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Lord of the Rectangle, A tail of two tanks Once upon a time there was a boy names Mark and he decided he would like some tropical fishes in his bedroom. For many years he kept and killed a variety of species, having no idea what he was doing. Eventually he grew weary of tank maintenance and became bored of the water filled rectangle. He dutifully fed its remaining inhabitants (3 neon tetras and a BN) and topped up their water, but the enthusiasm was gone. In truth, he was waiting for the day they stopped swimming so he could pack it all away and be done with it. A few more years passed and the swimming inhabitants soldiered on, through algae, low water and days without food. It became clear to Mark that these fish had no intentions of floating anytime soon, this displeased him greatly. The thought of being forced to gaze upon the plain and barren rectangle brought forth a rage that he could not subdue. "F**K THIS SH*T" he one day proclaimed. "If these lowly creatures will not perish, I will not endure this wretched glass box and its peasantly appearance any more!" And he did not, he began planning and planning and reading and planning.. and then, the buying. At first, it was some lily pipes, with their crystal glass and elegant appearance.

I recently acquired a 2nd hand 2ft tank, so I've decided to give the dry start method a go. I've bought 2 pieces of Gold Vine and I've sprinkled chopped up Fissidens over them. I've wrapped glad wrap over the top of the tank and now I wait for few weeks and spray water onto it everyday to let it attach :)

After the disappearance of my saddled snowball :confused:, I decided to X the male snowball with a Red Rilli, Yellow & Clear Wild Type Cherry. Close up of the clear wild type cherry, 1st berried, so minimal eggs. Pic of snowball pair is on my damaged phone, but will try to retrieve the ice on iTunes.......anyone with a spare female snowball ?

Hi Guys, Just sharing a journal of my new tank.. Its been a few years, but I am coming back to keeping shrimp. When I left, back in 2010, I was keeping and breeding CRS and CBS. But time changed, and I went into keeping marine tank, where I had some good success with a shallow SPS reef. But Im in Yr 12 now, and my HSC is coming up in October/November, and so, I had to make the decision to sell that tank, and go back to shrimp. I always missed shrimp, i dont think there is anything else more interesting and rewarding to keep, so here i am, back.. Anyways, thats enough of the boring stuff, ill get on with it... The new tank I purchased was a Cade Mini. And i fitted it out with; -Eheim 2213 -Lilypipes -Hydor 90W Inline Heater Benibachi Powder Soil -Yinghshi Rock So I went about setting up the tank, using RO and Salty Shrimp Mineral GH+, and planted it with some Hairgrass, Vesuvius Sword and some Weeping Moss... So here are the photos, id love to have some feedback! Cheers

Hey guys, I thought I should start a Journal for my tank setup, I haven't receive all the gears yet but the picture will give you some idea what I will be using. Tank: 60x36x30 (Low Iron) Cabinet: Ada style cabinet Filteration: 2215 x 2 with Aqua House lily pipe Filter Media: PowerHouse Soft Type S 5L + Powerhouse soft Type 5L M Light: ADA Aquasky 601 Decoration: Minitem Ceramic Tubes, Glass pot etc.... Plant: Peacock, star moss & triangle moss Soil: 6 x up aqua shrimp sand 2L Feel free to comment :encouragement:

