jumpsmasher

For my new PRL tanks I been using Plexi glass dividers with around a 1" gap on the bottom and a series 2" holes drilled around the middle of the tank. Once filled you can cover the holes with sponges, cutte to size . I am actually using 1 7/8 holes as that is the exact diameter of my smaller section of my sponge filter refills - every sponge filter comes with 4 refills so I have tons of extras. I don't have any pictures of mine yet but it is based on what Stephan did for his divided tanks. http://www.shrimpnow.com/forums/showthread.php/8158-Some-of-my-humble-shrimps?p=83410&viewfull=1#post83410 CrystalMethShrimp also had a beautiful custom acrylic tank done based on Stephan's tanks http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38983 Both of them have the intake on one end, covered with a sponge filter with the output with the other end and sponge filters in each one as well. Of course you can also just use a power filter in each section alternatively as well, For my top level tank I make going to try a hob canister filter with a couple of prefilter extensions if I can get my hands on them http://www.up-aqua.com/00-dm-page/00dm_ex-filter-big.jpg http://www.up-aqua.com/00-dm-page/EX-PF-AD.jpg or the Totto Perfectfilter MiniMini http://www.gcshop-sg.com/product_view.php?pid=1620&pg=0&cata=3&cate=2&scate=&lo=&bid=4&cid=-1&stxt=&nipp=100&stm=-1&dsct=0 Will have to bug Frank about those or even build something similar using a series of inline reactors or R/O parts

By no means is this the only way to go about setting up a CRS tank. I am going to try a few different things as well for my next series of tanks as well. Will be ditching the UG filter and trying out the Akadama we picked up. Never really did a tank without a UG filter or with Akadama so curious to see how it goes.

Nice clean tanks. Looks like someone stocked up on breeding tubes the last order :P Those 24" deep racks are perfect for 15/20 gallon tanks arranged with their long end front to back. Maybe even some custom 36" x 24" tanks with built-in partitions. Will have to look at something like that once I clear some space in my den : ) Be careful with those moss tiles - I used the same ones a while back, the metal pegs on the corners tend to rust after a while as they are not made of stainless steel (like the mesh). Imke did an interview with SummitMicroFarm recently where she mention that he uses AquaClear filters for all his tanks - might be a good read if you haven't already read it. http://shrimpsider.wordpress.com/2012/10/28/summitmicrofarm-shrimp-breeder-from-oregon-usa/

Very nice rack Ron! looks a lot more studier than mine - where did you pick it up and what are the dimensions?

ya i saw the same post... Seems a bit high but let me know how your shrimps like them. even with my short ones, I find the shrimplets have a hard time getting out of them so I put a few things inside to help them get out.. lol

This is actually Frank's (Ebi-Ken) rack build.. Lol I was just inferring that if he want a bigger challenge he should come over to Calgary and build some racks for me and Ron.. He he he

I can't say I ever saw a full grown BKK in person but I think they should get the same size as a normal CRS / CBS, they just take twice as long to get there. The funny thing with the Shadow TB's is that the blue is always there - how much blue there is depends on how solid the white is.. so unlike regular CRS where a solid white shell is highly desirable you kinda want the opposite as less solid white = more blue (at least that is the theory I think). Of course, if want to keep the Panda pattern, you still want some white or else it will just be black and close to the regular 1 or 2 bar BKK.

An even bigger challenge would be to build two racks in Calgary in one day. You know having more tanks would mean we would have to buy more shrimps.... jk But seriously, it is just a matter of time before Ron does his own take on the Ebi-Ken Shrimp Rack... :P

I was going to say, if that is the powder type, those guys are tiny but great close-up shots : ) Not sure if it is my monitor are work but i does look like that particualr panda does have have a bit of a blue tilt that i didn't notice last night - if he/she keeps it as it grows older you might have a shadow panda on your hands. I think with those guys either they have it on their white sections of their body or they don't. On the non-shadow pandas the white is very solid, when it is not soild that is when you see the blue tilt. Is the first picture an OEBT or a BTOE?

looking good Ron! Is that the ADA Africana Powder in your BKK tank? If those are Ebi-Ten feeding dishes does that mean Frank has access to the Ebi-Ten JPRL :drool:

If they have the bacter balls, you can try those for a established tank..Just throw them in and they will dissolve in thr tank.. Shrimps like snacking on them as well

Other than the Fluval shrimp line, shrimp specific products will have mail ordered. I get most of my Mosura and BorneoWild products from the States but there are a few places in canada that sells them as well. Canadian Aquatics used to carry Mosura but I don't think they continued with it. There is also this site but i never dealt with them before http://www.shrimpfever.com

Make sure you keep an eye on the nitrite levels - the lower ph will eliminate any free ammonia but your total ammonia level might still be up there and you might get some nitrite spikes. Be prepare to so water changes if they do go up and keep dosing some bacteria

