Just Another Shrimp Tank

[eviltrain]

Hi all, before i proceed with my Shrimp Rack Beta, i will be starting a 2 feet shrimp tank with new ideas base on my past experience.

Hardware:

Ocean Free 60 x 30 x 35 cm tank with DIY soil partition

3 panel of Ocean Free under gravel panels

2 x 2 feet 5watt T5 LED DIY into a spoil 2 feet PL lightset casing

Hailea HC-150A chiller

Ehiem 2026 with :

3 kg of bio home and bio home plus

1kg Dymax lava rocks in filter bag

2x "J" brand 1.5 litres pre filter with :

1.5 litres of PM ceramic rings



The following will be how i'm going to setup my under gravel system.



the part of the pipe which is connected to the UGPs is actually cut short so that the over all height won't exceed the soil partition ( 5cm / 2 inches). acrylic glue is used to join the parts together.



close up of the pipes connected to the UGPs



the under gravel system is then connected with U inlet pipe using some piping which i collected. ( and yes they fit nicely and was glued together ) left over parts of the mesh is stack below the elbow to prevent the pipes to bend.



2 piece of plastic plant mesh (5mm square holes) which bought from Daiso is used to cover over the UGPs nicely.



as there is still some gap between the glass and the under gravel panels, i inserted a row of PM ceramic rings around the UGPs. ( yes, more place for BB to grow~~ )



Here comes the weird part. I'm not using ADA Amazonia II soil to cover the UGPs. A layer of lava rock chips is pour on top and spread out evenly over the UGPs. 3 Litres of ADA Amazonia II soil ( Big size which i sleeves out from a full 9 litre pack ) is pour in the front. This way, the soil can maintain its form for longer period of time. Its is a known fact that any bake soil is not suitable for under gravel system.

Finally a layer of black quartz sand is used to top up over the layer of lava rock chips ( to hide the ugly pipes and prevent shrimplets from venture too deep thru the gaps of the lava rock chips. )



2 prefilter, 1 filled with white wool and 1 filled with PM ceramic rings arrange in a way that it will lessen the restriction of the flow rate.

some photos and followed by my DIY 2 feet LED lightset.



my left side of the room and my cat on the bed. hee hee. The rack is a 4 x 1.5 feet 4 tier.



top view at an angle with black quartz sand on the top, bowing glass partition ( due to the angle shot ) and bottom is ADA Amazonia II soil.

DIY LED light set



The casing is from a spoiled 2 feet PL light set which is gutted out. Oh the cat tail is still intact on her.



the 2 feet T5 is bought at a Eunos (in Singapore ) hardware store. It is rated 5 Watt /220V.



As compared with a single tube T5HO 24 Watt , the light intensity of the LED T5 (2 tube ) and T5HO ( 1 tube ) is the same.

In the center of the photo is where i actually screw the light set in place. No other form of industrial grade double side tape is use for future upgrade or so.



Connecting point for both light set. The 2 connectors comes with the purchase of the LED light sets. I just wire them together and bend the wire in place.


I cut a small hole for the power to plug in at the other side of the light set. ( top left corner )

Full Tank and Equipments Placement



full tank and equipments shot

Here's the close up photo of the pre-filters



number 1 pre filter filled with white wool.



number 2 prefilter filled with PM ceramic rings.

some update as on 07-01-2011

water parameter-



flow rate before all media in place-



flow rate after all media in place-



spec. of 2026-



-some update 11/01/2011-

I have put 2 commando low grade CRS in the tank since the 3rd day of water change and they seems to adapt quite well with the water. always grazing around and quite active. test strip result also great. Will be switching on my chiller end of this week and place 2 pcs of higher grade commandos in to test water.

-things to take note-

those people who gets the prefilter which i using for this setup, remember to tighten the screw at the joint to prevent leakage.

For my case actually there is some air leaking into the canister from the 2nd prefilter ( with ceramic rings ) and dropped the flow rate over the weekend when i was not around.

Last night i tighten the screw using the white tape for water pipes and seems that the problem is solved.

-some update 14/01/2011-
seems like my setup able to maintain pH level of 6.2 ( after 2nd 100% water change )

2 SS grade BDS thrown in still surviving and feeding well. Now waiting for them to molt and i can bring in a platoon of SSS liao.

-some updates 17/01/2011-

my 2 SS grade BDS is doing well in the tank. seen them molt without any problem.



BDS 1



BDS 2



FTS ( i have planted 3 pots of Blyxa japonica into a clear document tray 30cmx5cmx5cm from Daiso with 4cm tall of ADA Amazonia II and place it at the back )



soil partition ( side view of the tank )

Over the weekend i made a shrimp net ( looks kinda oversize XD ) and a bartley straw holder. Need to go Artfried to look for acrylic to use as handle for them.



-updates 21/01/2011-
added 24 SS-SSS shrimps on 18/01/2011, Tuesday night and took out the 2 Hino BDS.

some shrimp photos from my Galaxy S









-update 24/01/2011-
Surprise surprise. I got my first mama in my tank after 4 days in my tank. Mua ha ha.



here's the bellied mama.

-some photos as on 25/01/2011-



FTS



supper time

hohoho, time to show off my "mosura" collection~~~~



hee hee hee. please don't throw eggs at me.

[bigboij]

very cool, got anymore info on the light i would love to retrofit a t-5 with led's like that

[eviltrain]

Originally Posted by bigboij

very cool, got anymore info on the light i would love to retrofit a t-5 with led's like that

i bought them at the local hardware store. not bad for the plants. my frogbits grew like crazy and my us fissiden is growing well too.

[redfalconf35]

i'm jealous! Those shrimp are really pretty!

[eviltrain]

hee hee, these grades are actually quite common in Singapore as there's alot of home breeders around.

[avandss]

wow that looks like a perfect setup! how long did it take you to align all the ceramic pieces in your filter lol!!!

[eviltrain]

The pre-filter around 1 hour. As for my ehiem 2026. i just dump all 3 litres of bio home and bio home-plus in. added some Dymax Lava rocks in too

[avandss]

btw whats with the crazy protection bars on your window? what floor are you on ?

[eviltrain]

avandss, we live in high rise buildings in Singapore because we are lack of land.

[avandss]

I want to visit Singapore so badly. You have all the good stuff there lol. Here in Canada it's like the exact opposite, we have nothing I'm lucky to have even found some crs/CBS lol

[snausage]

I am definitely going to steal your idea and use ceramic rings to elevate the ugf panel the next time I start a shrimp tank. You figured out some really clever ways to modify standard equipment.

[eviltrain]

Originally Posted by avandss

I want to visit Singapore so badly. You have all the good stuff there lol. Here in Canada it's like the exact opposite, we have nothing I'm lucky to have even found some crs/CBS lol

yapz, we are quite lucky to have a lot of stuffs in Singapore.

Originally Posted by snausage

I am definitely going to steal your idea and use ceramic rings to elevate the ugf panel the next time I start a shrimp tank. You figured out some really clever ways to modify standard equipment.

haha, just go ahead. what i did and post here is meant for sharing.

[avandss]

Whats that big thing beside your eheim filter? It has 3 buttons with the grill in the front

[flowmsp]

Originally Posted by avandss

Whats that big thing beside your eheim filter? It has 3 buttons with the grill in the front

I believe that is the chiller. Dont quote me on that though lol.

[decoman]

i like ur cat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!