# Setting up my new ADA tank for Ebiten PRL



## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

First step, painting the background black.

These aren't spots, it's the reflection of the clouds. 










Two coats later:


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Amazonia and Africana comparison. Reason why I am using both is that Africana buffers a little bit lower than Amazonia. I like the look of Amazonia better so I threw it on top...I don't mind the look of layered gravel so it doesn't bother me.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Put down some BorneoWild Bacter Crystal:


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Put down some driftwood. I will be tying all my fissidens moss to the top of the archway (not sure if I'm doing that today or put the plants in on another day).

Current layout...nothing fancy. I'm not the most artistic type nor do I care for layouts all that much. 










Huge chunk of fissidens that will be used...I'll need to do a hydrogen peroxide dip since I don't want snails in this new tank.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Nice so far!!

Those are there 3L bags?

Also are you swapping over all the equipment? Or getting all new?

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Ada and ebiten goodness! Lmk when u r ready to part with your other shrimp.
$20 for 3 liter, 35 for the 9(if they have it in stock)

The shop has Been popular since our posts


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

acitydweller said:


> Ada and ebiten goodness! Lmk when u r ready to part with your other shrimp.
> $20 for 3 liter, 35 for the 9(if they have it in stock)
> 
> The shop has Been popular since our posts


Ya let me know when your ready to part to. 

That's not bad for beinging able to pick it up!

Ya I know I even want to take a trip down to check that stores out.

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

h4n said:


> Nice so far!!
> 
> Those are there 3L bags?
> 
> -Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


Yup, I think I purchased too many. I actually needed 18 Liters for a 20 gallon high that I was going to purchase but this one is only ~17 gallons. According to the BorneoWild iphone app, I should be using about 13 liters for this tank. I'll probably be putting 5 bags (15 liters) but we'll see.

I just threw on a second coat of paint on the tank so it should be dry in about an hour. Will be filling it today.



acitydweller said:


> Ada and ebiten goodness! Lmk when u r ready to part with your other shrimp.
> $20 for 3 liter, 35 for the 9(if they have it in stock)
> 
> The shop has Been popular since our posts


I'll let you know when it's time to part ways with my regular CRS.

Yeah they only had the 3 liter bags left and it wasn't many. If you are planning on getting some then you better go this weekend, otherwise it might be tough to get this substrate until ADA USA gets a new shipment.

By the way, the AquaSky lights are pretty neat....I was thinking about purchasing one.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Good Mix of soil, as that is what I am cycling in 2 of my tanks now! Be ready for a 5.5 PH. Mine is sitting there now. After my 6.6PH 5 gal water change it has dipped down to 5.3 now. I might be adding a little crushed coral to get it to 5.5-5.7. The black substrate of the Amazonia looks amazing! How many Ebiten did you start with?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

sbarbee54 said:


> Good Mix of soil, as that is what I am cycling in 2 of my tanks now! Be ready for a 5.5 PH. Mine is sitting there now. After my 6.6PH 5 gal water change it has dipped down to 5.3 now. I might be adding a little crushed coral to get it to 5.5-5.7. The black substrate of the Amazonia looks amazing! How many Ebiten did you start with?


I started with a pair of Ebitens and I probably have a little bit over 20. 

I'll be monitoring the parameters over the next few days and will probably post an excel graph sooner or later.

Here are some pics I posted here not too long ago. The distinct feature of Ebiten CRS is that they are blood red.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

I didn't realize that the water would get so dark. It's literally black! I thought it would be somewhat cloudy and clear up within 2-3 days. Now I have this tank full of muck sitting in my living room. This is usually the worst part for me since I'm very impatient by nature.

Here are some pics:


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Put a cheapo light on since I threw in some floaters after giving them a hydrogen peroxide bath to kill snails. Hopefully it worked. I also threw in a heater to bring the temp up a bit....much better for the bacteria.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Following along. 

I have a 9l bag of aquasoil for my 60p, might need to add a 3l bag of powder when its back in stock.

I definitely recommend the aquasky, I got the 60cm one and it is sweet.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

You have your filter on that bad boy yet? That will clear the muck over night as it did in both my 20L and 10


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

sbarbee54 said:


> You have your filter on that bad boy yet? That will clear the muck over night as it did in both my 20L and 10


Not yet but will be adding one shortly before I head out for the night. 

Anybody have any suggestions as to what type of Eheim would be good for this size tank? I obviously would like to overfilter but not have too much flow where the shrimp cannot swim. It will not be used as an undergravel filter.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Get a 2213, it has quick connects so you can control the flow rate


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

How about a Fluval 206?


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## Max Kenji (Mar 11, 2012)

Looking great bro! Those Ebi-tens are very lucky!

What kind of paint did you use to paint the background?


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## Tanman19az (May 14, 2011)

I have a 2215 on mine, but 2213 will be better! My current is a lil on the strong side even with the adjusted quick connects


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

sbarbee54 said:


> Get a 2213, it has quick connects so you can control the flow rate





Tanman19az said:


> I have a 2215 on mine, but 2213 will be better! My current is a lil on the strong side even with the adjusted quick connects


I decided on the 2213 as well. The specs on this filter seem just right for the 60-P tank. Anybody know the diameter of the intake tube so I can order a screen prefilter?

How about the filter media? You guys use what came with the filter or did you add matrix, purigen bags?

By the way, I generally like to help out the small guys instead of Amazon, Ebay etc. I purchase 90% of my stuff from Kensfish.com and have been doing so since 2005. I don't know how he does it but it even comes out cheaper with shipping than Amazon Prime. Even if Ken's was a few bucks more expensive I'd still buy from him since he just started out as a hobbyist. Luckily, Connecticut is close to his business so with shipping everything is very cheap. 

Compare the 2213 price to Amazon. KensFish.com shipping is really cheap...then again, I'm very close.

Kensfish.com:


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Max Kenji said:


> Looking great bro! Those Ebi-tens are very lucky!
> 
> What kind of paint did you use to paint the background?


Thanks Max. I am waiting until you get some more Grade A Ebitens next month so I can add some diversity. All my current Ebitens came from the one pair that you sold me....what a great deal huh? 

The paint is just something that I picked up at Home Depot. I've used it on various other tanks without issue. Some advice for everyone: Even though the paint is dry to the touch, do not start hanging stuff on the back such as filters etc without putting a cloth on the part of the filter that touches the back. The paint may feel dry but you will leave scuff marks and you will have to paint again. I've had this happen on my older tank. The paint needs 24 hours to fully dry according to the can.

