# Shadow's first 30c ada shrimp tank *new pics*



## FooDog (Jun 28, 2010)

Awesome. Any full shots?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

umm those shots are from my 10g i'm tearing down i'll post some tomorrow if possible. l'm moving everything over to my ada 30c. l also forgot to mention i'm going led's 8k spectrum on the tank to get the shimmer effect.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

!shadow! said:


> * l'm going to try to go SSS *if possible if not possible i'll just have a wide variety of them for my entertainment :wink:.



Hmm, I wonder who has these guys that would be nice enough to give you a good deal, since they have different stock coming in they don't want to dilute, and have 7 they will be likely getting rid of soon.... :fish::flick:


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l hate you!!  anyways time to go to the S&S to get some mosses


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

some pics of it getting prepped up
kinda crooked but it won't matter after l lay the pebbles/stones wrapped around moss.








l do know the front sand is not flattened out l will do so before fill up time


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

This is just an idea not written in stone, if l do go along with it l can always put stones to seperate the ada nile sand with ada soil


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Thats a pretty cool looking piece of driftwood. Dont make the mistake of smothering it in moss to where you cant see how nice it is.


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## EntoCraig (Jun 7, 2010)

I love the 30c size, and that piece of wood looks great in the tank.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

haha darn you're good  thanks you two


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l just took this one with some stones added


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## EntoCraig (Jun 7, 2010)

:thumbsup:


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

+2 on the rocks. Whats the point of the seperate foreground? Are you going to leave it as is or is the sand for a carpet?


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Thats a nice chunk o wood. Almost looks like a big chunk of shou stone!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

i'm just experimenting right now with looks, l don't know if the wood will stay as it seems a bit too big for the tank but we'll see. The seperate foreground is to prevent any plants from growing past the soil so only the back will grow plants. Sort of like this tank.

Here is a good example of what l mean


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

See how the moss creates a border between the two? this is what i'm aiming at achieving


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

I've done something similar with my 20 long back when I had a sand patch down the middle. You'll need to use many small stones to line the division to get that solid line effect. I used polished river stones with good success. Eventually as the moss overgrows itself you have to remove and retie with those though since the moss never can attach to the polished edges.


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## LedxZep (Sep 25, 2009)

What awesome looking wood! Looking foward to seeing this tank progress.


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

LedxZep said:


> What awesome looking wood! Looking foward to seeing this tank progress.


Agreed. It sort of reminds me of an animal skull, with horns. Keep us updated.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

i'll have to get back on you with the animal skin thingy but l will keep you guys updated. The reason l might not keep the wood in there is because l like to keep my tanks with plenty of space left over for the shrimp to be viewed otherwise i'm left trying to look through the sides of the tank to check on them ever so often. l agree it is a great piece but l feel like if l try to cram it in the tank it'll ruin the entire look or maybe it's just me.


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

That piece wood is very nice! but you right about not being able to see the shrimp, but they would be very happy in there.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

*finally planted!*

ok finally planted it this evening and here are the pics folks
java moss wrapped around rock








front of the tank that is ada nile sand seperated by rocks and anubias petite behind followed by ada soil behind it with java moss right above it for a carpet








as you can see l piled the rocks with moss behind the tank to create sort of like a rock wall. One key l found in my opinion to making it look more naturalistic is leaving some of the rock exposed. lt really gives off a look and catches my eye. l did the same with my manzanita branches with spiky/peacock moss and l love the look.You can also see the led's much better.








my led set-up l used 3 6watt stunner light strips spread out evenly for equal distribution and the effect is magnificent. If you didn't know any better you'd think I had a metal halide pendant on the tank.








all planted sorry about the water droplets on the glass l was misting the plants so they wouldn't dry up while planting the tank








almost there








fts









i'm uploading a fts of it filled up in a couple of minutes i'm trying to get the perfect shot. comments/criticism welcome


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Nice scape!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

pics of it filled up taken just now. Just so you guys know the riccia in the corner i'm debating wether to keep it there for shelter for the babies or taking it out entirely. l was thinking about tying it to the rocks to cover them up, but they look so nice with all the little craters it's hard to do so.
you can see what l mean here. Also l sprinkled some rio grande caribsea gravel to make it look more of a riverbed in the sand portion. l think i'll make that my trademark in my tanks and copyright it 








side shot 








fts


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks nikki


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

A texan that is sort of close to me! :hihi:

Tanks looking great so far. Cant wait to see how it turns out! Working on a moss tank as well. Its taking a very long time for the moss to root to the rock compared to wood! I wonder how well the LED lights work compared to regular fluorescents?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

hehe maybe someday we'll meet up and exchange some info oh and i'm love your pic of the blue tiger l'm thinking about getting some for this tank. Also about your lighting question, l wouldn't know what to tell you but i've seen fluorescents do very well with moss specially with low light. The moss sort of clings to the driftwood in my local fish stores. Now with led l will let you know when l find out later down the road in this tank. I can adjust my lumens in my tank by simply disconnecting the lights from each other since it's all wired in series it's really convenient for me. They are pretty expensive as the stunner strips ran me about 150 +20 or so with the transformer but l do not regret it. The shimmer effect plus the less heat and life of the lights will pay off in the long run in my opinion. Also l know l could of gone with a home depot hampton bay lamp for 20$ with the 6k bulbs (l have the fixture as well) but i've never had algae grow in my tanks with leds so why fix it if it ain't broken ya know? Oh and if you get some blue tigers i'm #1 on that list


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Y'all Texans are funny. 

