# nano "self sustainable" shrimp tank help...



## jj8787 (Aug 4, 2014)

hey guys! I’m planning to make a 25 litres (6.6 gallon) “self sustainable aquarium”

- no water changes
- no dosing
- probably no feeding
(it’s not that I’m lazy, it’s a school project)

- 6.6 gallon rimless
- 11 watt fluorescent (6000k)
- aquaclear 20
- fluval shrimp stratum
- red cherry shrimp (start with 10ish, hopefully they’ll breed)
- lots of fast growing plants (jungle val, java moss, wisteria etc…)

will it work??
will the tank just get covered with algae?

also i will be cycling the tank with tetra safe start and filter media from previous aquarium with shrimp in the tank. I’ll be checking the water parameters daily and doing as many water changes as necessary until i’m 100 percent sure it’s cycled.

I'm not planning to feed the shrimp as they'll feed off the algae
is this okay?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

It should work, I just left a bowl with shrimp, crypts and riccia for a month while on vacation. It was fine when I came back, everyone alive, no algae and what was most surprising 4 cory fry that hatched from eggs that snuck in on the riccia.


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## Aplomado (Feb 20, 2013)

Animals need care.

The water will eventually need to be changed. Solids will build up in the water.

A nano aquarium is not a natural enviroment that needs no maintance.


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## brandon429 (Mar 29, 2003)

you can pack a new tank with a lot of active substrate nutrients that can run for a very long time, but with zero ferts, eventually that balance goes out of whack and cholorisis or any number of plant maladies will set in, algae and eutrophication typically

the ecospheres rely on shrimp that have incredibly low metabolic demands per unit of water and the systems have a bioload balance specific to the goal of slowed starvation

there is a rule in aquarium biology that no long term system can be self sustaining but only in a state of decline where some systems stave it off longer than others. if you continually input protein into a system, you must remove it, and if you do these things an aquarium can run indefinitely per the rule.


there are pics on here of systems ranging 5-12 yrs to show what long term can be, expect to get similar results if you copy the nuances of those long term systems on here. when you read someone has a self sustaining tank, ask how many yrs

by all means break new ground but try to see if your approach had been done, get an average lifespan for it 

it wasnt long ago it was said in the hobby no marine tank could be still/uncirculated but Google this

pj reefs pico reef 

we saw that developed in the threads at nano reef .com

innovation does exist but in the end protein and macro micro nutrient support get the kind of plant growth you want


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## GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy (Feb 11, 2012)

I have a self-sustained 29 gallon community tank... Just pack it with a ton of plants and make sure they're doing well. I never do water changes or anything like that. All I do is feed the tank occasionally.


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## thebuddha (Jul 16, 2012)

GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy said:


> I have a self-sustained 29 gallon community tank... Just pack it with a ton of plants and make sure they're doing well. I never do water changes or anything like that. All I do is feed the tank occasionally.


how many years?


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## aquarist (Aug 29, 2012)

Check these out:

http://www.eco-sphere.com/

Maybe it'll give you some ideas. I think they use a rock shrimp or something like that for their ecosystem.


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## Aquadawg (Aug 18, 2012)

terrapedes said:


> It should work, I just left a bowl with shrimp, crypts and riccia for a month while on vacation. It was fine when I came back, everyone alive, no algae and what was most surprising 4 cory fry that hatched from eggs that snuck in on the riccia.


very cool

Bump:


aquarist said:


> Check these out:
> 
> http://www.eco-sphere.com/
> 
> Maybe it'll give you some ideas. I think they use a rock shrimp or something like that for their ecosystem.


I have heard about these. They use Hawaiian Opae Ula shrimps which live forever and are bright red in nature. According to an article I read, in this "eco- sphere" they are colorless because they are under tremendous stress and die a very slow death. Heart breaking if this is true.


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## Aquadawg (Aug 18, 2012)

If it's a school project, I don't know if you could call it self sustainable because you have to provide light, filtration, add water etc. so it really isn't self sustainable per se. But you could put the light on a timer and add water when no one is looking lol and call it a no maintenance aquarium. I'd certainly give you an A for that!


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## thebuddha (Jul 16, 2012)

Aquadawg said:


> According to an article I read, in this "eco- sphere" they are colorless because they are under tremendous stress and die a very slow death. Heart breaking if this is true.


yes, true.





JJ, a self sustaining aquarium is pretty much impossible, you will at least need to keep adding water at the very least. but I dont see a reason why a nano planted aquarium can't be a school project in of itself, there is a lot to learn and teach! What is the project topic/objective? And what timespan do you have for the project?


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## jj8787 (Aug 4, 2014)

It will only be "self sustainable" for a maximum of 6 months. Would it be alright then?


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## Pandanke (Jun 13, 2014)

Even top offs of water would need to be done in this time, and maybe if you used RO water it could be considered as not affecting it... But that is rough. You need time to establish an aquarium before you can get to any form of long term stability. Even with my dirted aquariums, I need to do top offs, need some food for my critters. 6 months is a really long time to not feed, not water change, not fertilise. 

Ecosystems in the wild are acres at minimum, there is a lot more exchange, there is rain, snow, winds, sun, and even outside animals to help keep it thriving. What you're proposing is nothing like a self sustaining ecosystem in the wild, and will put tremendous stress on your shrimp and plants. On a humane aquarium critter loving moral standpoint, I would not be able to subject my shrimp to that. Especially not on a new setup where microorganisms that might be able to feed them in established aquariums wont exist.


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## jj8787 (Aug 4, 2014)

so should i make it a "low maintenance" one, with water changes around once a month or two and feeding once every week or two?
would that work?


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Self-sustaining Tank*

Hello jj...

Don't know that you can leave the tank alone completely. It will need some maintenance, but very little. Research a plant called "Aglaonema" or Chinese Evergreen. Some time ago I emersed the roots of this plant in a 20 gallon tank and didn't change the water for more than a year, just replaced the water lost to evaportation. The fish in it were fine. The plant roots removed all forms of nitrogen from the wastes produced and that kept the tank water pure.

B


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