I hung a cheap HOB filter to get the water moving so I placed a cloth on the point where there is contact....no scuffing will occur.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

The tank looks to be clearing up a little bit already after running overnight. Still not as clear as I'd like it to be. I've also had a girl rearrange the wood since she didn't like the original archway that I put together. You can't really see it yet but it looks better than what I did before.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

I just use the media that comes with it add some matrix like you said abd a filter sock of purigen like you mentioned as well. That said I have that in all 6 of my eheim 2213 or 2215


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## Algae Beater (Jun 3, 2011)

The 2213 uses 12/16mm tubing. I will agree with you, that the classic series is more suited to planted tanks in general. I have a 2213 and a 2215, they typically run throttled down as their flow rate is rather high for most of my tanks. the ECCO line has a somewhat reduced flow rate and doesn't do quite the job on my 15 - 20 gallon tanks as a 2213 does.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

I just use the media that comes with it add some matrix like you said abd a filter sock of purigen like you mentioned as well. That said I have that in all 6 of my eheim 2213 or 2215


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Close to 24 hours later now. I will be measuring the parameters soon but probably wont post until I have a decent amount of data in order to make a graph in Excel.

I put a guppy in and some christmas moss which was growing on a metal screen. I dipped the moss in hydrogen peroxide to get rid of any scuds that might have been hiding in there (they all came out fairly quickly and died).

The thing in the middle is just a randomly placed heater.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

So what type of proxide water mixture did you use or, just straight?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

sbarbee54 said:


> So what type of proxide water mixture did you use or, just straight?


It varies for the type of moss.....I've been able to dunk my christmas moss in 3% hydrogen peroxide (straight from bottle) for 25 seconds without ill effects. I'd use caution though since you might get different results. I keep all my mosses in a tank that has nothing else in it...I pump Co2 to ridiculous levels that would not be able to sustain any life. I get zero algae and my moss grows perfect.


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## antiquefloorman (Oct 8, 2011)

Lets see a pic of this tank please.
Thanks,
Tim


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

antiquefloorman said:


> Lets see a pic of this tank please.
> Thanks,
> Tim


I'll eventually get around to it....I don't want to de-rail this thread with people asking moss growing tips. 

Usually when I posted pics of my shrimp I would get more questions on the moss than the actual shrimp. haha


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Ammonia levels are getting high after 24 hours.












Ordered the eheim...should be here this week.













.


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## golfwang (Nov 15, 2011)

Can't wait for your new tank to finish cycling its going to be a great new home for your PRL's!


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

2 days after set up. The waster has cleared up drastically. The substarte still has tons of dust if disturbed. Fancy Guppy is alive and eating.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

hedge_fund said:


> I'll let you know when it's time to part ways with my regular CRS.
> 
> Yeah they only had the 3 liter bags left and it wasn't many. If you are planning on getting some then you better go this weekend, otherwise it might be tough to get this substrate until ADA USA gets a new shipment.
> 
> By the way, the AquaSky lights are pretty neat....I was thinking about purchasing one.


Thanks! The aquasky lamps are pretty neat, more so in person. If you are still in the market in two weeks, i'll hopefully have my review on the Finnex Ray II for 48", 36", 30" and maybe a 20" (fugeray) posted here. The weather has delayed progress on my tank work as of late.


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

That's what happens with aquasoil. Lots of ammonia. Why'd you make the substrate so thick though?


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## Byakuya (Oct 26, 2011)

He originally planned on using a petco 20gal tank

Sent from my ADR6325 using Tapatalk 2


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Byakuya said:


> He originally planned on using a petco 20gal tank
> 
> Sent from my ADR6325 using Tapatalk 2


Yup, thanks. 

And I still have one bag of Africana left over unopened. I might take it back to the store or use it on a later project.

I do not mind the extra substarte. It's going to take longer to wear out. 

I used the borneo wild app for calculation on the soil. It calls for 13 liters (I used 15 so it's not that much more).


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

acitydweller said:


> Thanks! The aquasky lamps are pretty neat, more so in person. If you are still in the market in two weeks, i'll hopefully have my review on the Finnex Ray II for 48", 36", 30" and maybe a 20" (fugeray) posted here. The weather has delayed progress on my tank work as of late.


I will put using a Current T5 set up on this tank (you can see it in the pic with my old tank). But eventually I'll upgrade to either the Finnex Ray2 or AquaSky. Aestetically speaking, the aquasky is light years ahead of any Finnex. I bet you would get more people complimenting your aquasky than the actual tank itself...it looks pretty futeristic.


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## nycfish (Nov 6, 2009)

tank's looking great. have you considered using purigen to keep the ammonia levels down or will you let it gradually leach out over time?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

nycfish said:


> tank's looking great. have you considered using purigen to keep the ammonia levels down or will you let it gradually leach out over time?


Thanks. I plan on cycling the tank until I have no ammonia...not really in a rush for this to be done. I have Purigen bags in all my tanks so I'll be dropping one in the new Eheim as well when it arrives. 

Since Hurricane Sandy has currently knocked out my power I was doing some random iPhone reading on shrimpsider and thought this below paragraph would keep me grounded. 

http://shrimpsider.wordpress.com/

Have you ever had a bad phase with your shrimp and considered giving up?

Oh gosh, YES! I have had several. I think everyone most likely does. Since, as humans we learn from experience which are often failures, it is essential. The most important thing to learn is how to limit the mental, physical, monetary and most importantly emotional costs of those mistakes. The SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT TIP I can give anyone is to go slowly and methodically. Don’t rush into any project no matter how much you want the shrimp or how awesome the deal you can get is. The shrimp will probably just die anyway. Slow down, do your research, gather the proper equipment and allow the time to cycle and age your tanks. Unless you are well experienced, don’t listen to those who tell you that it is ok to cycle your tank in a week or two or even 3! Sure, you may get you filter cycled along with your substrate. This is not all there is to keeping shrimp. As a novice, you may now rush your tank, get shrimp and even if it is properly cycled you will not have enough biofilm in the tank to help supplement the shrimp. In turn, shrimp may die of starvation, disease or other issues deriving from stress. If you feed them with supplemental shrimp/fish foods most new keepers are inexperienced and don’t feed a diverse diet or worse, feed the shrimp too much and end up overwhelming the new tank and its very new bacterial filtration. This will again results in death. I am not trying to be mean, but I often chuckle at threads where I read sob stories about shrimp dying and the “dire needed” help. When I read I find that most often corners were cut and now any number of issue can be the result. In my experience, 100% of my die offs were due to human error, 98% my own personal error. The important thing is to pick your head up, get back to research and ask questions.


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## nycfish (Nov 6, 2009)

taking your time to methodically is probably best as you said. 

good luck with the power situation too. CT looks to be hit particularly hard according to dan malloy.


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

that is some massive substrate!


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

One thing that I would like to say again. Over the last few years I have been foolish purchasing these cheap Petco tanks. ADA tanks are literally like comparing night and day. They cost about 10x more than a regular Petco tank but are definitely worth it. Hopefully someone sitting on the fence reads this post. 