I'm fixin' to kick shadow in the butt.  Did I mention i was born and raised in Texas shadow? lol


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

Sounds good. Checking out all of the fish stores in Austin is on my to do list. Any recommended? I'll for sure let you know when I have blue tigers available.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

sampster5000 said:


> Sounds good. Checking out all of the fish stores in Austin is on my to do list. Any recommended? I'll for sure let you know when I have blue tigers available.


1st go to aquatek, 2nd aquadome, 3rd amazonia please visit all three it's worth it and the selection will blow your mind away. also aquatek is the only store to carry ada products so yea you pretty much get the point .



msnikkistar said:


> Y'all Texans are funny.
> 
> I'm fixin' to kick shadow in the butt.  Did I mention i was born and raised in Texas shadow? lol


 *runs*


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

Awesome thanks. the LFS' here are pretty lame and not much of a variety in any of them. I didnt realize this until I visited some stores a few months ago when I was visiting family in Houston. I was blown away by the stores there. Even the smallest blew away the largest here. The best here would have to be Fintique. Its across town from where I live and I still go there for everything. Only place I've ever seen selling shrimp like Amano and Sulawesi.

I'm excited to see the stores in Austin now. Gotta make sure to have a full wallet!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Trust me you'll need it, They have SS+ crs and a decent selection of rcs with some amanos to go with. l do think they're expensive for the price but l rather it be expensive and have them than not have them at all. They have a huge selection of gravels such as orinoco substrate all the way down to power sand. They don't got any ada fixtures althought l wish they did or the tanks + bacter, brighty k and all those fancy products but it's better than the average store. aquadome is like a well... dome? and pretty much it's a 2 story dome with salt/reef on top and fresh/ cichlids on bottom along with some plants and shrimp(not that big of a selection but cheaper). But yea if you do happen to stop by shoot me a pm i wouldn't mind hanging out.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Just a small little update, l put 5 rcs in the tank to get it quickly cycled and be ready for my blue pearl shrimp currently kept in my 48g. The fungus of the manzanita is growing but l got a feeling it won't be long before it's gone. Water parameters are kinda high in the ammonia section so l don't want to rush anything. Hopefully the plants will absorb it faster since moss is a fast grower (atleast for me it is).


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

updated pics
dunno if it's caridina or neo anybody?








same with this one








aaaaand again








floating them








same type of shrimp from where l got em at the lfs but diff colors?








at anubias petite








fts


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

I like this tank! It looks like a shrimp heaven.

And I'm no expert, but I think the shrimp are Caridina.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks and l hope not l wanted to put some crs/cbs in there : /


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## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

Wow! Cool tank! I love the shrimp jungle.


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

Lookin really good. The last picture looks awesome. It looks like a rock is stuck to the side of the glass though. The rock on the right on the glass could be removed to look better.


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

this is a great lookin tank. Cant wait for it to fill in nicely.


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## Mellyn (Jul 20, 2005)

Awesome looking tank and amazing shrimp!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

sampster5000 said:


> Lookin really good. The last picture looks awesome. It looks like a rock is stuck to the side of the glass though. The rock on the right on the glass could be removed to look better.


Yea l thought so too but the shrimp love to nibble on it so I thought i'd leave it there



Damian said:


> this is a great lookin tank. Cant wait for it to fill in nicely.


Thanks damian, lt's looking very good so far all the moss is healthy and spreading nicely. l can't wait till the flame moss grows a bit taller.



Mellyn said:


> Awesome looking tank and amazing shrimp!


thanks mellyn. l'm just waiting after x-mas to get me some nice crs to start breeding them. l'm really tempted to just skip the A,S or SS grades and just go to SSS but l'm not 100% sure.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Well l went to my lfs and picked me up 5 crs all S+ grade with a berried female and one crystal blue shrimp l don't think they knew it was blue, it looked more black from afar. The all acclimated well into the tank and so far none dead. hopefully the berried female will suceed and l'll get some nice shrimpies. i'll uploading pics to post in a sec


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l couldn't get a decent picture of the crystal blue shrimp but it looks like the first one in this picture





































l know they're not the best grade shrimp but l figure it'll be good enough for starters and then have a colony and build up from there.


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

We need pics, we need pics!!! lol


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

up  you're fast lol


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

You beat me by one second! Looks like you got some ss grades too!
did you get these from Aquatek?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

yes  l got really lucky and they let me pick em out. there was two berried females in the tank but l forgot to get the other one. most of the ones left were A grades and some S. l tried to get the whitest ones. The crystal blue one was the last one there, talk about lucky.