So I've been keeping planted aquariums for 10 years now, but always low tech and low-cost to maintain. I've always used pool filter sand as the substrate and have had relatively good success in keeping a variety of easier to grow plants, and have never used heating or cooling. I currently have a custom built 6x2x2ft tiered tank which is divided into 3 sections, a standard 2.5ft tank, and a standard 3ft tank set up. I acquired some cherry shrimp as a bonus after purchasing the 2.5ft tank and since then my dream of having a mid-high tech planted tank for shrimp has been a constant source of distraction. This combined with having recently purchased some crypts and finding they are flourishing and throwing off new plantlets within a month (after years of presuming they would just melt and never return in my low-tech tanks) means I can no longer ignore the urge to set up a proper planted tank for shrimp. I was lucky enough to stumble across someone selling a 3x2x2ft tank (with a 2228 Eheim Professional thrown in) which fits perfectly into an awkward spot in my loungeroom, and with space in my one bedroom apartment at a premium already due to MTS (multiple tank syndrome) this means it will be replacing my standard 3ft tank. It's arriving in around a week and I have been spending hours on end researching and planning every option possible in terms of substrate, hardscape and inhabitants. I want to do this the right way from the start as all my other tanks have been thrown together with whatever I could find at the time that was suitable and relatively cheap, then upgraded and built upon as time passed. My priority is getting the substrate and hardscape set up properly and with the best materials I can find. I've always dreamt of an ADA Aqua Soil planted tank, but could never justify the cost. But after all these years, it's time to suck it up and go for it. I'm hoping with this and more lighting than on my other tanks I might have better success with a few of the harder to grow plants like HM. At this stage the plan is to get the tank and stand in place and get the substrate and rocks in, then do a dry start with some HM while I wait for all the other bits and pieces needed for the tank to arrive. So, the shopping list is; Substrate 4 x 9lt ADA Aqua Soil New Amazonia 1 x 3lt ADA Aqua Soil New Amazonia Powder Lighting 4 x 39w HO T5 lighting Filtration 1 x 2228 Eheim professional Possibly another cheapo 1200 lph filter I have kying around if it looks like I need more filtration Heating / Cooling As I really have no experience in this area I'm still researching, but I plan to heat the tank to keep the temp stable. In terms of cooling I will be purchasing a portable air conditioner for the room (cheaper than buying several chillers) before next summer. Dosing Switching things up by moving away from the Flourish range and trying out the Dinosaur Dung, Pee and Spit range from Aquagreen. Will look into micro nutrients / trace elements if I see any deficiencies. Eventually I dream of having a proper CO2 set up, but my budget is already huge and it will have to wait for another day. I'll also be adding some Indian Almond Leaves for the shrimp. Plants I will start with fast growing bunch plants and mosses, and if I can figure out a way to kill pond snails and their eggs, I will probably transplant some cuttings and moss from my other tanks. The planting will probably be a work in progress thing, removing plants and replacing them as I can afford to, and as I establish what I can grow in the conditions. Ideally I'd like to start with; Hydrocotyle tripartite "Pennywort" Hemianthus micranthemum "HM" Limnobium Laevigatum "Frogbit" Assorted Cryptocoryne (nevellii, parva, wendtii, crispulata) Assorted mosses, basically whatever I can get my hands on (java, US fissiden, peacock, flame, christmas) Anubius nana Still need to find something red to try out, but that can wait. Livestock At this stage I'd love some CRS and CBS together in the tank, although I need to do more research to determine if I want to keep them together or if I'm better off going with two species that won't interbreed. I really haven't decided yet as I've been too busy planning the tank set up. I'll be waiting a few months for the tank to establish before I add livestock anyway so I guess I still have plenty of time up my sleeve (and time to save up some money and get the best quality I can afford). Anyway, I think that's about all for now. I will add some photos and more info as things start to arrive and get set up.

So now that I have added shrimp to my aquarium bow I decided it was time to upgrade my current system. First thing to note is - I'm crap at journals but thought I'd update you guys anyway...... I started with 2 standard 3ft tanks on a metal stand which I used to breed bristlenose. These are on the right of my L number system in the below pic: I added shrimp sand, a couple of cannisters and some perspex dividers Then thought bugger it, why not do it properly :barbershop_quartet_ Built a new rack, had custom 3ft's built divided into 3x1ft and drilled, had a sump built and then plumbed it :applause: Hopefully I can bred some numbers to help put me back in the good books with the wife :victorious:

