journal Sjn5188 New shrimp setup.

[sjn5188]

Before Christmas I decided it was time to upgrade my system with a new setup dedicated to breeding shrimps. I was taking time off work during the December, January period so it was a perfect time to start. I first started by deciding what size setup I wanted. I was going to go with a three tiered setup but I didn’t have enough height to do so, and with the suggestions by members of this forum I decided to change to a two tiered section with a sump underneath.

The tanks were 1520 long by 400 high by 500 wide. Each Tank was divided into five sections and drilled for a 25mm bulkhead. I had to have the tanks custom made, because of the uncommon sizing so I contacted a member of QLDAF by the user name of PETFISH. To have these tanks custom made for me.

While the tanks were being built I started on the stand. It was constructed out of 40x40x2 Gal RHS. I had the steel cut to length for me because I couldn’t fit two 8 meter lengths of steel in my car or trailer.

SStand being tacked together making sure everything is square before I welded it up.

[BlueBolts]

Looking great...so handy to be able to weld etc....looking fwd to the updates.

One thing I love in my tanks is having a mirror for the back glass......easier to find/see shrimps hiding etc...just a thought....

[lachie1998]

Good start, what shrimp will you be keeping. Do you ride moto's? i see to suzuki's in the background :)

[mickeyG]

Nice work on the stand man, how do those lil ozito's go? Already got ideas on what shrimps for the new setup?pm me if you want some black plastic end caps to as I'm sure I've got some in the shed still.

[sjn5188]

I had been looking around for any second had sumps for sale. Just to try and save some money when I found a cheap 5 foot tank for sale on the net so I picked that up and decided to build and design my own.

I started to add the baffles for my different media sections. the first section was going to be for different sponge then next section for k1 media then scoria the glass noodles then some gutter guard. because the sump was so long i left a big open section which i may use for later as a cull tank or to grow out mosses. the last section is for chemical filtration wich is a holder i made that holds bags of resin media.

First section for mechanical filtration with sponges.

Adding the baffles into the tank.

Sump tank completed with all the sections siliconed in.

I wanted to add a chemical filtration to my filter and I stole this idea from a person’s sump I had seen running so I decided to try it out. The big filter socks are suspended in the air and the water flow from the sump is directed inside of them before it goes to the sump pump. I made my bracket out of acrylic sheet I had. I just cut a hole big enough to fit the sock and then bent up the sides to make a box to fit inside the sump so as the water overflows into it from one side it has to go into the box and then down inside the sock where it will be filled with macropore. The out the sides of the sock then returned to the shrimp tank via the pump.

The sump being tested everything went well except for the k1 media. I was going to put an air curtain into that section to tumble the media but it was strong enough even at full blast to tumble the media I then changed to a couple of big air stones but I was getting a build up of media in dead spots where there was no air flow. So now I’m going to add two juice bottles with media and air stones for a more controllable movement of the media.

I'm am also going to be trying out this new heliX media that i found on the net its meant to have even more surface area then k1 kaldness.

[sjn5188]

Looking great...so handy to be able to weld etc....looking fwd to the updates. One thing I love in my tanks is having a mirror for the back glass......easier to find/see shrimps hiding etc...just a thought....

Yeah its great I love welding up things. I am a toolmaker by trade so I am pretty good with metal. But we actually don't do any welding at work. How did you get a mirror on the back glass? is it on the inside or outside of the tank?

Good start' date=' what shrimp will you be keeping. Do you ride moto's? i see to suzuki's in the background :)[/quote']This setup will be for my Cheeries, rillis, choc's etc.Yeah, sure do ride bikes. They're both rmz250. But I just bought a drz400 its got motards aswell so i can go on and offroad it's so much fun :)Thank's yeah the ozito's are okay for little jobs I got it from bunnings I first bought the smaller one and it was total crap then i took it back and got the bigger one that's in the photo. I ended up adding some end caps after the photo but thankyou for the offer.

[BlueBolts]

If you're getting the tanks custom made, instead of getting normal glass for the rear panel, just get a mirror glass....same thing, but just a mirror'd finish.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1643[/ATTACH]

Tanks on the right has the mirror glass

[sjn5188]

If you're getting the tanks custom made' date=' instead of getting normal glass for the rear panel, just get a mirror glass....same thing, but just a mirror'd finish.

