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Divided 55G Neo/Tiger Tank


wot_fan

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I am cycling a 55 gallon (208L) tank.  It is divided into 3 sections using Poret foam.  There is also a Poret foam corner filter acting as a pre-filter for the canister filter.  I haven't seen a tank setup like this so I thought I would share my experiences with all of you :).

 

Here is the equipment I am using on the tank:

  • 3" thick 30PPI Poret Foam Dividers
  • 2" thick 45PPI Poret Foam Corner Filter
  • CaribSea Flora Max Planted Aquarium substrate (inert)
  • 48" Current Satellite+ Pro Light
  • Aqueon 250W Heater
  • Fluval 306 Canister Filter with Marine Pure media
  • Tunze Osmolator Top Off System
  • Pinpoint pH monitor

The tank has been cycling for about 2 and a half weeks.  I am using RO water with Shrimpy Daddy products and following the tank cycling procedure on his website.  The Ammonia and Nitrite levels were 0 by the end of the second week.  If everything continues to go well, I should be able to add shrimp in 2-3 weeks.

 

My current plan is to have a neocaridina and tiger colony in each section.  

  • Snowballs with Super Tigers
  • Yellow Cherries with Red Tigers
  • PFRs with OEBTs

Here are a few pictures of the tank's progress.  This pictures shows the tank after I painted the back.

01_Painted.jpg

These pics show the equipment being added.  I used wire ties to hold the air lines in place.

02_Assbly_1.jpg03_Assbly_2.jpg

Here is the tank after SD's products were added.

04_Dosed.jpg

This one was taken right after the tank was filled.

05_Filled.jpg

The corner filter has more than enough room to hide the canister intake, the heater and the pH probe.

05b_Corner_Filter.jpg

Added some teddy bear cholla wood.

06_Cholla.jpg

Here it is after I added a few plants.

07_Plants.jpg

I will add a few more plants this week.  I will post a picture afterwards.  I would love to hear any comments or suggestions.  Thanks.

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Won't the shrimplets pass through dividers?

Sent from my MotoE2 using Tapatalk

I was told by Stephan Tanner at Swiss Tropicals that shrimplets will not be able to get through the 3" 30PPI dividers.  I know that they can't get through 45PPI but am unsure about the 30PPI foam.  Time will tell.

 

We had that problem in our setup with shrimplets getting through the sponge and ending up in other tanks.

Do you know what kind of foam/sponge you used? What was its PPI?  What kind of shrimp? Thanks.

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I was told by Stephan Tanner at Swiss Tropicals that shrimplets will not be able to get through the 3" 30PPI dividers.  I know that they can't get through 45PPI but am unsure about the 30PPI foam.  Time will tell.

 

Do you know what kind of foam/sponge you used? What was its PPI?  What kind of shrimp? Thanks.

looks good, i wanted to do that on a 55 but only split it in half. How much was the foam if you don't mind?

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Very cool setup! Definitely would like to see the progression on this aquarium. 

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Nice! How about the corner filter setup? Was it expensive for the foam/glass kit?

The corner foam with the glass braces was $40.  I thought the prices were reasonable since Poret foam should last 10+years.

 

Curious if the first section with the heater will get hotter than the other sections.

 

Also interested if the shrimp will climb over the foam.

Those are great questions.  I will put a temp probe in each section (including behind the corner filter where the heater resides) after work.  I'll post the temps for each section.

 

I really hope the shrimp aren't able to climb over the foam.  I purposely left the water 1.5" below the top of the foam.  A shrimp would have to walk 6" (1.5" up, 3" over and 1.5" back down) to move to the adjacent section.  I think that should be enough to discourage them.  Time will tell though.

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The set up we are using is very different from that. We had foam in the overflows going to a sump system. And a different type of foam altogether.  I'm not sure if shrimplets will be able to pass though it at all, because I have no experience dividing tanks, other than separate compartments within the tanks which turns them into separate tanks essentially.

 

Please don't take this the wrong way because I just have some major concerns  with this set up, and I may be very wrong. But I would recommend one additional thing you may want to consider.  Water is not going to pass though that thick foam very well at all. Especially when it ages and fills with gunk. So if you put a small pump in the primary filter area is where the heater is, which would pump water to all three sections, it would force some flow throughout the system.  If you are interested in doing this and would like my help, I will put together a parts list for you and what to do.  General rule of thumb in fresh water is a minimum of 6 times the tank volume should flow through your filter media per hour, whatever filter media you use.  This would also help prevent temperature differences and water quality variations from compartment to compartment.

 

Another alternative to consider would be to use glass dividers in the tank.  It would give you some more real estate and using the silicone injection method on the dividers would make it still look fantastic.  This would still allow you to use one heater and filter if you set it up right.  Downside to this of course is starting all over, which I'm sure you do not want to do.

