10G FW Planted Build from start to finish >>>

[Nils]

You can definitely do some nice shrimp in here. If you really want to get into it OEBT shrimp (orange eyed blue tigers) look amazing but they have a hefty price tag as well. Rili shrimp look nice too. Remember, you only want one species of shrimp from each genus too avoid cross breeding, which will then result in brown or clear shrimp, which are their natural colors. I recommend a neo species of shrimp because they are the easiest to care for. RCS are really easy and I have some, pretty much just feed and watch them breed.
You could do some cool little nano fish here, like scarlet badis. Are the white clouds a must or just something you would like to have?

 

[TomStav]

You can definitely do some nice shrimp in here. If you really want to get into it OEBT shrimp (orange eyed blue tigers) look amazing but they have a hefty price tag as well. Rili shrimp look nice too. Remember, you only want one species of shrimp from each genus too avoid cross breeding, which will then result in brown or clear shrimp, which are their natural colors. I recommend a neo species of shrimp because they are the easiest to care for. RCS are really easy and I have some, pretty much just feed and watch them breed.
You could do some cool little nano fish here, like scarlet badis. Are the white clouds a must or just something you would like to have?

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm still very undecided what to put in this tank and haven't given it too much thought but I would like to put something that's pretty uncommon and different... Not sure what yet...


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[TomStav]

Kessil arrived today, a little noises but it's worth it...


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[Nils]

Looks cool! If you want something uncommon a cool combination could be:

1x Sumatran Blue Cobalt Goby
3-4x Scarlet Badis
Colony of some kind of shrimp

That would add lots of color to the tank. Scarlets really aren't community fish because of how shy and timid they are, but you could definitely keep them with shrimp and the gib if you wanted to. These are just some suggestions, it's your tank so you can do what you want!

 

[brennae]

Just a note on the badis, many will only eat live or frozen foods.

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[TheresaM]

Just a note on the badis, many will only eat live or frozen foods.

True, but if there are shrimp in the tank they will definitely eat shrimplets!

 

[TomStav]

Looks cool! If you want something uncommon a cool combination could be:

1x Sumatran Blue Cobalt Goby
3-4x Scarlet Badis
Colony of some kind of shrimp

That would add lots of color to the tank. Scarlets really aren't community fish because of how shy and timid they are, but you could definitely keep them with shrimp and the gib if you wanted to. These are just some suggestions, it's your tank so you can do what you want!

Appreciate the ideas! I'll take them into consideration... It's going to be a little while until the tank is up and running though, still have to finish the stand and I have lots of work on at the moment so maybe a week or two.


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[TomStav]

Got the wheels on! The stand is really sturdy and I'm hoping to put the plywood sides and door on tomorrow.


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[PassengerTN]

Looks good. How is stability ?

Jesse

 

[TomStav]

Looks good. How is stability ?

Jesse

It's really stable, I think the weight of the stand helps. You can literally sit on it and wheel around the room! Hoping to pickup the plywood this week so I can get this tank up and running!


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[TomStav]

Just a quick update on the stand - I have decided to redo the base plate so it's slightly larger to make sure it's 100% stable. It was pretty good before but after thinking about it, a bigger base would make it perfect.

I now just need to get the plywood, base and wheels on and it will be done.

I am going to get a coiled remote co2 line (used in paintball) so I can keep the solenoid mounted and easily remove the tank. I've cut a piece of PVC to keep the tank steady if the stand is being moved. I am waiting for the bubble counter to arrive.

I'm going to wire in 3 light switches on the side panel... 2 will be in-wall light timers (for the kessil and the co2) with battery backup (so there settings save when the tank is unplugged). And the other switch will just be an on/off switch for the return pump so I can easily turn it off for feeding and maintenance. All the switches will be black so will blend into the stand.

Hopefully I can get the stand finished on Sunday.

It's still a while away from filling the tank but making progress!





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[Fishperson]

This is awesome man... So professional!

Can't wait to see the tank set up.

 

[TomStav]

Thanks, it's a bit of OCD too!


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[PassengerTN]

Looks like you've done this before haha. Defiantly well done. Curious what the cut PVC with suction cups is for? You don't plan to lay the co2 on its side while running, do you?

Jesse

 

[TomStav]

Looks like you've done this before haha. Defiantly well done. Curious what the cut PVC with suction cups is for? You don't plan to lay the co2 on its side while running, do you?

Jesse

Hey Jesse, I was planning on laying the co2 tank there... Is that a bad idea? I've mounted the solenoid on the shelf and was going to run a coiled line to the tank. The PVC is just to stop it rolling around. Also those aren't suction cups they are just washers... If only I thought of suction cups before...

I figure that having the tank horizontal wouldn't effect it's function seeing as almost all paintball guns have the tank horizontal.

What do you think?


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[PassengerTN]

Actually, now you have my my mind going. I had heard that laying the tank on its side can result in a spill, but I've never seen any evidence to back that up. I've never considered how they're ran on pb guns, unless the regulator is what would cause the problem. If that's the case, the line should alleviate that I would think.

Jesse

 

[TomStav]

Actually, now you have my my mind going. I had heard that laying the tank on its side can result in a spill, but I've never seen any evidence to back that up. I've never considered how they're ran on pb guns, unless the regulator is what would cause the problem. If that's the case, the line should alleviate that I would think.

Jesse

Hmmm I will google, thanks for being that up!


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[TomStav]

So the problem with laying a co2 tank seems to be that it can leak liquid co2 which can damage the regulator.
However, unlike the larger tanks, the paintball tanks often come equipped with an internal pipe that is meant to stop this from happening... Therefore a paintball tank MAY be perfectly fine on its side... There are co2 stabilizers that are supposed to make any tank useable on its side (I'm going to look into these).

If not I may just take the risk and watch it closely at first as I am somewhat confident that it won't be a problem. Worst case I can stand it up.


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[TomStav]

Quick update on this build...

I've wired in 2 light timers on one side to control the kessil and co2 regulator. And wired a switch on the other side for the return pump. The timers have an internal battery so don't loose settings if I unplug or loose power. I've also ordered black face plates so they blend in better.

I have redone the base of the stand slightly larger and now it's really sturdy. I've also added 2 red led strips to the inside of the stand, I had them laying around and figured why not. I'm going to make these automatically turn on when the door opens. I will clean up all of the cabling once the sides/door are on.

After reading into it more I decided to put the co2 tank vertical to avoid any leaking or liquid.

I bought an inline co2 atomizer and fitted it on the return line, this will be awesome for co2 delivery I'm just hoping it doesn't cause micro bubbles. Coupled with the spin stream nozzle this should spread the co2 well around the tank.

Now I just need to finish the stand and put some water in the tank!


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[TomStav]

... And here's the inline atomizer




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