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Ok, here is my entry. It's not as fictitious as you might think. I have had these ideas for a very long time. But as you will see, only funds have been holding me back. JayC. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My ideal display for fish or shrimp tanks isn’t as common as the rack system. A 4 tiered, 3 tanks wide rack (and repeated) is common sight in the Local Fish Shop. This system of displaying livestock is great … on a limited budget and with space restrictions. Gone are the days where your Local Fish Shop’s display layout is considered the height of style. C’mon, let’s admit it. The system of displaying fish, tanks, and goods in your LFS has not changed since … 1978, or even earlier? The way forward for display is to start thinking about being more “showroomâ€. I am sure you know what I mean by that, too. Rather than being another room that mimics your LFS, if expenses were not an issue, then why are we replicating the fashion sense of a LFS who have not change their interior decorating habits since the 70s? Let’s go out on a limb henceforth and think of the possibilities. I won’t be focussing on what is going in the tank, we can all dream up the most exotic shrimps (Sulawesi) or fish that will go in these tanks, rather where and how the tank itself will be displayed. Since a rack system is used as a display unit in the traditional LFS, so here begins the journey of the modern aquatic showroom and how it should/will be. Though I call it a showroom, it will still be my personal display but is open to anyone wanting to view and buy. Let’s start with the location. We are looking for a special location that … no matter what the temperature of weather is doing outside, it is going to vary by no more than 1 degree. I’m looking for a location that I can control lighting a 100%, no influences from light sources from the Sun causing unwanted algae growth. Right now, you’re thinking … “What??!!!â€. The answer … underground. With that unlimited funding, we are going to look for the ideal location underground. It could be an abandoned underground tunnel/subway. An ex-nuclear missile silo. A secret WWII bunker. Might even be the underground car park of an old building somewhere. Whatever it is. Ideally floor space will be around 30m x 200m. Here is a picture of my ideal location for you to visualise. The cavernous floor space is fitted with warm white flood lighting for a boutique ambience and a few (only a few) colourful mood lights. Lighting in an underground location will play an important role, not only will it provide the light needed to function and work in, but it will set the mood and ambience for viewing and relaxing in, as well as the occasional party. The entire 6000SqM area is climate and humidity controlled. Being underground, keeping tanks to a chilly 22-23deg C is not going to be an issue. Temperatures will fluctuate very little this far underground. There will be no mountainous levels of racks in this converted tunnel/warehouse, where the topmost tanks are near impossible to see unless you are a giant. And where you’d break your back trying to view the bottom most levels of tanks. No. Instead imagine individual Opticlear crystal glass tanks between 2-4 ft in length lining the side walls of this warehouse. Each tank is its own central focal point. No competition between the tank above or the tank below. Like viewing art in an art gallery. The wall (canvas) … But with tanks like these along it’s breadth (the art). Imagine a similar amount of tanks on the opposite wall. Maybe something like this… Along the rear end wall of this sublime underground location, is going to be a massive 20m (w) x 5m (d) x 3m (h) pool, um I mean tank. I’m going to borrow an image from the old ‘scape fu himself … but imagine the tank bigger … with the dimensions above. Plumbing: Plumbing for all tanks will be custom made and installed along the walls, and behind the tanks. Each individual tank (except the giant tank) will have two canister filters, running to … not hoses, but stainless steel pipes and ending in glass inflow or outflows. Each individual tank will also have a separate lighting system, hanging from the ceiling of this exquisite location. Each tank’s lighting system will suit the contents of the tank, from marine to freshwater. Lighting will mimic locations from Atlantic to Amazon. And the overall lighting system will be controlled by a state of the art computer system (water cooled of course). Each tank is fitted with an automated water top up system, including drainage. The water changes can be performed via the plumbing running along the walls. That top up system will monitor and fill tanks from a preselected water source. Multiple storage tanks will be stored in this location with the varying parameters each tank inhabitant needs. We are not just talking about old plastic storage tanks either. Instead stainless steel, brewery grade tanks will be used. Tired from all the maintenance and viewing of the tanks? Along the left side of the tunnel walls, is a rest area. Complete with soft leather sofa equipped with a large screen TV, and a desk and computer (to check into SKF of course). No. Your eyes are not playing tricks on you. That McLaren P1 really is parked inside. I think it adds to the quintessence of the boutique showroom. Also bought with those unlimited funds. Can’t leave the baby outside, when the shrimps and fish are toasty underground. An additional artists impression of the overall floor space. The display cabinet: Another area of improvement and bringing the artistic display of the tank to the 21st century … is the display cabinet itself. Ye ole aquarium cabinet … let’s take a look at some examples. Takashi Amano did well to improve on the looks. Nonetheless, let’s take it one step further with an improvement on the looks and the function. Let’s start with the base of the cabinet. Each unit will be 30cm, and more are joined together to form 60cm, 90cm, 120cm, etc. length cabinet bases. There will be options for 80cm base units as well for those large tanks. You will note that each traditional aquarium cabinet in the pictures above has the age old cabinet doors opening to shelves inside, or in the case of the last two – no doors. Functionality of the old cabinets can be summarised as follows: Open the cabinet door and stick your arm in, in order to reach what you need. Visibility is difficult especially if that item you are reaching for is at the back. If your filter canister is in the cabinet, you have to bend, stretch and contort to work on the canister. It might be only slightly better with a stand that has no doors, but then the mess is open for all to see, detracting from the beauty of the tank itself. My design is nothing new. I did not invent the “wheel†so the say; I’m just putting the “wheel†to better use. The answer to the base cabinet is … one with drawers. Ah it’s so simple. I drew inspiration from my own experiences with my kitchen cabinets. We went from the traditional cupboards & shelves to ones with soft close drawers. Why the heck aren’t we using this for aquarium cabinets?! It’s not going to be cheap, but hey, someone said ‘don’t let money get in the way of this competition’. Top drawer stores your accessories, fish food, water conditioners, tools, spare parts, you name it. Bottom drawer stores your filter canister, sump tank, inline heaters, CO2 tank, etc. Need to work on the filter to rinse old filter media? Need to pull out the CO2 tank for refill? No worries, pull the bottom drawer right out and work on the filter or CO2 tank; out in the open. No more reaching under a cramped small hole that is your old aquarium cabinet. As it’s a drawer, the filter is now completely pulled out and you will have easy access to unclip hoses or connectors. The only caution is to allow for the extra piping length for the drawer travel distance. You will have the option to customise the colour, texture, and looks of the base cabinet by selecting various designs. You can even pick wood grain door and drawer panels if you want to go old school. All drawers are fitted with soft close hinges. Mmm, soft close hinges and drawers. No longer will your fish be startled as you accidentally slam those doors close. Number of drawers can also be customised, within reason. The cabinet top can be outfitted with a choice of wood, stone, laminate or man-made stones like Caesar at the user’s taste and décor preference. The height of the legs is customisable too. In fact, legs on the base cabinet is optional and only needed if height needs to be adjusted. Units that need to be portable for display in various locations can be fitted with castor wheels. Stylish castor wheels that will complement the overall look of your cabinet. Imagine being able to move your tank like the rest of your furniture. The rear of these cabinets will have enough openings to allow for various cables and piping in/out of the bottom drawer. All drawers are equipped with LED lights that light up when the doors are opened. We now have the location, the [huge] room, the tanks, plumbing system, cooling system, the modernised cabinets and of course, and the car. This is my ideal display showroom and “rackâ€. Welcome to 2014 and the new way of displaying tanks. We’ve come a long way from the Local Fish Shop. I end this tour with another view of the McLaren P1 … just because. And the fact that, we can draw inspiration from its form and function. It embodies the concept of the modern aquatic display room. I leave you to draw your own superlative synonyms between car and modernised aquatic showroom. Thanks for reading.

