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Happy's Ebi

2K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  HappyToLearn 
#1 ·
After poking around this site for a few months and becoming enamored with the idea of starting a planted shrimp tank, I decided to celebrate my birthday a bit early, and I got a Fluval Ebi. :icon_mrgr I want to use this tank as an introduction to the hobby and hopefully as a happy home for some Red Cherry Shrimp.

Equipment:
-Fluval Ebi glass tank (30 L, 35 x 30 x 30 cm)
-Fluval Shrimp Stratum (2 kg)
-Assorted rocks (slate, I think?)
-Fluval 13W CFL
-Fluval Nano internal filter with spray bar

Flora:
I purchased a “starter kit” of plants from the Swap n Shop (thanks, gordonrichards) which included an assortment of Crypts (parva, wendtii, undulata, and some others which I’ve yet to classify), two clumps of Java Fern, and a handful of stems (Bacopa monnieri, and others I have also yet to classify). I also added some Java moss which I purchased previously at my LFS.

Fauna:
So far, just a few tiny snails which hopped a ride on the plants. Eventually I plan to add RCS.

Fertilization:
I have been dosing once a week with Flourish, and I plan to add Excel, too. My plan is to dose weekly on Saturdays, with a break on the first Saturday of each month.

I set up the tank on 05.09.12 and kick started the nitrogen cycle with ammonia, and I planted the tank on 05.16.12. I’ve been monitoring the water parameters with the API kit, and it appears the cycle is complete. The nitrate levels were ~40 ppm this morning, so I plan to do a 25% water change tonight and test again tomorrow.

I’m new to this hobby, so I would appreciate suggestions. I also have a few specific questions...
1. I have been running the light from 5-9am and 5-9pm, but I was thinking about adding another two hours from 12-2pm. Thoughts?
2. How does my dosing schedule look for Flourish and Excel? I’m guessing it’s on the light side, but I’d rather take it slow for now.
3. Will I need to use a heater? The temperature in my apt will probably get as high as 80 during the summer and as low as 65 during the winter. I’ve read that RCS are OK at these temperatures, and since I don’t expect any major temperature shifts, I was hoping I would be OK if I didn't use a heater. (I have a TopFin 50W that I picked up for $5 as a backup, if necessary)
4. I plan to wait until late July/early August to stock the tank, but when I do, should I look into adding a mineral supplement? (Montmorillonite stone?) And...
5. Regarding shrimp food, I have the Fluval shrimp granules that were included with the Ebi Kit. I was planning to use these along with blanched spinach and Jake’s Veggie Sticks. I would feed six days per week and alternate foods, so the shrimp would receive each food twice a week. How does this sound?

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom!

I’ll post a picture of my tank and my water parameters tomorrow.
 
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#2 ·
The Ebi lighting is not that strong instead of the 4 hrs your doing, go with 9 am to like 9 pm if algae start to grow, lower the lighting from 9 am to 8 pm, but alittle algae is good for the shrimp :). I don't use any heater either, Boston weather is perfect for shrimp right now. Boston tap water is very soft it only contain about 5 ppm CA+ and 0.85 ppm Mg+, so that less then 1 dGH and about 90-100 TDS so you going to have to remineralize it, to get it it about 4-6 dGH. For fertilize you should add flourish 2-3 times each week and you need to also add a bit of NPK since flourish is mostly for dosing trace elements not the macro elements or get some root tap like the osmocote plus which can be purchase pretty cheap in buy/sell or sponsor forum. You only need to feed the shrimp 2-3 times a week if you going to feed them everyday you only need to add tiny amount of food.
 
#3 ·
I disagree. I feel that the stock light in the tank is on the strong side. My plants grow well and if I go for 12hrs on, regularly I get green water and tons of Algae. I like my EBI a lot but it is so much more demanding and less forgiving than my 30 gallon and 29 gallon.
 
#5 ·
kuro, thanks for information. I’ll plan to feed my shrimp 3x a week. Also, I actually live in Cambridge, so I have a different water water source. I tested the hardness of my tank water this morning and it is 2 dKH and 5 dGH (if I’m interpreting the results correctly). Do you think I still need to remineralize the water?

As for the lighting, since I’ve only noticed small amounts of algae on the glass, I think I will add another two hours and bring my total up to 10 hrs per day. I’m not ready to run the lights for 11-12 hours straight.

