My High Tech 2ft Shrimp Tank

[divyb]

Hello all,

I figured it was time for me to share my crs and cbs tank
The specs are:

-AquaOne rimless tank (65L / 17G) 60cm x 32cm x34cm
-Lights 4x24w T5HO (2x80mm coolmaster fans with LCD temp display and speed control, also LED sunrise and sunset lights)
-Filter Ehiem 2215 (Ehiem media with seachem Purigen)
-Heater Hydor 200w inline
-UV Jebo 9w
-Co2 Presurised, Duel gauge reg with soleniod, UpAqua inline diffuser, glass bubble counter and weipro 2010 PH controller with inline probe
-Extras Glass Lily Pipes, Cal's double drop checker and 2 LCD timmers

The plants are Hemianthus callitrichoides and Eleocharis parvulus and im dosing the E.I method with the Seachem fert range
The substrate is UpAqua and the rocks are seiryu

Fish is only 5 oto's

I have first started with 10 A grade CRS and 18 A CBS grade
At first i was thinking the shrimp would not survive because of the co2, and if the
co2 didnt get them the ferts would because im dosing 3.5 more then suggested on the bottles
But they have been in the tank for 3 weeks and they are all doing great!
also 3 days ago i found 2 berried cbs! yay

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P8090006.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P8090003.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P8090002.jpg

[divyb]

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P8220006.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P8230024.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P8230002.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P8230008.jpg

[divyb]

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P8230019.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P8230016.jpg

[leroi]

thanks for sharing your beautiful tank!

[Shrimpson]

Hey, thanks for sharing. I like the Iwagumi layout. Mind to tell more about the lights? Keep it up, Marcus

[seetharam]

FANTASTIC IWAGUMI Setup ..... Really Loved It!

One thing that i noticed , Your Cuba carpet has grown quite thick and i can see yellowing of leaves at the bottom, i would suggest you give a good trim fast, else the entire carpet will start uprooting. Initially after the good trim , the scape will look bad, but within a few days will be good as new.

[divyb]

Thanks for the nice words, i cant wait to see it full of shrimp lol

Shrimpson, The light unit i made myself, it can also be adjusted up to 25-30cm, the cabinet i made too

seetharam, i was having issues with my tank but now ive changed a few settings around and the ferts last week ive noticed a big difference, the HC was yellowish before i changed everything but do you still think i should trim it about half way down?

[seetharam]

You made the light unit yourself !!! Absolutely Brilliant !!! Would you be kind enough to share the DIY please ???

Yes i would definitely recommend that, Have had a very nice similar Iwagumi setup , it got ruined as i failed to do the trimming, below is the link which shows the tank , now there is nothing left of the carpet in the front of the tank, so converted it to a CRS breeding Tank instead of a show tank.

http://www.shrimpnow.com/forums/showthread.php?4396-Cuba-Tank-for-CRS

[imke_j]

Your tank is amazing and set up with care and knowledge -great! How do you do water changes;are you just topping up?

[Shrimpson]

You made the light unit yourself !!! Absolutely Brilliant !!! Would you be kind enough to share the DIY please ??? - Yeah, this is what I was asking for. ;) Cheers, Marcus

[divyb]

seetharam, beatiful tank! its a shame you lost the HC

imke_j, thanks care yes, knowledge hmmm maybe lol, its my first planted tank and first time keeping shrimp
I just did all the research i could and alot of people from different forums has helped me too with great information

Since its a planted tank and i dose high amounts of ferts i do 2 25% water changes a week or 1 50% waterchange

Im glad you like the light unit, the aim was a high tech unit but i also wanted it sleek and clean looking to match the ada copy stand

[divyb]

Heres a few pics of the light unit being made

heres the LCD fan temp display and speed control i started with, here you can see ive removed and fitted the speed dials to the back of the hood and mounted the unit to the hood

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010037-1.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010041.jpg

here i also fitted 2 fan grilles and also flush mounted them to the hood like the lcd display
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010040-1.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010043-1.jpg

i made 2 led moonlight bars that are mounted flust to the bottom cover
I have changed these to white leds to give a sunrise and sunset affect
which looks alot nicer then the blue
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010052-1.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010046-1.jpg

