# Pandamonium's 12g Long - "Pride Rock" *UPDATE*



## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

Updates: 4/4/13 - Rescaped a little and added a feeding tray (Post 26)

Updates: 2/25/13 - More Berried Shrimps and first Shrimplets! (Post 20)

Updates: 1/9/13 - Berried Tiger Shrimp! (Post 18)

Updates: 1/9/13 - Are these new shrimp blonde OEBT? (Post 17)

Updates: 1/5/13 - Nitrates have dropped  (Post 16)

Updates: 1/1/13 - Happy New Year! More shrimp photos and INSANE nitrate spike? (Post 15)

Updates: 12/26/12 - Shrimps are in! (Post 11)

Updates: 12/21/12 - Scape, Plants, and Fish Addition (Post 10)

Updates: 12/20/12 - DIY Heater Build with Pictures: Part 1. (Post 9)


Parameters: 

KH: 1
GH: 5
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm
pH: 6.8

Hey everyone,

So I decided to jump aboard the shrimp train after realizing that a month was too short to learn and make a pico-reef tank. That's gonna be another project, maybe this summer. But in the meantime, this shrimp tank can definitely happen haha  

I'll try to keep this first post as recent as possible or at least add links to where each step of my build is. 

Specs:

*Size:* 12 gallon long
*Filter:* 2 Small Sponge Filters, Eheim ECCO Pro 2232
*Lighting:* 3 x 13W 6500K CFL bulbs in a DIY Hood Housing
*Substrate:* Fluval Shrimp Stratum *(Donated by Betta Maniac. Thanks so much for your generosity!)*
*Heater:* Ebo Jager 75W with DIY Inline modification
*Hardscape:* Red Lava Rock, Manzanita
*Stand:* DIY Steel Stand 

Just the tank









Custom Mesh Cover









The stand









Tank with lighting over it


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

reserved for more pictures


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## Jonnywhoop (May 30, 2012)

gonna be epic!!!


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Sounds like this is going to be a nice build.

What are you going to do in order to support the corners of the tank?


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## bigd603 (May 10, 2011)

What is the purpose of the mesh?


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

Jonnywhoop said:


> gonna be epic!!!


Thanks! I hope it will be  It's gonna be a quick build but I have an idea in my head that can hopefully translate onto this tank!



somewhatshocked said:


> Sounds like this is going to be a nice build.
> 
> What are you going to do in order to support the corners of the tank?


The pad that the tank sits on juts out just beyond the tank itself, maybe like 37'' long pad for a 35.4'' long tank. The photo I couldn't get to show that, but the entirety of the tank is sitting on the stand. Is that what you are talking about? 



bigd603 said:


> What is the purpose of the mesh?


I figured I need a cover just in case any fish/shrimp decide to get jumping, and it came with the tank. I made a few modifications to it so it would sit better  It also doubles as a way to keep my CFL hood suspended over the tank since the hood is just smaller than the inner length of the tank.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Yes - appears that the tank is merely seated on a piece of plywood with no supports beneath the plywood.



pandamonium said:


> The pad that the tank sits on juts out just beyond the tank itself, maybe like 37'' long pad for a 35.4'' long tank. The photo I couldn't get to show that, but the entirety of the tank is sitting on the stand. Is that what you are talking about?


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

That is right. The supports extend out pretty far, within an inch of both sides but not all the way. The previous owner didn't experience problems with this setup but just to be safe, I am going to grab some more plywood or a metal sheet to reinforce the tank. I can't modify the stand since it is welded in unfortunately. Good call though, I will get to doing that before I fill the tank up


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

*Next update: DIY heater building*

So I bought the parts to build the DIY heater. 

I used a rubber band, a smooth reducer (1.5 to 0.5 inches), and the 75W heater. 









Next I put the rubber band underneath the lip of the temperature dial prior to siliconing.









Silicone was placed on the bottom of the heater, right at or above the water fill line. 









I pushed the heater into the reducer and the rubber band gives a little space between the silicone and the temperature dial so that I can still turn it. I am gonna leave it overnight to dry and then I'll nick off the rubber band. This was exactly how the last build went but I tried to show this in more detail. 









Right now the silicone is curing. Once it's all done, I will put the housing together


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

So today I went on a crazy trip all over the Bay Area to pick up a filter, fish, and plants. 

Got home and started scaping my tank like crazy. I had previously bought a sponge filter and have been using it in my old tank so I seeded it pretty good, which should help the transition of this new tank  That as well as my old canister filter. 

First I used my mom's expensive silicone spatula to lay down the Fluval Shrimp Stratum. Looks dark which I had not expected but I do like it. Next I cleaned the rock. I grabbed some lava rock for a hardscape. Figure that it was porous so it would help with biological filtration as well as allow me to place moss there in the future. In total, all the lava rock cost me a whopping....$1.54. Score.

















Next was planting the plants. I used Eleocharis flavescens as well as what I think is chain sword, or something similar. From Speedie so thank you Speedie! 

