stormhawk's shrimp adventures

[stormhawk]

I figured I'd do up a shrimp tank sooner or later, so I decided, since I have no chiller and don't intend to get one, let's do a Sulawesi tank... with some bugging from my fiancee. Too many drool-worthy pics of Sulawesi shrimps, and with Matt's MO up and running, I finally caved in to her wish.

My ingredients:


Bought a bag of Benibachi Golden Soil pH 7.2, bonsai-style driftwood, some pieces of lava rock from GC. Decided to reuse my Eden 501 for this tank. I know, it must be weird not to have coral chips in the "ingredients", but I decided to just use a few pieces of coral in a filter mesh bag hung in the tank instead. So if I made a mistake in the "dosage" I can easily remedy it.

Tank in the photo is an old version of the GEX L tank, which has served many purposes for me throughout the years. Never used it as a shrimp tank before, and I didn't want to spend money on a brand new tank either when I had this spare tank unused. Light set is not pictured, but is an 11W PL light set from Kotobuki that has been with me for at least 8 years, and still working.


Saw this bonsai-style driftwood piece molded from a combination of 2 woods, one Mopani I think, and the other some random twisted wood. Had to choose between 2 pieces and this one seemed to have more hiding spaces so I took it instead.


Initial layout: 19th Feb 2012

After placing the wood and arranging the lava rocks, I realised I probably bought too little of the rocks. Pardon the scratches, this tank is very old, hence the scratches. The cloudiness is from the Benibachi Golden Soil, which seems to be some form of crushed lava rock. Smells exactly like the lava rocks anyway. I wanted a gravel that was dark in color, to roughly match the natural habitat as shown in the videos on Youtube, and this gravel suited the bill more than lapis gravel.

What do you guys think of the current layout? Any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Draka]

Haha Stormhawk, if the Golden Soil is crushed lava rock, the joke's on me. I asked the GC uncle for lava dust from the lava rock! Anyway, thanks for testing the many lava rock theory out. I believe the many hiding places will be much appreciated by your shrimp! Although, as I found out, they rarely forage far so you only see them peeping out. I think the set up is nice, but lack a little colour, maybe some more red coloured lava rocks? Like the wood. As the GC uncle recommended and I tested, pellia appears to take to high pH/high magnesium content (my pH buffered by Mg to a certain extent, but with its own host of problems) quite well and when matured, if the water is still, has nice round "leaves". You could always try that if you want greenery. ^^

[stormhawk]

I have Pellia that came in a bag of moss I bought from Colorful before they closed. That same batch of Pellia has been growing in the plastic bag they came with the moss in, even though the moss within has browned and died. I might try them in this tank if they can take to alkaline conditions. I don't intend to dose CO2 in this tank so hopefully the sample Pellia will work.

Had an idea of using mini hairgrass for the empty foreground to the left, though I'm not sure if they'll be able to take a substrate that has no base fert beneath, or the hard water that these shrimps need.

I thought the Golden Soil was something else but boy does it smell like lava rock. If you ever smelled Eheim's Ehfilav/Lava Chips filter media, you will recognise it instantly. Now I got a big bag of Golden Sand and no other tank to use it on.

[Draka]

Haha I already have an experiment ongoing, otherwise I'd test it for you ;P And yes I know what you mean about lava rock, but many minerals smell like lava rock when wet. How does the texture go? And wow, how long have you had pellia in the bag? And so far my pellia all no CO2, but I got them from Ronnie and the only thing that happened for them in my tank is the rounded shape la heh.

[stormhawk]

That bag with the Pellia has been floating in my 4ft tank for uhh... 2 months plus now I think. The tip of the bag and the rubber band have already gotten algae growing, and still the Pellia is not dead.

