A small tank for just plants and triops?

Hello, it's been a LONG time since I've been on this forum. When last I left it I had just recently moved into a small apartment and had plans to relocate my betta there soon after, but unfortunately she passed away from an illness not too long after. I do want to thank the community for all of their help back then during that time. For that whole period I have been tank-less, and it was probably for the best. I have very minimal space in my new living quarters and not a lot of options for having even a 5 gallon setup. But I've still been yearning to return to having a tank and some sort of little aquatic buddy.

This is my question to everyone here: If I were to set up one of those very small tanks (probably no larger than a 3 gallon size) for a mini aquascape how might I go about adding triops into the mix? I've loved the idea of actually raising them properly ever since I successfully reared them in one of those dinky little children's science kits. They're adorable and to see them swimming about in an actual landscape and not just a barren plastic box would be great. Does this seem like it'd be a good venture?

I think I read they would thrive best in a gallon per triop, but if plants are added into the mix I know that would remove space. Also it would be really cool if it had a sort of ecosystem going on where the plants might be a source of food, even if not the exclusive source. It being a tiny tank I know maintenance on it would be pretty involved too. Would a filter help out? I sort of fear they would get sucked up into it being so tiny.

I guess finally, if triops seem either too difficult or not recommended, would a snail work instead? I'd like at least one creature among the foliage.

Thank you for your time.

 

Hello, it's been a LONG time since I've been on this forum. When last I left it I had just recently moved into a small apartment and had plans to relocate my betta there soon after, but unfortunately she passed away from an illness not too long after. I do want to thank the community for all of their help back then during that time. For that whole period I have been tank-less, and it was probably for the best. I have very minimal space in my new living quarters and not a lot of options for having even a 5 gallon setup. But I've still been yearning to return to having a tank and some sort of little aquatic buddy.

This is my question to everyone here: If I were to set up one of those very small tanks (probably no larger than a 3 gallon size) for a mini aquascape how might I go about adding triops into the mix? I've loved the idea of actually raising them properly ever since I successfully reared them in one of those dinky little children's science kits. They're adorable and to see them swimming about in an actual landscape and not just a barren plastic box would be great. Does this seem like it'd be a good venture?

I think I read they would thrive best in a gallon per triop, but if plants are added into the mix I know that would remove space. Also it would be really cool if it had a sort of ecosystem going on where the plants might be a source of food, even if not the exclusive source. It being a tiny tank I know maintenance on it would be pretty involved too. Would a filter help out? I sort of fear they would get sucked up into it being so tiny.

I guess finally, if triops seem either too difficult or not recommended, would a snail work instead? I'd like at least one creature among the foliage.

Thank you for your time.

I've got a 12" bowl with a nice aquascape that is doing well. I'm not sure about triops but the bowl I have is heavily planted, has only a mini sponge filter in it (and a heater because my room temp fluctuates), and about 12 neocardia shrimp of various colors. I don't need water changes or anything like that because of how heavily planted it is. I do occasionally use a turkey baster to clean up poo. It's probably about 3 gallons of water with the plants, wood, and stone. But it's nice to watch the shrimp zoom by and clean. You can try something like that. MD Fishtanks on YouTube did this with his own bowl setup if you'd want to do one similar.

 

Hello, it's been a LONG time since I've been on this forum. When last I left it I had just recently moved into a small apartment and had plans to relocate my betta there soon after, but unfortunately she passed away from an illness not too long after. I do want to thank the community for all of their help back then during that time. For that whole period I have been tank-less, and it was probably for the best. I have very minimal space in my new living quarters and not a lot of options for having even a 5 gallon setup. But I've still been yearning to return to having a tank and some sort of little aquatic buddy.

This is my question to everyone here: If I were to set up one of those very small tanks (probably no larger than a 3 gallon size) for a mini aquascape how might I go about adding triops into the mix? I've loved the idea of actually raising them properly ever since I successfully reared them in one of those dinky little children's science kits. They're adorable and to see them swimming about in an actual landscape and not just a barren plastic box would be great. Does this seem like it'd be a good venture?

I think I read they would thrive best in a gallon per triop, but if plants are added into the mix I know that would remove space. Also it would be really cool if it had a sort of ecosystem going on where the plants might be a source of food, even if not the exclusive source. It being a tiny tank I know maintenance on it would be pretty involved too. Would a filter help out? I sort of fear they would get sucked up into it being so tiny.

I guess finally, if triops seem either too difficult or not recommended, would a snail work instead? I'd like at least one creature among the foliage.

Thank you for your time.

Yes you could do it, if you dont mind the triop eggs floating around in the tank and sticking to the sides. also, most likely the triops will eat each other so you might get stuck with 1 big one or 2-3 smaller ones.

 

I've got a 12" bowl with a nice aquascape that is doing well. I'm not sure about triops but the bowl I have is heavily planted, has only a mini sponge filter in it (and a heater because my room temp fluctuates), and about 12 neocardia shrimp of various colors. I don't need water changes or anything like that because of how heavily planted it is. I do occasionally use a turkey baster to clean up poo. It's probably about 3 gallons of water with the plants, wood, and stone. But it's nice to watch the shrimp zoom by and clean. You can try something like that. MD Fishtanks on YouTube did this with his own bowl setup if you'd want to do one similar.

