pretty cool size, but seems challenging, especially once the plants start to grown in. Looks like you're off to a good start. 

How are you providing light to the tank, and have you considered perhaps a few cherry or blue pearl shrimp in there? They'll help keep algae at bay it any starts to develop in the future, plus the kids can watch them multiply and shed their exoskeletons.


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## thereddarren (Mar 19, 2010)

3-4 cherry shrimp would be a great addition, thanks for the idea! I only have experience with ghost shrimp, however, and with inadequate hiding places they ended up killing each other. Is it correct that cherry shrimp don't behave this way?

The lighting is provided by a desk lamp with a standard swirly compact florescent bulb. It a lot of light, but I want the dwarf sag and the microswords to stay short. The frogbit will further reduce the intensity, if necessary.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

IME cherry chrimp are rather friendly with each other and tolerant of overcrowding. My brother has a 3 gallon pico and literaly hundreds of cherry shrimp because they breed so much and he doesn't attempt to catch them. Once in a while I net some out and bring them back home to feed my Apistogramma macmasteri crew. I've got a dozen in a 3 gallon tank, but the pygmy banded sunfish keep them from bredding too much (they eat the babies, though once in a while one gets away from them).


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## fishlover (Jan 2, 2007)

Cool tank, nice to see such a small El Natural. But absolutely no neon tetras in this tank, please! Waaaaay too small for anything but shrimp and snails


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## brio (Jun 20, 2006)

Beautiful tank! But I have to agree with Fishlover, it is too small for fish. Shrimp can be great fun to watch. I would have a couple of RCS if water paramaters are stable and okay for shrimp


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Any updates or pics?


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