shrimpzoo Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Hey hey fellow shrimp enthusiasts. I am back into the hobby! Long story short... I had to tear down a tank due to expiring substrate and it left me EXTREMELY exhausted and I did not want to touch the tank for a very long time... until recently! The inspiration of this tank comes from the sheer hatred towards active substrates and the obstacles that get in the way of netting shrimp (driftwood, coconut caves, lava rocks... you name it!). Here are the specs so far: Substrate: - ECO-COMPLETE PLANTED AQUARIUM SUBSTRATE Decor: - 25 PIECES OF CHOLLA WOOD - MINERAL BALLS (5 EBI-KEN SHOU & 5 EBI-KEN NAGOMI) - EVOLUTION BREEDING STONES Plants: - JAVA FERNS - 4 SQUARES OF 10x10CM TAIWAN MOSS (BEING SHIPPED TO ME) Filtration: - AQUACLEAR 50 - SEAPORA SPONGE FILTER 136 (PAIRED WITH MAXI-JET 400 POWERHEAD) - 2 EHEIM 2213s (PAIRED TOGETHER) Lighting: - AQUATICLIFE DUAL LAMP T5HO FRESHWATER LIGHT - 36" - TWO 6000K BULBS (TO BE BOUGHT) Here is how it looks right now: Very clean symmetrical and feng shui with the mineral balls and what not (: The front will have 4 squares of 10x10cm taiwan moss so it won't look too bare (to be added soon). __________________________________________________ Now... onto the details of what I've done with the tank (this is a journal after all lol): In terms of pairing the EHEIMs together... Instead of filter floss, I just added more biological filter media. I didn't want to keep swapping out filter floss every time I cleaned out the canisters. If you ever plan to pair EHEIM canisters together, it is worth the time to remove the impeller of the 1ST one in the line (it improves the flow). I only supply electricity to the 2ND EHEIM in the line. I got myself an inert substrate which will never expire (: goodbye active substrates lol (netlea cough*). The bag was interesting since it says "Eco-Complete contains live Heterotrophic bacteria to rapidly convert fish waste into natural food for your aquatic plants. It establishes a natural biological balance which makes cycling a new aquarium faster and safer." ... Of course I'm skeptical and I didn't really care too much about that... besides... I kind of poured a bunch of untreated tap water into the tank so sadly... I probably killed all of that "Heterotrophic bacteria" anyways... ugh stupid move on my part but whatever I was too lazy and tired to dechlorinate. I plan on cycling the tank myself anyways. MOVING ON! The bag also said "Unsurpassed macroporosity for healthy roots and bacterial efficiency. You would have to buy 4 bags of ordinary gravel to equal the surface area of this one bag of Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate!" So even though I bought it for the dark colour these features seem really nice! Nothing is driven by an airpump in the main tank (: but the water disturbance at the surface of the water should supply enough oxygenation for the shrimp. Attaching the java ferns to the cholla wood and making little houses for the shrimp. 5 cholla wood and a fern on top per house lol. All I have left to do is wait for my taiwan moss squares to arrive and replace my T5HO light bulbs. I am going to use a duo of 6000K bulbs. I am not a fan of the red hue, it should make the tank much brighter I hope! __________________________________________________ I plan to keep Tangerine Tigers in this tank and I plan to cycle the tank using the Betta being housed in the breeder box and dosing some SeaChem Stability into the tank (once I purchase a bottle). I may or may not seed the tank with a friend's established tank... but I'm always weary of any bad mojo that may be in her tank. Anyways, I shall be performing small water changes weekly to make it shrimp-ready for the near future! Parameters will be measured after 1 month (I will be using tap water not RO - last time I ever checked it was 9gH 6kH). Thanks for looking! Feel free to comment on anything I can do to improve the tank or if you have any questions ;D Crazyfishlady and davesays 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 nice write up. looking forward to more posts as things come along. sadly expiring substrate is just part of the deal when keeping some shrimp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpzoo Posted January 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Thanks (: I will definitely consider keeping crystals/tigers/taiwan bees again when I have enough resources to make an active substrate sump lol. The plan would be inert substrate in the main tank with all the active substrate in a sump tank. I tried a smaller scale version of this idea using an external breeder box filled with active substrate. It worked but it required me to do very small water changes. EricM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davesays Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Welcome Shrimpzoo! Glad to see you here, I remember reading your journal on TPT way back. What lead to the break down of the original tank? That tank was quite inspirational and helpful when I started out. Anyways, good luck with your fresh start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpzoo Posted January 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Thanks (: nice to hear that it was inspirational and helpful lol The tank teardown was required due to the expiration of the active substrate I had for my crystal shrimp. It was evident once there was a large algae outbreak and lack of berried females. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35ppt Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Looks tidy, and I do like the symmetrical setup. Looking forward to the progression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpzoo Posted January 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 My taiwan moss came in the mail and I got my new bulbs (: I am done in terms of tank design lol. Here is how it looks: FRONT: SIDE 1: SIDE 2: Now I just have to cycle it and then stock it (: I'm thinking about throwing in 2 indian almond leaves and dosing a small amount of biozyme and squeezing a sponge from an established tank to get things running. What do you guys think of snails in a shrimp breeding tank? I was thinking malaysian trumpet snails to aerate the substrate and leave a slime trail for infusoria. Not sure if it is a hassle or not to have them in the tank. Thanks for looking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Nice start! Although once the moss and Java fern grows out you might find that they will get in the way of netting your shrimps again I actually perfer the look of the tank before you added the moss but than again I am a bit of a minimalist when it comes to foregrounds of my shrimp tanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpzoo Posted January 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 I agree with you that it looked better when the moss wasn't there. I was hoping taiwan moss would actually be a flat carpeting plant but it ended up poofing up gah. Regardless, moss is a must for shrimp so in it goes and so it stays. I will probably try find a furry carpeting plant alternative to replace it in the far far future when I grow enough of it out and sell it in portions. This way I will definitely keep the moss bush under control so it won't get in the way of netting shrimp. And in terms of my netting experience, I found that java ferns aren't that much of a pain in the ass. The shrimp land on a leaf and I just swipe them up from it making them a really easy target lol. Hmmm... maybe I'll try hang the moss on the tank wall... hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Not sure if moss is a must; I decided to go moss free in most of my tanks with the exception of mini pelia / coral moss. They grow nice and slow so very low maintenance compared to other mosses. If I add most I would attach it to driftwood so it stay off the ground - easier to move if need be. Although it does get a messy once you start trimming. I do like using Java fern though but depending on the species, they can take over a tank as well if left unchecked..but they take a while to do so and are easy enuf to trim. One of my older mother plant was around 12" x 12" in size before I broke it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpzoo Posted March 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 Got 10 TTs on February 7th and spotted this berried shrimp today! I am so stoked lol. I was worried about them not being able to be berried in my tap water. I'm hoping since they became berried in tap water that their offspring will be able to survive and grow up in tap water (: Here's to hoping I spot some shrimplets in the near future and populate my tank! I will be feeding more regularly and try to keep water parameters stable. I've been having a big issue with evaporation... I will try to fix that while I get some RO water to prevent water parameter swings (I've been using purely tap water even with the evaporation taking place... I hope that hasn't been boosting my gH/kH levels too much). Anyone got any tips for handling evaporation? I suspect my high water disturbance and heater (set to 21'C) is the main culprit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 If heat is not an issue, getting a tight glass top will really cut down on evaporation. But if your light produces some heat and it is close to the top, it might cause your temperatures to increase when the lights are on. Soothing Shrimp and chibikaie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenteam Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 I have to agree with Jump I really like the premoss look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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