# Renovation of a shrimp rack



## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

As some of you may already know from following my blog, I've started to renovate the shipping facility as most local pickups for shrimps have also been at that location. So to make it more appealing, functional and act as a showroom as well. I've decided to take the plunge in renovating the rack.

The following was about a month ago's worth of work...:

As many of you may have seen, this is the previous setup:









I've decided to change things up a bit by making everything more uniform looking and more functional and organized and so it begins...

















This is when I have had almost all the pieces cut to build the rack:









Then... the demolition.... for something that took 4 days to build, I thought it would be really quick and easy for me to take apart little did I know was I wrong.... 

























Not only did it take a long time.... but the next day I woke up to not being able to move at all and had to be hospitalized from excruciating pain due to a strained neck( stupid c3 and c4), shoulder and back... Doctors orders is not to do anymore strenuous activities for at least 6-8 months for full recovery as I've injured it over 10 times since 2008's car accident which led to a totaling of my car.... For those who know me for how stubborn I am, that just doesn't stick well with me... A few t3's the next day and a night before of my puppy missing me...









I get straight back to work (today)









at the end of the day we are left with this.... only 1 more support side to go up and then the strengthening beams (not that it needs anymore but just because its me)


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

The following is a few days after the previous post:

the overall framework is finally complete, quite happy what I achieved myself in such little time.









And this is just to see how nice a 20 gallon will fit in 1 of the slots =) plenty of arm space ontop









And the amount of cuts I have left to finish the supporting center beams between each supporting structure. Glad I at least pre-drilled all the holes.


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

The following was approximately 3 weeks ago:

With the final supporting beams in place, I started putting up the light system and now I'm starting to PVC cement the tubes as well and hooking them in place while I take breaks in washing tanks and preping them to put them in its place.


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

And this was about 1-1.5 weeks ago:

Here's a little picture of the completion so far. Its about 40% complete theres another half of the rack and another row thats missing from the picture. Will update more tomorrow.... it's getting late.









Also.... not long after the TB tank was set probably a week and ...


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

I have not updated since then as I wanted to have all if not most of the tanks up and running with my door in place (you will see what I mean). Right now it is close to 80% completion and am looking to an update on monday night.


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

so is all the lighting backlit or is there going to be lights over the tanks as well?


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## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

holy crap.
That is intense!
I always wanted to build a tank stand...and you built a wall unit TANKS stand. lol
How do you know how much weight each part will support?


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

getochkn said:


> so is all the lighting backlit or is there going to be lights over the tanks as well?


its over the tanks using t5HO. I haven't had time to install the LED system. I just wanted something operational asap.


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

Jaysan said:


> holy crap.
> That is intense!
> I always wanted to build a tank stand...and you built a wall unit TANKS stand. lol
> How do you know how much weight each part will support?


just water weight wise for water and tank should be about 5600 pounds over a span of 11.5 feet and a depth of 30". This doesn't include substrate, about 550 deck screws and 113 pieces of 8' long 2x4 lumber and the equipment. But the floor can stand the weight even though its on a second floor house conveniently located next to a covered deck which I will build a lounge area with tanks as well outside. Reason is beneath the floor is a crawlspace and I've sistered up the joists and studded up a minature supporting beam struture underneath the floor after it was leveled. You can basically park a few cars on it and it would be fine. Hope that answers your question =D


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

Hi Frank, I follow your blog and have kept a close eye on the progress. For some reason I always thought this is in your basement.

If I were to do this, it would've taken me 10 years to get this far.


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## Al-Losaurus (Jul 21, 2009)

Nice job man looks great so far. I cant wait to see the (doors) and led lighting. I have been planning something similar but only 6 x 20 gallon longs cause i am in a condo and cant really go overboard lol 

Are you going to paint the rack you built? would give it a nice finish look


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

randy said:


> Hi Frank, I follow your blog and have kept a close eye on the progress. For some reason I always thought this is in your basement.
> 
> If I were to do this, it would've taken me 10 years to get this far.


Basement would be nice but hauling boxes of shrimp up the stairs isn't ideal for my already injured back lol... Also we wanted it next to the deck so that I could make a lounge area as well.