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General Hardness (GH) is the measurement of the level of dissolved minerals our water contains, which is predominantly represented by calcium & magnesium, but also contains other mineral ions. GH does influence PH like KH, and there’s no direct co-relation to KH. It is critical to the health of shrimps. GH can affect the function of internal organs and hinder proper growth as well as affect egg fertility and hinder breeding capacity. Shrimps may adapt to survive in different GH levels, but will encourage issues with breeding. GH is especially important to shrimp because Calcium Carbonate is vital in a shrimps molting cycle and growth. Shrimps grow by sheding their existing smaller exoskeletons every so often to grow a newer and bigger one. For a successful moult, it is very important for them to have enough calcium carbonate present in the water for them to absorb and to create a strong and healthy new shell in the molting process. Any GH deficiencies, wont allow them to create a strong enough shell to properly fend off diseases, infections, and stress and will eventually die. Calcium Carbonate also helps in food digestion and absobtion, and assist the immune system to fight toxins, and diseases in the body and can reduce overall stress in your shrimps. Magnesium is the key to unlocking Calcium Carbonates potential. It is able to make Calcium absorbable in shrimps bodies. Without it they would suffer from lack of calcium. It is needed for a healthy calcium absorbtion and balance as well as healthy muscles and nervous system. The ratio of GH:MG for shrimps is generally a 4:1 to 3:1 (Calcium:Magnesium) Formula to calculate Mg & Ratio 1. Get your GH Value (dGH) 2. Get your Ca Value (ppm) 3. Mg = ((GH*17.86) - (Ca*2.5)) /4.1 i.e. 1. If GH is 4 dKH 2. If Ca is 20 ppm 3. Mg = ((4 x 17.86) - (15 x 2.5)) / 4.1 = 5.23 Therefore - Ca:Mg is 20:5.23, approx. 3.8:1 GH The API Ca Test Kit Instructions.. [TABLE=width: 199] [TABLE=width: 199] 5ml Bottle 1 - 10 Drops [TD=colspan: 3]Bottle 2 - 1 Drop - 20ppm [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TD] [/TABLE] If your Ca is <20ppm, instead of a 5ml, a 20ml can be used, thus... [TABLE=width: 199] [TABLE=width: 199] 20ml Bottle 1 - 10 Drops [TD=colspan: 3]Bottle 2 - 1 Drop - 5ppm [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD] [/TABLE] I use CaS04 to increase my Calcium levels, and MgSO4 (Epsom Salts) for my Magnesium Levels. There are also many Ca booster products, like the Shirakura Ca+ etc... Alternatively, to reduce Ca/Mg, WC with RO water. Experimenting with these ratio's does have it's issues......dosage needs to be gradual, i.e. 0.5ppm per day etc...., and really for the more experienced hobbyist, who like to tinker. Most products like Salty Shrimp, Seachem Equilibrium etc...have these ratios, so there really is no need for adjustments, unless there'a a specific (i.e. higher) level of GH you want to attain. In these situations, adding just a CaSO4, without taking into account the Ca:Mg ratio will create issues as mentioned above for the shrimps. Please use this article as a reference guide to understand GH, and the Ca:Mg ratio. If you plan to "tinker", do your research, "measure twice, cut once", to ensure there's no bad experiences etc...., and ALL is done accordingly. :sleeping:

