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Wha ... Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa <breath> aaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy !!! Congrats to Jen and Mick too! @smicko, which ideas were you thinking of? The underground bunker, the ultimate tank cabinet, the giant pool sized tank, or the McLaren P1?? I'm available for hire as a consultant. Thanks to SKF, the mystery judges and the sponsors. It was a lot of fun putting down my ideas in writing. I've been keeping it swirling in my head thinking ... "if I ever go into business ...". But I doubt it. So why not inspire the next generation with fresh ideas. That was really the intent Not to win some competition. If anyone builds this place or even a smaller part of it, I want to see it first. If you have a McLaren P1 in the showroom, I want to drive it. If you get to build a tank 20m x 5m x 3m in size, I want to scuba dive in it. If you build that cabinet ... or try to ... let me know. Like I said, I'm hire-able for consultation. There are design ideas that need to be thought out but the cabinet is easily the most achievable piece right now, especially if you are good at woodwork. Hope you liked the reading. I call the novel - "Bunker Aquariums - Like viewing art in an art gallery".

For the last couple of months I have been planning on converting an old 4ft tank I have in my shed, and turning it into a little divided shrimp setup to replace the several small tanks my 7Yo son and I have set up in his room. This project is to reduce running cost of 3X heaters, compact and T8 Fluros and to get an aquarium cupboard utilised to remove all the clutter. A big point for my Wife! And have a nice breeding setup to play around with. Most of my purchases I am doing as cheap as possible. I have also been organising some Cheap Chinese LEDs of Fleabay to convert an old 4ft arcadiaT5 light that has a busted ballast I have been hoarding (the wife calls it hoarding, I call it saving for when I will need it one day!!). And lo and behold the time has come to use the light I have been 'saving'. I am following fishmossy's Led setup that was posted in the DIY section. A couple of changes I made were to put 8xWhite strips in and 1X Blue strip. I will use the blue as mainly a light at night. For the Project I have purchased. 1X32mm glass whole saw 1X glass cutting pen LED Hard light strips Blue Led Light strip Led switches and dimmer. (dimmer for the Blue strip) I had the 3X glass divider pieces cut by someone I know for a 6 pack of Corona. I was quoted between $60and $120 for the 3 pieces from 1/2 a dozen Adelaide Glass places. A couple of tubes of GE silicon I have also purchased a Portable aquarium RO unit from FSA that is currently on its way. Items I already have that I will be using are 1X 300w Jager Heater 1x fluval 405 tank and Cupboard 4ft light unit an old 1ft tank with a crack I pulled apart to cut the feeding dividers we have seen done here by several members. Large sponge filters for each tank section (These are all I have as current filtration for the shrimp at the moment). 1XSchego air pump. Tools; drill, tape measure, square etc. I am planning on Benibachi soil which i still need to get. This will the the first time I have cut and drilled glass. I have built many tanks and aquaculture systems in my working life so hopefully when I get to putting water, then finally shrimp all will be well. I have been working on the tank for the last few weekends and here are a few progress shots; The bare tank after I have emptied it from a 1 week water holding test; This is the tank with the 3 dividers and the bottom of the dividers siliconed, with helpers I have siliconed the front section and trying the LEDs. I only have 6strips on at the moment. with the blue strip only Here everything is siliconed And a close up of the feeders. This is currently where I am up to. Its been several months in the planning, and thrifty purchsing. A few extra notes are, I will be finishing the silicone off nicely by cleaning off the chunky thick parts that can be seen on the tank where dividers and feeding sections are. This is done with a razor I need to wait a week for the silicon to fully cure before I do this. I am waiting on 16mm intake mesh piece for the fluval and am considering my options on setting it up. I will probably split the outlet into 4 separate outlets w/spraybars and 1 or 2 intakes, it will be a trial and error play around. I have Put 2X32mm holes in each divider, I will be putting mesh on them I think, but I am still considering my options. Feel free to ask any questions or suggestions. Thanks for reading everyone.

Congratulations to the winners..... I really enjoyed reading all your entries.Gets the mind dreaming of new ways to upset the missus ;)

Awesome pics Ineke, can't wait to see the shrimplets!

Very cool pics dude, fantastic camera work, well done!

http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/index.php/topic/5890-retrofit-a-t5-light-with-leds/

A while ago I posted a thread about the fertility if giant tibee's, as I was getepting frustrated, but within the course of the thread mine got berried, and JP07 from my recollection.....whether they're fertile or just really fussy/difficult, I'm not sure ....

:goodjob:Thankyou once again Jay for your fabulous service and products.

Thanks Aquakitz, I have already received the items I ordered with a couple of extra things I did not. I have used the TDS meter and will try calibrate the PH meter on the weekend. Will make another order soon.

LOL. That's so cool. That's one example of 'no question is too dumb to ask'. One person's problem is likely to be shared with another.

Love that first photo, with the light shining through its body. A very healthy looking specimen. Don't worry, the way photos are uploaded to the new version of the forum has had a few people baffled. Me included, until I clarified it in the problem/suggestions subforum.

Thanks Again. Your offer is very generous. I feel I should wait another week or two. I think the tank is almost finished Cycling. I would like to give the shrimp I first get the best chance of a good life as possible. I think the main issue is thinking it was a good idea to try have a nice iwagumi styled aquarium with shrimp as my first aquarium . I should have just aimed for a perfect shrimp tank lol. The more I read and learn the more I realise it isnt going to be as easy as i thought but I am learning a lot from SKF. Again, Thank you for your generous offer but I do not think I have earnt freebies from anyone. I would like to pay for your shrimp when my tank it ready.

Yeah mate aim for less than 20 ppm for nitrates. Once fully cycled u prob have 0-5ppm. Honestly I've had shrimp in WP worse than u have now in a high fert high co2 planted which survive fine. Some are hard like bullets.. like red cherries, mishlings, lower grade crs/gbs and wilds. The reason why I say this is because sometimes for everything to zero out can take weeks.. so if u have any of these spare, throw some in as pioneer shrimp (sounds better than test subjects) :p If u don't have any PM me and if ur happy to pay for postage I have around 15-20 shrimp im looking to move on anyways. No charge on shrimp. Algae on tank is a sign of cycling.. normally goes from brownish to green as it matures. Your right leave it for the shrimp to graze. High Nitrates cause conditions for algae blooms. Keep lights to a minimum to avoid an absolute outbreak but your water changes will bring down your Nitrates and therefore slow down the growth however this can be circumstantial. When it goes stringy thats the worst IMO absolutely sucks! Also if u have IAL add a leaf or 2 to your bucket of tap water with an airstone and give it a few days before adding it to your tank. This will also help you and your future shrimp ;) Good luck

Wish she was that colour all the time! I have been adding a tiny bit of Epsom salts after water changes ( after having tested calcium levels previously) and the colour has improved in that tank but this is just because she is berried. Her eggs are very dark - hopefully I will get a few TBM from her but I'm just happy she has finally bred.