If I were able to just focus on this build and had nothing else to do than I could finish it in 1 week max.


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

Al-Losaurus said:


> Nice job man looks great so far. I cant wait to see the (doors) and led lighting. I have been planning something similar but only 6 x 20 gallon longs cause i am in a condo and cant really go overboard lol
> 
> Are you going to paint the rack you built? would give it a nice finish look


Doors will have to wait till I finish one of my final exams this sunday then LED lights will be after the container's emptied. I also need to pull out 2x 120L/min air pumps which according to how everything is placed its all the way in the back of the container... For now I'm using some mismatched air pumps which there is a valve which allows air from both sides to bleed across both the right and left air systems. I don't recommend doing this simply because the airpump from one may push air into the other airpump creating more resistance. But for now its what I have to work with.

I initially intended to paint the entire system black with my red Ebiken logo but my girlfriend said otherwise and so I intended to do the ADA grey or white. But not I'm kind of liking the natural wood look and maybe want to stain it lol.. Regardless I need to get some dowel and plug all the holes in the supporting joist and fill and sand all and any cracks before I get to that.


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

Here is a current update as of tonight. There is still much to do. About 85% completion.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

Ebi-Ken said:


> Here is a current update as of tonight. There is still much to do. About 85% completion.


so.... basically... each tank's entire weight is being held up by a few screws?


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## Al-Losaurus (Jul 21, 2009)

Looks nice i wish i could do that... Maybe when i move i will lol 30+ tanks on 1 wall nice


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## novice (Mar 14, 2006)

looks so uniform and neat - wish there is someone who can build me a scaled down version here in TO.


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

What kind of filtration do all those have Frank?


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

chinamon said:


> so.... basically... each tank's entire weight is being held up by a few screws?


Same as whats holding up your house...

Dont underestimate wood, and screws! Its more than what holds a big als stand together!

Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

novice said:


> looks so uniform and neat - wish there is someone who can build me a scaled down version here in TO.


No problem. Send me the dimensions, and the size of the tanks you are working with. Heck, I can make the tanks too!

Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

J_T said:


> Same as whats holding up your house...
> 
> Dont underestimate wood, and screws! Its more than what holds a big als stand together!
> 
> Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


no, very wrong on that. look at how a wall is structured with the studs being sandwiched in between the top and bottom plates. that means the studs are acting as the support for weight load. the screws just hold the studs in place.

with this tank rack, the "studs" are continuous from floor to ceiling while each shelf is screwed in to the studs which means only the screws are supporting the weight load.


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

I know, but there is still a ton of support in his shelf. Its not how I would have done it, but it has middle rails between the tanks that were screwed into aswell. 

I would trust it, but I would also build it differtly.

Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

Finally.... I am quite pleased with how everything came together. I've managed to build a bench with storage compartments and an area where a 40cm cube starphire glass tank sits outside next to the bench (seriously... how many people can say they have a starphire glass tank outside) Also, the shrimp rack I'm definitely keeping the natural wood look as it. It is basically complete with some minor touches. Each tank will have its own hand made net by me.

Here is a preview of whats to come....


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

Just about... This is cartoonized for a preview =)


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

Ebi-Ken said:


> Just about... This is cartoonized for a preview =)


What type of filtration is on each tank, just sponge filters?


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

getochkn said:


> What type of filtration is on each tank, just sponge filters?


sump style/ overflow for each tank. The system isn't as simple as it looks and is maintained behind closed doors via the center.


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

Ebi-Ken said:


> sump style/ overflow for each tank. The system isn't as simple as it looks and is maintained behind closed doors via the center.


I assume their are a few sumps to allow for different water params then?


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

getochkn said:


> I assume their are a few sumps to allow for different water params then?


The sumps concept for all the tanks are the same. The media itself is a little different. The only thing people are able to see just by looking at the tanks is sponge filter substrate and spray bar. and some tanks have CO2 atomizers.


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## tomsfish (Jan 8, 2010)

Looking good Frank, can see great potential and dedication you put in!


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

Thanks Tomsfish for the comment.