This is 3 days in so the water is clearing up. The glass clarity is nice. Can't wait to install a new light and throw some shrimp in.

Was supposed to receive my Eheim today but UPS is having delays due to Hurricane Sandy.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

lmk if you want any floaters to help with your cycle.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

acitydweller said:


> lmk if you want any floaters to help with your cycle.


Thanks! I have a whole 15 gallon covered with frogbit and giant duckweed. I just need to do a hydrogen peroxide dip so I don't get any snails.

If you want some giant frogbit then let me know if don't have it.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

I just ordered two ebiten products from mordalphus on this forum. 

Ebiten Nagomi and Ebiten EI. 

Nagomi are ceramic balls that release 50 different minerals for 2 years. Kind of like a mineral rock. 

EI is for baby shrimp. It's beneficial bacteria etc.


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## Max Kenji (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks hedge. I'm gonna do the some thing with all my tank.
What's your PH?
Are you gonna use some Prime or Prodibio BIO DIGEST, I'm sure that will help speed up the cycling process.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Max Kenji said:


> Thanks hedge. I'm gonna do the some thing with all my tank.
> What's your PH?
> Are you gonna use some Prime or Prodibio BIO DIGEST, I'm sure that will help speed up the cycling process.


Yeh, I've been using prime when I top off or change water. I did a 50% water change yesterday and did use prime (the water was regular tap water).

I just received some new products....I'll be dropping these mineral balls once the tank cycles. Mordalphus sells these products on here.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Nagomi comes in really handy for observing shrimp and photographing them.

While maybe not the most attractive thing in the front of a tank, they're cool. Shrimp are constantly all over them.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

One more quick update....

Tank has been cycling for a week now and I finally hooked up the Eheim yesterday (2213 model). Some plants were thrown in after being dipped in hydrogen peroxide and water mixture. Another 4 weeks probably before the cycling is completed....still haven't decided as to what light I will use for this tank. I might use the T5 which I already have, or maybe the ADA AquaSky or even the LED Finnex. I guess I have about 5 weeks to decide.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

somewhatshocked said:


> Nagomi comes in really handy for observing shrimp and photographing them.
> 
> While maybe not the most attractive thing in the front of a tank, they're cool. Shrimp are constantly all over them.


nice, that's good to know. I have never used any of their products before. Supposedly I should pour some hot water over those ceramic balls prior to putting them in the tank. 

My baby shrimp and adults go crazy for the EI which is just a powder.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Now that the water has cleared up, that wood looks amazing. It's perfect for that tank.

You're making me jealous with the filter. I've never been able to get an Eheim to work unless it's placed at a level lower than the bottom of the tank.

On the lighting issue... the AquaSky is a handsome fixture (the laser cuts on the acrylic are super-nice). But the Finnex is pretty darn sleek. Typically when buying the cheaper of two options, you're compromising on appearance and functionality. I don't think that will be the case with a Finnex fixture. If it were me, that's the route I would go. On the flip side: if you end up not liking the Finnex, you'll certainly be able to make your money back by selling it on TPT and getting the AquaSky.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Are you going to be using co2? The Ray 2 and the Aquasky may be too much light if not.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Ooh, Couesfanatic brings up a good point.

With the Finnex you'll be able to raise the fixture more easily if necessary. The ADA fixture wouldn't look so hot if you had to raise it.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Or you could consider the FugeRay. I'm planning a low-tech 60p, will be getting the fugeray.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

if it helps any, I am going to be trying the single light version of the AQUASKY (601) over a 60p with no C02 or ferts. not much user info on these new lights so it will be an experiment, I think it will work fine though. It is very bright and built well. 

the dual light model would most likely require co2. imho the single light model is perfect for shrimp tanks/low tech.

also the tank is looking great.


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## HiepSTA (Aug 23, 2011)

for future reference if anyone wants to paint the back of thier tank black, there is a product called plastidip, its like spray paint but you can peel it off like latex, its very durable and non-permanent which is great.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Looking good man!

I have the Ray 2 over my 60-P and love it!


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

somewhatshocked said:


> Now that the water has cleared up, that wood looks amazing. It's perfect for that tank.
> 
> You're making me jealous with the filter. I've never been able to get an Eheim to work unless it's placed at a level lower than the bottom of the tank.
> 
> On the lighting issue... the AquaSky is a handsome fixture (the laser cuts on the acrylic are super-nice). But the Finnex is pretty darn sleek. Typically when buying the cheaper of two options, you're compromising on appearance and functionality. I don't think that will be the case with a Finnex fixture. If it were me, that's the route I would go. On the flip side: if you end up not liking the Finnex, you'll certainly be able to make your money back by selling it on TPT and getting the AquaSky.


Thanks. I am really digging the driftwood too...kind of looks like roots from a tree stump. I had some issues with the Eheim as well...took me about 20 minutes to get it going but all I had to do was to fill it up and that did the trick. 

I am still trying to decide on the light....we'll see where I go from here. I do like the aesthetics of the aquasky more.



Couesfanatic said:


> Are you going to be using co2? The Ray 2 and the Aquasky may be too much light if not.


No Co2 in the tank. I rarely keep my lights on in my shrimp tanks...the only time I do it is when I'm in the house so even though I get 100000000 watts, I wouldn't have an algae outbreak. I just like my tank looking really bright when I am in the house.




Couesfanatic said:


> Or you could consider the FugeRay. I'm planning a low-tech 60p, will be getting the fugeray.


That was another option but the light wouldn't be bright enough for my taste.



Green_Flash said:


> if it helps any, I am going to be trying the single light version of the AQUASKY (601) over a 60p with no C02 or ferts. not much user info on these new lights so it will be an experiment, I think it will work fine though. It is very bright and built well.
> 
> the dual light model would most likely require co2. imho the single light model is perfect for shrimp tanks/low tech.
> 
> also the tank is looking great.


Let me know how that goes for you and whether just a single aquasky is sufficient. As I said about, I like my tanks bright.




h4n said:


> Looking good man!
> 
> I have the Ray 2 over my 60-P and love it!


Good to know Han. Thanks.


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## dougolasjr (Mar 3, 2010)

Is that a SNES I spy...


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

So it's been 19 days since I first filled up the tank and I just plopped an SSS CRS in the new tank. It's still alive today and grazing in various algae that started to grow. Hopefully this shrimp survives so I can start transferring over the Ebitens.

My ammonia levels dropped from 4 to about 2.0. Nitrate and Nitrite are at 0.

