# Mordalphus' 50g planted shrimp/pleco tank



## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)




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## oaksw12 (Nov 15, 2010)

I think we may have to make a rule where people add "Photog equipment" along with listing Flora, Fauna, etc. Great shots there.


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## AoxomoxoA (Apr 22, 2010)

Looking good, even better when it's grown in a little. I like the pre-filter, I just did the same thing with a marineland magnum HOT canister on a 20L & love it. Tons of flow & massive filtration + micro breeding ground. Oh, & no sucked in shrimp haha

What are the dimensions on the tank? 36x?x18???


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## antbug (May 28, 2010)

Very nice. Where are the pics of the CBS?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

dimensions are 48x18x12, so not quite 50 gallons, it's 200 liters.

And the CBS are hiding under stuff right now, not sure why. At the moment I only have about 20 shrimp in there... I'll end up transferring another 100 or so to start a nice colony, but want to make damned sure the aquarium stays at 0 ammonia, even though I started it with a well aged filter.


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

your tank looks good, super clear water!


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

oaksw12 said:


> I think we may have to make a rule where people add "Photog equipment" along with listing Flora, Fauna, etc. Great shots there.



Sorry I totally missed your comment!

I think it's a pretty cheap point and shoot. The fujifilm finepix S1800.

On the manual modes I've gotten taking pictures of shrimp down to a science though... It takes a lot of time playing with the settings and reading the manual to get good with it though... Out of probably 20,000 photos I've taken with it, only about 500 are good... And most of those are more recent! haha

I'd love to get a DSLR, but that'll only happen when I win the lottery, those things are EXPENSIVE!!! Either that or I'll have to convince my dad that he needs a newer one, and I can buy his old DSLR and lenses off of him. But seeing as how he's unemployed currently, and I have a good job, I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon, lol.


Thanks though!

And I'll take some pictures of the CBS in there tomorrow, I added a piece of bogwood and the water got a little dusty, so no pictures tonight.

-- liam


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)




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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

I'm following this tank! They are so cute!


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## tangdaddy (Dec 10, 2010)

very nice start, and nice dimensions for a shrimp tank... May I ask where you got the breeder caves?

I am looking for some for my planted shrimp tanks.


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## chilled_fire (Jun 4, 2010)

Awesome tank ! super shots, which camera & lens do you use ?


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## oaksw12 (Nov 15, 2010)

He mentioned he uses a fujifilm finepix S1800 - it's definitely some high quality photography


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

yep, just a point'n'shoot with really nice manual features. I wish I could afford a dslr, but I'm not a rich man!


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## AoxomoxoA (Apr 22, 2010)

mordalphus said:


> yep, just a point'n'shoot with really nice manual features. I wish I could afford a dslr, but I'm not a rich man!


LOL, you mean you _were_ a rich man till you blew it all on shrimp. You really do take awesome pics dude, I wish I took half as well.

Did it clear up yet? We want a FTS!:bounce:


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

lol, yah, I USED to be rich before I started this hobby! 

I will snap a fts tonight!


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## fitness2go (Oct 13, 2005)

I've got Cannon Rebel DSLR that I was thinking about upgrading. Trade it for shrimp! Where's the new pics? Ammonia still at 0?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Yeah, ammonia still at zero, there was a small spike i knocked down with prime a day after i put the plecos into the tank. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the soil since I haven't seen any ammonia since. If it was the soil I'm sure I would have had a CRS death by now, or my trumpet snails would have crawled up to the surface. Good stuff, I'm gonna be selling it pretty soon.

And that might be a nice trade, we'll have to talk about it soon. :>


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## chilled_fire (Jun 4, 2010)

mordalphus said:


> yep, just a point'n'shoot with really nice manual features. I wish I could afford a dslr, but I'm not a rich man!


Are you kidding me, i wonder what u'll do if u get the dslr 
BTW, how come ur waters so clean, i see alot of small particles in my tank, so macro shots usually doesn't come as good as i might expect, i have an old canon sx100 , pns , but does good job.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

I don't know... I've never really had a huge problem with debris, maybe the canister just does a super job.

Here are some updated pictures:










Some of the shrimp are mating already:



























I really like the pattern on the back of this CBS, it's almost like the crown mosura head marking, just on the back:


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## Jaggedfury (Sep 11, 2010)

Nice tank! I'm really digging that Mr. Aqua planted tank soil, looks like it keep it's form better than AS Amazonian II. Very nice indeed!


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Oh yeah, this Mr. Aqua stuff, I can only say good things about... It doesn't cloud or stir up when I replant, or move something, it buffers nicely, it's BEAUTIFUL looking, I mean, every piece is uniformly round and large. I haven't tried out the 'small' grain yet, but I'm thinking it'll be just as nice.

I'll be selling it early next year, I can't say there's anything bad about it! Even the price is good!


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## AoxomoxoA (Apr 22, 2010)

Nice man, it's coming along isn't it? I love all the nooks & crannies I can look at the FTS for a while & grin at all the neat little spots.

This soil. I want some now. How much & where is it?