Texture of the Golden Soil is comparable to lava rocks. This is a close-up shot of the Golden Soil:



As you can see, it's basically crushed lava rock. I believe there might be minerals present, hence the claims to buffer at 7.2. I'll do a drip test and a pH pen test on my tank in a few hours time to see if this is true. The bag doesn't state whether to rinse this product before usage, but it has a lot of dust in it. I had to rinse about 3-4 times for a small batch to get some degree of clarity in the rinse water.

[Draka]

Haha my washed lava dust look like that too but to get lava rock to that, seriously respect.

[stormhawk]

The latest batch of lava rock at GC are fairly dusty too. Got a lot of lava sand bits. I threw away the bag the rocks were in, because the leftover sand was very fine. Too fine for my liking. Benibachi probably put some lava rocks in a crusher or something, because the bits are fairly uniform in size. Some are slightly larger but overall, the texture and look is nice.

[Draka]

Haha do keep us updated! And add the pellia, its really lovely. Goodnight, or should I say morning?

[stormhawk]

Morning, I think. Time to go watch a random movie while my tank gets circulated by the Eden 501, then sleep. Filter wool in the intake strainer works wonders in clearing the cloudiness from the Golden Soil.

[Zenith82]

Very nicely setup stormhawk, hope to see more pictures once your tank completes cycling and shrimps are added.
But becareful of the bonsai wood, do cycle properly and check for harmful substance in the water before adding any fauna.

[Quinn]

Cant wait to see the shrimps in when ur tank finish cycled. Do keep us update.

[Matt]

Bro Stormhawk, this is especially an interesting thread for me to read, a new member addition to the Sulawesi "Clubhouse" on my birthday

Some comments on the tank set up, seriously nicely done up but lack the greens only. Sulawesi shrimps appreciate the presence of plants very much. I think the amount of rocks are fairly enough at the moment, you would need to leave some space for some plants and Sponge Rock or Sulawesi Rocks or any other future Add-on. No touting here but just thought there should be some provision of space for such stuff.

Good to know that there are hobbyists already trying out the Golden soil ahead of me. Do share your findings and reading of the parameters and when cycled, how the shrimps cope in your tank yeah. I am currently testing a set up with used GEX soil and most shrimps especially my Permanent Residents (Cardinals) are doing well in it. �� Shall post in my thread when the time is right.

[Navanod]

Texture of the Golden Soil is comparable to lava rocks. This is a close-up shot of the Golden Soil:



As you can see, it's basically crushed lava rock.

Compared to Eheim's lava chips, what is the size ratio?
Its good to see you venturing into something that is still somewhat of a niche area!

[Yany]

I will be keeping a watch on your thread! Glad you jumped into the bandwagon. I like your setup and best of luck!

If you still have some gex soil and wanna let go of some, let me know. Thinking of setting a small apae ula shrimp tank and I think the gex soil would be a nice addition!

PM me... we are practically neighbours so can collect them quick as well

[stormhawk]

I think ratio is roughly 1:5 to 1:10. Eheim's chips are much bigger in size. I use only lava chips in my 2026 along with the sponges, works pretty good.

Yany, I might have some ideas for the Golden Soil but I will keep you updated. It's pretty nice to look at but rough to touch.

Probably going to use a Ramshorn snail as a commando for this tank.

[Matt]

When do you intend to dump in your commando Rams, Sir?

[stormhawk]

When the nitrite and ammonia are down to zero, I'll test with the snail. If there is something wrong with the water, it will coil back into the shell.

[Borinz]

The scaping is nice!!

[silane]

You need lot of plant for sulawei shrimp tank.

[Navanod]

I think ratio is roughly 1:5 to 1:10. Eheim's chips are much bigger in size. I use only lava chips in my 2026 along with the sponges, works pretty good.

Yany, I might have some ideas for the Golden Soil but I will keep you updated. It's pretty nice to look at but rough to touch.

Probably going to use a Ramshorn snail as a commando for this tank.

I see. That's really small.
I'm going to unearth quite abit of the lava chips from my old tank...was wondering if you would have any use for them