Just Another Shrimp Tank

[eviltrain]

Hi all, before i proceed with my Shrimp Rack Beta, i will be starting a 2 feet shrimp tank with new ideas base on my past experience.

Hardware:

Ocean Free 60 x 30 x 35 cm tank with DIY soil partition

3 panel of Ocean Free under gravel panels

2 x 2 feet 5watt T5 LED DIY into a spoil 2 feet PL lightset casing

Hailea HC-150A chiller

Ehiem 2026 with :

3 kg of bio home and bio home plus

1kg Dymax lava rocks in filter bag

2x "J" brand 1.5 litres pre filter with :

1.5 litres of PM ceramic rings



The following will be how i'm going to setup my under gravel system.



the part of the pipe which is connected to the UGPs is actually cut short so that the over all height won't exceed the soil partition ( 5cm / 2 inches). acrylic glue is used to join the parts together.



close up of the pipes connected to the UGPs



the under gravel system is then connected with U inlet pipe using some piping which i collected. ( and yes they fit nicely and was glued together ) left over parts of the mesh is stack below the elbow to prevent the pipes to bend.



2 piece of plastic plant mesh (5mm square holes) which bought from Daiso is used to cover over the UGPs nicely.



as there is still some gap between the glass and the under gravel panels, i inserted a row of PM ceramic rings around the UGPs. ( yes, more place for BB to grow~~ )



Here comes the weird part. I'm not using ADA Amazonia II soil to cover the UGPs. A layer of lava rock chips is pour on top and spread out evenly over the UGPs. 3 Litres of ADA Amazonia II soil ( Big size which i sleeves out from a full 9 litre pack ) is pour in the front. This way, the soil can maintain its form for longer period of time. Its is a known fact that any bake soil is not suitable for under gravel system.

Finally a layer of black quartz sand is used to top up over the layer of lava rock chips ( to hide the ugly pipes and prevent shrimplets from venture too deep thru the gaps of the lava rock chips. )



2 prefilter, 1 filled with white wool and 1 filled with PM ceramic rings arrange in a way that it will lessen the restriction of the flow rate.

- thanks for viewing -

[Xmant]

Very well documented and impressive setup.

[eviltrain]

Thanks. Just some ideas which i "improvised" from taiwan setup. Hee hee

[rascal]

nice set up looking forward man!!!!

[zonkkie]

Good to see you back in action so quickly! Thanks for posting the detailed setup... documenting all your posts, DIY and unusual ideas in case I setup a shrimp tank in the future!

[eviltrain]

No choice. Hands very itchy when i see a empty tank in my room. So might as well setup a small tank for now. Good things must share. XD. This is how i spread the poison more. Hee hee

Something to add.

All biohome, biohome plus, PM ceramic and lava rocks chips are washed, boiled and wash again to "unclog" the pores of the media and prevent dusty water too

The black quartz are washed and sun dry before putting into the tank.

-evil is good-

[goody992828]

Alan U "pai lang" poison spread and spread........ this is even more poisonous.....................

[eviltrain]

hee hee, how come this more poisonous wor?

[goody992828]

your ideas make it more poisonous..............

[eviltrain]

opps. my evil plan is found out by brother goody. haha

[eviltrain]

some photos and followed by my DIY 2 feet LED lightset.



my left side of the room and my cat on the bed. hee hee. The rack is a 4 x 1.5 feet 4 tier.



top view at an angle with black quartz sand on the top, bowing glass partition ( due to the angle shot ) and bottom is ADA Amazonia II soil.

DIY LED light set



The casing is from a spoiled 2 feet PL light set which is gutted out. Oh the cat tail is still intact on her.



the 2 feet T5 is bought at a Eunos hardware store. It is rated 5 Watt /220V.

As compared with a single tube T5HO 24 Watt , the light intensity of the LED T5 (2 tube ) and T5HO ( 1 tube ) is the same.

In the center of the photo is where i actually screw the light set in place. No other form of industrial grade double side tape is use for future upgrade or so.


Connecting point for both light set. The 2 connectors comes with the purchase of the LED light sets. I just wire them together and bend the wire in place.



I cut a small hole for the power to plug in at the other side of the light set. ( top left corner )

Full Tank and Equipments Placement



full tank and equipments shot

-thanks for viewing-

[ArCtic]

2 prefilter, 1 filled with white wool and 1 filled with PM ceramic rings arrange in a way that it will lessen the restriction of the flow rate.

- thanks for viewing -

Bro Eviltrain, questions on the prefilter: how do you connect them to your canister?

[eviltrain]

the pre filters actually comes with their quick release ball valve M size and L size.

i just link them up in series such as follow :

tank -> pre filter with wool -> pre filter with PM ceramic rings -> 2026 -> A150 -> tank

[blackBRUSHalgae]

Can't wait to see more progression. I do have doubt over the flow rate provided solely by your 2026 only, it might be inefficient for both filtration and chilling. The intended pump built in within 2026 is solely for driving through only 2026, so yeah... you might consider adding an additional eheim pump in your system.

[eviltrain]

2026 Pro 2 is rated 950LPH. With so much media along the way, I give a rough estimation of 1/3 - 1/2 of the flow rate lost. That means i will still left with around 500-600LPH flow rate.

Its actually good enough for my tank size as 60x30x35cm = around 63 litres.

500LPH divide by 63 litres will give me 7.9-8 times water cycle rate.

A shrimp tank flow rate is best between 5-6 times as i do not wants to turn my tank into a washing machine.

The Hailea HC-150A flow rate is rated between 250 to 1200L/H, shouldn't be a problem for the cooling with the flow rate around 500-600 from the ehiem 2026 pro 2.

-thanks for viewing-

[zonkkie]

I like the idea of pre-filter, might only need to maintain the main filter one a year in that case. But your prefilter does not come with taps so will it be difficult during maintenance?

[eviltrain]

it comes with taps 2 sizes, M and L.

[ArCtic]

Bro Eviltrain, pardon me for asking again, will the flowrate be dropped drastically if a pre-filter (with media only) be connected to a 2213 (with fine filter wool) on a 60x30x45?

[eviltrain]

You will have to include the length of the piping too. 2213 for your tank is like a bit too little flow. 400LPH divide by 2 = 200LPH for your 60x30x45 which is around 81 litres 2.4-2.5 times flow rate.

[zonkkie]

Thanks Alan. Can I get your help to post a picture of the Prefilter with taps/quick release valve once it is up and running? I didn't know there is a thing like prefilter before and curious to see how it works.

Also, another newbie question. For your UGP, why do you need so many pipes? Will just a vertical pipe work the same?