Hello all, 

A very long time since I've been active on the forum, and have also had a break from keeping a tank due to some house moves, kids etc. 

However, I am now looking at a small office tank. I work for myself and have my own office, so its moreso enjoyment for me than anything else. 

Due to the unreliability of an office environment with WFH and holidays etc, it will be a low tech tank. At this stage I am considering Aqua One Nano 30, Petworx Nano 30 or Aqua One Betta Duo (if I can determine if you can remove the divider!) as I want to try an integrated filter with pumps, filter material, heater etc all hidden from view. 

I am trying to set myself a budget of $400 consisting of:

• Pet Worx Nano 30 - $135 (which comes with the filter and light)
• Pet Worx 25w Heater (Maybe 50w is smarter so the heter doesnt have to work as hard?) - $30
• Substrate - Dark gravel - $30
• Driftwood - $40
• Plants - Frogbit, Java Moss and Mini Java Fern (or Anubias nana petite) - $50
• Shrimp - A humble 10 x Red Cherry Shrimp - $40
• Which leaves $75 for Food, ferts, bucket, little net, water test kit etc

I'm moreso making this post to force me to do it as opposed to think about it and let the idea fade away!

Cheers

 

 

I had a very similar tank to the petworx one and they are very clean to look at and easy to maintain, but obviously you are losing some volume/floor area for the shrimps to inhabit. You will probably need to work something out so the shrimp don't get through to the back area, especially babies (sponge behind the slots etc) - you may be able to just move part of the sponge to that compartment looking at this video:

 I would only get a 25w heater, I learned my lesson when my 50w stuck on and cooked the shrimps in my 35L tank. 25w should be adequate as you have a much warmer climate, in fact do you really even need a heater?

One drawback with this type of setup is that the level of water in the back can drop drastically when the sponge starts to get clogged, though this is mainly only a problem with the heater which may break in insuficient water, or the pump in really severe circumstances. You will need to clean the sponges at least weekly.  The level drop in the back can look quite alarming when you first see it happening. 

The other makes may also have the same issues?

I would have thought nearer $250 as it already has a light and pump, and if you don't need a heater?

I tried the 'let the idea fade away', but it keeps returning???

17 hours ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

I had a very similar tank to the petworx one and they are very clean to look at and easy to maintain, but obviously you are losing some volume/floor area for the shrimps to inhabit. You will probably need to work something out so the shrimp don't get through to the back area, especially babies (sponge behind the slots etc) - you may be able to just move part of the sponge to that compartment looking at this video:

 I would only get a 25w heater, I learned my lesson when my 50w stuck on and cooked the shrimps in my 35L tank. 25w should be adequate as you have a much warmer climate, in fact do you really even need a heater?

One drawback with this type of setup is that the level of water in the back can drop drastically when the sponge starts to get clogged, though this is mainly only a problem with the heater which may break in insuficient water, or the pump in really severe circumstances. You will need to clean the sponges at least weekly.  The level drop in the back can look quite alarming when you first see it happening. 

The other makes may also have the same issues?

I would have thought nearer $250 as it already has a light and pump, and if you don't need a heater?

I tried the 'let the idea fade away', but it keeps returning???

Thanks for the response and interest!

I'm planning on ignoring everything about the filter media provided and will do my own thing. But yes, a simple idea to save shrimp is put the filter right next to the intake bit.. I hadn't thought about that and was already thinking about adding mesh... your idea is much better and straightforward. 

In regards to heater, where we are in Australia it gets 40 degrees in summer, but we had -7 last week at night.. this morning was a much warmer -3! The heating in the office is a bit whack too... it seems to be boiling hot or freezing cold, so the heater is something i'll just play 'wait and see' with. I don't propose to stock for a while anyway so will have substantial time to monitor the temperature and see if/how/when a heater is needed. 

I saw a short youtube video on the water level at the back.. I'm glad I watched it / you told me because if I went in without knowing I'd be freaking out the first time I noticed it. 

I just watched the video again. With that tank I would take 1 of the sponges and put it in the left compartment (where he put the heater in the vid) and the heater can go in the middle section with the other sponge, so that would work well and be very simple and no extra costs or modification involved.

