# 5Gallon Shrimp Tank



## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

Back from vacation, and its time to start school and a 5 gallon shrimp tank that Ive been planning for a while. First thing was getting the 'ghetto' lights installed.








I copied the lights from dekstr. Filled the tank up with eco-complete and used my Timmies substrate scraper/mover to make a slope. 
























Will stop by Menageries on Friday to get some plants. My eco-complete is not exactly all black and it contains a mix of small red/grey rocks, is this normal?


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Yay looks great! 

I've never bought eco complete but i am sure someone knows what it looks like


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

Thanks Ciddian. Here is a better picture showing the random colours rocks in the black substrate.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

You can contact the manufacturer, and I believe they do replace it. I remember reading that on plantedtank.net or somewhere else. Worth a shot I suppose.


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

So I'm guessing this is not what normal eco-complete looks like . If its just a looks thing I can live with it, but if its going to cause trouble for future fish/plants then I think ill give them a call.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Your eco-complete looks quite black to me. I've used 5 bags so far, 2 of the bags had very light colored rocks in them.

I don't know what's what, which is correct. I wonder if they will replace what's already used.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Ameekplec, is your eco-complete all pure black always?  None of my eco-complete is pure black, especially those medium/large grain rocks. The fine grain part is always black.


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

Pictures from drsfostersmith.com (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9087) makes my eco-complete look quite normal if the pictures are actually displaying normal eco-complete. Just found the thread at plantedtank.net, about the bad eco-complete and he has pretty bad eco-complete (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/substrate/68450-eco-complete-bad.html). Conix67, I think ours is good.


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

Looks normal to me but then again I am probally the only person in the world with eco complete in an unplanted tank lol.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Katalyst said:


> Looks normal to me but then again I am probally the only person in the world with eco complete in an unplanted tank lol.


That's a good one! 

I should try a planted tank without substrate!


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

conix67 said:


> That's a good one!
> 
> I should try a planted tank without substrate!


lol I have several barebottom tanks with plants in them...Yep I know I'm doing it wrong! 

I MEANT to plant the tank with the eco complete and then I ended up getting busy and by the time I wanted to rip it apart there were tiny pleco babies everywhere...


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Katalyst said:


> Looks normal to me but then again I am probally the only person in the world with eco complete in an unplanted tank lol.


I had a bit left, so my L260s have a bed of eco complete to dig through, and they seem to like it  And the only plants in there are planted to driftwood...


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I've never had red bits in my black eco-complete - used about 6-7 bags overall.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

My black eco-complete has red in it to when I didnt have my glasses on I thought it was my cherry shrimp lol.


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Almost every bags of eco-complete varies a bit. I don't know why though as you'd think that it would've come from the same section of dirt they dig up.
I do find red in my eco-complete but very sparsley. Some of them aren't as black but rather a brownish black. I don't like though and I think these where the ones that was giving people problems a few years back.

I like your scraper typeZero. that was funny. You might want to stealing your kid's play sand shovel. They work just as good if not better than the expensive equipment.
Here's mine:









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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

lol. Good to see that I'm not the only one using kid's play sand toy shovel


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## mamadoo (Aug 27, 2008)

The lights from the first post, would they be enough in a planted tank? 
(I know if it was a bigger tank you'd need more ). Just curious if it's an option for a planted.
Thanks


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

For 5 Gal tank two spirals even down to 13W should be more than sufficient for low tech. My 10gal shrimp tank has 2 x 13W 6700K spirals and plants grow well (well, at least low light ones).


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## mamadoo (Aug 27, 2008)

Good to know, thanks!
Is this the typical way to do a homemade one? Looks WAY cheaper to do than buy one.


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

I think its the cheapest way, but one downside is, you need a tall hood for the spirals, but if a big hood is what your going for its great.


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## mamadoo (Aug 27, 2008)

How tall? How many inches above water?
Thanks


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

I'm guessing mine is sitting about 3-4 inches above where I fill the tank. Then the diameter of the spirals are about 1.5-2 inches. I can't give you the exact measurements now since I'm at campus but I will do once i get home.


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## mamadoo (Aug 27, 2008)

Sounds great, thanks. Do you have pics?


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## mr.sandman (Mar 22, 2007)

Its great to have another shrimp keeper. Good luck with the tank.


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

Thanks mr.sandman, been planning this for a while hope problems keep to a minimum. 
Sorry mamadoo, pictures are a bit late . But here it is.









Stopped by Bigal's after class and selected some nice rocks from their 'zebra rock' box. Was trying out different layouts at the store  until I was happy with 4 pieces. Played around a bit more with the hard scape and ended up with the following.









Got a pot of HC from Menageriespets and started what I've wanted to do for a long time... PLANT .
Here is the HC I've individually separated. Had to remove some hair algae, or what I think is hair algae.









Couple hours later, planting was done and I ended up with this .








And here is a shot of the tank located in my fireplace.








I'm going to try to grow the HC without water until it roots and spreads a good bit.
Now a quick question, how long should I keep the lights on? I will turn the lights off when I go to sleep for sure. Will also keep the tank moist by spraying water into it every day.
Now the waiting game starts .


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Fill it in with water a bit, just under the gravel line.


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

okie dokie just did that thanks!


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## Kevdawg (Jan 17, 2008)

Looks good so far. 10hrs is good enough, you won't really see a difference if you leave the light on any longer than that. Tightly covering the top with syran wrap will keep it moist and the water at gravel line for 2 weeks or so before you have to replace that water.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

you are doing the Co2 injection of it?


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

This tank is going to stay dry for a while, if I understand it correctly. I currently have one like this, smaller at 2.5G.

