The most important stage - Preparation

Having kept a Nano Tank for 3 months now, the poison (term for addiction, coined buy Singapore Aquatic Enthusiast) seemed to have seeped in further and speaking to a nice forum friend, I have gone out to get myself a 2 feet (20 Gallons) Tank!

Haha looks like this is going to be an exciting new Shrimp home for me.

60cm (L) x 30cm (W) x 46cm (H) Glass Tank

Over the next few weeks I hope to share the joys and setbacks (touch wood) of setting up this new tank.
Hope it will be successful and there will be nice little inverterbrates I can adopt and share (poison) their beautiful colors with you!
A little disclaimer here. I am learning on this process and some fine tuning may still need to be done. I believe everyone has their own ways of making a successful tank and that is something I look forward to learning and adopting what works for me, so please help me out here if you spot me making mistakes that are potentially harmful!

Appreciate all the expertise and kind support in my upcoming weeks.


Here are some preparations I have made before I began this project.

Aging Water
2 Buckets/Pails of water from my tap is currently "aged" for 1.5 days (36 Hours or so) to allow the water to stabilise.
I am not a 100% sure as to why this is needed as I also use API Stress Coat+ to remove Chlorine, Chloramines and Ammonia.
But I subscribe to the theory that water delivered to a tap is under pressure and may contain dissolved gases, e.g. CO2 and will give you a false indication on your initial PH.
Anyways no harm letting the water stand for awhile as I set up the rest of the equipment for the tank.

Canister Filter and Chiller

Basically you will need to run a canister filter if you intend to have a chiller for the tank.

So are chillers absolutely necessary? 

No. 

But here is why I made a commitment into acquiring one.

I started with a Nano Unit called the UP Easy Tank and trust me I fully understand why canister filters and a chiller are a good to have.

Utility bills can be a huge PITA in Singapore and because of my compressor size for the air conditioner I chalked up another $60 - $80 per month just to keep my shrimps comfy. Lol.

So a chiller can save you quite some instead of having the air con turned up all the time.

Of course with some shrimps like the Rili Shrimp (Neocardina) - Blue Pearls / Snow Balls / Cherries you may not need to run a chiller even in tropical climates unlike the higher end Cardinas - Taiwan Bees or Pure Red / Black Lines that I wish to keep.

For Crystal Red Shrimp I have a mix experience on them I think they can be pretty hardy if you buy them at 0.9 - 1.2 cm where they will adapt better to your tank parameters just make sure the temperature of the water doesn't climb till >30'c.

Another reason for not getting chiller is that something shocking I learnt recently is that if you've come to the stage where you are basically a Shrimp Master you may actually save more if you are running an air con 24/7 for your Tank Room with Racks of Tanks. 

If I get the chance and permission I will take some pictures of my idol's glass room for his beautiful shrimps.

Here is my little set up.

I have got a Eheim 2215 Canister Filter with Double Taps for easy cleaning and a Resun CL-280 Chiller.

Spent about $350 for both with the pipings and Inlet and Rain Bar (Outlet) Inclusive from aquaticquotient forum.

Be patient and you will be able to find a good deal.

Thank you for following me on my preparations on the tank, its dinner time and I am starving.

Share soon on more shrimp keeping diaries!