Will check back in a few days and report whether this shrimp lived or not. I literally cannot kill my CRS even if I tried. When Hurricane Sandy hit I did not have power for 5 days and the temp in the tank was around 52-54 degrees.....none of the shrimp were moving etc. Two weeks later and I have about 10 new berried females. Can't kill them.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

hedge_fund said:


> So it's been 19 days since I first filled up the tank and I just plopped an SSS CRS in the new tank. It's still alive today and grazing in various algae that started to grow. Hopefully this shrimp survives so I can start transferring over the Ebitens.
> 
> My ammonia levels dropped from 4 to about 2.0. Nitrate and Nitrite are at 0.
> 
> Will check back in a few days and report whether this shrimp lived or not. I literally cannot kill my CRS even if I tried. When Hurricane Sandy hit I did not have power for 5 days and the temp in the tank was around 52-54 degrees.....none of the shrimp were moving etc. Two weeks later and I have about 10 new berried females. Can't kill them.


Shrimp can handle cold 10x better than heat.

Are you going to dump your shrimp into your tank with ammonia still in leeching from the soil?


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

dougolasjr said:


> Is that a SNES I spy...


I spy it too!


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

GeToChKn said:


> Shrimp can handle cold 10x better than heat.
> 
> Are you going to dump your shrimp into your tank with ammonia still in leeching from the soil?


Not going to dump the Ebitens when there is ammonia but I'm using the SSS as a test dummy. Just curious how much ammonia one of my higher grades can take before it dies. I have a feeling that it will live since it looks and acts perfectly normal. When I set up my Akadama tank I think I put shrimp in after 2-3 days without ever testing the parameters (I don't think Akadama leeches ammonia as much as Amazonia/Afrikana). We'll see what happens.



sayurasem said:


> I spy it too!





dougolasjr said:


> Is that a SNES I spy...


Hahaha...yup. I don't play video games, as a matter of fact, I hate video games. But I have the SNES out since it always gets people excited when they come over. I have a few mario games I think...not sure since I never play it as it's only for guests. ;-)


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Akadama doesn't leech ammonia.

But ammonia is toxic. Especially for shrimp at 2PPM.

What's your pH currently?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

somewhatshocked said:


> Akadama doesn't leech ammonia.
> 
> But ammonia is toxic. Especially for shrimp at 2PPM.
> 
> What's your pH currently?


Yup, ammonia will definitely kill CRS but I'm running a test to see whether it's true. My shrimp are literally bullet proof, even the higher grades. I once took out a shrimp and left it in a jar on the window sill to see how long it would survive. It lasted for over a week until I put it back in the aquarium.

My low PH kit is coming today or tomorrow so I'll be able to test. My current test kit only goes down to 6.0 and the PH is definitely lower. I'll take some pics of the said shrimp when I get home. It's been in there for a third day now and it's still alive doing well.

The female guppy that was in the tank also ended up having babies so now I have little fish all over. Need to do some fishing this weekend.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Lower pH definitely helps with ammonia issues.

Just remember that your shrimp may survive for weeks but that doesn't mean it hasn't suffered permanent harm.

Tough to test something like that unless you're doing frequent microscopic observation along with necropsy.


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## sunyang730 (Jan 30, 2012)

are those low light plants that you have in there?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

sunyang730 said:


> are those low light plants that you have in there?


It's Hygrophila "Kompakt".....grows under medium light with no co2 for me. Very nice plant.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

Your shrimp aren't bulletproof, you have 2ppm of ammonia in a less than 6pH water, which means there is free hydrogen atoms in the water and the ammonia is instantly converted to ammonium, which is for all intensive purposes, harmless. 

Sorry, it's just chemistry, not super shrimp. If you want to do a real test, get some water 7pH or above, dump in pure ammonia to get 4ppm and throw a SSS in and see what happens. Probably not as good of an outcome.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

GeToChKn said:


> Your shrimp aren't bulletproof, you have 2ppm of ammonia in a less than 6pH water, which means there is free hydrogen atoms in the water and the ammonia is instantly converted to ammonium, which is for all intensive purposes, harmless.


In that case it's all good then.

I really love experimenting with things all the time....especially taking the contrarian view. Just the other day I read someone saying on here that you can't put shrimp in a tank if your amazonia hasn't cycled for at least 6 weeks. Once again, it's the contrarian in me that will test that out and prove them wrong. Shrimp is doing just fine "at the moment" but if it were to die down the road I'll post my results. 

I might try your experiment with adding some ammonia in a separate container with 7PH.

The hobby actually develops when people try crazy things instead of following the old adages. I was inspired by this quote from shrimsider: " I strongly can recommend to try new Akadama brands and to not stick to “I use what everybody uses”. The shrimp hobby will not make progress if everybody sticks to old habits and recommendations only"

http://shrimpsider.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/akadama-in-the-us/


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

hedge_fund said:


> In that case it's all good then.
> 
> I really love experimenting with things all the time....especially taking the contrarian view. Just the other day I read someone saying on here that you can't put shrimp in a tank if your amazonia hasn't cycled for at least 6 weeks. Once again, it's the contrarian in me that will test that out and prove them wrong. Shrimp is doing just fine "at the moment" but if it were to die down the road I'll post my results.
> 
> ...


My motto for keeping shrimp is find what works for you and go with it. lol. There is so many sites and info out there, it's hard to funnel through and if you find something that works for your shrimp and it's against "the norm", go with it. The problem isn't the high ammonium, as I said, it's a stable element that is harmless, it's the fact that the ammonium has to be converted via the cycle and at some point will end up in massive nitrates. Water changes and plants can take care of that.

I was in a situation where I was cycling a Netlea tank, 4ppm for weeks and weeks. My tank that was holding the CRS was crashing, bad, deaths daily and my choice was loose them all there or throw them in the 4ppm tank. I did and they lived. That's when I learned about ammonium and how it works and getting a Seachem Ammonia test kit verified that as it's about the only test kit that can tell the difference between ammonia and ammonium. Not advisable, as if it's not cycled media in your filter, you will get a massive nitrite spike, and you will end up with lots of nitrates at the end of it, but water changes and lots of plants helped that along. Again, not advising anyone to dump their shrimp in a tank still leeching ammonia, just explaining how it's possible for them not to be affected by it.


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

I think this is an awesome thread. 

Glad you're building up and documenting it. It's helpful to relative newbies like me. 

I love aquascaping so much. It is half of why I do this hobby. Even though you don't care as much, your scape is nice and simple. 


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## Lkittredge (Jul 27, 2012)

HedgeFund, we think alike with testing things. I am going through something similar with a few shrimp I put in a 20L tank I am cycling with UP aquasoil. Long story I picked up what was supposed to be 16 low grade CRS from a guy locally. He gave me his entire stock and it was 41. I put 5 of them in the 20L with the new soil that is leaching ammonia as I had more than I wanted for the established 5 gallon. It has been close to 2 weeks and 1 shrimp that was berried when I put her in is still berried, and one additional female has berried since being put in. The PH is at 6.0 or lower (IDK) typical kit that does not go lower than 6.0, will have to get a low range kit. Ammonia does not get crazy high like some soils but was at 1ppm when I put them in and is at 2ppm at last check a couple days ago. Agree that the PH is keeping them safe. Sponge filter is seeded also. It is weird to see so much ammonia in the test and happy looking shrimp in the tank.