The point is there's ample supply of CO2 without CO2 injection in air, unlike a tank filled with water, so HC will grow and spread more rapidly, then add water to enjoy HC carpet.


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

yup, thats what I'm going for.


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## mr.sandman (Mar 22, 2007)

What types of shrimps are you planning to put in later on?


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Won't the HC got through a meltdown before it can grow imersed?
For some reason, I have problem doing the transition as they pale out really quick going from emersed to imersed.
I also have problems with growing HC with only 1" of water as well as it's difficult to judge how much fert you need to dose and eventually, algae takes a hold of everything.

It would be interesting to see how yours will do.

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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

I think you need about the same level of co2 in the water as there is in the atmosphere. or something like that.


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

I only have the water below the eco-complete. It has been a week now, and there are some melt offs but i see fresh small green leaves growing out of the mess so I'm just going to leave it a lone. Some individual plants are not melting and growing small new leaves. This is going to be a slow process . I think I'm going to get a bunch of cherry shrimps and maybe some other type that don't interbreed.


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

*1 month later*

It has been one month, and this is how the tank looks like now.








There are runners going everywhere but its still slow, maybe another month before i fill it up.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Look at it! ^^ Its comming along nicely!


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## Shattered (Feb 13, 2008)

I like it, I wish I could get my plants to grow like that. I like your stone placement, it reminds me of Stonehenge.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

I know you want to keep the moisture in by covering with wraps but won't it defeat the purpose of dry planting HC?

My 2.5G isn't doing any better after a month and half, and I'm not sure if it's better to leave the top open or closed.

Unless there's already enough CO2 in the sealed space to last for a while, you may end up depleting CO2 quickly. Any opinions?


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

Try leaving a small corner open?


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

I think you should cover it up, your not really growing it 'dry' because it is an aquatic plant. You just try to keep the air in the tank as moist as you can, and only way to do that is to plastic wrap it up. I have water reaching just below the lowest point in the substrate, you can see roots going into the eco-complete in the front.
I think there is plenty of co2 in the tank, but i do take the plastic wrap off and give a few sprays of water from my other tank, spraying a lot more on the slopes.
This is how the tank looks like all the time, glass full of condensed moisture, i have to wipe it off before taking pictures, but it starts to fog back up like 5 minutes after.








I have white paper all around the tank to 'bounce' light back into the tank, im not sure how efficient this is, but its better then nothing .


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

I totally forgot you didnt have it filled.... LOL

THats AWESOME!


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## sawman88 (Sep 29, 2008)

eco complete? ive seen that is it worth the $$$$? cool tank btw its gona be awesome.


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## xxprudencexx (Sep 3, 2008)

Looks nice and hi-tech


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

*Nov 5 update!*

Thanks a lot guys!
I got everything ready to go when the HC finishes filling in. Equipment will be 25w stealth heater, zoomed501 with prefilter, 26w 6500k bulbs, and diy co2 with ceramic nano diffuser.
Here is an update of the HC.








And a shot of macro.








There is way more new growth now then ever before, I hope with all these new "HC Shoots" popping up everywhere it will really start to fill in fast... I hope :O.
If not I think by end of December it should be ready for water.


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## desjardo (Aug 30, 2008)

Could you show us your co2? I am currently starting something much like this. I am just still in the air about the co2 cost.


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

CO2 is going to be sugar and yeast stuff. Ill post pictures of it later, its just two poweraid bottles with tubing between them.


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## TypeZERO (Jul 20, 2007)

*Dec 10th update*

So I just recently filled the tank up with water and installed all the hardware. I had the zoo-med running on my main tank for about few weeks prior to this so the tank is cycled. All this happened on the 10th, I do have shrimp swimming in the tank today but have not taken pics yet. PICTURE TIME!

This is CO2 reactors, using 2 bottles of poweraid with a check valve.









For all that are thinking of using the ebay nano ceramic diffusers, be very careful with them, I broke one of mine trying to put the tubing on . Lucky I bought a couple.









So this is how the HC is doing growing emersed for about 3 months.









The tank after filling with water, the diffuser kicked in about an hour after installing the reactor.









And this is the filter and reactors placed at the back of the tank. The reactor is red because I read somewhere on plantedtank website someone using jam instead of sugar/water mixture. I decided to give it a try and for 3 days now I'm pretty happy with it, but will see if it can go to the desired 3 weeks.


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

LOL, try gelatin powder instead. It's supposed to slow down the CO2 production process, hence prolonging the CO2 release and the need to change it every 2 weeks. Also, won't a 2L bottle be better? Well, maybe not if you are changing 1 bottle every 2 weeks to keep the contant pressure going.
As for the tank, very nice. I like the layout.
If you have to do it again, you can actually stick a CO2 tube through the plastic wrap when growing emersed. That would've speed up their growth. If it took you 3 months to get to that point, it's growing about the same rate as a CO2 injected imersed. In fact, it might even be faster because you get to add ferts to speed it up. The problem though is that you have to fight off algae bloom.
Thanks for posting, it very good to see the progress.
One word of advice though, I find that there is a large percentage of die offs when I switched from emersed to imersed. But then again, that might be my poor plant skills as I can't seem to keep a propertly balance fert regiment. And once the die off started, algae bloom sets in and then the tank get's nuked.

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## gamexeater (Jan 21, 2009)

Interesting hardscape, great progress with the tank. Really like the light set up you have, actually trying to do something like it myself. How did you attach the socket to the hood?
Is that a sponge filter that you have to the right there? If it is you might want to remove it because the extra surface agitation from the bubbles is going to degas a lot of the dissolved CO2.
Sorry if i overlooked this but are there any plans for additional plants?


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## papik (Oct 6, 2008)

*i want some shrimp!*

where are they already??? You still have this set up running??


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