u/Fine_Carpenter3568

I am setting up 3 freshwater tanks - 3G/5G/10G. I am planning to set up a sump filtration system in a cooler where each tank will have its own 3-level filtration box (mechanical/biological/activated carbon) and each will have its own water return pump. The cooler holds 7 gallons and I would have about 5 gallons of water in the cooler. All of the water from all three tanks will be mixed together in the cooler. The heaters will also be in the cooler and I will have 2 or 3 so I have backup. Each tank will have their own air bubbler.

My thinking is the following. By removing the filters and heaters from the aquariums it will remove those eyesores from the tanks and also give the shrimps and snails more space in the tanks. Plus, I can have more space for plants. I also am a bit freaked out by the exploding heaters in the tanks I’ve seen on Reddit.

So that means that I will have approx. 23 gallons of shared water between 3 tanks. I have read here that smaller tanks are harder to maintain from a water parameters standpoint and I was wondering if this setup will make it easier.

Thoughts?

I will fairly soon be ordering my first batch of Neo shrimps. I see on these forums fairly often various diseases and parasites afflicting freshwater livestock. I live fairly remotely and don’t have a local lfs and those I can get to don’t carry much out of the ordinary. Therefore I need to rely on online shopping which can take days to get here. Could someone knowledgeable provide a list of meds I should keep on hand for emergencies. I can’t get everything but I would get the meds needed for the most common problems. I have aquarium salt and I saw panacurC 1 gram packets mentioned a few times so I picked up some of that. What else?