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## dougolasjr (Mar 3, 2010)

hedge_fund said:


> Not going to dump the Ebitens when there is ammonia but I'm using the SSS as a test dummy. Just curious how much ammonia one of my higher grades can take before it dies. I have a feeling that it will live since it looks and acts perfectly normal. When I set up my Akadama tank I think I put shrimp in after 2-3 days without ever testing the parameters (I don't think Akadama leeches ammonia as much as Amazonia/Afrikana). We'll see what happens.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yea, I have one somewhere at my parents house. I prolly should get it before they throw it out. Which would be a tragedy. I even have Battletoads


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

So I would like to move this awesome fissidens into the new tank but I'm still trying to research as to what type of chemical dip I can do in order to kill all the limpet snails. This patch is about 8 inches long and 4 inches wide. I never really paid much attention to it until I flipped it over today and noticed how nice it is.

I am leaning towards moving this entire branch into the new tank and just taking the current pieces of wood out.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Ammonia definitely starting to go down. Last time I did a water change was 4 days ago @ 35%.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

I ordered some things from Aqua Forest Aquarium in California but received the wrong item. The mat they sent me is for the wrong tank so now I need to wait until they read my email. Things happen so I am sure they will fix this ASAP. Luckily, I am not moving the tank yet so I have some time. I'm not mad or anything, just trying to keep everything in this journal so when others read it they can see that unforeseen things happen and you need to plan accordingly.

Here is the receipt that I received from them...as you can see it says 60x30. But I received a mat for a 45x30 tank.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Eeep. Order mixups are no fun. They're pretty quick to correct mistakes, though.

About the Fissidens: Do you have CPOs, by chance? Or have a friend with them? Some of mine chow down on inverts like Limpets and Bladder Snails.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

somewhatshocked said:


> Eeep. Order mixups are no fun. They're pretty quick to correct mistakes, though.
> 
> About the Fissidens: Do you have CPOs, by chance? Or have a friend with them? Some of mine chow down on inverts like Limpets and Bladder Snails.


Unfortunately I do not have any CPOs handy but I should be doing a hydrogen peroxide dip today so we'll see how that turns out. :icon_eek:


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

I just purchased a decent light for this set up: Finnex Ray2 LED.

Should be coming next week. The price isn't that bad for what you are actually getting....check out some videos on youtube.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

More updates:

I decided to move the fissidens into the new tank but I also decided to keep the branch instead of trying to take it off. It grew in so nicely that it would be a shame taking it down. Instead, I took out the other driftwood and plopped this bad boy in after doing various hydrogen peroxide dips. The tank looks much larger and I like the open space everywhere. Eventually I am going to get some glass lily pipes so the green tubes from my Eheim will have to go. The tank is definitely getting ready to be populated with some Ebitens. For now, however, it still needs some time to finish cycling and clean itself up a bit (there is black dust all over the place after doing the rescape today).


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

The wood with Fissidens looks great but I hope you set up a tank with the original piece - it was perfect.


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

somewhatshocked said:


> The wood with Fissidens looks great but I hope you set up a tank with the original piece - it was perfect.


+1 here. The first piece of wood had a perfect amount of tank usage. 

Don't forget the more vertical space you give shrimp, the more you can have/keep them occupied


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Have you tested PH yet? As my 10 gallon with about 3" of amazonia new buffered my water to low. I had to take some out. I am down to a 1.5" of substrate and it is at 5.5 and that is doing water changes with tap at 7.4... I am still cycling to be safe. It is week 5. This is just going to how a breeding pot of hybrids. My PRL project is going to really start after the first of the year. I am getting the same tank you and will be doing something similar. Then I can take all the PRL I have now and throw them in a nicer tank and display it in the house instead of in my shrimp cave/Office


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

somewhatshocked said:


> The wood with Fissidens looks great but I hope you set up a tank with the original piece - it was perfect.





MABJ said:


> +1 here. The first piece of wood had a perfect amount of tank usage.
> 
> Don't forget the more vertical space you give shrimp, the more you can have/keep them occupied
> 
> ...


Thanks for the suggestions. I agree that look wise the bigger logs were more aesthetically pleasing but they were taking up way too much space. I would say that about 30% of the tank was not visible and that is something that I did not like. I have a sole test shrimp in there and I literally had to search for it at all times and the tank is pretty much bare. I can't imagine trying to do so when I have a tons of shrimp breeding. My main goal with this tank will be to breed Ebitens so I've decided on function over form. The tank should look much better once the Christmas moss starts to grow in all over the place. I will be adding more moss squares from my other tank once I get around to it.

On a side note, I plopped one of the logs into my old tank and it looks pretty interesting. I ripped up some java fern with the roots holding on to Akadama and placed it on top of the log......also threw in some Christmas moss on top. Once it grows in it should look pretty nice.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

sbarbee54 said:


> Have you tested PH yet? As my 10 gallon with about 3" of amazonia new buffered my water to low. I had to take some out. I am down to a 1.5" of substrate and it is at 5.5 and that is doing water changes with tap at 7.4... I am still cycling to be safe. It is week 5. This is just going to how a breeding pot of hybrids. My PRL project is going to really start after the first of the year. I am getting the same tank you and will be doing something similar. Then I can take all the PRL I have now and throw them in a nicer tank and display it in the house instead of in my shrimp cave/Office


Nope, not yet. Was supposed to arrive yesterday but it never did.

I am definitely supporting your idea. I can't believe that I was always playing around with these Petco tanks that look like crap. Getting a nice ADA tank literally is like night and day. When you walk into the room it just pops with color. It's kind of like watching TV on an old tube TV and then switching to the newest HD LED one....it's amazing. Too bad I only recently got one and didn't do it sooner.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

nice fissidens patch, those are mini or just regular?

I totally agree with the tube TV to HD LED TV comparison to a petstore tank compared to ADA. The difference is stunning and unreal. 

I also love how the LIG glass seams/edges glow soft blue with bright lighting.:hihi:
Giving it that "framed" like appearance you see in Aquajournal.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

hedge_fund said:


> I ordered some things from Aqua Forest Aquarium in California but received the wrong item. The mat they sent me is for the wrong tank so now I need to wait until they read my email. Things happen so I am sure they will fix this ASAP. Luckily, I am not moving the tank yet so I have some time. I'm not mad or anything, just trying to keep everything in this journal so when others read it they can see that unforeseen things happen and you need to plan accordingly.
> 
> Here is the receipt that I received from them...as you can see it says 60x30. But I received a mat for a 45x30 tank.


