7 Gallon Nano Planted Shrimp Tank

[an780]

After a a little over a year into the hobby I am working on building a new 7 gallon nano planted shrimp tank. Thought I'll ask for some advice here.

Here is what I have so far:
1. UNS 30C 7 Gallon Cube
2. Hardscape: Dragon rock
3. Substrate: UNS Controsoil Black
4. Lighting: Fluval Plant 3.0 Nano
5. Filter: Oase Filtosmart 60 nano Canister
6. Pressurized CO2 as an added connection from my current tank.


Once the tank is fully cycled (say 2-3 months), I plan to introduce one variety of Neocaridina, one variety of Caridina and maybe 2-3 Amano..Also maybe a small shoal (6-8) of micro rasbora (not sure about this one)?


My other tank is a 32 gallon, with Angelfish, Corys, Dwarf Gourami, Dojo Loach, Glass Catfish, Neon Tetra, Large SAE. Its planted with Monte Carlo, Cardinal, Amazon Sword, Anubias all growing really well. And yes, there is algae growing too! All varieties! My Ph is low around 6 to 6.4. Nitrates always over 40..cant bring it down.


What I did so far, and where I need advice:
1. I placed ceramic rings bio filter media that came with the Oase 60 canister filter in the already established tank along with its bio filter media. Will that work in building a mass of beneficial bacteria? How long do I need to keep it there?
2. I have a decent carpet of Monte Carlo in my current tank. I plan to take a portion of that and use in my shrimp tank. Problem is I have an on and off problem with Staghorn and other algae. I am controlling it mostly with Excel. By reusing some monte carlo and hardscape from my current tank, am I causing an algae problem right on Day 1?
3. Do I fill the new tank with tons of nitrate from my current tank? The Ph etc is ideal to what I am looking for (for Caridina). I will be introducing any live stock only later after I know its fully cycled.
4. I am using Thrive+ All in one fertilizer in my current tank. I would like to use in my new tank as well, if it wont hurt any shrimp. Prefer not to get a shrimp version if possible. Maybe a drastically reduced dosing quantity? 25% of what is recommended for non-shrimp tank?


Any thoughts, advice, suggestions appreciated!

 

[MoshJosh]

My thoughts/opinion:

Why 3 variety of shrimp? I'm sure it can be done but I've heard people advice against keeping neos and caradina together as their preferred parameters are different.

I wouldn't keep the rasboras, just due to the small footprint of the tank, feel like they would like more room to swim. I know some people do it and the fish seem to do fine, but others will advise against.

I would probably keep the filter media in the established filter for a week. . . nothing really scientific behind my reasoning, just seems like long enough haha Also can use bottled bacteria if you have access to it.

I use thrive C in my nano tank (sort of similar to what you are going for), and it hasn't negatively affected the shrimp.