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Jake's Mr. Aqua 12gal Long/36" Shrimp Tank (pic heavy)

178K views 525 replies 84 participants last post by  somewhatshocked 
#1 · (Edited)
Whattya mean I have a problem with too many tanks? Might as well start another one up. (Let's just be glad I don't have an RO/DI filter at home or I wouldn't have a place to sleep!)

Equipment:
Mr. Aqua 12gal long (36") tank
36" Marineland Dual Bright LED fixture
Eheim Ecco 2232/Easy 35
Hydor Koralia Nano 240 (Not yet necessary)
Hydor ETH 200w in-line heater (Not yet in use)

Scape goodies:
Azoo Plant Grower Bed - Black
Lots of lace rock
C. parva
Marsilea minuta
Mosses
S. repens
Bacopa australis
[STRIKE]Hydrocotyle[/STRIKE]
Anubias nana
Anubias nana 'petite'
[STRIKE]Anubias barteri[/STRIKE]
Some other larger Anubias (Congensis, I think)

Livestock:
Painted Fire Reds
[STRIKE]Green Baubalti[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Otos[/STRIKE]
Small Horned Nerites
Ramshorns
[STRIKE]Maybe Black Tigers if Gordon gets them in for cheap? I have really great tap water for them, which should make everyone woah envious (HA!)...
[/STRIKE]
SSS+ Crystal Black Shrimp

Let's share a few pictures…

The arrival:



All the packing peanuts, the box it shipped in and all the bubble wrap used to get it here:



See my suitcases in the mix? Had to put off setting this tank up for several weeks because of travel.

Fresh out of its packaging, half way across the room from the stand it'll soon call home:



From the other side, with the dog scheming behind:



Testing out the 36" LED fixture:



It's rather bright for such a low tank, so it'll likely need to be suspended.

Bought two ZooMed light stands that extend to 39" in height. Am using a Dremel to cut out space on the back of the shelving unit. They'll be weighted down with these baskets, just from behind (was testing in the photo):



Using small black chain to hang the fixture from the hooks of the stands so it's more easily adjustable. Thinking there will be a nice amount of light without the need for CO2 if I suspend it 6-7 inches from the top of the tank, as ADA has done with his 12gal long.

To achieve the best flow possible, am crafting a 30"-32" spray bar out of Lee's rigid tubing - once I figure out how to cap the end of the tube, that is. Also using the tubing to create an intake pipe covered with a stainless steel shrimp strainer. Koralia Nano will be placed in one of the front corners to help with flow. Am aware of concerns about it making shrimp soup but many shrimpers use those powerheads without any problems - shrimp even camp out in the stream and near the intake without many problems.

While I could easily add a needle valve to my nearby 10lb cylinder, I want to keep this tank fairly low-tech with limited fert dosing - maybe half EI.

One of the many PFRs that will soon call this tank home:



Now for the rock. Since I can't really get my hands on any of the fancy stuff from ADA/ADG without spending another arm or leg, am gonna have to use what I have on-hand. Have tons of "Lace" stuff, like this:



Also have these pieces of Lace Rock in established tanks (that I'm shutting down to use as emersed rigs) that I can use:







An ample supply to create a semi-decent scape.

Have these large pieces of "Bone" Rock (and some in established tanks, as well) but I'm not such a fan of it for this setup. Not porous enough to grow as large of a bacteria farm for shrimp as Lace Rock:



Thought about ordering Manzanita from Tom Barr but not entirely sure I want to go the wood route.

Here's the problem: plants. What the heck should I use? Don't want it to look too janky. It's already going to be hit-or-miss with both red and green shrimp in the same tank.

20L plant growth setup containing DHG, S. repens, C. Parva, Anubias:



A 5.5gal with some other plants:



Should I create a few mountain groups of rock in the tank and plant Anubias around the base? Marsilea minuta in a few areas? Bacopa australis as a background plant because it gets bushy? Maybe a bit of moss behind a few of the rocks? Hoo boy, I have no idea what I'm going to do yet but am super-excited.

Just want to keep it simple and lush with several open areas in the front to observe the hordes of shrimp.

Your feedback is appreciated.

Jake

P.S. Should I line the back of the tank with black vinyl? Light blue? No background?
 
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#64 · (Edited)
Didn't end up using lava rock to create height. Decided to just add a bit more Azoo in the corners and spread it down toward the center of the tank.