I use similar products to what what Ron uses - basically one is a type of montmorillonite clay / mineral powder (in my case Mosura Old Sea Mud or generic montmorillionite clay) and the other is a bacteria powder (in my case Mosura BT-9). In the area where I don;t have my UG filter I uses a generous layer of montmorillionite clay, and a couple sparkle of bacteria and some bacteria based baby shrimp food for good measure. Than I add about 1/2 or 2/3 of my substrate.. than I add a bit more bacteria, than the rest of the substrate. I dose my bacteria whenever I do a water change. The montmorillionate clay that is under the substrate is suppose to be good for aorund 6 months.. after that you can dose it weekly as well.

the tricky part with using tap water is with the water "not in the tank" i.e water for water changes. You will want to keep the parameters as close as possible to the water inside the tank and if there is a significant difference you would want to slowly drip the new water in. There are several ways to deal with water changes and top-ups but if you are only topping up, you should only use R/O water as using tap water to replace water that has evaporated will slowly increase the hardness and tds of your tank water. If you have a test kit I would keep a log of the parameters of the tank as it is cycling and do some water changes to see if they alter your parameters. The aquasoil will buffer any new water but it will not do it instantly.

Your setup should be fine - the ADA Aquasoil will buffer your water regardless or not it is used with an UG system. The UG setup is basically a way to increase the amount of biological filtration while at the same time acting as a prefilter for the baby shrimps. The only suggestion i would make is maybe look at getting a slightly oversized canister filter and out some sort of prefilter over the intake to prevent shrimps from getting sucked up by the filter. What grade of CRS are you getting? Are you using tap water or R/O water? At this point I would be more concern about the parameters. Do you have any target parameter(s) you are trying to reach with your setup? I also have a 33G divided shrimp tank I recently setted up for some Black and Blue tiger shrimps - no buffering substrate though, just inert sand but lots of filtration. Like you have have a sponge filter on each side plus I got two ehiem canister filters running inline along with a post filter purigen reactor.

Get a filter with a shutoff valve on the hose - i think most of of them do these days. if there is anything wrong with the filter that you can just stop the flow with the valve and replace or fix the filter. Ehiem classics comes with a nice double tap connectors. Other canister filter have a shutoff device on the top of the filter they are designed to shut off the water flow before you can remove the hose.

Ya, tough market for the smaller independent LFS these days but I think they left on good terms.

I have used both HOB and Canister filters on my tanks. Since most of my tanks are shrimp only tanks flow rate was not as important as media volume and customization, which canisters run away with. Customization as in the ability hook up various options pre and post filter. Some of my tanks have prefilters which are essentially mini canisters without motors. Some of my tanks utilizes a post filter purigen reactor. And of course there are more flexibility with canisters in term of output types and flow control. the main drawback I find with canisters is their size; on a one-off setup it isn't much of an issue but if you have multiple tanks in a rack, they take up valuable real estate and depending on how far up they have to pump, you may get considerably less output. I am looking at some HOB canister filters for my next setup. There is a some out there that can be expanded with expansion units which will increase their media volume. This is one of them: http://www.truaqua.com/aquarium-hang-on-canister-filter-rd-30g.html Up Aqua! also makes the same one but in green so i am guessing they come from the same factory. For your 20G tank I would say something like an Eheim Classic 2213 or similar should be suffice. I have used the Eheim Ecco series and they are pretty good as well. My only experience with Rena is with their XP4 which I own - can't say much about the XP2 or XP1 but the XP4 has been pretty solid for me.

Well they had a lot of tanks to go thru :P Even without UG filters, those tanks had a pretty substantial layer of substrate.. I would say around 3"-4"

They shut down. The owner is somewhat of a relative of mine..

While Benibatchi doesn't use the same UG style setup (most commerical breeders don't), I just love the simple layout of their shrimp tanks

Should add that after the tank is setted up and running, the substrate is best left undisturbed (i.e no gravel cleaning). Usually within the first few weeks a nice biofilm will develop over the substrate and walls of the tank - shrimps love feeding off this biofilm. When I first introduce some shrimps to a new tank, they are literally eating the substrate!

For those wanting more details about setting up a shrimp tank from scratch here is a few good posts from other sites that explain it pretty good: Liam's step by step guide with a DIY undergravel pipe: http://www.plantedta...ad.php?t=155975 Yoyo's setup guide: http://crystalredshr...ank-set-up.html Silane's guide: http://www.silaneshr...tank-setup.html My current setups are a combination of the first two. The current trend is to use an intermediate media between the substrate and UG filter to maximize the life of the substrate. I should note this is mainly geared towards a shrimp specific setup for more sensitives shrimps such as crystral red, etc; neos like cherry reds, PFR, rili etc; should be fine with any basic setup. Not sure how well this would work for a more heavily planted tank Jump

Ya, the bio load for shrimps is actually quite low... the bacteria in the gravel should be able to handle it. As long as your ammonia and nitrite / nirate level are low than you should be fine doing what you have doing since they are thriving. Spixi snails are good for eating Hydra... depends on how much you value your plants.. lol