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## fitness2go (Oct 13, 2005)

That soil looks to be perfect for shrimp tanks and the plants seem to like it too! There's clear and then there's crystal clear. You have the latter to go along with beautiful crystal shrimp!

David


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

what l would do for a cbs like the one in the last pic ...as usual you take very nice close-ups.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

> This soil. I want some now. How much & where is it?


Well, hopefully very shortly after Christmas I'll be selling it in the SnS. The price would be 25 plus shipping for forum members.

Thanks for the comments David and shadow!

-- liam


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## snausage (Mar 8, 2010)

Awesome tank Liam. It's a great combo of functionality and pleasing aesthetics.


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

Great pictures, your a pro! Wish I could take pictures like that


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## snausage (Mar 8, 2010)

mordalphus said:


> Well, hopefully very shortly after Christmas I'll be selling it in the SnS. The price would be 25 plus shipping for forum members.
> 
> Thanks for the comments David and shadow!
> 
> -- liam


You can put me on the tentative list for this. I've developed a bizarre form of collectoritis for soils.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Some more berried shrimps this morning!


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Also earlier this week I got my in-line heater, a hydor 300 watt. Looks nicer without that crappy temporary heater in there. Now I just have to wait for my toninas to come in so I can hide the intake!

Also going to hopefully be setting up a paintball CO2 setup here with an in-line clippard mouse solenoid. I hope it works!


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## R33 GTR (Mar 13, 2009)

damm a love the cbs i wish i can get some in my tanks but my temp is to hot fr them


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Yeah, I bet it would be hard to keep crystal shrimp in Puerto Rico. Maybe one day you could get a chiller, then you'd be able to keep some!


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

More pictures, more pictures!!! Tanks lookin good Liam. If you put some CRS up in the SnS let me know.


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## AoxomoxoA (Apr 22, 2010)

mordalphus said:


>


Really like this one:thumbsup:


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## R33 GTR (Mar 13, 2009)

I have a 2.5gal in my room with a HMF filter and the temp is 76 to 78 in this winter i need to see if in summer it gets to hot for them


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

Nice pics!!

Yeah, the soil does look nice, maybe I should just try it after nice. Hopefully not too much ammonia problem or turn into mush.


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

mordalphus said:


>




What plant is this? I like the crinklyness of the leaves. It reminds of lettuce. I think the shrimp likes it too!


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

That's downoi (pogostemon helferi)


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Here's a video I took after dosing the tank with Mosura Eros:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14pXO9HVa1A


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## avandss (Dec 15, 2010)

whats a tonina intake?

also what are your currently using in the first pic for your in and out?

out seems weird? what is it

if you could link to the products it would be greatly appreciated

thanks!!! and YOUR TANK IS absolutely gorgeous!


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## avandss (Dec 15, 2010)

ok i figured most of it out, except for you outflow 

tonina = tanks

intake = double elite

outflow???


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

My outflow is actually just a spraybar!

The intake is a double sponge filter.


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## AoxomoxoA (Apr 22, 2010)

Update when you have time please? The video was a nice tease of how rapidly this tank is progressing. 
I see a very nice setup coming together.:thumbsup:Nice shrimp tank dude. 
You have awesome plants too & this soil seems to be pretty awesome to boot! I can't believe how fast you got all those shrimp in there. My near-future 33L I will be using this soil. 
I saw some pretty bleeping sweet shrimp swimming in that vid too!!! Niiicce:drool:


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## whizzle (May 12, 2010)

I absolutely LOVE your tank! Especially the l-144s and the alternanthera reineckii. Keep the piks coming I'm definitely subscribed.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Oh thanks! Here are a few pics I took recently, the FTS is from today:


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

WHOA! This tank is AMAZING!

Looks like a playground for shrimp!

Keep the pictures coming!


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

You see that patch of a. reineckii in the back left of the tank? On every single leaf, there's one berried CRS. I have no idea why, but as soon as one gets berried, it will just sit on the leaf, right by the stem. It's totally nuts, never seen anything like it!


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Must think that it is safe there or something because it blends in maybe?


LOVE THE TANK.


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

Hey Liam! I have 2 questions - what are the dimensions of your tank??? and how deep is your mr. aqua substrate (1-3"+) ??


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

tank is standard 200 liter. 48"x19"x13" I think.

and soil is 2 inches in front sloping back to 5 in the back. Slope is supported by lava rock.


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## whizzle (May 12, 2010)

What are your parameters? Just out of curiosity.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

GH 3
KH 0-1
pH 6.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20ppm
Temp 72.8


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## whizzle (May 12, 2010)

Cool thanks


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## Gunplameister (Jan 6, 2011)

Dude freaking fantastic shrimp and pics, I'm so glad to see what camera ur using as I ordered one and will be here Monday. I was concerned with pic quality but ur pics have put me to ease, might pm u later for ur settings. 

And if this tank gets stolen I know nothing lol but will keep watching.