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

Cool, they never have any nice ones when I go, or when ever I have store credit. lol
when your ready to add some diversity to your blood line let me know, I can hook you up!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

oh yea definately, i'll be leaving to go on vacation on the 9th and won't be back till the 19th so that ruins my plans for ordering shrimp. What type of shrimp you have? Also l'll be ordering a large breeding box from nikki so i'll be able to house more kinds of shrimp in my 30-c. i'm thinking oebt.


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

CRS, A to SSS, but i'm holding on to the SSS for now


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

ha l don't blame you. l would too! eventually l wanna have some crowns.


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

when you get a chance get some better pics of the blue one!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

i will, he just never likes to show his face .


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## swissian (Aug 30, 2010)

Nice shrimp!

Did Aquatek still have some SS when you left? I was thinking about going there today after my finals.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

hard to tell i took most of em but you can check


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## EntoCraig (Jun 7, 2010)

The first 3 pictures look legit! Great specimens! The last one looks completely photo-shoped IMO. My guess is someone took a black bee shrimp and added the blue over it. It just looks too dark to me.

Are the Crystal Blues a different species then the reds? or are they a color variation?


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## FlSHRFun (Jun 26, 2010)

Your scape is awesome! You must have some really happy shrimp!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

EntoCraig said:


> The first 3 pictures look legit! Great specimens! The last one looks completely photo-shoped IMO. My guess is someone took a black bee shrimp and added the blue over it. It just looks too dark to me.
> 
> Are the Crystal Blues a different species then the reds? or are they a color variation?


l'm assuming they are the same species just a color variation of selective breeding.



FlSHRFun said:


> Your scape is awesome! You must have some really happy shrimp!


thanks fishrfun, hopefully they are happy but who knows what they are thinking . l'm guessing as long as they're alive,not sick/stressed they're happy eh? l'm hoping in a couple of months i'll have about 2 more other 30-c with different kinds of shrimps to breed such as orange eyes blue tiger shrimps and maybe some pandas or bkk but that's further up the road when l gain more experience.


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## RcScRs (Oct 22, 2009)

Crystal Blue Shrimp are an entirely different species and are currently known as Paracaridina sp. "Blue". Crystal Red Shrimp are Caridina cf. cantonensis "Red" and are in the Serrata complex. Most likely, you don't have a Crystal Blue Shrimp (more formally Blue Bee Shrimp) but a stressed Black Bee Shrimp.

Justin


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

ahh thanks for the info. l think you might be right about the black bee shrimp. l would think you're right as there were a lot of crystal black shrimp in the tank where l bought it. This shrimp that l happened to buy is like blue and black combined when viewed up close. i'll try getting some nice macros to see what you guys think.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Wow man those are pretty cool shrimp that you have gotten. And the setup is looking great too.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks devin. l really wanted to tear down the bottom half of the tank and go with a riccia carpet since it seems to be growing so well under my 8k leds. Actually it's becoming more like a weed but l don't mind it, hopefully i'll have more than enough to do something with it on my 48g.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

well just peeked at the nano and noticed crs babies clinging to the sides of the glass .From the look of things they look like ss but l will wait till they grow a bit more to determine that. Pics will be up tomorrow!


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## swissian (Aug 30, 2010)

Yay for baby CRS! I'm heading up to Austin today to check on mine!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

haha nice what part of town you in?


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

The tank is coming along nicely. The Crystal blue/black shrimp looks amazing and congrats on the new spawn. Nice to see alot more people in the austin area with crystals.


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## swissian (Aug 30, 2010)

South Austin at St. Edward's


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Yea l just came back from aquatek right before they closed and got me 3 more crs  pics coming shortly. l'm trying to update both journals at the same time lol.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

ok here are some pics









baby rcs








just so you can gauge how small it is sorry about the algae l just came home from vacation yesterday and didn't have time to do clean-up.


























one of my sexy blue neo's 








my only cbs








buddies hanging out, they're not getting along very well let alone look at each other 








Now if only he was more whiter








tarzan much?








king of the jungle 








competition uh oh..


















going to post some pics of the new ones in a bit


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

awesome. what grade are those crs from aquatek? I havent been in weeks.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

mostly SS and SS+ there was some s+ but they're not there anymore.


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

that blue neo looks awesome!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks unfortunately l can't find it with all the moss l have in the freakin tank


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

well guys im tearing down this tank due to the number of parasites l got in it at the moment. l wanted to do it before but l was just lazy to net all the little baby shrimp to the 48g in the meantime. l lost 3 shrimp in about 2 days so yea.. sucks. l surely didn't want to lose the 7 l have left so l did the best thing I could and transferred. Now l got to start planning my next scape  and boy this will be fun.


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## EntoCraig (Jun 7, 2010)

That bites, I have had do do this before. However, depending on the parasites you may be able to treat the whole tank without having to tear it down or move any shrimp. Its also possible the parasite wont even affect the shrimp and will die off soon...