Good news. AquaForestAquarium emailed me a return label and they have also mailed the correct mat which should be arriving soon. These guys are awesome and work very fast, especially when it comes to correcting a mistake.



Green_Flash said:


> nice fissidens patch, those are mini or just regular?


It's just regular fissidens fontanus but it's really nice looking. ;-)


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

In low PH total ammonia isn't a problem / API test/. Only free ammonia can kill shrimps. You need Seachem Ammonia test kit in order to test it. Probably you are ready to go with the shrimps.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

plamski said:


> In low PH total ammonia isn't a problem / API test/. Only free ammonia can kill shrimps. You need Seachem Ammonia test kit in order to test it. Probably you are ready to go with the shrimps.


Yeah, I'll probably be adding some shrimp this weekend when I'm back from visiting all my family in New Jersey. 

The original shrimp I threw in there is still going strong.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

hedge_fund said:


> Good news. AquaForestAquarium emailed me a return label and they have also mailed the correct mat which should be arriving soon. These guys are awesome and work very fast, especially when it comes to correcting a mistake.


The turnaround time by AquaForestAquarium was great. They normally ship parcel post but they sent out my replacement mat through Priority Mail so I received it in 2 days. They didn't even wait for me to ship back the incorrect one which was nice. Highly recommend these guys.

New mat that showed up today.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

How's the Fissidens working out in the new tank so far?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

somewhatshocked said:


> How's the Fissidens working out in the new tank so far?


So far so good....it actually looks perfectly green and healthy. I have been leaving the CFL lighbulb on it overnight and then a few hours after work. My LED lights should be coming tomorrow so I'll take some pics once installed.

I did a 10 ml hydrogen peroxide to 1 gallon of water dip....the fissidens was not affected. All the scuds and snails dropped off after 10 minutes. I didn't realize how many scuds were actually hiding in there since I washed it out pretty precisely.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

UPDATE:

Some goodies arrived today.....RAY 2 LED Light, low PH kit and purigen bag which will be installed next time I clean the filter (should be a few months). The PH is hovering around 5.2-5.4 (a bit low but I'll run with it).










Here are some random pics I shot with my iphone once the RAY 2 has been installed:


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

And here is the difference between T5 lights and the LED (bottom). The LED looks much more natural.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

nice comparison. im afraid to ask. how does the rayII compare with the cfl's in the clamp light. im asking because i have several over the glass canopy of my tanks.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

acitydweller said:


> nice comparison. im afraid to ask. how does the rayII compare with the cfl's in the clamp light. im asking because i have several over the glass canopy of my tanks.


I'm not really sure since I only had one CFL bulb directed at the moss. Not much light was given off.

If I had to make a recommendation I would say go with the RAY2....hands down the best light I've seen in person. It actually compares to the AquaSky except that it's about 1/5th the price. :icon_eek:


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

absolutely going RayII! My 20g high aquarium currently runs (3) 26w cfls at the moment... it was a temp solution that is going on 8 months now. Other things like CO2 equipment, new tanks, new filters and other things keep derailing me on getting these lights sorted out. This hobby is the real money pit... not the house


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## antiquefloorman (Oct 8, 2011)

I have had a ray II for awhile. Love it. Adding more. Good choice


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

The fissidens looks superb, but you might want to either raise the light or move the fissidens lower because the par is very high right under the fixture. And the fissidens could catch some bad algae


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

sayurasem said:


> The fissidens looks superb, but you might want to either raise the light or move the fissidens lower because the par is very high right under the fixture. And the fissidens could catch some bad algae


I only plan on having the light on maybe 4 hours max a day so this shouldn't be an issue. I pretty much only have have my tank lights on when I'm home after work. 

It actually grew the same way in my other tank with the T5 lights. I basically moved the entire branch without touching the fissidens aside from a hydrogen peroxide dip.

On a side note, I might actually trim that branch so all the floaters are getting stuck on the fissidens and that's starting to annoy me.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Purchased yet another item out of sheer boredom. I couldn't justify paying 100+ dollars for ADA lily pipes so I went with knockoffs from Asia. Should be here in 2 weeks but I am unsure of the quality so I'll eventually review it on here. The green tubes from my Eheim were starting to bother me so these knockoffs will be a huge improvement.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

And one last update for tonight before I head out for the bars....

Decided to drop one of my "born in the USA" ebitens. No acclimation, no drip method...just plopped it in. I have about 20 more waiting to be transferred if this one survives a few days.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

looking good, the ray 2 is sweet isnt?

How did your other CRS you drop in do? Still alive?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

h4n said:


> looking good, the ray 2 is sweet isnt?
> 
> How did your other CRS you drop in do? Still alive?


Yeah, loving the RAY 2. Such a great purchase....you along with a few others recommended it for me. 

The other shrimp was just fine so I put it back in the old tank.


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## jczernia (Apr 16, 2010)

How manay watts are the LED on the RAY 2?


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

hedge_fund said:


> Yeah, loving the RAY 2. Such a great purchase....you along with a few others recommended it for me.
> 
> The other shrimp was just fine so I put it back in the old tank.


Ya such an energy saver and bright!!!

Nice to know!

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

jczernia said:


> How manay watts are the LED on the RAY 2?


20 watts. Here are the specs on the 24 inch one....

http://www.aquavibrant.com/index.php/finnex-ray-ii-ultra-slim-led-ds-dual-7000k.html


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

When I got home last night at around 2 am I decided to drop in the Ebiken Nagomi balls. I boiled some water and then poured it over them for 2 minutes as per the directions. My TDS last night was 155 and today it's 163.










soaking with boiling water:










in the tank (not the prettiest things but I'm more into shrimp anyway).


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

So I finally plopped all my Ebitens from my old tank's breeder net into my new set up. I had a guy come this morning and buy 9 from me so I was only left with 13 offspring which are about half an inch long. The 9 that he purchased were the two parents and 7 of their offspring. I will be getting more Ebitens from Max on here in the next few weeks....aiming for some diversity. 

Just a random shot of me catching some of the shrimp to transfer them over.










I was so glad to finally pull out the breeder net after sitting in my tank for at least half a year. It's ugly, dirty and it's filled with scuds as you can spot in one of the pics. The one drawback of me taking this off is that I am taking the biggest feeding ground out of my tank. This entire net was constantly filled with shrimp on both sides as they ate all the bacteria and algae growing on it.



















And now, for something that has never been done on this forum. FIRE! 
Was pretty happy to throw it in my little fireplace in my living room. Not going to lie but I enjoyed watching it burn as I sat there with a nice cup of coffee watching.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

I think you'll like these pretty well. They're well-made for the cheap price.

