Nano Aquascape For Mexican Dwarf Crayfish and Shrimp

Hey everybody, welcome back to the channel and today we're going to be aquascaping this cube aquarium for my new dwarf crayfish. I started by laying down a base layer of aquasoil and sand harvested from an old aquarium. This is seeded with a ton of beneficial bacteria and nutrients. I capped this layer with fresh white sand. Now it was hardscape time. I wanted to make sure I could use these pieces of rock and wood to create lots of little cave systems and interactive climbing spots for the little crayfish. I placed super glue in strategic places to affix the rocks to the wood and make sure everything stayed put. I covered the visible glue points with crushed up aquasoil. Now it was detail time. I embellished the scape with smaller rocks and little pieces just to make sure everything blended together. By no means was I trying to make the best scape ever in this tank. I just wanted to make something that looked aesthetically appealing and worked really well for the crayfish. Now it was plant time. I started with several species of anubias. To finish things off, I added botanicals including alder cones and oak leaves. Because I had cycled filter media and cycled substrate in the tank, I could add the inhabitants the next day. I started with a group of red willy and cherry shrimp. After all the shrimp had left the net, it was time to add the main attraction, the Mexican dwarf orange crayfish. So if anyone's curious, he does seem to enjoy the company of the shrimp. The shrimp are much faster than him and he can't really catch them, so although they do bother him a bit, the shrimp are in no danger and I think it does provide a little bit of enrichment for him. He spent almost all of his first day exploring his new home and I think he really likes all the cracks and crevices I gave him. He certainly enjoyed his first meal in the tank as well.