What do you have?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

hydras and planaria but I already transferred them to my 48g so oh well.. l wanted to do a rescape anyways. l'm thinking try riccia as a carpet as it grows well for me . Also how do you clean the plants that might hide the parasites is it some sort of product l can buy or solution l gotta mix to dip the plants?


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## EntoCraig (Jun 7, 2010)

Read my signature. That is all I will say about Riccia...


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Flubezenol or a bleach dip will probably work. Since your plants are mostly tough like anubias and most mosses will take a 1:10 (1 part bleach: 10 parts water) bleach dip fine with a little initial die off of moss but nothing major. 

Also, I think the shrimp you are saying is a cbs is a bumble bee shrimp. 

Nice shrimp and stuff by the way, everything looked great and I feel your pain on the parasites, I have planaria problems... 

-Andrew


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

A Hill said:


> Flubezenol or a bleach dip will probably work. Since your plants are mostly tough like anubias and most mosses will take a 1:10 (1 part bleach: 10 parts water) bleach dip fine with a little initial die off of moss but nothing major.
> 
> Also, I think the shrimp you are saying is a cbs is a bumble bee shrimp.
> 
> ...


thanks Andrew. l got plenty of moss so i'm not really worried about that, it's the anubias petite as they are pretty expensive but i'm glad you mentioned it. l think l learned my lesson on quarantining new species. l think one of the reasons why we as people skip it is that either we are anxious to place our pets into our tanks we put so much effort in and also that we've gotten away with pets doing just fine without doing it that we assume and get into the habit of not doing it and when a catastrophe occurs it's too late.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

well guys after a long scrubbing l got the tank nice and clean again and got some nice hc cuba in the mail about 5 pots . l really don't know what combination of substrate i'm going to use wether it be all ada nile or a combination of ada soil II. On another note my new panorama led light modules from ecoxotic came in! Color spectrum is 8k, same as amano's metal halide fixtures. l got two just in case one wasn't enough for the HC. l will be adding co2 via a 5lb bottle. The only thing that stops me is that the shrimp might not like it due to the hc loving co2 too much. l also might upgrade my aquaclear 20 or 30 forgot which one it is to a eheim 2213 and adjust the flow accordingly. l don't know what other types of plants l want to put or if it's going to be a iwagumi or not, still deciding on that as well and believe me i'm very indecisive about it as i've seen some very nice tempting iwagumi's on the forum. pics will be coming up shortly.


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## schg (Nov 27, 2010)

Sweet, looking forward to seeing the ecoxotic in action. Good choice on ditching the aquaclear as well, for aesthetics at least. Planning on going with glass pipes?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l really want to but to tell you the truth it's just that all of this is adding past my budget but knowing me i'll get them . so far the tank ran me about 110$ lights:120$ l got 2 for one since i've been on the waitlist for a while so pretty much l got 200$ worth of led's for the price of one  and boy they blow the hampton bay 27w desklamp out the water! One thing tho for the money The hampton is tough to beat. l got about 5 pots of hc sitting inside the tank but l have no idea if l should add the nile sand to the scape or not lol. l don't know how good it'll look with the hc or better yet what kind of scape would hc go with nile sand along with ada II


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

*New equipment and a few other things*

Alright guys so l finally gave in and bought me a eheim 2213. l just ordered some lily pipes from aquaticmagic's ebay website so l should be getting them in a couple of weeks. l bought some fluval stratum as well along with some ada xingu sand. l really like the sand and always wanted to try it out because it looks so natural just like the nile sand. On the ecoxotic 8k led's l cannot be more happier. They absolutely bring out the clarity of the tank when lit not to mention the shimmering effect i'll be getting out of them once everything is up and running. As far as using hc l have dry started it in my 2.5g because i'm not 100% sure i'll be using it. l'm thinking using the 2.5 to start a rcs colony and traffering them over later on to my ada 30-c or 48g. l do plan on using some mosses on this tank and maybe some bolbitis which l took out completely out of my 48g.Anubias petite might be attached to some driftwood below the bolbitis to prevent algae growing on it's leaves. As far as fauna i'll have some crs/cbs and a school of some micro rasboras.

here are the pics first is the tank with the hampton bay lamp










Now the led's notice how brighter the bottom of the tank is








some of the equipment









8k ecoxotic led's









this is my 2.5 dry starting the hc

















with 3 6w ecoxotic led's 8k, they're just a smaller version of the ones imma use on the 30-c








This is the closest thing l can come up with when comparing it to what l have in mind.


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

This is looking good. Like the reference pic aswell. I am dry starting my 2.5 aswell with hc. Some advice I would give is to spread the hc out alittle more to allow it to spread quicker. But to each his own. I have seen it done both ways and still worked out great. Good Luck!