The up side? You won't have a heart palpitation if you break them.



hedge_fund said:


> Purchased yet another item out of sheer boredom. I couldn't justify paying 100+ dollars for ADA lily pipes so I went with knockoffs from Asia. Should be here in 2 weeks but I am unsure of the quality so I'll eventually review it on here. The green tubes from my Eheim were starting to bother me so these knockoffs will be a huge improvement.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

First clean molt...looking good. They are already eating as well.

And I would say that my tank is complete for the time being. I just need to take down my other one and move this one in its place. Wires will be hidden along with the filter...should look nice and clean.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

So what ph did your water settle at


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

That is one clean molt!
Very nice!

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

sbarbee54 said:


> So what ph did your water settle at
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


Around 5.4.

Shrimp seem very happy after the first 24 hours.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

I've also noticed that my Christmas moss grows a tad faster than it did in my Akadama tank. There is noticeable growth already....I hope that it just keeps carpeting the tank and that it does not grow upward.


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

I'm so ridiculously jealous of this tank. 60-P with PRLs is something I very much want to pursue after I move out and get my own place. Scrapping the 20g for a 60P and making it a display tank with PRLs....gah. It may not much to look at for some people right now, but this tank is an inspiration for me.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

It looks great!


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

I just noticed something... did you have any prefilter on your intake for shrimps?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

freph said:


> I'm so ridiculously jealous of this tank. 60-P with PRLs is something I very much want to pursue after I move out and get my own place. Scrapping the 20g for a 60P and making it a display tank with PRLs....gah. It may not much to look at for some people right now, but this tank is an inspiration for me.


Thanks for the kind words. Wish I would have gone this route much sooner instead of playing around with the Petco tanks. 

Before you know it you'll be setting up your own 60-P. At least you know exactly what your goal is. Check out some of these pics of my first shrimp tanks from 2005 when I was in college. At the time I even had my girlfriend with a shrimp tank...:icon_eek: As you can see, I had no clue what I was doing back then. Heck, bumblebees were the "it" shrimp and the only way you can get CRS was if you paid a ton of money on aquabid. It's amazing how fast this hobby is moving.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Green_Flash said:


> It looks great!


Thanks. Stay tuned as there will be more updates periodically.



sayurasem said:


> I just noticed something... did you have any prefilter on your intake for shrimps?


Yeah, I am waiting on my lily pipes to arrive and then I'll be purchasing a screen prefilter from H4N. At the moment the shrimp are okay and will not be sucked in....none are old enough to be berried yet so no shrimplets for at least 2 months.


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

hedge_fund said:


> As you can see, I had no clue what I was doing back then. Heck, bumblebees were the "it" shrimp and the only way you can get CRS was if you paid a ton of money on aquabid. It's amazing how fast this hobby is moving.


what are bumblebee shrimp? I see these in pet stores, and I can't for the life of me identify them as anything other than really low grade CRS/CBS...




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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

MABJ said:


> what are bumblebee shrimp? I see these in pet stores, and I can't for the life of me identify them as anything other than really low grade CRS/CBS...


Not sure if it's still the case but back in the day these were all wild caught. The CRS shrimp were developed from these when a red mutation occurred.


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

Ohh! Yeah they're all labeled differently now. Stupid stores have no unified label systems. 

Yeah I know the bee shrimp you're mentioning, obviously. But now I see 'bumblebee shrimp' everywhere with faint white lines on Light red or light black bodies. 




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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

I received my knockoff lily pipes yesterday and they are great. Took about a week to arrive from China.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Dropped anything in the tank (like a supplement) yet to see how water flow is?

Knock-off lily pipes are one of my favorite things and I really enjoy finding new ones that get the job done.


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## Max Kenji (Mar 11, 2012)

Cool. I used to have these lily pipes in the tanks but they are a pain to clean.
I recommend plant some crypts, they are really good for shrimp tank.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Good call, Max.

My favorite thing for cleaning glass and other clear pipes is the Two Little Fishies MagFox. I'm not a fan of taking things apart and using brushes, so that little device comes in handy for spot-cleaning and even heavy duty jobs on pipes.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

somewhatshocked said:


> Dropped anything in the tank (like a supplement) yet to see how water flow is?
> 
> Knock-off lily pipes are one of my favorite things and I really enjoy finding new ones that get the job done.


What I like about them is that they do not move the top water like the eheim ones. I like lots of floating plants and mine tend to do better in standing water. This lily pipe directs the flow to the bottom which I prefer.



Max Kenji said:


> Cool. I used to have these lily pipes in the tanks but they are a pain to clean.
> I recommend plant some crypts, they are really good for shrimp tank.


Funny you say that because I actually had the idea of getting some crypts but I know nothing about them. I guess something will pop up sooner or later in the SnS section.



somewhatshocked said:


> Good call, Max.
> 
> My favorite thing for cleaning glass and other clear pipes is the Two Little Fishies MagFox. I'm not a fan of taking things apart and using brushes, so that little device comes in handy for spot-cleaning and even heavy duty jobs on pipes.


nice, thanks. I'll be definitely picking up one of these.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

How big of holes are on those lily pipes, looks like babies could be impeller food


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

sbarbee54 said:


> How big of holes are on those lily pipes, looks like babies could be impeller food
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


There will be a prefilter installed eventually but these shrimp will not be berried any time soon (still too young).


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Looking good buddy! Those lily pipes didn't take to long either!

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

Man, I just stumbled across your video (searched feeding borneowild color, first link booyah) of your old setup. I really want PRLs now....gah.


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

Stop spending money!!!!!!!You are killing us.
Great tank. Thanks for sharing.


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## Merth (Sep 9, 2012)

I've got some extra crypts you can have if your not picky..ill post a pic tomm .


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

I've been messing around today after watching a bunch of Benibachi videos. What I noticed about all their tanks is that they have spraybars constantly dropping water from the top in order to get as much oxygen into the tank as possible. I then noticed that I pretty much had no air bubbles floating around so decided to tinker. Here is my latest contraption for the time being while I see how well it works.

So I took my outflow lily pipe out and replaced it with the eheim spray bar that they give you with the filter. I cut it into a smaller piece as it was as long as the tank. The finnex light came in handy since it's holding the pipe in place....the spray bar sits very sturdy and has no chance of falling. It's creating a nice bubble waterfall effect. It's actually injecting a ton of bubbles with not much flow at all so it's not like it's disturbing the whole substrate. It's also very silent so there isn't a Niagara Falls noise going on in my living room.



















Spraybar cannot fall in any direction. Can't go up since it's held by the light, can't go to the side nor can it fall down into the water.



















I added a small partition made out of straws so the top floating plants are not getting pushed down by the spraybar. It also keeps the plants in one spot which is very good as I can never grow floaters if there is too much flow.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

freph said:


> Man, I just stumbled across your video (searched feeding borneowild color, first link booyah) of your old setup. I really want PRLs now....gah.


