Mosy's pleco plates

[fishmosy]

This is a quick overview of how I made my pleco plates for growing biofilm. If you need to ask 'what is biofilm and why grow it?' then you need to read this thread:

http://www.shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/showthread.php/1560-Biofilm

Here is a pic of the plates. I made this one with 200x200mm plates because I thought it was a good managable size.

Here are the bits I used.

nylon rod (I used 12mm), matching nylon nuts, matching nylon spacers (I used 12mm long to prevent adult plecos squeezing between the plates and eating the biofilm before the fry) and finally the plates. I hand cut the plates from clear polycarbonate roofing sheets, stacked them (to allow four holes to be drilled in the corners), drilled them and assembled.

Assembly 

 

I used nylon for two reasons, it sinks so holds the plates down, and it doesn't rust ever. (Stainless steel will rust eventually and is costly, and titanium costs too much.)

There are two problems with this design. The first has eventuated over time, involving the cracking of the polycarbonate sheets around the spacers (look closely in first pic). The other problem is cost. As a rough estimate, each pleco plate (first pic) would cost $40-75 not including labour, possibly more as I was able to get the nylon rod cheap and the nylon parts cheaper in bulk (e.g. in packs of 1000 spacers, 250 nuts). By using a cheaper method to hold the plates vertical (e.g. see pic below) I estimate you could cut that cost down to approx. $10-20each. The method below involves slicing a 100mm PVC pipe lengthwise, then cutting perpendicular slots to insert the plates into.

Edited August 7, 2017 by fishmosy

[Gbang]

OMG fish mosy...no kidding....i love you for sharing this info. one rep point coming your way!

[coryjames]

Anything special for how to setup the " biofilm grow race"?high flow?use old water from the shrimp tank? Can I use a powerhead to just circulate the water?

 

thanks for the link what a great thread, sorry for the older bump , but this is awesome stuff. 

[fishmosy]

In terms of growing biofilm for shrimp, the easiest method is just to set up your plates (or rocks or other surfaces) in a bucket of old aquarium water. This will have enough nutrients in it to get a biofilm growing. Cover the bucket with netting to stop pests (like mosquito larvae) getting in and then leave the bucket in partial sunlight.

I dont think you need to go to extreme measures like adding a powerhead for circulation. At most, an airstone will work well. 

Another method that works extremely well for shrimp is to grow moss in a similar manner. Moss has lots of surface area that is great for growing biofilm. That is why I think moss is a must in almost every shrimp tank. 

[coryjames]

Thanks a lot , just set mine up!!

i used a few old water containers that had the recycle code 2, cut them into shapes I wanted and driller holes through. The used bamboo shish-kabob sticks with airline tubing as spacers. 

 

My shrimplets and I thank you:)  

[coryjames]

They work very well:)

[NoGi]

Wow, I can't believe I never noticed this thread before. That's way cool.

[fishmosy]

On 1 November 2015 at 3:05:51 PM, coryjames said:

They work very well:)

Thats a nice coverage of algae - well done. How long did it take for the algae to grow over the plates like in the picture? 

[coryjames]

Haha to be honest I don't remember..... Sorry buddy , I made a bunch of these and just rotate them back and forth as the loose interest. They last about 3 days for me , with the amount of shrimp I have. Babies and adults like it evenly. Although they are definitely eating biofilm and not so much the algae as far as I can tell. 

Thanks again gain for the great idea, I can see this helping babies find food that won't damage the water quality,it's hard to over feed this:) 

[fishmosy]

Well done. I assume you have the plates in a covered container to keep the nasties out whilst the biofilm is growing. What container are you using? 

[coryjames]

It's stored indoors under t8 bulbs. Just a regular clear plastic bin. Some old shrimp substrate and I top it off each week with my shrimp waste water. Also have a small powerhead for water movement 

This one is next , pretty thick layer on it:)