The beginnings of my first tank journal, this is a big deal you know?
The tank is a Deep Blue Professional 3 gallon long, and it will without question be a shrimp-only tank throughout it's lifetime. Everything is in the preliminary stages at the moment, but I figured I'd get the ball rolling. It's likely to be months in the making, but it's best to start off the right way from the beginning.
My setup should consist of:
Tank: Deep Blue Professional 3 gallon long
Filter: Finnex PX-360 canister filter
Light: Finnex FugeRay-R
Substrate: ADA New Amazonia, with a sprinkling of H4N's shrimp substrate pack.
Flora: Christmas Moss, Marimo Ball, more mosses to be added.
Fauna: Shrimps of course, variant to be determined.
Absolutely there are advantages to these tanks over the brands you mentioned IMO. The Deep Blue tanks use less iron than their competitors, improving the clarity of the glass. They utilize the black silicone I mentioned, and the silicone work is immaculate. Perfectly clean top to bottom. This is a big plus for me, as it doesn't detract from the overall appearance like sloppy silicone can from some competing brands. In addition, the pricing of these tanks is comparable if not cheaper than their competitors. I like them, if you can't tell
After I made the post, I noticed the size, and I figured perhaps their unique sizes were an advantage. Although this can become a disadvantage as well.
And when I was searching for a tank, I did find their numbers comparable to LFS stores. So if their quality really is better, than that makes it worth it alone.
I'm nervous, as all I've kept are cherries. I received the Amazonia in a trade, and I was already having trouble settling on a substrate that I liked for Neo's. I was going to keep a higher grade Neo of some sort first. Now that I have the ADA substrate, I am going to literally jump into the deep end and attempt some form of Caridina. LOTS of research will be involved above and beyond what I've already learned. Thankfully, there is a lot of knowledge and helpful folks on here.
I'm tossing a few ideas around in my head. I will be using new Amazonia, sloping from back to front with a relatively thick substrate layer. H4N's shrimp substrate pack is coming which will be layered underneath.
For my scape, I'm thinking of a mind blowing Manzy piece, that is long horizontally, maybe 12-14". I think it would be really cool if it extended up out of the tank as well, using the glass dividers as top panels to support the branches that extend above.
I also LOVE Ohko stone, and am considering using it in this tank along with the driftwood or alone depending on which direction my vision takes me. I still have to do some more research on it's effects on water chemistry for my shrimps.
I don't think I'll be planting anything into the substrate, utilizing only moss and plants that don't require rooting in the substrate. Probably Flame moss attached to the Manzy, and I think it would be a neat theme to try and source alot of mini mosses for this tank, as it is a "mini" tank. So, mini Xmas, mini fissidens, maybe mini pelia, etc.
Still trying to settle on a light, I want LED, but I want red spectrum. I've pretty much told myself the new FugeRay-R is too short and won't light the length of the tank effectively. So the search continues...
It will probably be a few months before this tank really starts to come together. I have to cycle it for a bit, then source all my other bits and pieces.
I'm excited to watch the new development with the tanks you've been working on MABJ.
I am purchasing a Deep blue 18inch this weekend and was wondering since i have a 18inch finnex ray 2 LED from my 10 gallon that im tearing down would it be to intense of a light for this size of tank? I really dont want to run C02 since I will be keeping shrimp in the tank and fear of killing them. I know you can mount the light higher but I really dont want to do that, could I maybe put a screen over the light?
@whiteblaze11
The Ray 2 will be WAY too much light IMO. This tank is very shallow, even the FugeRay is alot of light for this tank. Esp. if your not running Co2, I'd say definitely not. Even with a screen, the Ray 2 will cause an algae explosion I can't even fathom. Look through the link in my signature to the DBP Club thread, lots of ideas there.
Did a quick and dirty scape and fill last night, using what I had on hand. I'll get pics up tonight.
Also, I just bit the bullet and ordered a Finnex FugeRay-R!!! I know it's quite a bit shorter than the length of the tank, but I'm hoping with it being raised up fairly high it will light the whole tank well. I'm only growing mosses and maybe anubias nana/mini.
The light has arrived! Here it is over the tank. Right side is left a little dark. Overall I am not disappointed, esp with the fixture only being 10". This tank will continue to evolve, slowly but surely.
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