My other water parameters from this morning:
-Temp: 73F/23C
-pH: 6.8
-NH3: 0 ppm
-NO2: 0 ppm
-NO3: ~40 ppm

So, even after a 2 gal/7.5 L water change my NO3 still seem high. I’ll do another ~25% WC next weekend and test again.

And, as promised, here’s a picture of my tank. Please forgive the pantyhose and yellow rubber band (my eyes are bleeding, too). I wanted to test how the addition of the pantyhose would affect my filter flow, but I will change it to a black rubber band and pantyhose.
I put the heater in last night to make sure it worked. I’ll likely pull it out for summer.

Water Plant Green Light Botany
 
#6 ·
I think that perfect you don't need to supplement with anything else since you also feeding the veggie stick with the calcium. IMO the fluval shrimp food is not that great for shrimp just by looking at the ingredient, i feed mine mostly organic spinach and veggie stick, i also leave an almond leaf for them to graze on. i feed only 2-3 times a week too, last week i didn't even feed them at all, i just left them an Indian almond leaf to graze on since i went on vacation for a week.
 
#7 ·
I ordered dry fertilizers from Green Leaf Aquatics and received them on Friday, so I began dosing this weekend.
After reading through numerous threads, I decided to use Tom Barr's non-CO2 recommendations (which are also nicely summarized here).
I used Fertilator and FertFriend to calculate how much I should add. I estimated that my tank has about 7 gallons of water, and since I already purchased Seachem Flourish, I decided I would use it too.

My plan is to dose the following amounts every other week: 1/8 tsp Flourish, 1/8 tsp Equilibrium, 1/16 tsp KNO3, and 1/64 tsp KH2PO4. This should work out to:
-7.54 ppm NO3
-2.30 ppm PO4
-10.68 ppm K
-2.06 ppm Ca
-0.64 ppm Mg
-0.11 ppm Fe

Since I also already purchased Excel, I will dose 1/8 tsp every other week. I might alternate fertilizers one week and Excel the other. Would this make a difference?

Now that I will be dosing regularly, I'm considering picking up a TDS meter. Anyone have any experience with the HM TDS-3?

I also made a few small changes to my equipment. After reading another horror story about a thermostat malfunction, I removed my heater. Hopefully I won't need to use one during the winter, but if I do, I might opt to buy a more expensive model. I also bought a Fluval prefilter sponge for the HOB intake, and I removed the ugly pantyhose from the Fluval filter and replaced it with filter sponge.

When I stopped in Petco to grab the Fluval sponge, I noticed they were selling Ghost Shrimp for $0.49. This is probably considered expensive for Ghost Shrimp, but I couldn't resist, and I bought six. :hihi: They seem to be doing well, but in retrospect I probably should have waited, since my nitrates are still around 20 ppm. I will do another ~25% WC on Wednesday, and I hope this will bring them down.
Plant Leaf Natural environment Wood Organism


And, I also think I spotted a few clutches of bladder(?) snail eggs. I'm going to leave them alone and see what happens, since I wouldn't mind a few more snails in my tank. I am fully aware that might regret this decision down the road... :icon_eek:
Plant Underwater Terrestrial plant Marine biology Reptile
 
#9 ·
Looks really peaceful. I think a touch of red would be nice.

I wouldn't worry about the snails. I introduce snails into my tank and I haven't had a snail problem in years. They only survive if you are overfeeding or have algae issues. Obviously, you don't want either so if you get everything right, only a few will survive. They get big too when their are only a few.
 
#13 ·
Since I last posted in June, a few things have changed in my Ebi, but nothing major.

Three of the six original ghost shrimp are still alive and buzzing around the tank. I lost one shrimp about a week after I added them to the tank. The other two disappeared within the past month. I hope they died of old age, because I'd like to add some cherries in the next week or two.

I removed the internal filter which came with the Ebi kit, and I'm now only using a TopFin 10. I'd like to upgrade to a AquaClear 20 in the next month.

Here's a picture of the tank from tonight:


I also now have a ~1 gal vase and 10 gal tank set up. The 1g is housing a Java Fern, which has been growing nicely. The 10g is set up with MGOPS capped with Fluval Shrimp Stratum and is planted with Pygmy Chain Sword (Echinodorus tenellus) and Italian Val (Vallisneria spiralis). I'm thinking about using this tank for a betta.

1 gal vase


10 gal
 
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