None of my friends notice a difference between my PRLs and regular CRS. haha. So yeah, getting PRLs is just a novelty thing.



plamski said:


> Stop spending money!!!!!!!You are killing us.
> Great tank. Thanks for sharing.


haha...I'm the same way. I see people spending and then I go on my own binges too. I'm almost done though. I picked up a cool dual sponge filter today since I'm on a "high oxygen in the tank" kick.



Merth said:


> I've got some extra crypts you can have if your not picky..ill post a pic tomm .


Thanks man. I just ordered some crypt nurii and crypt pontederiifolia. Will be receiving them tomorrow so I'll probably be posting pics.


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

smart!


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Received some crypts today from Ghazanfar Ghori. Crypt Nurii and Crypt Pontederiifolia.

These came in excellent shape and look really cool. Tank looks much fuller now.



















I don't know whether one of those crypts is going to like all the air bubbles but what the heck...that was the cheap one. hah


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## antiquefloorman (Oct 8, 2011)

How many gallons is the 60p??


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

antiquefloorman said:


> How many gallons is the 60p??


About 18 gallons


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

I have the same light and some frogbit I got off the SnS. I've got almost zero surface disturbance, but the frogbit is not doing well. It's going all yellow and turning to sludge. I'm trying to come up with another idea for a floater (NOT DUCKWEED!) if the frogbit doesn't recover.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

@betta maniac, your water may be uber clean and devout of nitrates which is starving the frogbit...


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

OMG, that didn't even occur to me!!! I'll dose some nitrate tonight.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Bamn, nitrates will help, but longer lighting period will help as well.


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## nycfish (Nov 6, 2009)

Nice little mod. Does the crypt you place below displace the flow ? Just wondering if its strong and if your substrate gets kicked up from the spray


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Betta Maniac said:


> I have the same light and some frogbit I got off the SnS. I've got almost zero surface disturbance, but the frogbit is not doing well. It's going all yellow and turning to sludge. I'm trying to come up with another idea for a floater (NOT DUCKWEED!) if the frogbit doesn't recover.


As others have said, you might be deficient in nutrients which is why your frog bit is not faring so well. I usually have issues when I do not provide enough light. Why not try various floating plants and see which ones thrive in your conditions? In my experience, giant duckweed and salvinia minima (sp) does the best in my conditions. For example, I cannot grow Red Root Floaters if my life depended on it...not sure why but it just does not grow in my tanks.



nycfish said:


> Nice little mod. Does the crypt you place below displace the flow ? Just wondering if its strong and if your substrate gets kicked up from the spray


The flow is actually not fast at all but it creates a ton of bubbles. None of the substrate gets displaced. The crypt doesn't even move all that much. Honestly, I am not sure how much I like this mod since the tank is filled with bubbles all over and looks like soda water.

Here is a pic from a few mins ago....you can see that the bubbles are all over.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

nice new crypts!


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

hedge_fund said:


> Why not try various floating plants and see which ones thrive in your conditions? In my experience, giant duckweed and salvinia minima (sp) does the best in my conditions.


Thanks. I'll have to see if I can track those down.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

I won a bet with a friend of mine and she came over to cook me dinner so i had some spare time to work on a little project that I've been putting off. The light was so bright that I could only keep it on for 4 hours. I decided to build a little hanging system which has the light suspended about 7 inches from the water. I may no longer need floating plants but we'll see what happens in a few days.

Total cost was less than 15 bucks if anybody is interested. Items that were picked up at Home Depot as I randomly walked down every single isle looking for materials.

2 L-shaped shelf support brackets (they had multiple colors)
2 mirror wires (used to suspend mirrors)
1 packed of the little metal pieces that you clamp together (not sure of name)
1 packet of screws for sheet rock (the l-shaped brackets do come with screws).

Not the greatest looking thing but it will do. I was planning on buying a hanger that's already made but I have no room behind the tank. One more thing...the L-shaped brackets come in different lengths and the ones that I purchased were 10 inches.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)




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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

that is a good idea, it was pretty bright huh?

this is where I wish my led had a dimmer option.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Green_Flash said:


> that is a good idea, it was pretty bright huh?
> 
> this is where I wish my led had a dimmer option.


I really like it bright and had no issues except that I never kept it on for more than 4 hours. Now that winter is here I am home more frequently so I'd like to enjoy the tank more. Luckily the hangers helped a ton.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Was wondering how and what % water do you change?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Green_Flash said:


> Was wondering how and what % water do you change?


I do 2 gallons each week which equals about 11%. The tank is roughly 17 gallons.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Do you drip in the water? Or just fill it up like a regular water change.


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## Forumsnow (Feb 22, 2012)

Hey Hedge fellow ct resident here. Really liking this tank. I will be doing something similar to your setup but for CBS come early spring/summer. Those are some beautiful prl you have there, you will have to let me know when your colony is large enough again and you are looking to rid yourself of some haha. 

I did almost the exact same setup for hanging my buildmyled.com fixture over my 12 long supreme red/ oebt tank.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Green_Flash said:


> Do you drip in the water? Or just fill it up like a regular water change.


I usually just fill the water in my shrimp tanks instead of dripping it. It would take too long and I would most likely ditch the shrimp hobby...



Forumsnow said:


> Hey Hedge fellow ct resident here. Really liking this tank. I will be doing something similar to your setup but for CBS come early spring/summer. Those are some beautiful prl you have there, you will have to let me know when your colony is large enough again and you are looking to rid yourself of some haha.
> 
> I did almost the exact same setup for hanging my buildmyled.com fixture over my 12 long supreme red/ oebt tank.


Looks great.

I actually changed my mind on this setup and will report with pics one of these days. A guy has been begging me to sell him some of my Ebiten PRL so I sold every single one except 1 female which I will breed with one of my new Crystal Whites. With that said, the tank in this thread is empty and it's just getting a ton of light, co2 and ferts. Plants and mosses are starting to take off now so I'm waiting for the tank to flourish before posting pics again. Not sure why I changed my mind but for some reason I got the "plant" bug again. I do have a primary shrimp tank already so there was no need for two. :thumbsup:

Then again...I might change my mind sooner or later and drop some shrimp in there. Oh yeah...the plant tank gets the most attention from everyone that I bring to my apartment so it's not a bad thing. :thumbsup:


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Just wondering how this is progressing.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Green_Flash said:


> Just wondering how this is progressing.


It's filling in very nicely. I need about 2-3 more months until the HC fills in and then I'll post some great pics. I have so much co2 going in here that nothing survives. This is no longer a shrimp tank since I got really into plants (almost all the ebitens were sold off or put into my main shrimp tank to mix with everything else). 

Pics will come in probably 2 months. It's really starting to look awesome. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Update please


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

He made it a tank for plants now and got ride of all hs shrimp


Sent from my iPad 3 using Tapatalk HD


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