Sophie and Mom

I've started a shrimp bowl in a 1 gallon pickle jar.

Here's the jar before starting:


The MGOCPM after giving it a rinse and floating out all the big pieces, then draining well:


And the jar with the soil, gravel, a snail, and an Amazon Sword installed:


The water is a bit murky, but I'll be giving it a water change tomorrow, anyway. I have about an inch of soil, 1/2 to 3/4 inch of black gravel, and the sword. I'll be adding some hornwort after the water change tomorrow, and keeping an eye on the ammonia levels. Once that levels off and I get my bacteria going, I'll order my shrimp!

Sophie and Mom

And this is after out water change this morning:


I think I'm going to have to adjust that Amazon Sword. Even though the stem and roots are straight, the whole thing has a tilt, and those bottom leaves are just about horizontal. If I turn the bowl so the tilty side is toward the window, maybe it'll straighten itself out....

ETA: Dang! I fixed the orientation in photobucket, saved the changes, and it still comes up sideways. Sorry folks.

Sophie and Mom

Ammonia has just barely started to creep up. I'll check it again tomorrow and see what I've got. Hopefully this will be overwith quickly, and I can get some shrimp!!

Sophie and Mom

I've decided on two things: to use some quick start to jump start the bacterial growth, and to go with Blue Rili shrimp.

I should be getting the shrimp on Monday.

I also got an anubias to put in the jar. If anybody knows of a good reason not to put it in, please let me know. There's plenty of room in the big tank, and in Sophie's 10 gallon for another anubias.

Sophie and Mom

I added the anubias this morning. I think the jar is starting to look pretty, even without the shrimp. We've had a lot of rain and cloud cover here for the last few days, so I put a light on it this morning. I won't be using the light on sunny days.

New plant:


Bottom bit of the jar:


The whole thing:


The water is starting to look just a little bit cloudy, and you can see some murk at the bottom in the above pic, but I don't know if that's "dust" I raised planting the new plant, or the beginning of my bacterial bloom. I'll be testing for ammonia later this afternoon.

Sake

I can't tell in those pics but did you bury the anubias rhizome? If so you may want to raise it up a bit, that can cause it to die or so I've been told.

Sophie and Mom

It's partially buried, and only in the gravel. I have a number of these in my big tank that are treated the same way, and they seem to be doing fine. If I just bury the roots, they always wind up floating.

The Trigger

Hahaha you really were serious when you talked about this in your other post a few days ago. I love it. Still a great idea and its turning into a reality nicely. Can't wait to see the progress

Sophie and Mom

Thanks! I just hope the cycle finishes before the shrimp get here.

At least I have a totally even less glamorous rubbermaid container I can house them in until the jar finishes cycling.

The Trigger

Lol whatever works to keep them alive!