Is 55 Gallons too much?
I recently got back into the aquarium hobby, the last time I left the hobby my last additions were Neocardinae shrimp I had been keeping with some Cories, and and African Dwarf Frog. In hindsight a very poor combination butI knew very little about shrimp at the time and was mainly looking for a cleanup crew so got about 3 shrimp (definitely not enough.) a few years later and with a lot more wisdom, I had decided about 2 months back to try again this time with Caridina, mainly because I felt like the extra care requirements of Caridina would make me more vigilant of maintaining perfect conditions. Fast forward to about a week ago and I have a heavily planted 5 gallon, with about 13 shrimp, 1 Nerite, and 1-2 Dozen Trumpet snails. A bit stockpiled for a 5 gallon but my Nitrate levels have been 0 and I am planning to move these guys to a bigger tank now that I am seeing some burrows females but this little community is honestly flourishing and I’m loving the little jungle I have growing. Last week I saw a listening for a 29 gallon tank for $50 on Facebook Marketplace, I had recently gotten a 20 gallon but it was originally a sump tank and came included with the dividers which I felt would be super useful in the future as a hospital or. Breeding tank, it had a crack that isn’t leaking so felt it wouldn’t be safe to make it a primary tank. Upon showing up to get this 29 gallon, I came to discover that the previous owner actually wasnt sure on the exact size of the tank and underestimated as to not make the buyer (me) disappointed. Little to say I was a bit shocked, this tank could barely fit in my Nissan Altima Coupe but I managed to squeeze it in the backseat and hawl ass before the seller changed his mind. Now I have a 55 Gallon tank I’ve been wondering what to do with. I primarily want my main tank to be shrimp dominant for my interest but seeing as this tank was much larger than expected I’ve decided to move it to the living room instead of having it in my room and haven’t set it up quite yet due to how expensive that would be, but most sources online say that Shrimps do better in tanks that aren’t extremely large. Any suggestions? Right now thinking maybe section off (open sections) parts of it for Shrimp, possibly Dwarf Cories, and a top column swimmer that possibly wouldnt have any interest in my shrimp. With a sandy section, and heavily vegetated section to make sure they keep to different areas for the most part. I don’t have concerns of Cories nibbling on the shrimp but want them to be unstressed.
I’ve posted some pictures below.
Chef Boyardee for reference.
Edit: I love how helpful and responsive this community is, thank you guys for all the help, I’ve always been afraid to make a seeking help post.