Greetings from the other side o the world! My name is Fernando Freire, I'm a 25 year old (almost) Marine Biologist with specialization in Aquaculture. You may have heard about the current crisis in Europe wich Portugal, after Greece, is struggling very very hard to pass on this crisis. I've worked for 5 years i the Aquarium business, working and managing one of the most famous Shops around my Country in wich I found my passion for water animals and specially Shrimps. I've worked with almost every specie available in the European market (except the 1-2 years new species like Tibee, Taiwan...). In a conversation with my mother she suggested that I used my Bachelor in something new in the market, and a lightbulb came to my head instantly! Why not shrimps? more interesting, less expensive to breed and grow than fishes! Also the key f the business is the lack of true Aquacultures of these animals, shops only get them from outside of the country or they buy directly to breeders (not a legal activity). I looked for my former Boss and buyed all the Aluminium structure, Aquariums and a lot ( I mean A LOT) of other materials that stayed in the Shop after it closed. After a lot of planing I decided to star with half the structure that we had, 20 Aquariums, and modified the way it used to work: at the shop each aquarium had is own sump and each Aquarium had it's own water parameters. At my system I put t together that they worked horizontal by gravity (sump is lowered by 20cm) and the sump is the support of the 4 aquariums in that "line". The system is 4 Aquariums high and 5 long (the 1st being the Sump). I rented a cool place from a Couple of old family friends, that is divided in 2 parts: The entry - Now it's just the place where I have the leftovers and in the future it is just to have the other 20 Aquariums... I didn't think too much on this zone, I'm just assemblying the system and after that I'll get to the outside :-P It measures are 5,7m x 3,5m The inside - Measuring 9,7m x 3,5m it's a great space to what I've got in mind for the beginning of this adventure! It has the system, in wich ALL aquariums are 1,2 x 0,4 x 0,35 (150L) with Sump on the back and I inverted the Aquariums that are working as Sumps. It was important that the water arrived at the bigger side of the tank, which will be filled with floating plants and then It passes by 2x50mm holes to the front side of the system (back side of the aquarium ;-) ) the plumbing was simple, a 10cm slope between the 1st and last aquarium made in 32mm tubing. 1st it was in 20mm tubing but I had to change it. At the front side, 1st it has to pass a 5cm height sponge, notice that below the sponge there's a hole with a tap, this provides easy clean for more macroscopic garbage that sediments. Easy work = Bigger happiness hehehe. then it must fall down to a plastic net I made, stitching with Nylon (it's GREAT!) and filled with 6-8L of Eheim Substract Pro to provide good colony space. I has a 20cm air stone working underneath so it oxygenates better the bacteria colony, and finnaly it goes to the 4 aquarium system feeded by a Eheim 1260 (2400L/h). But brutal water flow allows me to have a good aeration and less sedimentation in the filter media... also I can always shake the basket, bacteria falls, goes to all aquariums by the water pump providing important food for all Shrimp species ;-) Then it falls down to each of the 4 aquariums by a Spay bar I made also: it's a 2cm tube with 20x 2mm holes that provides oxigenation and surface movement. Also here is a photo of the derivation I made from the main water pipe (just a T, and a Tap to close whenever I what to do anything in the aquariums. Working normally with all tap opened to max there is no difference in the water flow in any aquarium of the system. May the Shrimp God bless this Eheim 1260! Also, I used half bag of ADA Malaya and other half bag of ADA Amazonia, 9L total in each aquarium. I pretend to get the minerals from the Malaya and the low pH and KH/GH from the Amazonia. I'll provide this last 2 with some "salty shrimp" salts! a bathroom (very little), a washbasin (in acrylic, because at the shop we had a lot of salt water and we all know what happens whit salt and metal, right? ;-) ) structure that supports a (+/-) 300L tank to put the RO water and prepare it before entering the system and also give me room to put some consumables for all this adventure . At this time the automatic reposition is ready for action but the pics I have don't have it! I also have a 1,8m stand for 3 Aquariums ( 2 x (0,6 x 0,6 x 0,35) + 1 x (0,5 x 0,5 x 0,6) meters) in which I will use to make some experiences. After that is a study table, to have all magazines, laptop, and stuff. Next is a cabinet for pieces and specific material that I got from the Shop. and finally is the Workbench, filled with tools necessary to put this baby running! [ATTACH]3314[/ATTACH] And I think that's it for now, please feel free to ask any information / photos about any particular subject or system! Only your comments can help me improving all of the system! Best regards, Fernando

So im finally fully moved in to my brand new apartment and finally got internet (thankfully) :triumphant: Ive got a spare room in the apartment which im planning on starting up ONE rack and the rest will follow as nature takes its course. Ill be making the stand from scratch as ill need a custom size. Ill be running 3 tanks drilled in the back or base.. still undecided if someone can throw me some pros and cons running into a reservoir tank like brother marcus' rack then back up the top using a canister hooked up to UV and a chiller. Sponge filter in each tank for extra circulation. Each tank will measure 800 x 600 x 350 So two questions: - Drill the base or the back? - Divide in half or quarters?

So I got Great news a couple of days ago that my 4ft divided shrimp tank and sump will be ready to pick up after Sunday, photos to come once I pick it up. Now I need to organize what media and pump to get for the sump and work out how to do the plumbing/setup the sump one handed lol. I'm pretty sure I'll make this setup for a cherry breeding program mainly cos I don't have the funds for doing crystals or tibees properly and cherries have some really cool colours which I'd like to work on. Looking forward to sharing this tank journal with you all. Pics to come in a few days time Cheers, Josh

So last September I was just in the stage of ordering my new stand when I got made redundant. This kicked me back a bit but finally I've got my stand in place, tanks all painted and setup and finally cycling. At this stage they've been cycling for just on a week and coming along reasonably well bar a few minor changes need to be made plus I'm waiting on a number of plants and mosses to fill them out. The lower lot still don't have their pots for planting but that will be sorted shortly. So come today this is how its looking: The heater has been straightened since the lower shot and yes I have disturbed the substrate but its clearing. Still has a bit of work to go but WPs are looking good, ammonia is dropping, Ph is stable. Another couple of weeks and the first occupants go on.

