Brhino's 75g Supercommunity Aquarium

**Brhino** · 02-14-2011, 01:05 AM

It still has a line and a neutral, but it doesn't have an actual ground. The neutral is connected to ground at the breaker panel, so it's not like it's horribly dangerous or anything, but it's slightly less safe... enough so that I'd rather waste some money to avoid using an adapter. Just a matter of personal preference I guess.

**AmyLynn** · 02-14-2011, 01:07 AM

Okay... that makes sense.

**Brhino** · 02-15-2011, 01:19 AM

Tank has been running for two days now. I have lots of little thoughts, issues, comments, whatever.

Tested the water parameters, 0/0/5. Good deal.

Two areas of concern:

First, the shrimp/filter issue. Raising the sponges like I did yesterday choked the flow rate too much. I have re-lowered them, and installed some plastic mesh in front of the overflow, like so:

This partially restricts the flow into the overflow, but less so.

The issue with restricted flow into the overflow is that it means the water level in the tank has to be higher before enough water is flowing into the filter box to match the output of the pump pushing it back out. I've mentioned this several times previously in this thread. The problem is that the water level in the tank is high enough at this point that the underside of the lid is underwater in many places. See:

You can see that the access hole in the center is above water, as is the area around it, but much of the rest of the lid is in the water. I am concerned that this reduces the amount of oxygen that's going to be getting into the water. It's not an issue now given how lightly stocked the tank is, but it could be later. Also, when the water level is high enough it actually flows over the top of the overflow box a little tiny bit (not through the "teeth"), which bypasses the filter media. I watched some floating pellet crumbs fall into the filter that way before the fish could eat them. Does anyone have any suggestions?

The other concern I have, as previously mentioned, is the java ferns. Here's what they look like now. looks like the centers of leaves are healthy but the outsides are not. Hopefully the healthiness will spread outward, rather than the unhealthiness spreading inward.

I seem to have a tiny gap in the edge between the filter box and the tank that I siliconed, because it looks like a shrimp got stuck in there and died. Not as concerned about that, I figure if there continues to be flow there eventually some debris will flow in and plug it.

The fish themselves seem to be doing well.

I have 6 new corys in the quarantine tank now.

Also, I'm seeing several shrimp molts in the tank... not sure if its an above average number, or of its just that the tank is more open than the old one was.

**CassieLEO** · 02-15-2011, 01:39 AM

Ive had two of my shrimp molt since getting them about 5 days ago. I think they molt a lot from what ive read...

**AussieJosh1996** · 02-15-2011, 03:12 AM

6 Corys! I struggle to get food to 1 Cory because the Danios, Barbs, Tetras smash the flakes before it gets anywhere near the bottom. How do you feed them?

Good luck,
Josh

**Brhino** · 02-15-2011, 04:15 AM

I feed small floating pellets and sinking tablets at the same time. The top-feeders may chase the sinking food on the way down, and may peck at it from time to time on the bottom, but for the most part they leave it alone. Not sure if that'll hold true once I get more fish species.

**JCheco** · 02-15-2011, 04:34 AM

Looks great Brhino I like the look of the rocks on one side and the wood on the other

**Brhino** · 02-15-2011, 01:25 PM

bah! This morning I find more shrimp on the sponge, in spite of the mesh I put up. Heck with it, I'm just going to leave it open, have good flow, and let them swim on in and hang out. It's not like being in there is going to hurt them... I'll scoop them back out now and then.

**Demjor19** · 02-15-2011, 02:07 PM

Looks great! Awesome job!

**Taurus** · 02-15-2011, 02:17 PM

The shrimp are protected from hungry fish in there. They will feed on biofilm from the sponge, so make sure when you rinse out the sponges that you do so one at a time. Think of it as "The Shrimp Preserve."

Originally Posted by Brhino

bah! This morning I find more shrimp on the sponge, in spite of the mesh I put up. Heck with it, I'm just going to leave it open, have good flow, and let them swim on in and hang out. It's not like being in there is going to hurt them... I'll scoop them back out now and then.