# Fluval Ebi shrimp newbie + tank pics



## daveyboy

Shrimp and planted tank newbie so I'd appreciate any wisdom from you experienced shrimp lovers out there  . I just bought a Fluval Ebi the other day and I'm now in the process of setting it up and then cycling. 

I read about the issues with the Styrofoam background so I used some Silicone I around the edges. Hopefully that will keep it in place. I plan on using everything stock (substrate, lighting, filter).

Since it's my first shrimp tank, I'm going to stock with RCS and some plants (Water Hyssop, Amazon Sword, Java moss) and a piece of driftwood. 

The questions I have are:
1. What kind/brand of heater do you recommend for such a small tank? I've seen some people use a Fluval Edge 25W. Is it a good heater?

2. Do I need to add fertilizer for the plants? Will this harm the shrimp? What brand of fertilizer do you recommend?

3. I read that the water in the lower mainland isn't really ideal for shrimp keeping. What should I add to the water to increase GH/KH and what values should I be aiming for if I'm keeping RCS?

Any answers/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I promise to update with pics once I get everything together.

Thanks,
Dave


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## Diztrbd1

Plenty of wisdom & experience from shrimp lovers you will definitely find on here. Unfortunately I don't have it myself to give lol If you haven''t already read it, I can pass this tidbit on that may help with one of your ?'s: 
http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/island-pets-unlimited-42/adjusting-hardness-your-aquarium-7033/
http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/island-pets-unlimited-42/water-supply-issue-lower-mainland-715/

Welcome to BCA!


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## daveyboy

Thanks Diztrbd1 for the links.


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## Morainy

Hi Daveyboy,

Welcome to shrimp keeping! I am sure that you will love keeping shrimp.

As far as what to add to the water, the Fluval Ebi comes with a bottle of liquid mineral additives. I don't know anything about RCS but I add minerals for cherry shrimp and for crayfish. Put a little of the Fluval mineral additive into your water according to the instructions. After my bottle ran out, I switched to Seachem Equilibrium. It's a very small tank, so you don't need much. You can buy the Fluval liquid minerals separately if you don't already have them.

As far as your background goes, mine was one of the first exploding backgrounds! It had the wrong kind of silicone seal on it. The new ones will be properly sealed. However I'm sure that an extra bead of silicone all around won't hurt. You really did your research!

I have a 25 watt Eheim heater in my tank. It works well. The Fluval heaters are prettier.

Are you using the Fluval shrimp substrate? It's enriched and you probably don't have to add fertilizers to your tank, especially at first. I don't add fertilizer to my shrimp tanks but I have shrimp in some community tanks that I fertilize. I use Seachem Flourish Comprehensive and Trace. But I would be careful at the start. And again, I haven't tried CRS.

Mainly, don't put the shrimp in too soon. Wait until your tank has been set up awhile. Shrimp seem a little more sensitive to new setups than most fish. Once you add shrimp, start with just one or two. If they survive a week, add more. Once you've got a community living happily in your tank, they are generally quite hardy.

I'm not an expert. These are just suggestions. Enjoy your Ebi!


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## daveyboy

Thanks Morainy for the info. No need to be an expert to give good advice. The fact that you have real experience means you're ahead of me.

I ended up getting a Fluval 25W heater. I know it's not adjustable but the preset temp of 26C seems like it'll suite my needs. It looks damn nice too  I keep my condo pretty warm. The tanks been hovering around 23-24C without a heater so I put one in there just to minimize fluctuations. 

I'm using the Fluval shrimp substrate and it's good to know that it will provide nutrients. The only thing I don't like about the substrate is it's so light. Had some issues with getting the plants to stay put and not float away.

I'll take your advice and take my time with the cycling. So far, it's only been set up a few days so it's pointless to take any chemistry readings yet. I have some plants in (Water Hyssop and Amazon Swords) and that's it. I'm going to add some Java Moss, Water clover and maybe some pygmy chain swords once I get a chance. I did make some improvements to the filter though. Bought a foam and biomax renewal kit designed for the Fluval Edge. Replaced some of the stock foam with the bag of biomax and cut the foam to fit into the long slot of the filter opening (to prevent shrimp from getting sucked in).

I'll post water parameters and some pics when it gets a little more established.


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## AndrewL

Welcome on board - Daveyboy. I just started back into the fishkeeping hobby a few months ago. This board has been a wealth of information. Pat (Mykiss) of Canadian Aquatics is a good source for shrimps, accessories and advice.

I have CRS in a heavily planted Fluval Ebi (using CO2) along with Otos and pygmy corys. 

I use the shrimp mineral supplement to adjust the GH. Also, I have a pail of water with the Fluval EBI substrate and almond leave as I want to try and match my water parameters for my water changes. 

Morainy is correct about using not using fertilizer yet. In half a year, you can try what was suggested or mixing your own fertilizer dose (again Canadian Aquatics can supply).

