Livestock:
Painted Fire RedsGreen BaubaltiOtos
Small Horned Nerites
RamshornsMaybe Black Tigers if Gordon gets them in for cheap? I have really great tap water for them, which should make everyone woah envious (HA!)...

SSS+ Crystal Black Shrimp

Let's share a few pictures…

The arrival:

All the packing peanuts, the box it shipped in and all the bubble wrap used to get it here:

See my suitcases in the mix? Had to put off setting this tank up for several weeks because of travel.

Fresh out of its packaging, half way across the room from the stand it'll soon call home:

From the other side, with the dog scheming behind:

Testing out the 36" LED fixture:

It's rather bright for such a low tank, so it'll likely need to be suspended.

Bought two ZooMed light stands that extend to 39" in height. Am using a Dremel to cut out space on the back of the shelving unit. They'll be weighted down with these baskets, just from behind (was testing in the photo):

Using small black chain to hang the fixture from the hooks of the stands so it's more easily adjustable. Thinking there will be a nice amount of light without the need for CO2 if I suspend it 6-7 inches from the top of the tank, as ADA has done with his 12gal long.

To achieve the best flow possible, am crafting a 30"-32" spray bar out of Lee's rigid tubing - once I figure out how to cap the end of the tube, that is. Also using the tubing to create an intake pipe covered with a stainless steel shrimp strainer. Koralia Nano will be placed in one of the front corners to help with flow. Am aware of concerns about it making shrimp soup but many shrimpers use those powerheads without any problems - shrimp even camp out in the stream and near the intake without many problems.

While I could easily add a needle valve to my nearby 10lb cylinder, I want to keep this tank fairly low-tech with limited fert dosing - maybe half EI.

One of the many PFRs that will soon call this tank home:

Now for the rock. Since I can't really get my hands on any of the fancy stuff from ADA/ADG without spending another arm or leg, am gonna have to use what I have on-hand. Have tons of "Lace" stuff, like this:

Also have these pieces of Lace Rock in established tanks (that I'm shutting down to use as emersed rigs) that I can use:

An ample supply to create a semi-decent scape.

Have these large pieces of "Bone" Rock (and some in established tanks, as well) but I'm not such a fan of it for this setup. Not porous enough to grow as large of a bacteria farm for shrimp as Lace Rock:

Thought about ordering Manzanita from Tom Barr but not entirely sure I want to go the wood route.

Here's the problem: plants. What the heck should I use? Don't want it to look too janky. It's already going to be hit-or-miss with both red and green shrimp in the same tank.

20L plant growth setup containing DHG, S. repens, C. Parva, Anubias:

A 5.5gal with some other plants:

Should I create a few mountain groups of rock in the tank and plant Anubias around the base? Marsilea minuta in a few areas? Bacopa australis as a background plant because it gets bushy? Maybe a bit of moss behind a few of the rocks? Hoo boy, I have no idea what I'm going to do yet but am super-excited.

Just want to keep it simple and lush with several open areas in the front to observe the hordes of shrimp.

Your feedback is appreciated.

Jake

P.S. Should I line the back of the tank with black vinyl? Light blue? No background?

Fixture: I *think* I got it from Pet Mountain but it's been a minute. Was around a hundred bucks. Available from Ken's, Pet Mountain, Foster & Smith, Big Al's, all over. I like to buy from forum sponsors when I can, though.

Just don't ask me how much I've already sunk into the whole setup because I don't want to think about that number. Head - desk.

It's about two inches taller than I wanted it to be but I won't complain. Great tank for cheap. Provides plenty of room for substrate and lots of surface area for shrimp.

Can't wait to see what I do with it, either. Kind of overwhelmed thinking about plant options, honestly. Normally know exactly what I'm going to do with a tank before I get it but have been debating this setup for literally months. Definitely over-thinking it. Just don't want it to be janky and hope it lives up to all the other tanks I've created.

if i cant decide on something, or between two somethings, i can conclude that if they arent spectacular enough for me to decide on it, im not going to love it in the tank either.... sketching helps something too. or idea sounds cool though!

do you have anything else to work with? or just the rocks? you could do one with steep slopes and the rocks kind of built into the slopes.

Definitely gonna do a few slopes with rock. Will just need to spend umpteen hours toying around with arrangements to get it right. Took several days to settle on the Ebi rock arrangement and am fairly happy with it.

Just have rock to work with. Toyed with some wood but can't find anything thin enough, long enough and cheap enough to justify it.

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