5.5 Gal Shrimp Tank "renovation"

Hey guys,

I posted a thread a little while ago asking some questions about my newly acquired crystal red shrimp and their compatibility with a lone CPD I am housing. I have decided to rehome the CPD so my tank can truly be shrimp only. I'm not happy with my current 5.5 gallon as it looks ugly and I think I can make it better. The tank currently has:

Equipment:
50 watt adjustable heater
Aqueon Quietflow 10 with pre filter for shrimp
Finnex Stingray light
Awkward hood meant for a 10 gallon

Plants:
3 stems of ludwigia repens (lots of new growth)
Amazon sword
Java fern
Some random crypt
Small marimo moss ball

Animals:
6 CRS
11 RCS (one berried)

I know you guys can't help me with the aquascaping part much without a pic, I just wanted to post some background info and I'll most likely have a pic by tomorrow. I do have some questions regarding my plants though:

1. A few of my amazon sword leaves are turning clear and or brownish. Anything I can do?
2. I want my ludwigia to eventually fill out a lot of the background, is there a special way to prune it so it grows outwards more?
3. The ludwigia repens has red on the undersides of the leaves but not on top.. is my lighting not strong enough? Not enough nutrients?

I'm just looking to make my tank look better and make it a little more shrimp friendly (more plants and shrimp stuff) so hopefully I don't have to spend too much (is around 100 bucks possible? I don't think I could spend much more than that) Btw I have some extra empty tanks and equipment if I need it. Thank you so much and sorry for the gigantic post!

 

Any advice would be helpful

 

I have had a ton of success with my amazon swords actually and one melon sword I guess. Here's what I have:

ADA aquasoil (did have basic gravel before and still grew well, but not as well)
Dose Seachem Excel everyday (very small amount for my 20 gallon)
Use Seachem Root Tabs (change about every 2-3 months)
30" LED Beamswork (leave on for about 7 hours a day because I have some low lights plants like anubias in there too, and try to prevent algae always) [your stingray should be good]

Could be a nutrient problem. Google homemade aquarium plant fertilizers and seachem flourish products, to get an idea.

I do know that when I moved my tank, with new soil that caused a pH drop, my plants were just disintegrating left and right. I had one sword lose everything but its roots. I kept it in there, and it came back.

In terms of being more shrimp friendly, I would try and invest in some foreground/carpet plants, java moss, micro sword like stuff, to give them small plants to peruse through.

TL;DR I would check out fertilizers for plant growth

 

Thanks! I'm just weary about adding ferts to my tank because of the SS grade crs I have in there. I'm thinking about ADA aquasoil.. any idea how fast it lowers pH? Costs a lot of money so if I do get it it's going to take a big chunk out of my budget.

 

It's not really a matter of how fast it'll lower your pH, it's more a matter of how much it will. I would say I went from 7.2ish to about 6.7ish. It also leaches ammonia at first so make sure to do relatively regular water changes for the first 3ish weeks.

 

ok thanks! Now all that's left is to get a pic of the tank and aquascaping questions.

 

Here's a pic... any aquascaping advice? Sorry about the bubbles (low water level) and diatoms... it get's like that after a week and it's pretty annoying as I don't think your tank should be in that state after only a week but whatever..

 

Also how long do you leave your lights on for

 

I'm thinking I want to make the tank have a jungle like feel to it so any low light plants that could make it look like that would be helpful as well.

 

Anyone?

Also are amazon swords to big for a 5.5 gal even if I prune them regularly?

 

Anyone?

Also are amazon swords to big for a 5.5 gal even if I prune them regularly?

Yup. They get over 2ft and grow wide.

 

Any other swords/background plants (low light) appropriate for a 5.5 gallon?