Originally thought I wanted a more mountainous look in the corners but think the scale of the tank would be off if I had rock any higher than current, unfortunately. I think Bacopa root growth will help maintain some of the slope.

Since this is 100% for shrimp (maybe some Nerites and Ramshorns), I want background plants to grow bushy and taller than the rock so there's plenty of playground space. Also want to be able to keep the water level a centimeter or so from the rim to prevent shrimp from hopping the fence.

Have given nana vs. nana 'petite' quite a bit of thought. The smaller will look much nicer in this tank. Only have four or five of them. But have probably 15 standard nana… so if anybody wants to trade. :)

Other plants should arrive tomorrow so I hope to give plants a couple days to take root before flooding by the end of the weekend.

The excitement of this tank makes the downer of having someone steal RAOK fish from me a bit easier to swallow.
 
#67 ·
do you find that this tank is... spacious enough?
i may try to consolidate all my tanks into one. haha
i know it's only a 12G but given that it's so long, i'm wondering if it's not a bad idea.
ill be having crs, cpo, cpd, aru2 i'm looking to consolidate. :D
 
#68 ·
shrimp: Endlers were returned after reviewing security footage and filing a police report. From here on out, I'm using RFID tags that I use for work-related shipments. Not risking it again. (You'd think living in an upscale condo would... keep people from thieving your crap)

gnod: It's probably going to be more room than I could ever imagine for shrimp. The tank is much larger than you're likely imagining from photos and such.
 
#73 · (Edited)
Woah, too exhausted to deal with flooding the tank and setting up the filter after half a day of planting. Maybe I should wait to use the water from my new RO/DI filter that shipped today? My water at home is liquid rock and I want to keep some Black Tigers with my PFRs… so think it's probably best to wait on it.

Here's a rough photo:



Left front: baby C. parva. Right front: big C. parva

Between rocks: mixture of Anubias nana and nana 'petite'

Center & right center: Marsilea minuta

Rear: Bacopa australis, which is looking pretty wilty. Here's hoping it handles this well and perks up by tomorrow. Can't wait for it to get bushy.

This is more heavily planted than I anticipated but I am super-excited about it.
 
#74 ·
You aren't going to grow it emersed for a while?
I'd figure growing the Marsilea Minuta for a bit would allow the root system to establish a bit and help prevent it from floating when you flood it. Also the emersed growth should allow it to grow and fill in a bit quicker.
 
#76 ·
Every time I look at a picture of one of these tanks I love it more. At three feet long, there is just so much you can do with these.
You have more options as far as plants are concerned with the tall tanks, but sticking with smaller fauna and flora, you can do some really cool scapes with these tanks. I definitely dig the floor space to volume ratio that these provide. I'm really considering something with proportions like this for saltwater once I get settled down somewhere
 
#78 ·
Definitely.
Lighting would be a lot more manageable with the shallower depth too. Altho I don't think the intense lighting that most people go with is entirely necessary either. Corals don't get as much of their energy needs from their symbiotic algae as people think they do. Mostly just enough to cover their metabolic needs. They really need to be fed more than people assume.
With that floor space and a similar sized refugium, you could definitely support some dragonetts. They require supplemental feeding, but with that much space for copepods to reproduce, they could do very well. Very few reef tanks can supply enough food for for them. The only issue would be having a spawning pair with a shallow depth like that. They swim rapidly towards the surface during spawning and would easily be lost in such a shallow tank without a cover.

Man, I have a severe case of MTS and I don't even have a tank set up yet.
 
#83 · (Edited)
Received some E. parkeri today in less than great shape. Here's hoping they perk up soon:





They're from a reputable seller so I'm sure they'll come around soon.

Replaced some C. parva with five of them. Put one that had no leaves which weren't broken/started turning brown into a growout tank to see if I can nurse it back to health.

Love the way they look so here's hoping!
 
#85 ·
I've had them come in in MUCH worse conditions and thrive after a few weeks so am definitely not worried about these.

The last ones I bought - from a former forum seller who shall remain nameless - were disasters. They all lived, though, and are thriving in a tank on my desk at work.

Excited to have these for the new shrimp tank!
 
#86 ·
Just looked through my holding/Q tank and have AT LEAST 100 PFR shrimplets. The little buggers couldn't hold off until moving into their new home. Now I have to keep this dang tank going for another couple months. Ha.

Also... discovered three pink Ramshorns. Decently sized, even. And I've only ever had brown ones in the tank.

Excitement all around today!
 
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