Dwarf crypt
Cryptocoryne parva
🐟Aquarium fish safe
Nano / shrimp tank
A tiny underwater garden on your desk
A 10–30 litre tank with mosses, epiphytes and dwarf shrimp. The biofilm on moss is their main food.
☀️LightSmall LED, 6–8 h
💧Humidity—
🌡️Temperature20–25 °C
🪴Water & substrateSponge filter; 10–15% weekly change with aged water
Build
Step by step
Water
Stone, wood with moss
Shrimp soil
- 1
Sponge filter (won’t suck up shrimp), 3–5 cm substrate.
- 2
Tie moss onto wood/stone with fishing line; attach epiphytes.
- 3
Cycle 4–6 weeks; acclimatise shrimp slowly by drip.
Plant list
What to plant
Foreground
Carpet / ground cover
Pellia
Monosolenium tenerum
🐟Aquarium fish safe
Epiphyte (on wood, rock)
Java moss
Taxiphyllum barbieri
🐟Aquarium fish safe
Christmas moss
Vesicularia montagnei
🐟Aquarium fish safe
Phoenix moss
Fissidens fontanus
🐟Aquarium fish safe
Anubias ‘Petite’
Anubias barteri var. nana
🐟Aquarium fish safe
Floating plant
Floating fern
Salvinia natans
🐟Aquarium fish safe
Crystalwort
Riccia fluitans
🐟Aquarium fish safe
⚠️ Common mistakes
- Copper-containing fertiliser or medicine – deadly to shrimp.
- Large, sudden water changes.
- New plants unwashed (pesticides).
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