Adding new plants to a existing tank

[NickJank]

I have an established shrimp tank with some moss in it but I'd love to add some more plants? Would this harm the RCS? Or would it be okay? Also any ideas on some plants that's are a good choice for shrimp?? Any advice helps

[Mr. F]

Anything works, but shrimp tend to prefer slower growing plants because they recruit more epiphytic growth for them to munch on than faster growing ones. I like to keep buce and mosses with my shrimp, but you can really go with whatever. I like to rinse my plants thoroughly because they may have contaminants from the tank they were grown in.

[josu2]

There shouldn't be any problem with adding a plant. If you want to be really careful, you can get tissue cultures or the kind that they sell at Petsmart; that is, plants that are packaged out of water with just some jelly stuff keeping everything moist. Those give you no risk of weird hitchhikers or diseases.

 

I agree with Mr. F that slow growers are often a good idea since they gather yummy microorganisms for the shrimps. With that said, I'm also a fan of temple compacta (hygrophila corymbosa) which comes in several variants. Under optimal conditions it can grow quite fast but it is very adaptable in my experience. What I like about it is the leaves make nice resting places for shrimps. When I had it in one of my shrimp tanks, I'd see half the leaves occupied with a shrimp treating it like a hammock sometimes. The babies would sometimes crowd on the underside of leaves (but they clearly preferred moss and cholla wood).

[Dluxeshrimps]

unless my shrimps are excavators but any stem plant I try to dig in the substrate they immediately go in packs and dig it up. so im looking for a mesh net that would allow me to plant patches of stem plant sand make an enclose barrier from the shrimps. not sure if I make sense, but when I get it ill show everyone here.

 

I have a hard time putting my ideas on paper, so I rather video it all.