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

Looks like you're off to a cool start. Great shrimp you've got in this thread by the way. I would agree with Damian and think you should spread the HC out more. You don't have to plant each strand individually, but you can combine like three or four stems of the HC and plant them that way. I've been happiest growing HC that way. By the way, did you separate the HC from the wool (if it came to you that way)? Cool lights. That sample picture is amazing. 

Best, el g


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks damian and fat guy. l shoulda seperated it but l was lazy . Some of it is turning yellow so i'm wondering if l should just fill it up and raise the co2 or just wait it out. As far as the hc with the wool goes l tried to cut as much of it off as possible then just plant it in the ada soil. l think it'll still get enough nutrients to grow in it. I just picked up some nice mopani driftwood and i'm going to mess around with it a bit before l post some more pictures up.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

ok guys planting is finally done. l have to say l am very pleased with the 2213 along with the ecoxotic led's. pics will either come later on tonight or tomorrow.


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## AdriftQuasar (Jul 5, 2010)

Are those led's the panorama modules or the stunner modules? How do you which ones put out sufficient light for plants?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

those are the panorama modules. l have the stunner as well but wanted to upgrade. l don't know if they do put out enough light but judging from the stunner strips l previously had these are a big upgrade on brightness and quality. My stunner strips grew riccia, java moss anubias petite, fissidens pretty well and since this is a low light tank or i'm trying to keep it that way for now i'll be fine. l'm pretty sure they can handle high light since l'm using 2 panorama modules. 1 is fine for a 30-c but l wanted no dark spots in the tank so l went in with overkill. There are some nice sticky's on the forum explaining lumens,watts, intensity, par and so forth on the subject. It's something worth reading if you ask me.


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## AdriftQuasar (Jul 5, 2010)

I ask because I am in the researching stages of planning my first planted freshwater tank. I have about 4 years of reef experience and am fairly familiar with leds as applied to reef lighting, but I have no idea of the requirements of plants. I'm currently debating going with the affordable option presented by something like the fluval flora, or going with what I truly want in one of the ADA tanks under 10 gallons. Using leds appeals to me because of how long they last and how efficient they are.

Your tank can certainly be counted among those I admire, so I am very much interested in your opinions. Feel free to pm me if you don't want to clutter up your tank thread.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks man l just finished coming home from a long day at work and my work truck just got a flat, nice way to spend your b-day eh? anyways i'll update pics tomorrow and tell you all my opinions and don't worry about cluttering l'm not anal about it and glad you happen to enjoy it.


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## IWANNAGOFAST (Jan 14, 2008)

Looks awesome! How much did you end up spending on the panorama LEDs? 

I'm thinking about switching the lights on my mini-m (27w archaea) and my 90 p (3x39w t5ho) to LEDs, and trying to find something w/in reasonable price so I don't have to DIY


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## AdriftQuasar (Jul 5, 2010)

Sorry to hear to had a crappy birthday day. Happy belated Birthday though!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

IWANNAGOFAST said:


> Looks awesome! How much did you end up spending on the panorama LEDs?
> 
> I'm thinking about switching the lights on my mini-m (27w archaea) and my 90 p (3x39w t5ho) to LEDs, and trying to find something w/in reasonable price so I don't have to DIY


thanks l spent about 130 but I got 2 for the price of one for being on the waitlist so long. so pretty much each one will run you about 100-120ish. These are by far the best looking led's i've ever owned. As far as the shimmering look it's very similar or even better than metal halides without the heat of course,not to mention how little energy they waste and you can always make a fixture out of then to fit any kind of tank since they are so small. So far my led's haven't grown algae no matter if l extend my photoperiod a bit longer. I don't know the reason for this but this is from my own personal experience. As far as Plant growth nothing has died, the anubias look exceptional shimmering under the panorama led's and l could not be happier.l don't know if it's reasonable to you but it is in my opinion.



AdriftQuasar said:


> Sorry to hear to had a crappy birthday day. Happy belated Birthday though!


thanks adriftquasar! l'll be uploading photos in a bit of the finished tank.


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

!shadow! said:


> ! l'll be uploading photos in a bit of the finished tank.


:biggrin:


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

the beginning  ada nile sand in the front








messing around with the driftwood  l love the shape of it, so much character








final scape and this is how it stayed








Top view, this is where it hit me to make a river going through it with the ada xingu gravel








tying java moss, petite and java fern to replicate jungle along river








filled up ada soil high enough to add the xingu gravel, l left the wood on the right exposed to reflect a real tree and give the overall scape a better feel

















added third piece of wood with moss attached








top view, river soon to come 








river!








better view from the top. Also l added some rocks to simulate a rivers bank, The reason l added more fluval stratum on the bottom instead of just using xingu is for the ph lowering properties of it.








better view of front, this has got to be one of my favorite scapes i've ever done definately enjoyed creating it.








if you notice closely the river going to the front right of the tank, kinda hard to tell with the ada nile sand very similar in color. l'm still debating wether to replace the nile sand with fluval stratum and give it a better contrast so that it stands out more, opinions welcomed. The anubias petite were also placed on the outer edges to replicate plants growing on the branches.








