jumpsmasher Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 (edited) 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 Edited October 25, 2012 by jumpsmasher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted October 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hackerberry Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Cool, thanks for the post! hb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Giving me great ideas for my next tank, thanks jumpsmasher. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANA T Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Thanks for the info ,I am setting up a shrimp tank and this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 (edited) 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 Edited October 24, 2012 by jumpsmasher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Was that camera person in a rush? I got motion sickness watching that...LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted October 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 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" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukeswild Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Thanks for the great thread and ideas. That leaves thinking now. I've recently just set up 30g with a glass divider up with Ada soil. The tank is intended for crs after cycling. That being said there's about 2" of soil and I'm running a twin sponge filter on both. I've always used UG filters and do on my larger tanks but was told not to with the Ada soil due to breaking down. With your exsperience do you think ill be ok with the setup I'm already into. Or would be in my best interest to empty it and start over with an UG system with the Ada soil? I guess my main concern would becoming anaerobic. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Personally I don't think it's necessary with only a couple inches of substrate. If you do go with an UG system, pack larger media (ie. Seachem Matrix) around the pipes before you layer your ADA as Liam does in the first link.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted October 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 (edited) 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. Edited October 27, 2012 by jumpsmasher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukeswild Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Thanks fellas for the quick response. The tank was kind of a last minute decision to setup and was the sump off the 110g after tearing it down. Mainly I'm looking for a space to provide for all my culls off the pf cherry tank and taking a decent stab at crs. Unfortionalty right now I'm not using an RO system. Although I'd like to be down the road. So as we all know our tap water here in Calgary is hard and alkaline. So with the new setup I'm pretty much after lower ph and softer water. I haven't really set aside exact park tere that I'm after as my research for breeding crs varies so much. So I'm hoping with the Ada, drift wood and moss for a basic setup it will get me close enough to kick things off. As for grades I'd most likely just be starting off with s+ or so. And jump I completely agree with with over kill on the filtertraion therefore providing a more stable environment. And I actually have a smaller enheim and fluval kicking around somewhere. And me your post I've just always been a fan of running the canister through the UG filter. Just wish I would seem it before the water went in! Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsmasher Posted October 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Just finished tweaking my TB tank. I didn't go with UGF system as I already had my additives and ADA Amazonia in the tank. My pH was only getting down to ~6.0 so I took some of it out and capped it with some ADA Africana Powder type. My filter has been circulating for 20 minutes or so and my pH is 5.1. I tried the bag method that Liam uses for filling his tanks and it worked like a charm. I however didn't drip, I pumped the water in though a 12mm hose but it still worked great. Only a week till they land . Thanks again for posting these setups along with your own jumpsmasher, they were all very helpful. Now for my PRL tank! Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukeswild Posted October 28, 2012 Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 What kind of addictive a are you guys using? I've seen a few articles of guys sprinkling it on the soils before filling up. Is it something you can add after the waters in? One time use, or how often do you replenish? Thnaks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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