journal Breeding Rack No.2

[Apollo4]

Great set up Marcus!

Well done and good luck I'm sure it will be a great

[Trav80]

Great work Marcus, I would be to worried to put in TB and Tigers so quickly.

[BlueBolts]

Unfortunately, I'm not great with patience.....have over 100+ shrimp there.... Keeping a close eye, but confident all will be ok...mature filter and 5-10% water chnage every 2-3 days with salty shrimp...

[Naraic]

BB how do you maintain such patience and persistence for your projects? Over coming unforeseen setbacks and such?

[BlueBolts]

BB how do you maintain such patience and persistence for your projects? Over coming unforeseen setbacks and such?

Fortunately with my work/schedule, it allows me to watch over my tanks with an eagle eye... the design of the racks/system, and the setup is critical, I over plan and ensure I invest my $ on them....PLUS with Oli as my GOTO person on design and construct, and Dean as my GOTO person on care and maintenance, I'm in perfect hands !:encouragement:

[BlueBolts]

Nice rack :encouragement:!!

(Normally' date= this is where I would get the dirty looks from the ladies)

It ONLY has to work 1/100 ! :redface-new:

[BlueBolts]

Just an update......tanks been running for 20 days, and no reported deaths/issues.

PH - 6.4

Temp - 23

KH - 1

GH - 5

TDS - 200

Nitrates - 5ppm

Frogbits doing a great job on the absorption (already removed 50% of the frogbits last week), with over 100+ shrimps, so quickly into the system, they were my insurance......Just patiently waiting for my denitrator to be established now.

May plan for a minor re-scape on the moss & driftwood, and reduce it's mass......BUT overall, I have several berried females, and 2-3 batches of shrimp lets already, as I transfered berried females into the system 1-2 weeks ago.....

[fishmosy]

Your progress is great BB, can see you getting some great shrimp out of this system.

Are you providing your denitrator with a carbon source? If so, what are you using?

[Neo-shrimp]

Those frog-bits (roots) are huuuggge....;)

[BlueBolts]

Your progress is great BB' date=' can see you getting some great shrimp out of this system.

Are you providing your denitrator with a carbon source? If so, what are you using?[/quote']

The denitrator comes with the cellulose balls (white balls), and/or can be powder/tablet fed.

Sajica, can you elaborate on this.....

[Ziek]

Where would one buy a denitrator from? Never seen one before and I'm looking at sourcing the best stuff for my breeding rack I'd like to build this year

[BlueBolts]

Hi Ziek, I did heaps of research and on advise via one of our forum sponsor Aquotix, got it from them......I think the denitrator is one of the only contraption that actually reduces nitrates....

[Ziek]

Thanks mate found it on their website, will definitely be getting one of them for my setup

[Heavyd]

Hey BB, which model did you end up getting?

Do you know how much nitrates it can reduce?

[BlueBolts]

I got the Aquamedic 400 which does up to a 400 lt setup...both my breeding tanks are 300 lt & 225 lt. Once seeded, the denitrators can produce 0 ppm.....My 300 lt tank which has been running for 3-4 months is under 5ppm ATM. :-)

Usually takes up to 8-10 weeks for it to be fully seeded.

[Heavyd]

Do you have a mV probe running to help calibrate them? You still do water changes as well, riight?

I think it's a great little unit for increasing stability on the system.

[BlueBolts]

I'm "pro" electronic devices, but my breeding racks don't have any probes/auto devices, only on my nano's, as it's much more of a sensitive environment.

Yes, I still do water changes....

The denitrator is really a great insurance policy, as nitrates can often jump up to dangerous levels, and are often ONLY detected when it's kinda too late.....keeping exotic shrimps, 1 death = 1 denitrator unit...so the maths is definitely there to invest in one.....not a necessity though.

[Heavyd]

Yeah sounds good. I may look into getting one, if I setup a rack system later this year.

[AOS]

So many questions and things to answer.

The anaerobic bacteria consume the white (deniballs) as a source of energy, there's also powders and tablets you can use to speed up the process and for the bacteria to consume as a food source.

Of all the units we've sold no one has yet bought a probe and meter. We've had a few enquires but they are not necessary to setup, run or maintain the units. No doubt they are handy though. Once setup and established they can reduce Nitrate levels to zero or near zero in heavily stocked aquariums. We still recommend customers do partial waterchanges to help replenish lost minerals and maintain good water quality.

[BlueBolts]

So many questions and things to answer.

The anaerobic bacteria consume the white (deniballs) as a source of energy' date=' there's also powders and tablets you can use to speed up the process and for the bacteria to consume as a food source.[/quote']

Presume the tablet/powder is a constant maintenance (weekly/fortnightly injections), whereas the deniballs are there until consumed (12+ month) ? Are there any adv/disadv to either ?

The denitrator in my 1st breeding rack (6+ months) is releasing nitrates at 5-10ppm. This rack is 300lt, and houses approx. 350 shrimps. The left tube is tank and right tube is denitrator water...

The denitrator in my 2nd breeding rack (1+ months) is releasing nitrates at 0ppm. This rack is 225lt, and houses approx. 150 shrimps. The left tube is tank and right tube is denitrator water...

These tanks are fed daily, so the biology undue high..... Although the 2nd breeding tank is ONLY 1+ month old, the filter was matured, and the tank had shrimps from day 3....

So, the question is how do I get the denitrator in rack no 1 to produce 0 nitrates ? Extra feed with tablet/powder ? ...

[FishBeast]

Before coming to this forum I thought I was the only shrimp fanatic in Australia. I have learned so much by reading threads such as your BlueBolts and you are all an inspiration to me. Keep up the good work!

[BlueBolts]

There's many of us fanatics around....great to share and see progress from all.....

[buck]

hows the rack going mate?

[BlueBolts]

Racks going great, although they're both due for new substrate, as the buffers worn out :-( Been adding minerals, fluvial acids etc just to keep the shrimps appeased. Just noticed that the demand to constantly boost up my GH is getting more frequent. Approx. 22 bags of Benibachi soils required     

[inverted]

ouch..... That will hurt the hip pocket!