Something we(mananaP and I) will discuss more about once the line is purified to breeding true. (hybrid)White tigers? =P


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

The system is finally complete.... 

With lights on...









and my favourite, with lights off...









now just waiting for the 8 ottomans that I ordered to go across the entire rack for clients to come and enjoy....


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Wow incredible job Frank! 

How do you keep the PH steady in each tank though, if you have different types like Tigers/ Crs, Taiwans that need different levels of PH? You are on BC tap water right? Do you add something to your water to change the PH for individual tanks?


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

All that hard work paid off, it looks great!


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

bettaforu said:


> Wow incredible job Frank!
> 
> How do you keep the PH steady in each tank though, if you have different types like Tigers/ Crs, Taiwans that need different levels of PH? You are on BC tap water right? Do you add something to your water to change the PH for individual tanks?


Hi Anna,

Each tank runs on its own seperate sump style system for filtration. Each tanks water is already pre-adjusted before it was filled into the tanks. The water in BC is incredible pure. pH 7 with TDS 11 recently due to no rain so no run-offs into the watershed. We use our own product of Sosei and in some tanks depending species we overdose with it to keep water super stable at pH 6.5 these are mostly neos. For crystals we use both our Sosei product and is more dependant on substrate and filtration media for an even lower pH. This system allows us to not do water change for an extended period of time. We haven't done water changes for most tanks for at least a month. Hope this answers your question.


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

matti2uude said:


> All that hard work paid off, it looks great!


you bet! =) now if you can only see the new blue shrimp thats in one of these tanks lol


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

great system...So are any of these shrimps going to be made available to the GTA, or only for BC?


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Ebi-Ken said:


> you bet! =) now if you can only see the new blue shrimp thats in one of these tanks lol


Funny, that was exactly what I was thinking too ... I planned to rack my shrimp tanks eventually, but I wasn't going to stick a 20G in length wise, it will be hard to see all the shrimps. Quality selection may be a pain in the butt. My plan was to stick a 10G in length wise. I seem to like working with a 10G over a 20G.
So many question... with that many tanks, how do you deal with the humidity? Also, you have a central air that drives your sponge filter, same as what I want as well. But how do you deal with the splashing. I hate it, also, I already have a running experiment going, the splashing and humidity causes the wood to rot and decompose very quickly. I ran the experiment for two years and the wood is giving in. Also it started to fungus up and black mold is developing. Which is bad for a house as well as your health. I have thought about adding a fan for circulation. But haven't really looked into a good fan.

Not sure how I miss this thread, but it was a very surprise find and I have to say it looks amazing in the end. I really enjoy it. Thanks Frank.

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## Al-Losaurus (Jul 21, 2009)

Looks amazing now i want one so bad lol


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Zebrapleco...I have the same problem with the humidity here...got some mold started on my windowsill and that was when I decided too many tanks and lights etc. Not good for my computer either which is in the same room.

If you have something like a basement in your house or a garage you don't use then I would definitely build something similar, but what a lot of work!
Frank your a better man than me  Kudos to you!


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

Once again, thankyou for all the comments  I've enjoyed this project very much so even though it was a pain in my "back" 

All shrimps 4 boxes or less (600 per box) will go through here. Anything more is packed in the facility and yes, GTA does get its shrimps here as the most boxes I've shipped to AI was I believe 2 boxes but with a different box size sustaining 1200 shrimps per box.

To answer Zebrapl3co,
The room has a dehumidifier that pulls out 50 pints of water a day and maintains a very dry humidity of 35-38% throughout the day. Ontop of that all tanks are covered with a clear corrugated plastic to prevent extensive water loss through splashing and evaporation. Wood is fine, it won't rot so long as it dries very fast if wet which is where the dehumidifier comes in. The only problem which was easily resolved would be screws rusting in which we used Deck screws the green ones which are weather proof in all ice and water situations. Love those screws as its not only strong but it pulls the 2x4 together once it is tight ensuring a very tight and strong rack. Other than the frame, everything else we use cedar as that is mildew and insect resistant and not to mention gives it a nice earthy forest smell =) The system also does have a central air system which is pushing out 155L/min of air in which we will upgrade to 240L/min of air as soon as I pull the airpumps outta the container. Hope that pretty much sums up your questions. 