Today, my daughter reminded me of the 1st tank I bought her (Leo 12lt Tank)....she now has a larger tank..... Pulled the Leo out of storage, SS toto filter I purchased 6 months ago, mini CO2 unit (given to me) that I've been desperately wanting to use (just looks so cute..love nano stuff), and ........ More importantly.... Did I break my promise that I won't buy another tank ? NO .... Bhahahahhahaha

Only just started on it.

Hi everyone, So the bug has bit me again and the decision has been made to focus back on shrimp. So i set up a new little 40lt on the weekend. here are the specs tank: freebee from a mate 40lt or so lighting:45cm UP aqua LED Z Series substrate: benibachi filtration: Eheim 2213, 2x sponge filters Heres some pics. Its only early days ill update this thread as i progress, Now who has some shrimpies for me to stock this baby up lol

After so many thing happened in past 2 year ,i back to shrimp offically this post will only in SKF for now , As i meet all awsome shrimp keepers here ! Like everyone ,when i start keeping shrimp first time , i end up with heart break experience, so hope this can help people reduce their shrimp loss and happy shrimping every building start from planning , very draft ,but important Shopping time i mainly get the gear from bunning might be have different place to get this stuff ,i use them metal rack this time ,but after i built up i found the timber one seems stronger Tank i get some second hand drilled tank from gumtree ,not the display quality 15 meters of air hose ,one strong air pumb with lot of plumbing gear and tube Dry start after setup the rack installing the light light on first look after put all the tanks in Plumbing start Water test in level one building the sump (thanks Lionel for help !) sump testing Media and moreand more media still only half full testing with soil in adding the panel panel painted in black To be continuous : Nolan

Hi Guys, Thought it would be fun to post the progress of my shrimp rack progress so far ive made the structure or frame, my friend is a shop fitter so he has made me the skin for it in satin black, i'm receiving that tomorrow, ill be sure to post them too. bottom shelf with the white is the sump chiller and uv light cabinet, it will be all white in there so i can actually see since the room itself is already very dim where it is going. working from right to left the water will enter from the right and pass 4 puigen bags, through 6lt of Eheim substratpro up past a heater in section2 then down into the center section which will rotate the 15-20Lt of K1 media into a circular motion then back through some filter wool then back under into an eiheim pump! I will also have duel sponge filters in each tank with diy K1 moving media bottles. These are my custom 3x1.5x1.5ft tanks with outlet holes drilled at the bottom for the pvc plumbing. The idea's where inspired by deans and BBs set up with a few little changes. fingers crossed i have the success once its eventually done and full of shrimp! I also have ordered a chiller and uv lamp and have 2 3ft led lights and a Huge box of pvc piping, RO/DI unit GH+ saltyshrimp ready to go. whats left to buy is my million bags of benibachi substrate, mineral powder, red bee balls and driftwood and decor' oh and shrimp Any suggestions are greatly appreciated :) Enjoy!!

Howdy :) I have had a few 2x12x12 tanks sitting around for a while now as well as a crappy old rack for them that I bought years ago and was thinking it would be good to use as a Cherry rack. So I checked out the tanks and gave them a bit of a clean up and made sure they still held water as they had lived outside for sometime, luck for me they held water. The rack on the other hand was a bit far gone as it had not been painted or sealed and was kept outside for years in the weather so I had to make another one from scratch. I called a good friend of mine that happens to be cabinet maker and organised a time to drop around to use his truck to pick up the lumber and then to use this panel saw and other misc gear. After a quick plan was put down on paper I found that Bunnings didn't have 1 piece of straight pine in the 4 different stores that we visited, so we tried Mitre 10 and they had lots of straight pine and even price matched Bunnings. So after a fun afternoon of beers and woodworking I now have a 1700mm tall rack. I was going to stain it but changed my mind as I was inspired by Marcus' racks, I decided to paint it matte black and I also painted the sides and back of each tank as well :congratulatory: I was contemplating multiple ways of filtration including HOB, internal filters, canisters, sponge or sump and have finally made my decision. I drilled a hole in the side of 3 of the tanks around 16mm from the top so that I can add a bulkhead and have them running to the bottom tank that will be used as a sump. I still need to figure out what to do with the sump like where to put the baffles and height/sizing of them but that will come in the next week or so, I will also put up a couple of designs to see of they will do the job and for them to be critiqued. I still need to pick up some foam, decide on and order my fittings, design and build the sump, decide on which pump I will be using, order the power supply and parts for the LED 5050 Strip lighting I will be using, order black coreflute so it looks sexy, order UV sterilizer, plumb it all up and give it a test + when ever else I have forgotten. :) Here are a couple of photos I took with my iPhone so excuse the quality, I never seem to have the DSLR on me when I need it :sorrow: The rack once it had dried Mmmmmm Matte black painted tanks, sure do look sexy once they are done, check out the dodgy old rack Im using as a stand to paint the tanks. It was rotten as it was out in the weather. One of the holes in the left side of the tank where the bulkhead will be placed. Close up of my dodgy hole saw work :p Drilled tanks sitting on the rack till I can clear some space for the rack More updates will be added once I have time and money to do more, hurry up pay day!!!!!! Sorry I don't have pictures of every step as I always get focused on what I'm trying to do and forget to document it Cheers Trav

