Morainy's .9 gallon pico shrimp tank

[Morainy]

I was inspired by Deanorama to set up a Marina Betta Cube tank. I think that it's about 6 inches square. I'm taking Deanorama's word for it that this is .9 gallons. It looks tiny to me, but it's just the right size for my desk.

I started with a Marina betta cube. Then, I added some rinsed Fluval shrimp substrate and some Eco-Complete, glued some moss and ferns to a piece of driftwood, and in a few minutes the whole tank was ready for filling.

The tank was very cloudy for three days. (I'm attaching a photo from the third day, when the dust had settled a little.) Although I usually like shrimp substrate and Eco-Complete, I realized by the third day that I hoped for something brighter for this little tank.

Then, I replaced the substrate with rinsed fine gravel, attached more moss and ferns to the driftwood, and soon had the tank completely redone.

Here are some photos. Thank you to Stuart and Mferko for the plants. The piece of driftwood was a gift from Cam at Aquariums West, who thought that it fit perfectly into the little tank.

[O.C.D Fishies]

What a nice looking tank, I love the glass, most tanks that size are plastic. WHat color is the gravel in it now???

[Morainy]

There are no shrimp in the tank yet. I want to make sure that the water temperature remains stable for a few days. I've got a 10 watt Marina heater in it, and so far the heater is holding the water steady at 25 degrees.

To summarize, the setup is:

Marina betta cube
Marina betta cube light, with 3 LEDs. (I plan to upgrade this to a Dymax)
Rinsed fine gravel over a small amount of Eco-Complete
driftwood
moss, java ferns, and some mossy ferns that Stuart gave me and that I can't name!

I hope that this tank will support 3 or 4 cherry shrimp. I plan to rotate shrimp from my bigger tanks through this tank.

[Morainy]

Hi, Candy! You're so fast!

The gravel in it now is a natural colour. Here's a pic that shows the colour. By the way, this messy shelf is not the shrimp tank's final destination. Its final home will be my messy desk...

What a nice looking tank, I love the glass, most tanks that size are plastic. WHat color is the gravel in it now???

[O.C.D Fishies]

It looks way nicer and brighter with the natural gravel in there. Looks like there is a piece of glass across the top??? What happen to down sizing?? Am I the only one doing it??? You should try some different shrimp, you and your cherries. How are your blue pearls doing???

[CRS Fan]

Looking good Maureen. Yes.... whatever happened to downsizing? lol

Stuart

[Claudia]

Maureen your tank looks so nice and cute too
Candy dont worry i am downsizing but is taking me a while lol

[t-bore]

Nice looking tank!

[TomC]

Nice little tank.

[djamm]

I almost bought myself one of those tanks but couldn't figure out what to put into it...couple shrimp, a small neon or two...

Looks good, let us know what the shrimp make of it...

cheers