top view








much better up close view








decided to see how bolbitis would look and l did like it and gave it a pefect final touch but the plant was just too big for this tank and blocked out the best views.








close up








another shot








river ready to get filled up!








sorry about the blurryness








l wanted to keep it like this so bad but In the end l removed the bolbitis to prevent it from drying up. The 30-c wasn't tall enough to soak up all the leaves without blocking the river view.








all filled up








a bit more clearer shot once the filter got rid of the junk. One more thing if anybody is looking for a good filter if not the best for a 30-c a 2213 eheim is it! perfect flow, maybe a tad bit strong but you can always use the double taps. Again a beautiful shot of the wood on the left. Nice example of erosion and exposure of the wood's roots.








still a bit cloudy from afar








top view of the sexy eheim's ripples, perfect for getting those takashi amano shots he displays in his pictures of his tanks.








current shot today








Enjoy guys/gals!


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

the wood is so rich in orange hues. is it just the camera or that way in person? ps im viewing this on my tv, pictures look good even at this size.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks cmeister. Yes the wood has orange hues and camera has not altered it's look in any way. Also the green tubing and pipes aren't staying. l should have the lily pipes delivered soon so everything will look clear.


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

nice!!


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

!shadow! said:


> the lily pipes delivered soon so everything will look clear.


naturally.

the rich wood tones contrast nicely with the plants you've chosen,well thought out. kudos


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## AdriftQuasar (Jul 5, 2010)

Definitely worth the wait! I look forward to seeing how well things grow under the leds. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of intensity plants require.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Figuring out plants is always fun . l think what you wanna know is what kinds of requirements do the plants you want to keep need instead of trying to figure it all at once and overwhelm yourself. over time you will know that. one step at a time


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## Payara (Nov 6, 2009)

Real nice


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## swissian (Aug 30, 2010)

Looks fantastic. All that petite looks great! Now I want to add some to my tank


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks and yea it goes well in just about any scape and best of all its low light


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Shadow,

This tank is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks i picked up some ss+ and l think a SSS yesterday. i'll post pics in a bit and also take up a fts


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## swissian (Aug 30, 2010)

aquatek?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

yes  l got lucky and got some of the high grades. there is probably like 10 left.


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Lookin great... like the LEDs too...


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

!shadow! said:


> yes  l got lucky and got some of the high grades. there is probably like 10 left.


Ugh. I need to make a stop there sometime tomorrow. I work down the street from there yet I cant find the time to walk in the place. Love the scape. Beautiful yet low tech. Amazing.


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## semperfimrn1 (Jan 19, 2011)

wow really loving that tank!! wished mine could be like that lol


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## mnno (Dec 7, 2010)

Damian said:


> Ugh. I need to make a stop there sometime tomorrow. I work down the street from there yet I cant find the time to walk in the place. Love the scape. Beautiful yet low tech. Amazing.


I am in there _way_ too often as they are on my way home from work, but I guess that's alright since my paychecks always end up in their pockets...

One thing, though, is I wish that they would get a larger or maybe separate tanks for their shrimp[a la their nifty set up with the saltwater inverts]. And something that's not on the bottom shelf. And they they initiate a frequent buyer program-- but they have stepped up their game re: plants, and are so willing to special order flora/fauna for me/anyone. 

Aquatek rant aside, this really is a beautiful tank-- it's been inspiring to see your progression and learning progress.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Damian said:


> Ugh. I need to make a stop there sometime tomorrow. I work down the street from there yet I cant find the time to walk in the place. Love the scape. Beautiful yet low tech. Amazing.


thanks damian, hopefully i'll get some more before they're all sold out. l just wish they would order more crs, they seem to run out of them pretty fast all the time.



semperfimrn1 said:


> wow really loving that tank!! wished mine could be like that lol


thanks semper for the kind words. lt's really more of creativity&experience than talent in my opinion.



mnno said:


> I am in there _way_ too often as they are on my way home from work, but I guess that's alright since my paychecks always end up in their pockets...
> 
> One thing, though, is I wish that they would get a larger or maybe separate tanks for their shrimp[a la their nifty set up with the saltwater inverts]. And something that's not on the bottom shelf. And they they initiate a frequent buyer program-- but they have stepped up their game re: plants, and are so willing to special order flora/fauna for me/anyone.
> 
> Aquatek rant aside, this really is a beautiful tank-- it's been inspiring to see your progression and learning progress.


thanks, l've learned a lot myself. right now believe it or not l kinda wanna rescape it. l like the whole idea of the river but my main problem has been trying to find a good hardscape to begin with,something l can say from the get-go that l know l will like during the long term. l think that has been my longest obstacle in my aquascaping life. Something so simple such as this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JjRLqTxGQs
l could stare all day without getting bored yet it's so simple looking yet it looks like something you would actually see in nature. Creating a habitat as naturalistic as possible is my ultimate goal when constructing my tanks.


