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New Shrimp Rack


jumpsmasher
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it took me a while but I finally got my new shrimp rack up this past weekend but still got lots of work left to do to setup the individual tanks.

This is my 4th shrimp rack I have set up; I started thinking about it at the earlier this year when we leased out the warehouse at work where I had my last shrimp rack. The tanks on the current racks were due for a substrate change and I wanted to maximize the limited amount of space I have to fit as many tanks as possible. I also needed more tank space for my current breeding projects.

I was able to secure some industrial warehouse racking from work and got Concept to build me some custom tanks.

Rack is 4 ft. wide x 2 ft. deep by 6 1/2 ft high and consist of the following tanks;

3 x 20 gal (16" x 24" x 12") - divided down the middle for selective breeding

8 x 15 gal (12" x 24" x 12")

plus 2 x ~18 gal reservoir tanks (18" x 24" x 11") for water changes / top-ups

All the shrimp tanks are rimless w/ a 1" wide eurobrace on the top. Went the custom route as I wanted to ensure I could fit all 4 tanks on a single row as standard 15gal tanks are usually a bit wider than 12" after the trim. I also needed a way of mounting my float valves (for my auto top-up / water change system) away from the back as the HMF filter would get in the way if i went with them.

Each tank will be individually filtered using a HMF filter driven by a central air pump. My previous racks have used canister filters but I needed to fit as many tanks as possible and didn't like the idea of giving up the bottom row of tanks for canister filters. I toyed with the idea of HOB canister filters but there would have been quite costly but in terms of power draw (and outlets) and capital costs. Decided against a sump as I wanted to flexibility to have a number of different setups and again, didn't want to give up the bottom row for a sump.

Lighting is provided by LED striplights; each level has two 48" LED strips mounted on aluminium channels and attached to the underside of the plywood shelves.

In all my past shrimp rack I use a simple auto top-up / water change system which consist of float valves on each tank which are fed by a couple of "reservoir" tanks. it lets me keep the water levels of all my tanks automatically topped up as well as lets me drip in new water during water changes unattended.

Below are some photos after all but 1 of the tanks have been placed on the rack. Just did a fill test on some of tanks as will as added a test fitting a HMF filter. The 4th 15gal on the bottom row is as I still have to reorganized my power cables from my old rack to the right before setting up the final tank.

_B171669_zpsaa13afce.jpg

_B171674_zps12773d27.jpg

The next step is to set up the tanks; set up the HMF filter, add the substrate and start cycling the tanks

Also, still need to get the plumbing and hardware for my ATO system.

Plan is to consolidate all my shrimps from other two racks, then break down the old racks down and add another section to the right of the new rack with another set of identical tanks

Edited by jumpsmasher
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Nice :) which led strips are you using if I may ask? they seem to be quite bright.

cheers,

Antonio (Tigs)

The LED are 5630 LED strips. I got my 5m roll off ebay but you can find them in several places like 724lights and amazon.

http://www.724light.com/super-bright-5630-smd-single-color-flexible-light-strip-5m-164ft-450leds-p-1298.html

It use two 48" strip per level; power consumption is around 15W / metre so @ 4 ft that is around 18W or 36W total per level.

LED Type: 5050 300leds 5630 300leds 3528 300leds

Color: Warm Cool White Warm Cool White Warm Cool White

LED Quantity 300leds / 5M 300leds / 5M 300leds / 5M

Protection Waterproof or Non-Waterproof Waterproof or Non-Waterproof Waterproof or Non-Waterproof

View angle 120° 120° 120°

Working input Voltage 12VDC , 6A 12VDC , 6A 12VDC , 2A

Working power 72W/5M 75W/5M 24W/5M

Working Current / M 0.35-1.2A 0.35-1.2A 0.35-0.4A

Working Temperature -20 to 50°C -20 to 50°C -20 to 50°C

Luminous Flux 540-600 Lumens/M 1200-1320 Lumens/M 390-450 Lumens/M

So far it seem pretty bright but hard to so until I get the tanks setup with substrate and filled water.

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thanks, I cannot get the link to work but will check amazon for them. I like the profile/power use of them compared to standard T8/T5's

cheers,

Antonio

replied to your pm.

so far they seemed pretty decent but can;t really compare them to standard LED fixtures until the tanks are setted up. They do seemed pretty blue but i believe is because of the blue styrofoam i am using as an underlay for the tanks.