[ATTACH=CONFIG']1643[/ATTACH]

Tanks on the right has the mirror glass

Nice idea. may do that if i do another build.

[sjn5188]

Well the new tanks hadn’t been finished yet so I continued on with the stand. The stand was welded up and the welds painted with cold gal to stop the rust. I then got the boards for the stand and cut them to size for each level.

It was now time to paint the boards for some added protection. The colour didn't matter to me because you will barely see them anyway so just used some spare paint that was lying around. I also didnt want to paint the stand because its already has a coating and I like that metal look.

Next step was the foam boards that had to be trimmed to size I just used a Stanley knife and a straight edge, which wasn’t very straight when you look at the cuts, well that’s my excuse anyway. Once the boards were cut to size I then marked out the clearance holes for the bulk heads. This is when a design fault came up I had welded in a support brace in the middle of each level which is in the same place as a bulkhead. I had two options: 1 was to drill a hole through the brace or 2 move the brace. Two was the easier option for me so I moved each brace about 50mm, offset from centre each way. This fixed the problem so I could just run a hole saw through the foam and board.

My biggest hole saw wasn’t big enough for the bulkhead edge to clear so I counter bored into the foam so on end of the bulkhead sat beneath the foam and on top of the board. It’s a bit rough because I just used a Stanley knife to cut it.

[Dean]

hi sjn5188,

great write up and pics..

looks like it will be a great rack when its completed. keep the great updates coming.

Q. what are the stainless mesh covers on the bulk heads you have in front of the sump ??

are they just screw in or custom made.

[sjn5188]

hi sjn5188' date='

great write up and pics..

looks like it will be a great rack when its completed. keep the great updates coming.

Q. what are the stainless mesh covers on the bulk heads you have in front of the sump ??

are they just screw in or custom made.[/quote']

Thanks Dean! will have more updates shortly.

Those stainless strainers are made for irrigation purposes for pumps and things. They just screw straight into the bulkhead, you can get different sizes for each bulkhead. I purchased mine from a local irrigation store called the pumphouse. I was going to use the same vent cowls you used in your build and turn them down on the lathe, but I found these and its much easier to use

[Dean]

thanks for the info, they do look so much easier and practical than the ones i used and thats why i asked :)

do they have an online store where i could purchase them? im after about 50 of them :)

[Dean]

all good found them :)

[Trav80]

They were the stainless strainer/filters I saw the other day but I can't remember the website where I saw them. They came in a range of sizes too.

[Dean]

i found this pace just then but im sure there are plenty of others closer and different price

http://www.stgeorgelandscape.com.au/aquarium_fittings/aquarium_fittings_2.html

[sjn5188]

i found this pace just then but im sure there are plenty of others closer and different price

http://www.stgeorgelandscape.com.au/aquarium_fittings/aquarium_fittings_2.html

Yeah they're the ones i used.

[Trav80]

:) that was the one I found, will have a dig around tomorrow.

[blindfisherman]

http://www.duralirrigation.com.au/Product/Stainless-Steel-Strainers.html

This place delivers for free and is pretty cheap.

- Sorry to hijack the thread.

The tanks are looking good will be cool to see it all running.

[sjn5188]

Well my tanks where finished so I picked them up. I was more then happy with the outcome of them great build quality and also had a large lid at back and a little one at the front and also drilled for me I couldn’t ask for anything more.

[lachie1998]

wow those tanks look great!

[Trav80]

The tanks turned out really well, I'm jealous. :)

[BlueBolts]

That looks awesome...some serious breeding happening soon. Congratz and well done !

[sjn5188]

wow those tanks look great!

The tanks turned out really well' date=' I'm jealous. :)[/quote']Thanks guy's i'm really happy with them.

[BlueBolts]

What are your plans ? What shrimps ? Bare bottom ?

[sjn5188]

What are your plans ? What shrimps ? Bare bottom ?

Top tank is bare bottom for now and bottom tank just has black fine gravel. shrimps. will be yellows, rillis, chocs that ill be working on.