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## mnno (Dec 7, 2010)

I can believe it. I got into fishkeeping in the beginning because it was a nice outlet for some of my... perfectionist tendencies? It's way relaxing. I like to look at others' tanks to see what other people do, but I try not to get competitive; there are always other people out there who will have something super amazing and in the end of the day, I don't have limitless money/time/talent. Besides, if you keep rescaping and rescaping, when will you have time to sit back and enjoy? I try to give my tanks 3-4 months to grow out and fill in before I make any major changes.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Yea true but l love the feeling of just a fresh start and coming up with another amazing scape and hoping it'll be better than the last. l'm going to let this one grow in a bit more before l make any big decisions tho.Meanwhile here are some more pics of the new shrimp. enjoy!




































What are you looking at? l swear it wasn't me!


























ok ok you caught me 








their home for now












































fts


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## mnno (Dec 7, 2010)

I think your tank looks great! Are you going to keep all your rcs together and let them mate willy-nilly or do you have future plans to separate/cull/selectively breed them?

Also, every betta I've kept in a community tank has munched on all my shrimp-- my brother gets 10 or 15 a month exclusively for his to munch on [ghost shramps obv, not rcs but people feed their pets much more expensive things than that, trust me].


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks mno. l'm just gonna order nothing but SS and let them roam around, i'm not that picky YET on selective breeding. The betta is my cycling buddy  he won't stay there permanently.


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## EntoCraig (Jun 7, 2010)

I really enjoy your scapes. They have a very natural jungle look. Dense but defined.


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## ShortFin (Dec 27, 2005)

You have a nice scape there. The lonely CBS you posted on page 5 is actually a Bumblebee - "New Bee Type II" - Caridina Breviata.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Alright guys and gals, just a small update on the tank. l got my lily pipes in and my hydor inline heater. l got 50 rcs coming(thanks to Navigarden) and about 17 cbs&rcs(9 cbs 8 rcs, mixed grade of s+ and ss thanks to kangshiang here at tpt)

Anyways here are some more pics.
heater








lily pipes with fluval sponge to prevent baby shrimp from going to shrimp heaven









l bet he's so happy he gets a 30-c all to himself and not stuck in a cup....for now


























l extended my photoperiod just a bit to grow some algae so that the shrimp(when they arrive) will have something to munch on. 

















fts








suspended led


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Lookin real good man... how's that single LED doing? (or are you running 2?) 

I see you ran into the same problem I had.. if you have your wood coming out of the top, then you have to move your light up! I'm going to have to do something similar with my PC light... tank is filling in nicely.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks compliance, l was originally going to use 2 but seeing as how 1 perfectly does the job l went with 1 and even then it was too much light so l raised it a bit up. l really don't need a lot of light especially when all my plants are low light. last thing l need is algae due to light's intensity and besides l don't want to mess with the ei method in this tank, just simple r/o water changes every week. maybe down the road when l turn this into a iwagumi with hc and manten or Seiryu stones i'll use two .


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## IntrepidAquarist (Jan 26, 2011)

Props dude. I love your tank. You know what you're doing.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks intrepidaquarist for the compliments. One thing about this tank that still baffles me and that is why moss grows much faster with compact fluorescent bulbs than led's. l've had moss grow so fast and adapt to my 27 hampton bay lamp compared to my led's. The hampton bay lamp have a k rating of 6500 and the led's have a 8000k, but who knows. l'm assuming from my personal knowledge that the moss just takes some time to adapt because l didn't get to time it when I first put the moss in when l had the hampton and i'm not giving it a chance with the new led's.


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

!shadow! said:


> Seiryu stones i'll use two .


 

Oh stop it.. you're killing me! LoL! :flick:


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

lol, to be honest l've never had a carpet of any sort except dwarf hairgrass on my 10g and even then l didn't let it fully establish cause l tore it down and then l had pygmy chain swords and that hasn't even filled up yet in my 48g. Not saying l can't do it just haven't really set my mind to it. l have however wanted to set up a nice iwagumi in a crystal clear ada tank with the clear lily pipes and now that l got them it's a project that i'm looking forward to. One thing l know is that those darn stones from afa aren't going to be cheap . i'll probably have to have a talk with boink.


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## jmowbray (Dec 20, 2009)

Shadow is your beta staying in there when the shrimp come? Thanks to your pictures I now what a beta in my new tank but I also want shrimp.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Hello jmow, no he's not staying in there, l just moved him over while l was messing with my other tanks. beta+shrimp=massacre. l've personally seen this betta chew up a inch long ghost shrimp. You figure if it does that to a larger ghost shrimp imagine what it can do to smaller crs or rcs and their babies.


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## jmowbray (Dec 20, 2009)

Oh that's sad, I wish they could get along.  Yours looks so graceful in the tank by himself.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Just got my shipment of cbs/rcs from kangshiang dripping them at the moment. pics coming soon. Oh and no doa's  excellent shipper highly recommended! guys.


