jeremoose Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 (edited) Hello again all! So just recently my wife got a glimpse of an Iwagumi tank online that I was looking at and fell in love, well, here we go again. This is going to be a test tank for Iwagumi, going to test our 'chops'. This afternoon in Edmonton we picked up a 20g long as well as a few nice pieces of dragon stone. We have 96 watts of T5 HO lighting coming in and are going to be starting with a large DIY co2 setup (3x2 liter reactors) and then moving into a pressurized system using an Aquatek reg setup. After a lot of research (and a lot of mixed reviews) we've decided on the Fluval Stratum Shrimp substrate for the tank since it lowers the PH considerably (and it comes out of the tap at around 7.5 here) and we plan to keep CRS with RCS and possibly Tiger Shrimp. We have one 9 pound bag and have two more coming as well as a micro powerhead to keep the water flowing nicely. We will be filtering the tank with a couple of small sponge filter (hopefully hidden). In addition to the shrimp we will have a school of between 15 and 25 Neon Tetras to accompany the shrimp. We actually bought 15 today which will be housed in our 10g RCS sanctuary until the 20g is up and running. We're planning on going with Glossostigma elatinoides (Glosso) for our carpeting plant and I doubt we will be adding any extra plants. We initially wanted to go with Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC) but decided after a lot of reading that it would be a pain to grow out. Sorry for the wall of text, I promise there will be more pictures than text once some items start rolling in and we can actually start the build. Here's what we have so far: Some items should drop early next week and I'll be updating then! Edited February 18, 2012 by jeremoose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 If you're running your sponge filters on air, they'll degas all of your CO2. I you want to run 2 sponge filters, get 2 small powerheads to run them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted February 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 If you're running your sponge filters on air, they'll degas all of your CO2. I you want to run 2 sponge filters, get 2 small powerheads to run them. I was planning one on air and one off a powerhead, thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 The air driven one will gas off all your CO2. If you're going to do a planted tank with CO2, you want as little surface aggitation as possible; yet, you also want a fair bit of flow. This will keep your CO2 in the tank and help distribute it and other nutrients to plants throughout the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayba Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 I would also say to not use air at all, and deflect the power heads to create minor surface aggitation, but it's a fine line between CO2, off gassing and asphixiation lol. I pushed it by accident once or twice with tramatic results. I sure wish my wife would see some kind of aquarium and get all hot and bothered. So far all my aquariums make her bothered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted February 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Thanks for the advice! I had no idea that any bubbles would completely diffuse co2. Back to the drawing board I suppose. What if I were to just run the co2 through the day then have a timer to run my sponge filters at night? And have the powerhead run all the time? Is that a ridiculous idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 It's fine if you're just wanting sponge filters for mechanical filtration; but, I always found that they're much better at biofiltration, and unless they have a steady stream of O2 rich water going through them, the bacteria will not flurish. IMO, if you're planning on having the entire footprint of the tank planted w. Glosso, you'll probably be fine with just one sponge filter running in a shrimp tank. If you have an NO3 test kit, see if you're able to keep 10ppm with just food; but, chances are, you'll have to fertilize regularly to keep the Glosso healthy. IME, it likes lots of CO2 and lots of NO3 (by that I mean a constant supply). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted February 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) It's fine if you're just wanting sponge filters for mechanical filtration; but, I always found that they're much better at biofiltration, and unless they have a steady stream of O2 rich water going through them, the bacteria will not flurish. IMO, if you're planning on having the entire footprint of the tank planted w. Glosso, you'll probably be fine with just one sponge filter running in a shrimp tank. If you have an NO3 test kit, see if you're able to keep 10ppm with just food; but, chances are, you'll have to fertilize regularly to keep the Glosso healthy. IME, it likes lots of CO2 and lots of NO3 (by that I mean a constant supply). I wasn't planning on using the sponge filters for mechanical filtration, I was planning on using them purely for biological filtration and just spot cleaning the gravel everyday along with a 10% water change. And fertilizing is bad for shrimp.. Hmmmmm. Now I'm thinking maybe I should be getting a small canister filter of some kind. DAMMIT! I'm happy I put this up before I start setting this up or I'd have a really messed up/ineffective system. Edited February 20, 2012 by jeremoose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 Whoever said fertilizing is bad for shrimp better not tell the hundreds of shrimp I've raised in fully planted, fully fertilized tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted February 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 Whoever said fertilizing is bad for shrimp better not tell the hundreds of shrimp I've raised in fully planted, fully fertilized tanks. Wow really? Well that's good to know. I heard that Flourish Comprehensive was bad for shrimp because it had small amounts of copper, but I suppose it probably isn't enough to make a difference. I'm learning a ton here, REALLY happy I posted before I start the build. Also, I will be ordering a pressurized co2 setup in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 I used Tropica Master Grow for years and my shrimp flourished. Then I switched to a powdered trace mix when I started spending over $20/m on liquid trace ferts. I used powder and dissolved KNO3 and powder KH2PO4 for macronutrients Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted February 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 I used Tropica Master Grow for years and my shrimp flourished. Then I switched to a powdered trace mix when I started spending over $20/m on liquid trace ferts. I used powder and dissolved KNO3 and powder KH2PO4 for macronutrients Are you running pressurized co2? As I mentioned I will be ordering a co2 regulator for a pressurized setup in the morning since I will have a ludicrous amount of lighting over this tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 Pressurized is the only way to go, IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted February 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 Pressurized is the only way to go, IMO Do you mind providing some details? Where'd you buy yours, local? If so, where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 I've had several over the years. I bought both a paintball and 10lb canister and reg from Nature's Corner. Not sure if they carry the small ones anymore. The 10lbs are aluminum tanks, and I beleive the regs are Milwaukee 3-in-1; I think it was around $200 all in. I bought a 20lb tank from OxyPro, and a 2 stage reg from Praxair for about $125ea. I've picked up needle valves and bubble counters from eBay stores that have worked well; as well as BigAl's Online. I am not currently running CO2, as I got the pleco bug BAD; and while the plecos I have don't eat plants, they're big and tear them up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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