I thought I'd add this topic to accompany Blue Bolts great thread on correct ratios and dosing of Calcium and Magnesium. http://www.shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/showthread.php/4383-GH-Ca-MG-Ratio So why is Calcium & Magnesium important to both aquarist who keep fish and those of us who keep shrimp? CALCIUM SULFATE: CaSO4 Calcium sulfate in your aquarium will keep a more stable electrolyte balance (for osmotic function), while magnesium is another important element that works with calcium. A proper amount of Calcium and Magnesium in your aquarium will affect your shrimp or fish health positively, including fish from low pH environments such as Apistos, Discus or German Rams Magnesium and Calcium have been shown to increase resistance to degenerate diseases by lowering the acidity in the body. This will help with prevention of ich and fungus in your fish. Calcium also helps in healing and stress, and without proper calcium levels healing may be difficult or impossible. Calcium is also important and has been shown to both prevent and treat Hole in the Head disease common to cichlids (also referred to as HITH). The addition of antibiotics (such as Tetracycline) will lower calcium absorption, while the presence of correct amounts of calcium in the aquarium water will considerable reduce the toxic side effects of Malachite Green which is why a GH (for freshwater calcium measurement) of 100 ppm (for freshwater) is SO VERY important to ich treatment. Calcium can adversely affect the kH of a discus aquarium when combined with sodium carbonates or bi carbonates, which is generally kept at a pH below 6.5. Not that calcium has a direct impact on raising or lowering kH, but that it assists in buffering the water to avoid swings in kH and thus pH. I have successfully used sources of calcium in discus (low pH) aquariums by using a mix of RO (Reverse Osmosis) water and tap water (dilution will vary depending on your tap and tank water parameters). Then add electrolytes/mineralsto the RO water and add peat to the filters. This method has been used successfully with discus and calcium added with no pH climb. The peat will leach minerals into the water that will bond with the Carbonate thereby preventing it from bonding to the “H+†ion, thereby lowering KH and subsequently pH. This is a good method for planted tanks as the nutrients can also be used by plants. Calcium sulfate is soluble in water. However, it's solubility is extremely poor. Only a small amount will dissolve, and this will take place extremely slowly over time. To improve solubility, use a mortar & pestle to crush into a fine powder before adding to water. Calcium is particularly important to the average shrimp and invertebrate keeper. Calcium plays a huge role in Osmoregulation. And as such plays a big role in assisting the shrimp's moulting cycle. Ever have shrimp die during a failed moult? Check the Calcium levels in your water. MAGNESIUM Magnesium is important for proper osmotic functions in fish and invertebrates. Magnesium is essential for Calcium assimilation, so when magnesium levels are low, the calcium supply becomes exhausted. For this reason, Magnesium is better added in the proper balance with calcium (which both are essential to each other for proper utilisation). Epsom salts that contain magnesium sulfate, are best used for therapeutic reasons such as to aid in flushing the system as it aids in and speeds osmotic function, and helps to move fluids out of the body. Sulfates, one of the major components of Epsom Salt, have been shown effective in improving nutrient absorption and toxin elimination. Magnesium, the other major component of Epsom Salt, plays a role in the activity of many enzymes. Also note that Epsom salts (MgSO4) do NOT evaporate or decompose, so only add more after water changes. Where to Buy: Calcium Sulfate CaSO4 can be purchase from Aqua Green Aquotix online store (aquariumonlinestore.com.au) Ace Chem (http://www.acechem.com.au) - bulk orders Magnesium Sulfate can be purchased from Aquotix online store (aquariumonlinestore.com.au) Bunnings (Manutec Epsom Salt) Big W (Manutec Epsom Salt) Ace Chem (http://www.acechem.com.au) - bulk orders If there are more sources, let me know and I'll update the list.