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## thewife (Jan 26, 2011)

My guess is that 8000K rating is a bit too much on the blue end. They like a little blue, but I always kinda scratch my head when people talk about growing plants under actinics. You CAN grow a plant under pretty much anything, of course - you're just going to get different results. 

Your tank is adorable btw.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

thanks alice, so far the shrimp seem to be happy and love the flow of the 2213. Most of them just nibble on the moss and eat the debris off the filter's intake. looking to buy some mosura products for them and maybe mineral rock as well.


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

How's the emmersed moss doing?


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

Hey Shadow! can you post a video?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

moss on top is dried up but on the edge of the water is doing pretty good and green. l will try to post video either today, tomorrow or friday since my schedule is kinda hectic. lt's been 3 days now and no dead shrimp so I must be doing something right . l got two berried rcs from the lfs l bought the other day so it's just a matter of time. 50 more rcs coming either thursday or friday so this tank is going to be shrimp infested.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

some shrimp pics


















oto


























extended my photoperiod to grow a bit of hair algae, it's nothing that l can't handle, lf i wish l could shorten my photoperiod and do more often water changes and get rid of it but the shrimp love to eat it as you can see.


























l wish l had my dslr already.. This pic would of came out real nice if l had a nice macro lense

















snacking on the algae


















and the video as l promised:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOKI-A0tiwY


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

roud:looking good


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## swissian (Aug 30, 2010)

Very nice shrimp!


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

The shrimp are nicer than you described! Any berried yet? lol


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l wish but they are all healthy and thriving. l would definately buy more but for now i'll wait and see how they do.only the two rcs l bought are berried. when l got them l guess l got an extra med rcs and 3 tiny babies so pretty much 5 for the price of 2 , and that's not counting the soon to be born rcs. what a deal.


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## swissian (Aug 30, 2010)

You should have asked me! I have some nice red ones!


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

!shadow! said:


> l wish but they are all healthy and thriving. l would definately buy more but for now i'll wait and see how they do.only the two rcs l bought are berried. when l got them l guess l got an extra med rcs and 3 tiny babies so pretty much 5 for the price of 2 , and that's not counting the soon to be born rcs. what a deal.


Awesome! I'm excited.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

swissian l will definately let you know next time l'm in need for rcs and i'm glad you mentioned you had really red ones because that's all i'm interested in.

thanks sampster, 50 rcs should be arriving today just waiting on delivery


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## swissian (Aug 30, 2010)

I have to start selectively breeding my rcs. I have some nice bright red ones and some that are kind of purplish!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Well a short update, while l was checking out the tank l noticed my sponge intake was restricting too much flow and so that was causing the surface scum to appear which was cutting off or limiting the oxygen for the shrimps. All of the crs and half of the rcs were grasping on to the manzanita at the top of the waters surface and some managed to get out of the water staying emersed. l decided to take quick action and add the koralina nano to the tank and within 10 or 15 minutes the scum was gone and all the shrimp are doing fine besides 3 crs and 1 rcs who commited suicide by jumping off the tank. l do however just had two female rcs who just dropped the last batch of eggs they were carrying so that should make up for it just a bit. Sucks how just a bit of carelessness can do to a tank. They would of all died in a few hours if l hadn't of done nothing.


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## EntoCraig (Jun 7, 2010)

I have the same issues with some prefilter sponges. I had to make special intake mods just so the water flow wouldn't become restricted so often :/


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## Aquascapejackson (Feb 25, 2011)

I love the Tanks man, Shrimp looks great. did that Crystal Blue shrimp end ub being a black bee?


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## AoxomoxoA (Apr 22, 2010)

Wow it looks great !shadow!! Nice shrimp too. I really love the head on shot of the Oto:thumbsup:


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

You know l never found out due to the planaria and hydras infesting the tank and pretty much killing all but 4 or 5 crs. I wish it would of been a blue bee so I could say l had one in one point in my shrimp keeping life. I did put them in my 48g before l tore it down and when l did l found out l had 2 crs in there who managed to survive (behind my 3d background). They must of squeezed through some small gap l forgot to seal. That just goes to show you how hardy they really are. I took some really nice macros with my new camera, will upload them soon.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Here are some nice macros for you guys.
shrimp love that fluval shrimp granules stuff, even saw one of my crs fighting a rcs over one. The thread algae is there because l extend my photoperiod longer to view my shrimp more often, nothing out of control. They probably like to pick at it anyways.








like my whiskers?








spiderman ...shrimp*



































random picture of java moss


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## LewisR (Feb 24, 2011)

Very inspiring tank there mate good work.

Lewis


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## cervantesmx (Feb 16, 2011)

I recognize those pictures from somewhere...


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

cervantesmx said:


> I recognize those pictures from somewhere...


Everything begins to look alike when it comes to nearly genetically identical shrimp 

Looks thriving there shadow. I like the moss, looks very well attached and healthy.


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## karatekid14 (Jan 16, 2011)

Any updates?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

unfortunately i tore the tank down due to planaria killing all of my shrimp. I will redo tank when I get new place. Still working on that at the moment.


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