[divyb]

painted with mdf sealer then a few coats of primer
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010066.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010068.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010065-1.jpg

bottom cover, i also used T-nuts which lets you put stainless steel threads into the mdf so i can unscrew the bottom perspex light cover or bottom cover when ever i want without messing up the mdf, i also used stainless steel allen key counter sunk bolts
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010064.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1010063-1.jpg

[divyb]

next was the paint after the mdf sealer then the primer and alot of sanding smooth i painted it gloss jet black and then after it was painted i again sanded and polished it to give a shiny mirror look

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/ertye9.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/ertye13.jpg

heres the back of the hood, it has 3 vents for the heat to exit from the fans, 3 switches 2 for lights and 1 for the fans and lcd display, and the 2 dials for the speed of the fans
this was taken while i was wiring
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/ertye7.jpg

wiring OMG! lol
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P4190011.jpg

and how it is now
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P8090006.jpg

[seetharam]

:)Thanks Divy that was really helpful :)

[PureShrimp]

Ah a pc modder are we? Really nice looking tank.

[Anubia]

Hi guys...nice thread and a good read...

Especially nice to see a well aquascaped Igwami with HC carpetting. A few questions so I apologise for asking within this thread....Didn't catch the C02 infusion rate, so can you please provide the BPM you are producing. Where did you put your diffuser within your aquascape and do the shrimp mind ? Do you measure your C02 with a drop checker ?

Once again thx again for posting thread and good to your DIY skills came to the fore, excellent lighting/ hood combo...

[divyb]

Nah not at all, computer internals scare me lol

but i love diy and gadjets and the comp parts fit the bill to what i needed

heres a pic of my first diy tank, it was 3foot and had hidden filter system with heater and uv even though it looks like just a divided tank



http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/PA190689.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/ff.jpg

[divyb]

Anubia, im running 2 bps, the diffuser is a inline unit so its inside the cabinet
the co2 come out the outflow lily pipe which is great because it diffuses and spreads the co2 better
When i was using a glass diffuser i would have to have the co2 set at 4bps
i went for that diffuser because i wanted the less amount of equipment in the tank as possible,
heres a pic of it,
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P1070104.jpg

i was worried about the co2 killing the shrimp but they dont seem to mind and same with the high ferts i dose

i was using two glass drop checkers to make sure i set the co2 right, now i just use the cals double drop checker
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P7260013.jpg

[leroi]

divyb, your diy's are very neat.

[Anubia]

Hi Divyb....again thankyou for your prompt reply and associated pictures.

I'm unacustomed to the in-line diffuser method and have researching utilising a ADA glass diffuser attached to the C02 equipment. What is your opinion and thoughts as to the better method...? Does the in-line diffuser just provide better coverage of C02..?

If I proceed with an In-tank diffuser what would be the best position within the tank - near the ingress or egress pipes.

Enjoyed your thread...many thx

[divyb]

For me personally the inline diffuser works better, the better you can disolve and spread the co2 the better for the plants and since it diffuses the co2 better im using less co2 so my co2 lasts more then when i was using the glass ada style diffuser

so for me i like it better because
-uses less co2
-no diffuser in the tank so its a cleaner look

i have the inline diffuser as the last item before the water exits the outlet pipe

my set-up is like this:
water comes into the inlet pipe threw a inline ph probe into the filter then out the filter threw the UV then the inline heater and last the inline diffuser and then exits threw the outlet pipe

with a glass diffuser i think the best place for it is near the outlet or fast flow of the outlet so when the bubbles exit the glass diffuser and goes up it gets caught in the water flow so it can spread

i hope that helps a little

[Shrimpson]

Heyas divyb,

I will spend my spare time now modding a nano tank into a gaming PC. ;) Thank you for the explanation and information regarding your DIY project. Very nice! Also your Betta "rack" looks nice. Hope to hear/see more of your work here at shrimpnow.com

Best regards, Marcus

[mighty muffin]

Wahoo, lovely! You did those custom stuff very well!

Best regards,
Muffin

[Anubia]

Divyb...what make / model was your in-line diffuser..? I can purchase a Cal-Aqua in-line diffuser (13mm) within the UK but these are glass ....I cannot see any problem with this but thought I'd ask the question..

