Jark

I have been growing triops for fun at my desk in the lab I am a part of. The triops are dying out as expected after about a month to two. I don't want to do the triops again and am looking into having fish or shrimp. Being in a research lab has it's advantages and disadvantages.

+
1. RO de-ionized water
2. Constant temp.
3. Well light
4. Class-ware
5. pH meters
6. Can measure things down to fractions of a micro-leter
-
1. near large window
2. limited outlets
3. no real empty bucket or siphon

Any recommendations for stocking and such??

I have a 37 and a 55 at home with guppies+babies and rainbows/pleco. I already have a betta at my GF house that used to be in the lab but moved in with some cory cats that I bought for her. The tap water here is very high pH. Like about 8.5 and stays that way, even with enough driftwood/tannins to make the tank look like coffee.

A few options I have considered are.

1. 3 guppy babies
2. getting mutant zebra danios from another grad student
3. ordering dwarf puffer..... and infesting my 37 with snails
4. cramming it full of plants + upper two options...
5. Ghost shrimp
6. Your suggestions.!!! Suggested combos of any.. no more bettas

Can I use the RO water directly or is it too pure for fish/inverts.
I used it with the Triops but they are native to desert mud puddles. I don't have a filter in it yet but can get one and balance it on my 55g until the last triop passes.

Can the window light be used to my advantage for plants? Would shades be enough to block most of the heat?

The triop tank ranges from 82 - 74F depending if I have the lamp on, but it is behind something that blocks the window.

ATKINSON

I like the densly planted with ghost shrimp idea!!

Jark

I am thinking that too and maybe a few ram snails.

Have any recommendation on plants. I am thinking at least part tap water would be best to avoid having to use allot of supplements to bring the water back up from ultra pure.