So Maybe I Have A (20L) Shrimp Problem…

[somewhatshocked]

NOTE: This journal documents two separate 20 longs. Read through to learn about them both.

A problem in that I just set up ANOTHER TANK a few weeks ago and it's nearly ready for shrimpy stocking. Nitrite spike is almost over and I'm excited, to say the least.

Not pretty, no, but here it is:



By far the least fancy thing I have ever put together. Killing me not to scape it like woah but I really want to focus on creating a terrific shrimp habitat. Hid it on the bottom shelf of my plant grow-out rack.

The goods:

• 20 gallon long
• All kinds of Fluval Shrimp Stratum (approximately 7,000 pounds of it)
• Random "Pagoda" stone, which works well in my public water
• 4 giganto double sponge filters powered by a pump that's strong enough to scare me
• Hydor heater
• Marineland Double Bright LED Fixture
• Random mosses (they're littered with decaying floaters right now - didn't have good lighting til today)
• Frogbit, Salvinia, Duckweed, maybe some Anubias and chain sword when I get around do it, definitely more moss

It's going to be shrimp and snails ONLY. A few horned Nerites, Ramshorns and Neocaridina of some sort.

Cherries are my all-time favorite and I may stick with them. Toying with ordering some of those fancy Yellows from Rachel, though. Maybe I could divide the tank and have both.

And should I raise that light fixture up a bit? I can't decide.

Moral of the story: I have a problem and can't believe I have another tank ready to go. Guess it's time to start consolidating.

[diwu13]

Jesus why SO MANY sponge filters?! Talk about over filtering haha. Why not just two in the corners may I ask?

The way your fixture is set you'll have tons of light near the top of your tank. But that's not a huge issue since all your floaters are there to block out the light.

[HolyAngel]

lol second the amount of sponge filters! but i can't say anything.. i have 2 of those sponge filter connected to 2 hob's PLUS a sunsun 302 on my 20Long lol. I like it!

Do you you already have cherries? if so I would definitely go with the yellows, they look great. otherwise if you want to stick to cherries i'd get pfr's for sure sure.. or red rilis!

You shouldn't need to raise the light at all, I highly doubt it will spread out the light any more due to the way those led's are, but it might..

[somewhatshocked]

Went with four filters because of all the grazing area for shrimp. And for flow. Even with that many, it's still just barely where I want it. Usually use two of them on 5.5gal tanks.

Concern about the fixture isn't so much light spread but having too much lighting for negligible planting. Am hoping that condensation on the glass top - along with floaters - the levels will be cut down significantly. Have one of these fixtures on a tank that's shorter and it is crazy-high light. Way brighter in person than I ever thought possible for such a cheap light. ADA has one on a short tank and has to keep the fixture raised up a bunch, too.

Already have about 150ish cherries at home and thousands at work. Could move some of them to the tank to start a new colony. Or could order something else. If I go with Yellows, will probably only start out with 10-15 because they're spendy. Gonna do PFRs in this Ebi I'm about to flood.

Thanks for all of the feedback.

Still struggling with how weird it is not to be thinking about an EI dosing schedule for a new tank.

[HolyAngel]

eh, i don't think its too much light at all. i bought one of the single brights not too long ago but returned it due to a single 17w t8 being near twice as bright as the single bright.. a double bright should be just right, and where you have it the light shouldn't really hit the glass to cause any algea or anything on there. and we both know the shrimp will nomnom any algea that does show up in the tank with floaters, you should be golden.

[demonr6]

wth is powering that bank of sponge filters? i see you have a missile in the center of the tank as well.

[somewhatshocked]

+1 on shrimp nomming all the algae! I love Amanos around from tank to tank just to watch them go to town on whatever nuisance algae is developing.

Pump = Fusion Quiet Power 700 with dual outlets and flow control. Snatched it up for $1 on Black Friday and it is admittedly the reason for this tank.

Heh on the missile. Have been moving thermometers around the tank to see how that 100 watt heater performs in different locations.

Not sure why you folks didn't talk me into having a shrimp farm at home prior to now. At my office, I have them just for stocking display tanks. Who knew it'd be so much nerdy fun at home?

[somewhatshocked]

P.S. Did I mention that I have less than $100 in this rig? Including the tank and LED fixture. Everything was new.

Should really be blaming it on this site. TPT was down that entire day so I spent way too much time trolling for deals.

[Nubster]

Originally Posted by somewhatshocked

The goods:

• 20 gallon long
• All kinds of Fluval Shrimp Stratum (approximately 7,000 pounds of it)
• Random "Pagoda" stone, which works well in my public water
• 4 giganto double sponge filters powered by a pump that's strong enough to scare me
• Hydor heater
• Marineland Double Bright LED Fixture
• Random mosses (they're littered with decaying floaters right now - didn't have good lighting til today)
• Frogbit, Salvinia, Duckweed, maybe some Anubias and chain sword when I get around do it, definitely more moss

That's a lot of substrate to pack into a 20g fish tank.

[somewhatshocked]

It's a very accurate and scientific estimate, as you can see.

Originally Posted by Nubster

That's a lot of substrate to pack into a 20g fish tank.

[Nubster]

haha....just wondering though, how do you like that substrate? I want to do a tiger shrimp tank soon and figure I'll have to do something other than normal sand for them so I was looking at this as a semi-affordable option.

And how much did you really use in the tank? Just wondering if there was anyway one 8 pound bag would be enough or am I looking at 2 or 3?

[somewhatshocked]

Really enjoy Fluval Stratum. Been using it in these three tanks for quite a while with great results. Zero breakdown, no clouding, holds a slope pretty well, looks decent, light enough to allow delicate plants to spread quickly.

Also seems to buffer my pH down about a full point/degree/whatever from the 7s to the 6s. If it were fortified with nutrients, it'd be my all-time favorite.

[Redflame]

Looks good, I like it. That does seem like a crazy amount of filters but that will be awesome feed ground for shrimplets.

[somewhatshocked]

Just realized an unintended plus to having eight sponges in the tank: Always have a ready supply of tank juice to jump start new filters.

[shrimpnmoss]

Less than $100? Wow...you deal master!...I'm looking for a double bright led for a 20g long too...envy....