The whole idea of the scape was to have a Lion King almost feel with Pride Rock on the right and Scar's land on the left. So Pride Rock side is majestic and heavily planted while Scar's side is meager and very sparse. I tried to capture this using 2 different plants. The middle is barren, almost like a divide between the two. Not sure what to do there yet but any ideas would be awesome 

*Pride Rock*









*The Scar Lands*









Finally was the fish addition  I used in this Vietnamese White Clouds, an homage to my culture but I figured I should have "clouds" in the sky above my scape. 









The FTS is hard to get cuz I am behind my Christmas tree at the moment but afterwards it should be good


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

So finally was able to get some shrimp in here. I originally had planned only for orange neos (kinda like lions of the savannah) but then I figured I could use tiger shrimps. Yes, I get that tigers and lions are never in the same place geologically but it looks pretty cool. Orange "lion" shrimp, striped tiger shrimp, and white clouds in the "sky". 

Anyhow here are a bunch of pics I took of them shrimps today and 2 of fish 

One of the orange neos perched on my lava rock. Kinda see through but hopefully he/she will color up soon 









Hanging out under the frogbit









Tiger shrimp on the temporary HOB hanging out. Anyone know why it has orange eyes but is not blue?









Neo on my moss tree

















Tiger on my moss ball under the java moss I threw in temporarily









Neos hanging out on the opposite rocks









Tiger on the rocks. Almost looks like its yellow at the ends.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

I don't see anywhere that your tank cycled. That's a process that takes quite a while, even with a previously used filter.

It's not just for processing ammonia but for developing a nice environment for shrimp. 

Are you monitoring parameters?


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## jarvitron (Aug 6, 2012)

"Anyone know why it has orange eyes but isn't blue"

Good luck with your tank.

"Orange eye blue tiger" shrimp are just like Rili shrimp, a selectively intensified coloration that exists in wild populations. Orange eyes, black eyes, blue bodies, clear bodies, blue stripes, black stripes, brown stripes, red stripes, all exist (to greater or lesser intensity) in wild populations. When somebody is selling "OEBT" they're selling a line that (hopefully) has been selectively bred to create _mostly_ Orange Eye blue body tiger shrimp, but even the best lines will throw some wilder variance.

As far as everything else goes, I have the same concerns as above - There's no dates on the pictures but you seem to have thrown the tank together from parts in under a week, I hope you have put thought into the parameters of your water and the maturity of the tank, because in that small of a tank, and with shrimp, it all counts.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

somewhatshocked said:


> I don't see anywhere that your tank cycled. That's a process that takes quite a while, even with a previously used filter.
> 
> It's not just for processing ammonia but for developing a nice environment for shrimp.
> 
> Are you monitoring parameters?





jarvitron said:


> "Anyone know why it has orange eyes but isn't blue"
> 
> Good luck with your tank.
> 
> ...


Yeah I have been monitoring parameters every day since I put it together. I had a bad case of new tank syndrome when I started a tank many years ago before I understood everything going on. Since then I have been very cautious about it. I haven't updated the parameters I list but as of today, they are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and nitrates on the rise. I used half of my canister filter media from my year and a half old 40 gallon tank and the Tetra Safe Start starter cultures to seed/develop the beneficial bacteria. I also have been doing water changes like crazy. Funny story here is that I tested the tap and it had 0.25 ppm ammonia after I used Prime so I thought I was putting ammonia straight into the tank and thus continued to do many water changes in a row. But it turns out the test cannot distinguish ammonia sequestered by Prime and free harmful ammonia (what I learned from another forum). 

Either way it goes I have been treading carefully as I have read that shrimp do not do well (die) in ammonia or nitrite waters so I made sure that the environment was suitable before introducing them. The white clouds I introduced first as a test and so far (knock on wood) none of them have died or shown signs of stress. They are eating well and swimming about very vigorously. It could be because it's in their nature as well I guess, but the shrimps are doing well also. Eating and nibbling here and there. I took a sponge filter I had in another tank which was pretty much covered in biofilm and put it in this one for filtration and food too.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

So finally switched filters on my tanks. Threw my Eheim ECCO pro 2232 on the 12 gallon long with a spraybar I salvaged from the SunSun 304B that I tacked onto my 40 gallon Amazon tank. Both tanks are doing well and I did a water change after filter transfer on both tanks.

Filled the Amazon tank filter with lava rock since it has a good surface area and for 4 dollars, I got maybe 10-15 pounds at HD. There may be other more porous options like pot scrubbers but I don't know where to find them for cheap haha  Lava rock will definitely be fine. 

I did water tests on my shrimp tank today and my nitrates apparently are between 80 and 160 ppm. I will be doing a water change very soon (aka when I finish my dinner). Ammonia and nitrite are solidly at 0 ppm. Any thoughts to why nitrate is so high? It's strange. I don't think there is that much decomposition. I dumped out the dirty water from the canister when I transferred it but did not wash the biological media so that I wouldn't kill any bacteria. 

