Shrimp Jararium Log

The bocopa and the ambulia melted off from the root. I have no idea why. It was already happening at the time of my last entry, but I was in denial, hoping they’d somehow come back. The very tips of each stem were still stiff and green, so before throwing the plants away, I chopped off the good bits and through them back into the jar. Hopefully, they’ll grow back.

By a stroke of luck, there was another similar looking plant bundled in with the ambulia. I think it’s hornwort, and it’s doing quite well. Still, I’ll have to have add more plants to the shopping list.

Now, an update on the nitrogen cycle. It is well underway, and perhaps would be near completion were it not for the dying plants. According to a water test I did this morning, nitrates are present, implying the growth of both ammonia and nitrite oxidising bacteria. However, the ammonia is still very high (likely thanks to the rotting plants) so I’ll have to wait a little longer for more microbes to grow.

23 days ago, I was struck by divine aquatic inspiration. I needed a Walsted shrimp jar!

The Walsted method is a low tech approach to aquarium keeping popularised by Dianna Walsted. It’s a low tech method, that relies on heavy planting and thick, natural substrate to keep the water clean.

So that night I ran down to kmart and picked up 5.6L jar for $12. Not bad, and just big enough to support a few red cherry shrimp (in theory). I set it up immediately, using garden soil capped with potting sand for substrate, plus a cutting of devil’s ivy.

When setting up a new aquarium, adding animals right away is generally not advised. Its best to let the tank cycle first, that is, to wait for a healthy community of microbes to grow that will help keep nitrogenous waste to a minimum.