Found this little guy's just born yesterday :)

Hi guys. Just sharing some photos for my taitibees. Enjoy :)

The WP vary, IMO they're quite adaptable, as many generations have been bred in local locally. PH 6-7.5, TDS 80-220, GH 4-8, KH 0-2, but I'm sure manny are breeding them outside these WP. They're approx. $15-$20 each ? If you're keen, drop me a PM.

I don’t have big dreams of an amazing setup but I will share the plans I would ultimately like to have. . Layout - It is 3 tier steel rack approximately 6.5 ft long consisting of three (3) 2ft tanks on tier one and tier two. Followed by a 6ft shallow tank on the third tier. Running along the bottom of each tier would be waterproofed mdf for stability and polystyrene for insulation. The MDF would also allow for Up Aqua LED Z series lights to be mounted to bottom utilising something like plastic ties being applied over the light and stapled with heavy duty staples to the mdf or small screw on either side. All lights are hooked up to timers. Below the third tier on the ground would be my sump consisting of various products, filter wool, macro pore etc. Connected to the pump would be a high quality eheim UV sterilizer and hailea chiller. Each tank has its own drainage and outtake hooked up to the sump. The sump also has plumbing on the side with a release valve and hose attached which when opened drains out into a drain.For the purpose of this it would be on the left side (depends on room layout) Off to the side of the rack I would have a large water drum minimum 220litres for the purpose of storing reverse osmosis water the water would be premixed with salty shrimp. The drum is elevated approximately 1 foot off the floor on a stand. At the bottom of the drum is a plumbed in tap with hose attached which connects to the right side of the sump directly next to it allowing me to do straight water changes. Mounted above the contained or in close proximity would be a hard plumbed FSA R/O running directly into the storage container and waste down drain or into separate container for recycling on garden etc. Tank setup Tier 1. – Tank 1 -- Tank 2 -- Tank 3 Tank 1 Is (CRS General tank), Tank 2 (CRS tank To hold berried shrimp and for selective breeding), Tank 3 (Cull tank and shrimp for sale). All tanks would also contain a 2x dual sponge filters, powered by a high powered air pump distributed through narrow pvc pipe with benibachi soil. Tier2. – Tank 1 – Tank 2 – Tank 3 Exactly the same as tier 1 however however for CBS shrimp. Tier 3. – 1x Six foot shallow moss growing tank segregated from the sump I would also have a small area next to the rack with atleast a 4ft tank running numerous sponge filters and filled with tap water. This tank would be utilised for cycling new benibachi shrimp soil allowing me to be able to add it straight into the shrimp tanks without and ammonia spikes etc. Extras include having whirly birds on the roof to aid in filtering air out of the room however would have closeable vents for temperature control When proceeding to other shrimp I could replicate this setup if the shrimp share similar tank perimeters.

I vote for jayc. I hope you win the lotto so I can come see your room when it is done.

LOL, with an unlimited budget you just have to find creative ways to waste money!

I know the feeling. Had to cut back on the number of tanks I had (roughly 20) to just 5 as I got close to finishing my PhD. Now I'm almost done, its not long until I can get them filled up again.

Pmsl sure does Fishmosy, and there's only 1 cure 'more tanks' lol. But with a partner like mine it's almost impossible to feed the addiction, for now. Will be a different story once our little girl starts school and I can go back to work though. I'll be earning a wage again then so he's excuse of 'I'm the one that works to earn any money we have so only I get a say in how it's spent' will fly out the window. Boy do I have plans lol (rubbing my hands together cackling with glee at thought). I've pinpointed every area in the house that will fit and benefit from the addition of another tank. So 2016 is going to be an awesome year, both our kids will be in school, I can go back to vet nursing and finish my studies to become not just an xperiencd vet nurse but a qualified vet nurse as well, I can buy more tanks and shrimp and I can get another Rottweiler that will hopefully teach our Staffy a thing or 2 lol.

another sp/kk? not sure still about 0.35cm