journal Restoring passion.

[Robert]

Ive had this beautiful tank sitting around for a months and ive had such high hopes for it. Towards the end of 2011 i lost interest in aquariums, the build up and down of the HSC meant i needed to escape and relax so there i was next minute; on a plane. I went to thailand, vietnam and cambodia. left hundreds of shrimp to my parents to take care of (hopeless) with mat (matblack) popping over every now and then to see how everything was going. came home, my shrimps were fine but i still didnt have time. long story short - uni, work, life.:sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping: but now its the 4 month holiday break and its time to revamp my passion.

My new tank afew months ago:

Quickly turned into this:

Now since ive been tearing it down:

Ill probably keep this tank to selective breed shrimp since the aquasoil is less then 6 months old.

This past week ive been collecting equipment for this wonderful build. My expenses thus far:

3 x 9L ADA AMAZONIA NEW $150

EHEIM 2215 $200

4 x 24W Power compact $100

Timber to make my cabinet $90

Total: $540 ive spent this week.

The tank is a 90 x 35 x 60 starfire sides and a mirrored base (just whatever they had lying around the stop to reduce cost)

Today i started to build the cabinet. i like the way it looks open at the moment but ill eventually add doors to it, prime/seal it and then paint it to match my room.

Pics or it didnt happen right?

Open top

[BlueBolts]

Looking great Robert, I'm sure members here at SKF will rev up your passion .... what are you planning to selective breed ?

[jacet]

Very nice mate.... can not wait to see the finished set up...

[lachie1998]

nice tank there bro, love the size of the tank.

[Robert]

Looking great Robert' date=' I'm sure members here at SKF will rev up your passion .... what are you planning to selective breed ?[/quote']Marcus. IS DAT U? have a feeling it is. I know theres a bunch of brothers out there willing to throw me a line when i need it. thank you but for the time being im going to try and breed myself, i dont have the kind of money at the moment to be playing in the same ball park you big boys are so im going to settle on playing with my pure lines that havent never been mixed with gold/whites. i distinctly remember buy 50 or so a/s grade crs and i had two left that bred so now i have about 50 or so pure red a / s grades and i want to work on that. although they dont have amazing legs, their reds and whites are clean, without a speck of impurities. with that i have two females from tony (2toned) that he worked on developing for a long time. thick whites and blacks with blackish faces a/s grades that i want to mix into this red blood i have. these girls have produced some solid cbs shrimplets but god knows which males impregnated them so ill have to separate them and throw a solid pure male with them.In this tank ill put the rest of my shrimp, mostly ss crs and cbs.A very stable line of something like this:From there i can make it into something better :PThank you brothers.

[BlueBolts]

Hi Robert, yes, it's Marcus...you've got a great bunch of shrimps there. More picks of your best ones would be great....

[Dean]

cant wait to see this setup running mate, love the tank size also..

Q. how thick is the glass as it looks to be thin for a braisless tank or is it just the pic.

keep the great updates coming mate

[Loach]

Cant wait for this! Looking great already :)

[Robert]

Q. how thick is the glass as it looks to be thin for a braisless tank or is it just the pic.

Just checked today, glass is 6mm and the height is 35cm. this makes the tank a very safe tank. filled it today and there was next to no bowing :applause:

[BlueBolts]

Hi Robert.......got an update for us ?

[Ziek]

WOW Robert that setup is AMAZING plz update

[Gbang]

update pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaase :)

[Robert]

Long awaited update.

I was going to do a step by step of me setting up my tank but i found it hard to even begin stting it up let alone take photos and write about it later on the forum. Maybe next time i will.

So in the last week i gap filled and painted my cabinet. One coat of undercoat, sealer and primer then 3 coats of colorbond 'deep ocean' exterior paint. It has great qualities and chemicals that dont let mould and stuff grow on the paint.

Then i painted the back of my tank the same colour, 4 coats because i done it by brush.

This morning i moved a tank and put this setup in its place.

Firstly i put substrate additives:

1/2 bottle of ADA super clear

1/2 bottle of ADA bacter 100

3/5 bag of Benibachi mineral powder

then i added one bag of ADA new 9lt.

added another

1/4 bacter 100

2/5 benibachi mineral powder

then added two more bags of ADA new 9lt and topped it with 3lts of ADA New powder.

The most important part about any shrimp tank is the substrate, you stuff foundations and youll have to tear it down and start again. Other things you can change later.

Added 6 mineral balls, a few indian almond leaves, canister, uv filter and lights.

Let the cycling begin.

More photos once the water clears.

[CNgo2006]

Hey Robert,

Is this the same tank I saw when I came over that time or is a new one? If new you will have 2 tanks in room?

Chi.

[Robert]

This is the 3ft i had in the back yard, the 2ft is still in my room but i pushed it to the corner. Ill take it down soon once this one is ready so i an make a matching cabinet.

[BlueBolts]

Thanks for the update. Looking fwd to see pics when you can. What kind of shrimps are you planning for the tank ?

[Robert]

Once the water clears ill be able to take photos that show the two foot depth of this tank, its a mammoth footprint space for shrimps to roam free. Ill throw together a mix and let it go by chance:

Stocking as far:

Lots of female C grades

1 x Full red Male C grade

1 x Red Wine

1 x Male Ruby red

2 x OEBT

2 x Normal Tiger

10 x Mishlings

Ill look to add later but i think thats a good cocktail with potential. I know that ill get something nice when tigers cross with the c grade females and ill hopefully get some tbs when the ruby crosses with some mishlings or the mishlings cross with mishlings.

[BlueBolts]

Sounds great....good to see more and more hobbyist tuning into the variants of TB/Tigers....etc If I had the tank space, I would do all the combinations, but I'm limited....full red male x OEBT would be interesting.

[alvinchan80]

Love the tank space... lots of walking space... haha... great looking shrimps too~~

keep it up Robert from sunny island country Singapore here....

[Robert]

Waters cleared.

[Heavyd]

That 2 foot width is really great for the shrimp. Lots of playing area.

[CNgo2006]

Whats that yellow tile? Is it that ammonia remover? Where you get it from?

[Robert]

Benibachi Zero

Benibachi Zero absorbs harmful ammonia, nitrous acid, heavy metals and magnesium from tap water, making it safe for shrimp. It purifies water and controls the build up of pathogenic bacteria and algae growth. It also contains important natural minerals that release gradually into the aquarium.

Directions:

Use in a high flow rate area. For best results add directly into the filter.

In my opinion it does nothing. Its just a ceramic with a pretty logo. Bacteria grows on it like any other surface and wolah! remove ammonia and nitrites.

I got it free from matblack and he got it from the guy in fairfield that sells benibachi stuff. Dean might have some. Le aquatics might too.

[Dean]

The benibachi zero @ will be available by the end of next week :)

[BlueBolts]

Robert, tanks looking great ! Lots of room, no doubt moss/driftwood to be added ?

Teh benibachi zero is used in all my tanks, from setup. Remembered watching a youtube video if a shrimp competition, and every tank had it, so obviously a well respected product.....