 

I don't know for sure if you will have any problems the way you have it set up at all. It may work just fine. But if it was me I would at least consider adding a pump to improve flow and circulation to be sure.

 

Beautiful set up by the way.

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The set up we are using is very different from that. We had foam in the overflows going to a sump system. And a different type of foam altogether.  I'm not sure if shrimplets will be able to pass though it at all, because I have no experience dividing tanks, other than separate compartments within the tanks which turns them into separate tanks essentially.

 

Please don't take this the wrong way because I just have some major concerns  with this set up, and I may be very wrong. But I would recommend one additional thing you may want to consider.  Water is not going to pass though that thick foam very well at all. Especially when it ages and fills with gunk. So if you put a small pump in the primary filter area is where the heater is, which would pump water to all three sections, it would force some flow throughout the system.  If you are interested in doing this and would like my help, I will put together a parts list for you and what to do.  General rule of thumb in fresh water is a minimum of 6 times the tank volume should flow through your filter media per hour, whatever filter media you use.  This would also help prevent temperature differences and water quality variations from compartment to compartment.

 

Another alternative to consider would be to use glass dividers in the tank.  It would give you some more real estate and using the silicone injection method on the dividers would make it still look fantastic.  This would still allow you to use one heater and filter if you set it up right.  Downside to this of course is starting all over, which I'm sure you do not want to do.

 

I don't know for sure if you will have any problems the way you have it set up at all. It may work just fine. But if it was me I would at least consider adding a pump to improve flow and circulation to be sure.

 

Beautiful set up by the way.

Thank you for sharing your concerns as well as your generous offer to help with adding a pump to provide more circulation.  For now though, I would like to see how the system performs with just the flow generated by the canister filter.  My hope is that the large surface area of the dividers combined with Shrimpy Daddy's Revive Vita will prevent the foam from getting too gunked up (at least for a few years).  Based on the positive things I have read from others who are using HMFs in their tanks, I don't think this is an unrealistic expectation.  If I am wrong, I will happily accept your help in designing a system to provide more flow.

 

When I was planning out this tank I seriously considered glass dividers.  I decided to go with Poret foam because if it works as advertised, it not only will divide the tank but it will also filter the water and provide a great source of food for the shrimp.  If the Poret foam does not work as well as I hope, I will try glass dividers.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts :).

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Curious if the first section with the heater will get hotter than the other sections.

I checked the tank temps during lunch with the digital thermometer built into my TDS meter.  Here is the data:

Room Temp: 75.7°F

Left Section: 82.0°F

Middle Section: 82.0°F

Right Section: 82.0°F

Corner Filter: 83.8°F

 

I am going to add a temperature controller to control the heater as well as the fans on the top of the tank.  I guess I won't be putting the probe for the controller in the corner filter as I had planned.  Thanks for the comment Soothing Shrimp :).

 

Not a problem at all. I had another idea where you would not have to add a pump. Simply route the output of the canister filter to all three sections. A little simple plumbing and good to go.

Depending on how the current setup performs, that sounds like a good idea.  Thanks again.

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I have a buddy who has the identical setup as yours. His been running for some time so I will text him see if I can get some pics and ask him if he has any tips.

Thanks.  I would appreciating hearing any advice he would care to offer.

 

The plants from Han arrived today.  Here is what the tank looks like now.

Tank.jpg

Left.jpg

Middle.jpg

Right.jpg

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The corner foam with the glass braces was $40.  I thought the prices were reasonable since Poret foam should last 10+years.

 

Those are great questions.  I will put a temp probe in each section (including behind the corner filter where the heater resides) after work.  I'll post the temps for each section.

 

I really hope the shrimp aren't able to climb over the foam.  I purposely left the water 1.5" below the top of the foam.  A shrimp would have to walk 6" (1.5" up, 3" over and 1.5" back down) to move to the adjacent section.  I think that should be enough to discourage them.  Time will tell though.

Sounds good thanks, I'm going to order a kit aha

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Ok talked with buddy about his setup. He used same ppi and he said if the blocks were cut for the tank correctly you won't get babies crossing.

Also his tanks running for 2+ years never cleaned the dividers with no flow issues.

He setup up 10 tanks like yours so he said dont worry flow and temps wont fluctuate between sections.

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Ok talked with buddy about his setup. He used same ppi and he said if the blocks were cut for the tank correctly you won't get babies crossing.

Also his tanks running for 2+ years never cleaned the dividers with no flow issues.

He setup up 10 tanks like yours so he said dont worry flow and temps wont fluctuate between sections.

Thank you Greenteam.  That is great news.  My dividers were cut to size by swiss tropicals and fit very snuggly.  I don't think I will have anything to worry about.  Thanks again :).

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