Photos!


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

The nitrates dropped off after a few days of putting pennywort, frogbit and water lettuce into the tank. Those things suck it up fast. It's still at around 20 but compared to 160 I think it's acceptable for now. 

Otherwise, added some more shrimps, CRS ( I think they are S grade? Any help would be great). I do fully understand that they can interbreed with the tigers but if I do want to sell any offspring, I will make that very clear to the buyer. But my plan is that these shrimp are for my viewing pleasure and the orange neos can breed as much as they want 

Shrimps

This guy looks funny. Not sure if he looks S grade like his other friends.









others with a tiger eating









hanging out under a tree


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

So since I set up everything, the tank has finally stabilized. I ended up putting in some more black eyed blue tigers that I got in an auction. Then I went to the fish store and they were selling tigers for $1.50 each. I looked through and I saw some orange eyes on these tigers so I fished out those and some others. If these are blonde OEBTs, will they eventually breed OEBT?

Also, I decided to split up the CRS and tigers. Since I only have 5 CRS, I grabbed a breeder box and put them all in there with some java moss and frogbit. It's still linked to the tank so the water conditions are the same. 

Here are some more pics!

CRS meets orange neo...









Blue tigers hanging out in a tree









New (hopefully blonde OEBT) tigers









CRS roaming (S+ tiger tooth I think)









CRS in breeder box









Neos and tigers eating. They ate a LOT more today than ever...









Blonde OEBT? Would be cool if it was


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

Looked at my tank today and saw some shrimp fights but then took a closer look and....










First time I have had a berried shrimp. I don't know who the father is. It could be some CRS, which I did remove or it could be other tigers. I guess I will have to wait and find out!


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## Sluuuder (Feb 7, 2012)

Awesome tank and shrimp! Can't wait to get some tigers!


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

First update in a while! Just got back from school and found out my shrimps gave birth but my fish were snacking hard! I gave away the fish and voila tons more babies! 

More berried tigers!









More CRS (SS to B grade) that I got traded. 22 CRS for 40 white clouds!









Hello there little shrimplets!

















Got some free rilis from my roommate Bananariot. Berried in 2 days!









Fat momma shrimp


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

*Pandamonium's 12g Long - "Pride Rock" *FIRST SHRIMPLETS**

How quickly did your Tigers get berried? Mine have been in my tank for 6 weeks and have molted more times than I can count, but none of them are berried yet. What is your PH?


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

The Dude said:


> How quickly did your Tigers get berried? Mine have been in my tank for 6 weeks and have molted more times than I can count, but none of them are berried yet. What is your PH?


My tigers were berried within 1.5 to 2 weeks of getting them. The first one gave birth last week and there are 2 or 3 more following up soon. Unfortunately, I'll be at school so I won't witness it but it's okay as long as they survive  The last I checked, my pH was buffered to 6.8 by the substrate. It comes out of the tap at 7.2 with a KH of almost 0-1. I imagine the pH probably dropped a little to 6.6 maybe.


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## water-kitties (Mar 19, 2013)

Your tank is beautiful! You don't worry about the cloud minnows snacking on your babies?


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Congrats! the tank looks great.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

water-kitties said:


> Your tank is beautiful! You don't worry about the cloud minnows snacking on your babies?


They didn't touch babies for the longest time and they actually spawned in my tank without me even knowing. But I removed them just in case because they were starting to nip the mama shrimps. And thanks for the compliment! The tank looks a bit different now without the white clouds!



Green_Flash said:


> Congrats! the tank looks great.


Thanks!


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

Been a while since I have updated the journal since being at school. In the meantime, I have added 2 breeder boxes onto the tank. One has red rili/cherry of different grades and the other has some OEBT. 

Unfortunately, one of the OEBT jumped out but I have 4 or 5 left. 1 of them is blonde, the other are blue. 

With regards to the tank, the orange neos have been breeding like crazy. The tank is swarming with little shrimplets. I haven't found a berried mother yet though so hopefully it hasn't all stopped. My normal tigers have met unfortunate ends  Only 2 are left now, both healthy but I think both might be female as well. We will see what happens with them. I am on the lookout for more tigers at the moment, but not wanting them to breed with my OEBT. 

The most recent addition to the tank are amanos which are doing a spectacular job keep the tank clean. I moved over the moss tree and have resorted to purely sponge filters, no more canister. Still deciding if I am gonna use that or sell it with the inline heater that I built. 

Just 1 picture of my shrimps eating  More hopefully soon









In the meanwhile, the crystals, I have moved to another 2 gallon which I will be starting a tank journal for soon  Be on the lookout!


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## newbieplanter (Jan 13, 2013)

Saweeeeeeeet looken tank I need to do an all shrimp tank myself, I have them mixed with guppies and Cory cats,and algae eaters an snails too so the babies really have no chance at all. Thanks for the inspiration.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

Of course! I haven't made an update in a while since I have been in school but now I am back so hopefully that can start up again!


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