The water level in the back drops either because the pump is set too fast (if it is adjustable) or mostlly just because the sponge directly behind the inlet slots is getting blocked. Somtimes just pressing the sponge insitu at the top will blow some of the gunk back into the tank, but you will probably need to take the sponge out weekly to clean it, though I imagine you would probably do weekly water change/maintenance anyway. The tank in the video is also quite good because the back is covered so that will help with reducing evaporation from the back working part, mine was open/uncovered at the back so evaporation was more of a problem. I freaked out when I saw the level drop in the back the first time, especially as I had a glass type heater in the back! If you only very rarely need a heater then you could just put that in the main part of the tank on those rare occasions to be safer? As you say, you have time to see if you even need a heater but I suspect you won't as indoors will be warmer than the outside temperature overnite, and I have seen vids on youtuube where some Australians keep Neocaridina shrimp outside all year with no heaters in huge tanks or even ponds, and I doubt there is anywhere in the world where the temperatures don't fluctuate between night and day so all creatures must be ok with that (within limits of coarse).  My problem last week was the same only opposite, overnite it dropped to about 13 degrees outside but inside overnite it rose to 28 because the sun had heated the roof etc all day, so I did lose a few shrimps then (but they are Caridina so not as adaptable or tough as cherry shrimp), only babys though strangely? Of coarse, it's your winter now, whereas it is our summer. Do you have A/C in the house for the summer, even Neocaridina won't survive much over 30? I only have a portable room one which requires a tube out of the window hense I couldn't leave it running overnight as it is a ground floor room!

Legit almost 12 months later! Time flies.

I saw a Facebook advert for a used AquaOne Duo Condo for $40 with the pump and heater. Bargain (assuming they both work!). When I picked it up it had a solid 4-5cm of gravel too. 

So that is now sitting in my office ready for a clean. Of course after being savvy and only spending $40, I then went and dropped $150 on new media, sponges, a light, driftwood etc. 

Gravel is clean, driftwood is soaking... now to tackle removing this divider! 

Did everything work out with the previous setup or is this another try, or still the first try?

If the previous setup worked, what did you put into it?

Hopefully you will have enough time to keep us up to date with it all!

On 7/31/2025 at 9:48 PM, DemonCat said:

ravel is clean, driftwood is soaking... now to tackle removing this divider! 

Oh, is this a build log I hear coming along? 😄

It would be good to see your progress with this build.

Playing around with driftwood and took some pics but can't figure out how to attah without having to upload first and using the URL.

I will go for much less driftwood I think - just using all the bits I have to see if it works.

Divider has been removed. Need to just clean up the leftovers.

 

 

Edited August 17, 2025Aug 17 by DemonCat

Wish I'd gone for a bigger tank.

That usually happens and each time the tank gets a bit bigger!

It should be fairly straight forward to add photos, as long as they aren't large files. Just click on the 'choose files' at the bottom when composing a post, find the file on your device and upload it, then click on 'insert' next to it. I'm not too sure what the file size llimit is but around 5mb or below should be fine I think.

Be careful not to use too powerful heater as if it malfunctions/sticks on it will cook the shrimps, this happend to me, I used a 50w in my 35L tank and it wiped them all out when it malfunctioned (stayed on, temp shot up to 33), now I use 25w only.......

I don't have (can't see) choose files.

I have "other media" which allows me to insert existing attachment or upload from a URL. I just want to attach from my phone. 

I would post a screenshot, but... 

At the bottom left of the box where you are typing the post there should be a paperclip with 'Drag files here to attach, or choose files ...'. The "other media" is opposite it, at bottom right!

If you are trying to do the posts from your phone, that may be the issue, but thats guesswork on my part?

Unfortunately not. Must be a phone thing. 

On 9/3/2025 at 11:47 PM, DemonCat said:

Unfortunately not. Must be a phone thing. 

What browser are you using on your phone?

I use Safari, and there is an option to "Add Files" and an option for "Other Media".

Safari. I also just checked via google too.

 

Maybe a restriction on my profile as I don't have enough posts? 

I checked on my laptop too. 

Here's a screenshot I uploaded

 

https://imgur.com/a/qNSkl0I

@DemonCat, you have enough posts. 

It might be your membership or subscription level. 

Need to do some investigation with @Cesar.

Either way, the scape I have set up is still being tinkered with but I think i'm happy with where it's going.