As for Anna's last response. This location does have an empty basement thats 3 times as big and would actually be even easier to build a system as no support to the floor is needed since its concrete. However we already have an acre of land to which only a fraction of it is being utilized for shrimps and an aquaponics system. The only person whose actually seen my friends place which is similar to mine is Leon when he came to Vancouver to visit me and his friends. =)


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)




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## RCode (Dec 12, 2010)

Ebi-Ken said:


>


That is awesome...they seem to really love that stuff.

Are those CBS? They looked to have a blue tinge to them... hmm...
What is the food made of that makes it so appealing to them?

Also, can it be ordered?


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

RCode said:


> That is awesome...they seem to really love that stuff.
> 
> Are those CBS? They looked to have a blue tinge to them... hmm...
> What is the food made of that makes it so appealing to them?
> ...


The food... I can't remember what it was called lol... But its similar to shirakura. The food isn't whats making the shrimp all healthy and eating. It was the filtration system and the overall environment. These are Super Princess Bee =)


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## RCode (Dec 12, 2010)

Is a good formula

tons of filtration + surface area (moss) = happy tank 

Or how long does it take your shrimp to get to this happiness level?


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

RCode said:


> Is a good formula
> 
> tons of filtration + surface area (moss) = happy tank
> 
> Or how long does it take your shrimp to get to this happiness level?


It didn't take long at all less than 2 weeks. All you need is perfect water param (more so mineral composition) and then a good home and enough bacteria to have colonized in the individual sumps media to keep your shrimps very happy.






Heres some ideas on the filtration.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Frank did you make those spray bars yourself, or purchase them. Where can we get them, I have looked around here but not seen any, thanks


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## RCode (Dec 12, 2010)

Home depot or a craft store you can get plastic tubes, drill the holes and cap the end.

It looks like the tank has a built in sump.

With so many types of minerals out there, and most just saying tons of trace minerals, how do you know what you should be using.

For example you sell a few different types of minerals, is it safe to use all at once? My tanks have had done great since putting some Shou balls in.


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

Hi Frank, quiete amazing what you did there. Also want to know how and what is your filtration, specially those bars. Are these cannisters or HOB, cause if HOB, i dont know how to make it discharge to my own tubing which i could drill.


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

bettaforu said:


> Frank did you make those spray bars yourself, or purchase them. Where can we get them, I have looked around here but not seen any, thanks


the ones i got were from my suppliers in China, you could ask Sam from AI to see if he can order them in for you.


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

zfarsh said:


> Hi Frank, quiete amazing what you did there. Also want to know how and what is your filtration, specially those bars. Are these cannisters or HOB, cause if HOB, i dont know how to make it discharge to my own tubing which i could drill.


The filtration does consist of an undergravel filtration system for each tank and a built in sump for each tank.


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

have updated once again =)

http://ebi-ken.blogspot.ca/

enjoy this video =)


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## blackblack (Nov 29, 2011)

Ebi-Ken said:


> have updated once again =)


How is it that you have all of those shrimp in the same tank? It looks like you have some king kongs, blues and oranges in there with the crystals. Aren't you worried the neo cards will breed together?


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

blackblack said:


> How is it that you have all of those shrimp in the same tank? It looks like you have some king kongs, blues and oranges in there with the crystals. Aren't you worried the neo cards will breed together?


I'm not sure what you mean. There is no neo's in that tank and if there were, they don't cross with TB. the crystals that are all in there are all hybrids as well.


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## blackblack (Nov 29, 2011)

Ah ok. So all the different shrimps in there won't breed together?


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

blackblack said:


> Ah ok. So all the different shrimps in there won't breed together?


The shrimps in that tank from the video are all same species. They were all offsprings of KK/Bluebolt/ Wine red crossings. The reason they are kept mixed is to give off pattern TB which are worth many many times more.


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## blackblack (Nov 29, 2011)

Oh wow. That's cool. I had no idea


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