Ive had this beautiful tank sitting around for a months and ive had such high hopes for it. Towards the end of 2011 i lost interest in aquariums, the build up and down of the HSC meant i needed to escape and relax so there i was next minute; on a plane. I went to thailand, vietnam and cambodia. left hundreds of shrimp to my parents to take care of (hopeless) with mat (matblack) popping over every now and then to see how everything was going. came home, my shrimps were fine but i still didnt have time. long story short - uni, work, life.:sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping: but now its the 4 month holiday break and its time to revamp my passion. My new tank afew months ago: Quickly turned into this: Now since ive been tearing it down: Ill probably keep this tank to selective breed shrimp since the aquasoil is less then 6 months old. This past week ive been collecting equipment for this wonderful build. My expenses thus far: 3 x 9L ADA AMAZONIA NEW $150 EHEIM 2215 $200 4 x 24W Power compact $100 Timber to make my cabinet $90 Total: $540 ive spent this week. The tank is a 90 x 35 x 60 starfire sides and a mirrored base (just whatever they had lying around the stop to reduce cost) Today i started to build the cabinet. i like the way it looks open at the moment but ill eventually add doors to it, prime/seal it and then paint it to match my room. Pics or it didnt happen right? Open top

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.

Today i went and bought 3 new Mr Aqua 30cm cubes These will be shrimp only tanks. Im planing to run them off just sponge filters. I think i might go with ADA Amazonia soil.

So finally got around to setting up my Xmas present (a Fluval EBI) This is where the tank will sit About 2 minutes after I filled the tank and put in all the stuff What it looks like on my desk Hopefully everything stays alive and I can throw some shrimp in there soon.

Just did a bit of an upgrade on my one 20L tank that is currently in use. I decided to go with black sand on this one since all my other tanks have just basic white sand. Here is a partial before pic And now this evening alfter the last of the bit of silt still in the sand has settled and been filtered out Above photo looking in from one end of the tank

Hey guys, This is the first shrimp and planted tank I've ever had and have had this tank running for about 3 months. Started with: Blue planet Classic 50 9L ADA amazonia 10 blyxa Honeycomb rock 18/11/12 Got some 30 A grade CRS from Ace027 about a month later with a couple extra and higher grades :triumphant: Also added some Java moss, Willow moss, Peacock moss (thanks mickeyG), Needle leaf java fern, Us Fissiden and Frogbit (thanks Dean). I made a spray bar for the built in filter Last week I noticed my first berried female and over the next few days more and more were berried. Last count was 9 My water parameters aren't what they should be so I'm thinking of making it a cherry tank and getting another tank for the CRS. Let me know what you guys think Thanks, Nick

Need to condense down my tanks this year to prepare for an end of year move so I'm getting started now. I've picked up 2 divided D40cm W48cm L50cm tanks pre-prilled with weirs and a 2.5ft sump with trickle tower. Aim to plumb these and the mr aqua cube all together. These two and my shrimp display tank will unfortunately be my only tanks come december but at least I'll be able to breed nice shrimp and keep a nice display. Perhaps two......if I can convince my girl.

Ok so here's a journal for my new shrimp tank. Overalll tank dimensions are as follows. 104mm x 355mm x 350mm (high) Each partition is as follows 250mm x 335mm x 530mm (high) Make sense so far? So far I have 2 bags of UP Aqua Shrimp sand, divided among the 4 tanks. So here are some of the pics so far. Empty tank in position Full with water Air distribution system so far. This is only a brief trial with the Schego. I may go back to my cheaper airpump. So far I still need to buy another sponge filter and lighting. I'm considering going a 3ft UP Aqua LED unit for this tank and having the light support legs resting on the partitions. I also need to double check the measurements I gave to the boss as I swear I wrote 107 and not 104. What's done is done, but I'm sure I made it take up nearly the full space on the stand. So far I've dosed each partition with some AZOO probiotic bacteria powder and acclimatised my Blue Tinge Chocolates and a CBS into one of the partitions. Pics as things happen *hopefully*