Wow! That looks incredible, definitely the vibe I was going for too. I didn't know that shrimp could thrive in that size tank either. They were another consideration since I love watching them scuttle about. Thank you for sharing, it's given me some great ideas. Did you need to cycle it in any way first or do the plants do that job too?

Yes you could do it, if you dont mind the triop eggs floating around in the tank and sticking to the sides. also, most likely the triops will eat each other so you might get stuck with 1 big one or 2-3 smaller ones.

That's what happened to my triops when I had them before. I started out with quite a few, but they eventually shrunk down to a single massive one I lovingly named Kaijunior. Here's an old video of him.

 

I would personally go with the shrimp idea IMO just because I love shrimp there so cute haha

 

Wow! That looks incredible, definitely the vibe I was going for too. I didn't know that shrimp could thrive in that size tank either. They were another consideration since I love watching them scuttle about. Thank you for sharing, it's given me some great ideas. Did you need to cycle it in any way first or do the plants do that job too?

So my tank is cycled. I initially was going to do nano fish (dwarf emerald rasboras) but the nitrites wouldn’t drop after I added the fish and had to move them. But before I even added the fish there was nitrates. The plants do all of the filtering (I probably don’t need the mini sponge filter anymore but use it still just in case and to keep the surface moving).

thing is you do need a lot of plants to do this. I’ve got 3 Java fern, 3 windelov fern, dwarf hair grass, 2 anubias petite, 2 crypt lucens, Hydrocotyle triparta, dwarf water lettuce, and s. repens. There was some trial and error with my bowl. Stems didn’t work well initially so I used crypts. I had buce but they’ve died off too. Alternanthera Reineckii didn’t survive so I used s. repens. It’s possible to use the same setup as MD Fishtanks did for their bowl but I wanted different plants and had different plants available to me. I just tried to stay with the same plant “type” (ie. Stems in back, medium plants on sides, short foreground plants in front with ferns as centerpiece).

I suggest checking out MD Fishtanks “ecosystem” fish bowl video on YouTube as that’s what mine is based off (I use the same substrate layering he did). It might give you an idea on what works well for you. It’s taken me probably about a month or month and a half for this bowl to be stable and growing properly. I added the shrimp after about a week and the fish a few days after that (though fish are in larger tank now and I wouldn’t suggest them or try them in my own tank again).

 

I would personally go with the shrimp idea IMO just because I love shrimp there so cute haha

They are. <3 Now that I know shrimp work I am really leaning in that direction. However much I'd love to have a proper triop tank I think shrimp might be the better option. I think triops are more suited for sandy landscapes and not ones quite as lush as I'm envisioning.

So my tank is cycled. I initially was going to do nano fish (dwarf emerald rasboras) but the nitrites wouldn’t drop after I added the fish and had to move them. But before I even added the fish there was nitrates. The plants do all of the filtering (I probably don’t need the mini sponge filter anymore but use it still just in case and to keep the surface moving).

thing is you do need a lot of plants to do this. I’ve got 3 Java fern, 3 windelov fern, dwarf hair grass, 2 anubias petite, 2 crypt lucens, Hydrocotyle triparta, dwarf water lettuce, and s. repens. There was some trial and error with my bowl. Stems didn’t work well initially so I used crypts. I had buce but they’ve died off too. Alternanthera Reineckii didn’t survive so I used s. repens. It’s possible to use the same setup as MD Fishtanks did for their bowl but I wanted different plants and had different plants available to me. I just tried to stay with the same plant “type” (ie. Stems in back, medium plants on sides, short foreground plants in front with ferns as centerpiece).

I suggest checking out MD Fishtanks “ecosystem” fish bowl video on YouTube as that’s what mine is based off (I use the same substrate layering he did). It might give you an idea on what works well for you. It’s taken me probably about a month or month and a half for this bowl to be stable and growing properly. I added the shrimp after about a week and the fish a few days after that (though fish are in larger tank now and I wouldn’t suggest them or try them in my own tank again).

I'd probably go about a similar way and set up the plants first to make sure everything is doing well. I'll definitely check out that video and MD Fishtanks' channel. I feel like I might have watched it back in the day too. Thank you for all the helpful insight. One more question though, do you feed the shrimp or do they subsist off the environment?

 

They are. <3 Now that I know shrimp work I am really leaning in that direction. However much I'd love to have a proper triop tank I think shrimp might be the better option. I think triops are more suited for sandy landscapes and not ones quite as lush as I'm envisioning.


I'd probably go about a similar way and set up the plants first to make sure everything is doing well. I'll definitely check out that video and MD Fishtanks' channel. I feel like I might have watched it back in the day too. Thank you for all the helpful insight. One more question though, do you feed the shrimp or do they subsist off the environment?

I don't feed the shrimp. They should be able to eat off what's in there and have been fine so far. If I see they're all not eating, then I have algae wafers I can break up into small bits for them, but they're just doing what they do.