Jkkgron2’s 1g shrimp bowl journey

Hey everyone! I’ve been doing a lot of research on dirted tanks And I decided I wanted to try one in a 1 gallon shrimp bowl.
Right now for my setup I have Driftwood, 3 baby Java ferns, And organic potting soil capped with sand. Its eventually going to house a few cherry shrimp and mts to help stir up the substrate. If anyone has any tips or advice with using the potting soil I would love to here them .

Here’s a pic of the tank before everything settled and a pic after I added in the baby Java ferns.
I’ve been meaning to try it out for awhile but I never really got around to it. So, now that I’m doing it I’m excited to finally do a dirted tank!

 

Is that pieces of soil floating around? There should be any. How thick was your sand cap?

 

Is that pieces of soil floating around? There should be any. How thick was your sand cap?

Yeah, I messed up at first. I poured in the water too suddenly so some started floating around. After that I made sure to add in more sand and try to baffle the water so it doesn’t expose the soil again. The cap is about 1.5-2 inches.

 

Yeah, I messed up at first. I poured in the water too suddenly so some started floating around. After that I made sure to add in more sand and try to baffle the water so it doesn’t expose the soil again. The cap is about 1.5-2 inches.

Just be careful as that soil will cause a crazy ammonia spike, just make sure that it has all been removed or the tank has cycled itself to handle the decomposing dirt before adding any livestock.

 

Awesome! Looking forward to following this build. I eventually would love to do this too.
Where did you get the bowl and diftwood from?

 

Too late now I suppose but I saw a neat video of someone filling a small tank and they put bubble wrap on the bottom so as it floated it continued to block the falling water. Maybe it will help someone else...like me when I inevitably copycat this.

 

Too late now I suppose but I saw a neat video of someone filling a small tank and they put bubble wrap on the bottom so as it floated it continued to block the falling water. Maybe it will help someone else...like me when I inevitably copycat this.

I took a hard plastic measuring cup and drilled a bunch of holes in the side. I hang it on the side of the tank and pour the water into it. That spreads the water out so it doesn't disturb the substrate.

 

Just be careful as that soil will cause a crazy ammonia spike, just make sure that it has all been removed or the tank has cycled itself to handle the decomposing dirt before adding any livestock.

The first pic was taken almost immediately after I finished filling it up, so most of the soil has been removed now. All that’s left are a few big pieces that I have to get out today. Plus, the stocking for a few months is just going to be a few pest snails, or until the tank seems cycled. I’m going to be testing often to see when I can add shrimp.

 

Hey everyone! I’ve been doing a lot of research on dirted tanks And I decided I wanted to try one in a 1 gallon shrimp bowl.
Right now for my setup I have Driftwood, 3 baby Java ferns, And organic potting soil capped with sand. Its eventually going to house a few cherry shrimp and mts to help stir up the substrate. If anyone has any tips or advice with using the potting soil I would love to here them .

Here’s a pic of the tank before everything settled and a pic after I added in the baby Java ferns.
I’ve been meaning to try it out for awhile but I never really got around to it. So, now that I’m doing it I’m excited to finally do a dirted tank!
View attachment 724052
View attachment 724053

Cant wait to see it done! What soil did you use? I plan on doing something similar

 

Cant wait to see it done! What soil did you use? I plan on doing something similar

Espoma organic potting mix No idea how it’ll work but we’ll see! I’m hoping for some fast growth from the plants I add !

 

Following! One day I’d like to try something like this, but for now I’m happy to live vicariously through yours.

 

Today I’m hoping to pick up some mts and whatever small plant they have at my LFS. Do you think the snails should be fine going through the cycle?

 

Hey everyone! I’ve been doing a lot of research on dirted tanks And I decided I wanted to try one in a 1 gallon shrimp bowl.
Right now for my setup I have Driftwood, 3 baby Java ferns, And organic potting soil capped with sand. Its eventually going to house a few cherry shrimp and mts to help stir up the substrate. If anyone has any tips or advice with using the potting soil I would love to here them .

Here’s a pic of the tank before everything settled and a pic after I added in the baby Java ferns.
I’ve been meaning to try it out for awhile but I never really got around to it. So, now that I’m doing it I’m excited to finally do a dirted tank!
View attachment 724052
View attachment 724053

Following!

 

Espoma organic potting mix No idea how it’ll work but we’ll see! I’m hoping for some fast growth from the plants I add !

thanks! what other plants do you plan on adding?

 

thanks! what other plants do you plan on adding?

Anubias, maybe pearl weed, salvinia minima, and then I’ll see what they have at my LFS. The anubias and salvinia are the only plants I know I’m getting, along with the Java ferns I already have growing out in it. besides those I’ll do some research on the best small plants and then see what they have at my LFS.

 

Today I’m hoping to pick up some mts and whatever small plant they have at my LFS. Do you think the snails should be fine going through the cycle?

Considering what they live through to infest every Petsmart system, I bet they will be just fine LOL!! I hope you get them for free!

 

Considering what they live through to infest every Petsmart system, I bet they will be just fine LOL!! I hope you get them for free!

Same here! They have them on pretty much every tank so hopefully they won’t mind. Also I know they give free pest snails if someone needs food for pea puffers so hopefully they’ll Let me get some?

 

I just got back from the store and the snails are acclimating! They ended up giving me around 20 snails for free, most are mts but a few are bladder snails which I think I’ll keep. I also ended up getting 2 crypts (not sure which type) and I plan on moving them once they get bigger but for now they should work. Pics

 

Ugh I stirred up the soil again. The roots were too long to plant without messing it up
Besides that everything went well. I got all the 20+ snails in, along with The 2 crypts I ended up getting. I think all I have room for now is Java moss and some floaters. I might look into some mosses to stick on the wood that ended up emersed.

 

Next time maybe start planting before water? Just a suggestion.

 

I recommend fast growing stem plants. Also you have added the snails quite early hopefully they make it through the cycle. Also some floaters would help. I waited a month before adding snails to my jar and that was after everything was stable and established and i had plant growth. Good luck! The wood looks very nice!

 

I recommend fast growing stem plants. Also you have added the snails quite early hopefully they make it through the cycle. Also some floaters would help. I waited a month before adding snails to my jar and that was after everything was stable and established and i had plant growth. Good luck! The wood looks very nice!

I’ll be testing the water quite often and doing water changes twice a week . One of the reasons I chose crypts is because they looked like they had been submersed for a while and I didn’t want to have a huge melt on my hands. I’ll be ordering some salvinia minima in a week or so. I know I added the snails soon but I needed something hardy to provide some food for the cycle once the dirt stops leaching. If the snails start dying I’ll move them to my 10g where the cycles finished and they would have some very nice plant matter to eat from my melting ludwigia.

Next time maybe start planting before water? Just a suggestion.

lol yeah. Next time I’m doing that. I actually thought of doing that earlier but at the time I wasn’t able to get to my LFS (limited capacity and it was very busy) so I decided to go ahead and set it up.