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Wow! I completely forgot about updating this sorry guys! So much has happened since the last update. So I filled the bottom rack with water and blocked the top off (As I was going on a holiday and wanted to keep it simple for the lady looking after the house). That was really a bad idea! I had automated everything in the fish room, Dosing pumps for ferts, Aircon on a timer program, auto top off RO Water ect. no expense spared. She thought she was doing me a favor by turning the aircon off to save power (it specifically said on the instructions to let it go as it was on a timer....) ALL of my shrimp were cooked, my Threadfin Rainbows all died, and a vast majority of my plants turned mushy as the room temp would have been sitting on about 38 degrees. I was devastated when I got home... Moving on, Ive just began to restock the shrimp rack now. Ive also filled the top row of tanks, and they are isolated so they can cycle with their individual Biospon Filters before I connect them into the sump loop. Plumbing - I hate plumbing hahaha! I stupidly did it all after the tanks were in place and the bottom row was cycling. Im not a small bloke so it was a bit of a tight squeeze behind the rack ahhaha! But saying that, it allowed me to cut everything to exact size, and I had no leaks when I finally had the water flowing through it. And it looks pretty neat so Im happy with my first ever attempt at plumbing, I also have a new appreciation for plumbers! Outflow is 25mm from the tank to 40mm into the sump, and Inflow is 20mm. Im not happy with the inflow into the tanks. They work well, and are self made rain bars, but they look dodgy AF. If anyone has any suggestions on something that will look nice, im all ears. Lights - I got 4x 3ft Up Aqua U series from Newbreed Aquatics closing sale (Thanks Jamie!). I have just zip tied them to the bracing above each tank and it works well and you cant see it. Saved me drilling things and was cheap. They are on a single power board with a timer so all go on at the same time. The bottom shelf has the sump and another tank that I cant bring myself to shut down (it did have my Bloody Marys in there from Saul Henebery but they were all killed in the shrimpocalyps so maybe its time to go....) Sump - 3ft long X 1.5ft wide X 1ft high custom build. Im not particularly happy with it as I had specific measurements it was supposed to have for the internal baffles to suit the media I had, and the dude stuffed it up. And there isnt anyone else in Townsville that builds tanks so Im kind of stuck with it for now. Just seeing the one bit of media sticking up f*cks with my OCD hahaha. Ive never had a sump before so if anyone has any tips for young players, im all ears. What kind of media are you guys using? I have Jap matt, and the rest is bio balls, bakki rods and marine pure balls. The chiller is on its own loop now as well back in to the sump. (disregard all the hoses everywhere, its a bit neater now). Other working parts - Auto Top Off - I made an Auto top off system that flows into the sump, its a simple float valve with 2 x 25 liter drums of RO Water. Its gravity fed as the drums are on the top shelf. It works really well and will last around 10 days depending on how hot it is. Equipment shelving - I got the 2 side shelves that are made for the Rack It shelving. They hold a fair bit of weight and look good. Happy with these as they hold all my food, ferts, test kits ect. Now Im in the process of restocking after the Shrimpocalyps, Ill update with some pics of the new occupants when they arrive. Thanks for reading, here are some pics of the poor shrimp that got cooked while I was in Japan :-( Ruby Reds from Ken Lee Blue Bolt from my LFS. Bloody Marys from Saul Henebery (These were my fav!) Sneaky girl trying to escape up the filter! Blue Dreams from Saul Yellow Cherries from Saul.

Hi @KaridinaGal (love that name), I'm surprised you didn't find the topics on preparing leaves or flowers for feeding shrimp. Those topics are all in the "Food & Nutrition" section of the forum. In fact, this post also needs to be moved into that section. https://skfaquatics.com/forum/forum/44-food-nutrition/ You do not need to dry the leaves or flowers first. The fresher it is, the more nutrients are retained. The process is rather simple: Blanched method - Fresh leaves (or flowers) washed in tap water Blanch for 2-3 minutes in boiling water. Drain and let cool Drop it into the tank. Alternatively, you can drop in leaves into the tank without blanching first. Fresh method - Just wash and add to the tank. (But shrimps won't start eating unblanched leaves until after a few days when the leaves naturally soften) Storage - You can choose to use your dehydrator to dry the leaves. This serves as a good way of storing excess leaves, eg over winter when Mulberry leaves are not available. You can also choose to freeze them in a ziplock bag (after washing). Frozen leaves soften faster in the tank, as if it was blanched. This is the preferred method as it retains more nutrients than drying.

You will find CRS don't do well in high ph. They cope much better in anything from 5.5- 7 and do Best around 6 - 6.5ph. They also do better at a lower TDS anywhere from around 130 - 160 although a bit higher doesn't seem to worry them - stability is the key . RO water is the best way to go but you must use a remineralising product like salty shrimp GH + as RO water in itself is too "pure". Generally a buffering substrate is highly recommended as well. Feeding is not hard , firstly they thrive on the biofilm in their tank, blanched leaves such as mulberry leaves , spinach or other blanched vegetables, IAL ( Indian almond leaves) commercial shrimp pellets , also a bit of protein in the form of either frozen black worms or black worm pellets or similar foods fed weekly. temperature plays a big part too as they don't do well in constant warmer temperature - we aim for 21-24 C usually so in Summer you need fans or chillers on the tank to keep the temperature stable. Regular small water changes also play a part in keeping your colony healthy. Generally 10-15 % weekly but this varies depending on size of tank and size of colony