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## AoxomoxoA (Apr 22, 2010)

Gunplameister said:


> And if this tank gets stolen I know nothing lol but will keep watching.


lol (it'll take 2 of us to carry, but we may need more hands once we see all the shrimp tanks)

It really does look nice Liam, the black backgrounds always help & look nice to me too.
The plant selection is divine, like I'm at Tom's Plant Church... I want at least half the ones you have in this tank!
Looks like the soil holds up to a little shuffling plants around/re-planting tooroud:

My Downois melted  go figure I shouldn't have let them sit over night in alk water. I knew better but did it anyways.


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## IZZIE (Sep 3, 2009)

May I ask what do you dose for your plants ? your tank is Awesome !!!


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## antbug (May 28, 2010)

Wow! This tank is coming together nicely. I love that FTS.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

thanks guys!

I'll take another fts after my trim tonight (or at least try to remember)

I've been dosing EI at half, and some plants are liking it (including bba for some weird reason) some are hating it (downoi, some others) I think everyone just needs to get used to it. Stem plants are going nuts, and my eriocaulon matto grosso is splitting and flowering, it's awesome!


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

How are the shrimpies doing??? and I had a few questions about your setup:

- are you using CO2?
- what is your lighting fixture? wattage?
- filtration??


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

yes, pressurized 5lb tank with inline diffuser

fixture is a 48 inch 2 bulb fishneedit t5ho, forgot wattage

filter is a big jebo filter with dual sponge filter intake.


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## Senior Shrimpo (Dec 4, 2010)

Man I love this tank. 

This is one of those tanks I really like to see grow. Because I know that, as a fellow shrimp breeder, every day your shrimp population is expanding. 

I just found two pregnant breviatas in my tank. I couldn't be more happy; I've been trying to cross them with CRS.

This tank is amazing, as well as the shrimp. Great pics too Liam.


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

I just finished reading everything...i'm assuming your using all 100% RO water??? or is it 50/50?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

I use 100% ro and reconstitute it with montmorillonite and equilibrium to achieve 2-3 gh and 0-1 kh


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

I like your tank. Keep up with the pictures bro. Utilize that DSLR.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

mordalphus said:


> fixture is a 48 inch 2 bulb fishneedit t5ho, forgot wattage


108 watts


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

So that past few weeks, I've had a few CRS die, and this last week was the worst... At first I thought it was because of them adjusting to the EI ferts, and I'm guessing that the ferts are _PART_ of the problem.

Well, I thought maybe the unsteady pH (from the CO2 turning on in the morning and off at night) may be stressing them just a bit, so I decided to hook up my co2 controller.

So, I put together the controller and plug it in, and it says my pH is 3.5, and I'm like.. Ok, obviously it needs some calibrating, so I get out my calibration liquids and calibrate, and put the electrode back in, and it's pH 3.8.

Welllll, that explains some things, but WHY would my pH be that low? I use RO water, and the pH of the RO is just about 5, it levels out at 6.5 in the tanks after about 12 hours or so... I use the RO because my tap water is pH 8, gh 0-1, kh 0-1, and I was using the RO to get the pH down... Little did I know:

My water utility has changed the water in our water tower, because it now tests at 6.5 pH. I can only imagine what my pure RO water is like... I'm about to go test it, but anyways, It's a bit rough, I'm trying to slowly drip pH 9 water into my pH 3.8 tank, and it's slowly going up... And then I'm going to use only dechlorinated tap, and set the CO2 controller to drop it to 6.0

What a weird, totally unpredictable problem.

Oh well, at least I have it diagnosed and on its way to being remedied. My damn downoi all melted though, and I had about 30 nice plants in this tank.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

RO had a pH of 4.4

That in combination with driftwood, active soil and ferts, must have dropped me down into the 3's


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

That's crazy! Good thing you figured out the problem


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Yah, I never would have figured it out without a digital pH meter, since test liquid only goes down to 6.0, and that was somewhat normal in the past.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Wow what a bummer, hopefully that eros will help replenish your populations back to what you had it. Maybe It's time l need to get myself a ph meter lol. Which one did you get out of curiosity?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

!shadow! said:


> Wow what a bummer, hopefully that eros will help replenish your populations back to what you had it. Maybe It's time l need to get myself a ph meter lol. Which one did you get out of curiosity?


I have a milwaukee pH controller. It displays the pH constantly of the tank, and I now have it nailed to my wall right above the tank, lol. Never again will I rely on liquid tests, they just don't have the range.


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## chiefroastbeef (Feb 14, 2011)

cool tank! the first picture of the entire tank reminds me of some sort of bootcamp/outdoor obstacle course. With the wire mesh, ceramic pipes and all.


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## AoxomoxoA (Apr 22, 2010)

mordalphus said:


> So...
> What a weird, totally unpredictable problem...
> 
> Oh well, at least I have it diagnosed and on its way to being remedied. My damn downoi all melted though, and I had about 30 nice plants in this tank.


Wow dude nice save but drag about the downoi. They're so fragile. Better them than shrimp I guess?
This reminds me to check tap water here again (& often), things can change rapidly. That's a pretty big change actually for your tap.

pH meter For The Win!


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## whizzle (May 12, 2010)

Is this tank still up and running?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Yes, but it went from a shrimp tank to an oscar/gourami tank


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