Bruno

I'll try the drill route - the area around the pipe/holes will be filled with filter media to keep the holes flowing freely. I was considering adding a couple of sponge filters as well, to give them an area to graze as well as add oxygen. Will that be enough, or do I want to look at another source of oxygen? I want to paint the piping black now - I though someone on here had mentioned a paint that was safe to use?

I had both Java Fern and Anubias in my cichlid tank, but both were tied to rocks to prevent them from uprooting them and sending them floating to the top.

I now have my new tank from Concept and next step is plumbing. Here is the tank first. I have holes in each divider that will have a sponge fitted into them (thanks for the idea jumpsmasher) to allow water to flow and equalize between each partition while keeping shrimp in the appropriate partition. For plumbing I am going to go with the underground filter used by Ron and Jumpsmasher ( http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=43585) Here is the setup so far. Hope the glare isn't too bad, but I have put the intake in roughly the center with a T to pull from both sides. I still have to drill the holes, but looking for input on hole size and spacing. I figure bigger spacing closer to the T to encourage more even suction across the tank - any ideas how big the holes should be and how far apart? Then to get water back into the tank I decided against one return in a single partition to keep flow down, and a spray bar would have to sit on top of the partition, which would be hard to get it to stay in place, and would be noisy with water falling into the tank. So I decided on a manifold, splitting the return into 4, each with a ball valve to balance the flow between each partition. The holes in the partitions will allow any imbalance to equalize, but I can get it close this way. I moved the manifold to the front of the tank for a picture. I will have a inline heater before the manifold to also try to keep temp consistent across the tank too. Nothing is glued or final yet, so does anyone see any issues I haven't considered? Any suggestions before I glue everything together?

Looks great, exactly what I was hoping for. Overall a good experience, I'll buy from them again.

picking mine up today, so I will let you know

What does the reservoir at the top of the rack look like? Do you have a bulkhead in it with the tubing hooked up, or do you start a siphon with the airline hose? I am looking at 2 options for me - 1) get a small pump and valve and run a hose from my reservoir to the tank and fill it up that way - slowly but faster then drip. I'll have to watch to not overfill. Or 2) setup a tank above, pump the water there first and then setup a float valve and fill that way - less chance of overfilling with this, and I can go slower as I dont have to sit and watch it. I like option 2, just not sure how to get a siphone started - or do I drill a hole and attach pvc or hoses to the tank and let gravity do its thing. How are your reservoir tanks setup?

I was wondering about that. I can see the need for going slow when acclimating, but if ph and temp and TDS etc are all similar, I wasn't sure if there was any reason to add water slowly during a water change. So if I reminerized my water it would be ok to pump it in, maybe with a valve to slow the flow a little?

Working on putting together everything I need for a small shrimp setup. My rack will not be close to a water source or drain, so I am trying to figure out what best to put water from my ro/di unit into, and how that will play into water changes and top offs. Any ideas? And when it comes to water changes and top offs, I know the water should 'drip' in... but how slowly? I figure I will need a tank or container that can sit on the top shelf of my rack, to allow water to either drip or siphon down to the shrimp tank, but what should that container look like? Looking at some of the setups on here, looks like some of you have float valves, but what is that controlling, and how is it turning it off? Right now I am thinking I either need some smaller 'portable' containers to collect the ro/di water in that can be moved from the water source up to the top of the rack - either the container somehow connects to a line to then 'drip' the water down, or I hook up a pump and some water line to move water from the ro/di collection to the top of the rack with a container that is setup for the water changes. I use something like that to do water changes in my fish tanks now - a pump connected to a long hose - I put the pump in the tank, the other end of the hose is connected to the tap adapter from my old python water changer and when I turn on the pump water moves from my tank to the sink and drains (I then turn the pump off, change the direction of the python adapter and fill my tanks back up). So maybe something similar to move water from ro/di collection to top of rack? Any suggestions on how to setup the rack itself? If you have a good system and don't mind posting pics or sending them in a dm I'd love the help. Thanks, B

Happy to see this in my Red Cherry tank:

LOL, I am sure there will be MTS for the shrimp tanks, it has already affected me with my fish.

I was able to pick up the ro/di unit (non deluxe) from Concept today, $175

Thanks - and I see they have a ro/di for $185 http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/vt-ro100d/Vertex+Puratek+RO+DI+Filter+-+100GPD.html

anyone know where to get a ro/di system without breaking the bank?

I don't have RO water yet but am going to start the search for that too. Do I want RO or RO/DI? I havent decided what shrimps I will try, but I dont want my water to be the limiting factor. Any thing I should be looking for particular in a water filter? Anyone know the best (cheapest) place to get them?

Jumpsmasher - reading thru older posts and seen one where you mentioned staying away from Prime for dechlorinating. What do you suggest instead?

I am considering building my own tank, just because I want doesn't really exist. I would like to build one 48 long, 18 deep and 16 high. Any guidance on glass thickness, and where I can get the glass? Do I need a cross brace of some sort?

How are you getting the nitrates to drop? I dont see mention of a WC, just a TO... I dont see plants...

Thanks yet again - now to start shopping

I think I am getting bit by the shrimp bug So my 20G setup was for fish/plants and obviously isn't really going to cut it past the cherry shrimp I have now... So forward thinking, I am considering a 48" 40 gallon, partitioned for keeping different shrimp separate that would otherwise breed together, say 4 x 12" partitions. Could I use the UGFdesign hooked to a canister and then make a pvc spray bar to deliver water to each partition? I am worried that the draw from each partition would not be the same, nor perhaps would the water coming in, so I would need a way to allow water to equalize across all the partitions, without letting shrimp-lets move from partition to partition. Would having small holes in the partition keep them separate? How small would the holes have to be to keep even the little guys from moving from partition to partition? Or is there an other way to accomplish this without having a separate filter in each part?

The feeding bowls you have - assumign you have pads or something you can place into bowls for them? Any reason that is better then letting it sit/fall onto substrate?

great info, I really appreciate it! So I have removed the guppies from the tank, I love the UGF idea but will leave my substrate for now. I have them in a 20G, eco-complete substrate, a few plants, LED lighting and 2 x AC50 filters, now with sponges fit over the intakes to keep any more shrimp from being sucked up. I am stright tap water, declorinated. So next questions: 1) Water changes - how much do you recommend? Can I stick to tap water for now? I am thinking I will look at RO water, at least for top offs to keep gH stable. I see you mentioned, and I read in one fo the links you sent, dripping water in after a WC - how slow/quick does water need to added? 2) Food - I have some NLS food for shrimp, how often should I feed them and how much. I cant see them eating in a couple of mins like my fish, and the food seems to settle to the bottom quickly. Thanks for the help.

Awesome, thanks guys

that makes more sense - thx

in the pic where you had just installed the UGF, it appears to be floating near the top of the baffle... but the next pic shows substrate in that whole area. How deep down does the UGF end up after adding substrate? having a hrad time figuring out how you did the UGF from the pics...

Finnex is no longer available in Canada. This thread covered it: http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=42869 I am using a Fluval Planted and it is doing well, but I havent tried much else to compare it.