The easiest way would be to attached directly to the underside of the plywood as the strips have an adhersive 3m tape on the backside but i went the extra mile and mounted them on aluminium channels, which were by far, the most expensive components for me as i need them in a custom length (1.5m) which i cutted down to 4ft

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  • 2 months later...

okay been a while since I last posted but the good new is most of the tanks completed cycling over the holidays but I been away for work so I didn't have a chance to move all my shrimps over over their old tanks until last week.

But first some old photos in case people are wonder how I set up the tanks:

Substrate additives:

_B201681_zps0cc3ca28.jpg

Definitely overkill but I had a bunch of products I wanted test out or use up :p

And here is what is looks like after it is all said and done

_B201684_zps8447bd39.jpg

Kinda looks like a Jackson Pollock painting : ) too bad it gets covered up with ADA Aquasoil.

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Fast forward to last week:

I started transferring over the shrimps for the middle row (top row was still showing a bit of nitrates) . It was a long process as I could only do a couple of batches per day as I was drip acclimatizing them.

This was the last batch of my taiwan bee shrimps be moved:

_1151696_zps023eca21.jpg

And one of many batches of PRL culls which are going into separate tanks; didn't count how many had to do at least 6 batches and there was usually 50-100 shrimps each time.

_1171800_zps4317840a.jpgL]

Edited by jumpsmasher
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Finished moving all the shrimps for middle row the other day and finally got around to cleaning the glass and taking some shots of the rack and tanks.

Here is the rack as it stand today:

_1201802_zpsd590dc95.jpg

Middle row is now fully populated
Top row probably got another week or so left before it finish cycling

Bottom row got some OEBT's in the tank on the left, haven't decided that to do with the 2nd tank and I will still waiting for the 2nd batch of tanks to get deliver to finish up the last two tanks on the right.

The Middle row is set up as follows (L to R)

PRL culls (mixed band)
PRL culls (hiro / no-entry)
Taiwan Bees
Golden Bees

_1201806_zps6fc7820d.jpg

PRL culls (mixed band) tank

_1201846_zpsbac20a5a.jpg

PRL culls (hiro / no-entry) tank

_1201855_zps6db40a70.jpg

Taiwan Bee tank

_1201829_zps9e1e296f.jpg

Golden Bee Tank

_1201832_zps755bc94e.jpg
(have a breeder box that is empty - was just testing it out)

and a parting shot from some of my PRL culls

_1201871_zps13705231.jpg

Still left to do:

- wait for top fow of tanks to finish cycling and transfer the shrimps over

- hook up the LED lights to a single PSU (400w) and maybe add a controller
- hook up the plumbing (float valves, water lines, etc; ) for the auto top-up / water change system - still testing out a couple of different float valves.

- shut down old rack (to the right of new rack) and extend rack with another 4ft section

- get another set of tanks from custom tank builder and set them up / finish off the bottom row

Edited by jumpsmasher
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Hi Hung,

Your set up really looks good.

Are the sponges poret filters? Looks like you do not run mechanical filter.

Do you like the breeder box?

How's the Bucephalandras?

yup those are all 45ppi Poret HMF filter with Jetlifters. No room on the rack for canister filters - wanted to use as much of the rack as possible for tanks.

The breeder box is alright; I think it would be good for photography; no sure if i would use it for breeding - it would worked better if they made it wider than it is tall.

The bucs are doing pretty good so far.. I split a few out and attached them to lava rocks, will see if i can grow them using those LED lights : )

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I hosted berries in the breeder box before and raised babies in it without problem. You are right, it would be better it was made wider. I am temping to ask my friend to order custom made to my size.... but the shipping will kill me.

The Buce grew really slow in my tank with T5 lights. Hope they grow faster in LED.

By the way, how much space you have behind the poret foam. Is it bare bottom behind or the proet is sitting on top of the substrate?

Do you think it will be messy when you need to take the poret foam out for cleaning?

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Ya I am not a big fan of using breeder boxes in general; I prefer a divided / separate tank for that purpose. I usually use them to prep shrimps for shipping. But if they were large enough it might work... I will email you what I am looking for.

In the middle where the jetlifters are there is a bit over 1". I also hide my heaters in the same spot. On the edge, there is basically no space as I push them up against the back. I don't plan taking them out while the tanks are up. If I need too I can turn off the air pump and siphon the water from poret bilut poret is "suppose" to last a long time without cleaning.. Will be I while before I get to find that out or not.

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I'm a little unclear of your water auto top off, do you mind giving a bit of a zoom in on that?

Looks really sharp all the way around. Looks like a shrimp playground, with some of those stacked cylinders, what are they called?

Edited by Iceturf
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