It seems a shame to place a nice glass component like the Cal-Aqua within a cabinet... I do understand though that it is the art of just providing an aquascape within the tank and the less gadgetry and filter(C02) equipment the better the view...

Thx again...

[divyb]

Shrimpson, lol i cant wait and i hope you install a anti-virus program ;)

Thanks for the nice words muffin, its always nice to hear people like what you've done

anubia, my inline diffuser is a upaqua one

yeah i really like the cals inline one and its ok to show it off because its outside the tank :)

I would have gone for a cals inline one but they cost alot here in australia, and i couldnt pass up the upaqua one for $160 cheaper

[Frank]

Very nice setup and innovative technics.
Write an article and you get Mosura products. ;)

[divyb]

thanks alot frank,

what do you mean by writing a article?

[imke_j]

what do you mean by writing a article?
We have an article contest running; your DIY coverage would be worth an article :)
http://www.shrimpnow.com/forums/showthread.php?5878-Articles-Contest

[divyb]

thanks alot for the link imke_j

[divyb]

changed the plants around abit

HG to Blyxa japonica and the HC has been replaced with Elatine gratioloides

Shrimp are all doing well,

started with 28 adults only one died which was alot bigger then the rest so it might of been from age
now have:
27 adults, 5 berried
and just counted 23 shrimplet

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P9280019.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P9180028.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P9230010.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P9230005.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P9230009.jpg

[Big Dog]

I like your setup. Like how the rocks look in the aquarium.

[ninjashrimp]

inspiring tank - must have cost a fair bit to complete!

im interested to know your water perameters - particularly ph and tds if you know them.

Since the co2 and substrate both lower the ph , what ph is your water from tap, water before co2 adding (substrate affect) and lastly ph set on controller to maintain

Many Thanks

[beijing08]

looks soooo gorgeous.
Since you such an "expensive" tank, you should put in expensive shrimps. Black tigers for instance ;)

[divyb]

Thanks for the kind words,

Sorry ninjashrimp i didnt notice your reply, I dont know my tds but my ph is 6.9 when the co2 is off at night and its around 6.7 during the day when the co2 is on
The shrimp are very happy, the tank hasnt been set up for long and i only started with 28 cbs and crs now i have around 60+ shrimp but there all still juvies and shrimplets
and at the moment of the 28 adults 8 are berried :)

Thanks beijing08, I would love to have it full with higher grade shrimp but here is Australia we dont have and arnt aloud to import Tigers and other shrimp,
all we have here are all type of grade crs and cbs and goldens

i started with A grades because this was my first serious planted tank and shrimp tank so i didnt know if i could keep them alive so i didnt want to spend big dollars for shimp that might have died but now that i know i can keep them i will be slowly selling the A grades and getting higher grades
the goldens here sell for around au$300 which is about the same in US dollars and hinos and so on sell for more

Since everyone likes pics heres some updates
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/PA130062.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P9300026.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/PA130072.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/PA130067.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/P9300036.jpg

[divyb]

And heres a strange one, its red and black
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/PA100052.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/PA100053.jpg

and some ottos :)
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/divyb/PA030044.jpg

[beijing08]

Thanks for the kind words,

Thanks beijing08, I would love to have it full with higher grade shrimp but here is Australia we dont have and arnt aloud to import Tigers and other shrimp,
all we have here are all type of grade crs and cbs and goldens

i started with A grades because this was my first serious planted tank and shrimp tank so i didnt know if i could keep them alive so i didnt want to spend big dollars for shimp that might have died but now that i know i can keep them i will be slowly selling the A grades and getting higher grades
the goldens here sell for around au$300 which is about the same in US dollars and hinos and so on sell for more


wow I guess you guys really don't have access to these. But I mean since you're so close to Southeast Asia (e.g. Indonesia/Japan/Taiwan) one would assume your market opens up quite easily :P
It's a pity :(

[JEMUL]

Hey Divyb,

Amazing tank, i realy like the hardscape with those rocks. That picture of that Crystal BlackRed looks very nice, strange colourration. Keep up the good work, i enjoyed evry picture. Btw at my place they are selling Goldens for like 5 euro. I have 20 off them in my tank.

[Justlikeapill]

That hardscape is very nice and inspiring, and I am totally jealous of your lighting!