Have fun learning about shrimp keeping.


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## daveyboy

As promised, photos of my Ebi  This will be my first shrimp tank and also my first stab at using live plants.

Finally finished planting it on monday. It's been cycling for about a week now. I'm going to take Morainys' advice and take my time with the cycling. I've been adding the old water from my betta to provide fish waste to the tank.

Here's the specs:
Fluval Ebi 7.9 gal.
Fluval Stratum substrate
Fluval Mini Power Compact Lamp
Fluval Nano Filter with added Biomax
Fluval 25W heater

Plants:
Bacopa species (not sure if it's Bacopa Caroliniana or Bacopa monnieri)
Echinodorus amazonicus 
Echinodorus tenellus
Marsilea quadrifolia
Vesicularia montagnei attached to drift wood

Planning on stocking with RCS and possibly adding some Bamboo Shrimp when the tank is matured.









Front view









Right view









Close up of modded filter with Biomax and foam intake guard









Left view

Any suggestions to improve would be greatly appreciated.


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## effox

Pics didn't take bro. Did you use photobucket or something and wrap the lines with







?


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## daveyboy

Hey effox, I screwed up with the url's. Just fixed it so hopefully pics are showing now.


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## effox

Pics are showing, and it looks great man. Awesome set up!

Cheers,
Chris


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## Jessia

Looking good! Definitely cleaner than the shrimp tank I'm setting up. Lol


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## Petah

Looking good!


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## Kochi

This looks fantastic!! I'm getting one of these in a few days and may be stealing your plant-ideas.


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## daveyboy

Hey Kochi and anyone else for that matter, if you're looking for an Ebi, check out Mr. Pet's Mr.Pet's

I got mine from the POCO store for $107.99 a couple of weeks ago. Cheapest I've seen by far and I've been to quite a few pet/fish stores the last couple of weeks looking for plants.


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## stonedaquarium

nice looking tank... what shrimps do you plan to keep? i think your bacopa is bacopa carolina or lemon bacopa i think... bacopa monneiri's leaves are bigger, and rounder.


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## daveyboy

stonedaquarium said:


> nice looking tank... what shrimps do you plan to keep? i think your bacopa is bacopa carolina or lemon bacopa i think... bacopa monneiri's leaves are bigger, and rounder.


This will be my first shrimp tank so starting with RCS. Maybe some Bamboo shrimp later on. Thanks for the plant id. They weren't marked when I bought them. Only recognized it as bacopa species.


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## daveyboy

Update:
My tanks been cycling for about 4 weeks now and I finally got around to doing some water testing.

pH 6.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
GH 2
KH 0-1
Currently the lights are on about 11-12 hours/day.

My plan is RCS and Bamboo/Flower shrimp. How do my parameters look? I think I need to boost my GH up but does anything else needs adjustment and what should I be aiming for?









Front view
Bacopa is getting tall. Almost to the top now.
Vesicularia montagnei is firmly attached to drift wood.
Marsilea quadrifolia sending out runners.









Right view
Echinodorus tenellus is sending out lots of runners. Had to cut and remove some because they were going to unwanted areas.









Left view
Had to trim some of the Echinodorus amazonicus and Echinodorus tenellus. Some of the leaves are developing brown spots and/or turning yellow. Anyone know why? I think I may have been a little aggressive during planting, may have damaged some of the stems.

Also getting some hair algae and brown algae in the tank. How should I combat this?

So am I ready to add shrimp?


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## effox

It looks like you're done cycling and can add your shrimp now. Your KH and GH both need to go up a few degrees. I kept my GH at about 4, and my KH at 2-3 degrees if I recall correctly.

Cheers,
Chris


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## stonedaquarium

yep looks like you can add the shrimp now.. +1 to what effox mentioned about the GH.... you might be leaving your lights too long thats why you are getting some hair algae.... are you running co2 in your tank as well?


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## Ebonbolt

Brown algae, or diatoms, is normal in new tanks, and should disappear in a month or so. Boost the KH as much as you can without affecting the pH too much, and bring the GH to ~4 and you should be good to go. The hair algae is easy enough to take care of; start injecting CO2 and it should clear right up; you could also attempt Excel, although that may harm the shrimp. A half dozen amano shrimp will clear the hair algae up in no time, and cherries will nibble on hair algae from time to time as well. Make sure the flower shrimp, or mountain fan shrimp, are getting enough to eat: if they're digging around in the substrate for food, that means there isn't enough food for them to filter.


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## TheShrimpFarm

daveyboy,
Your tank looks awesome!

Great job.


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## Morainy

Your tank is absolutely gorgeous! I love the little pebble walkway through the greenery.

It's easy to increase your gH a little. Just add a bit more of the Fluval mineral supplement that comes with the Ebi (or you can buy it at a store that sells it, like AW) or add a bit of Seachem Equilibrium with your water changes. Seachem Equilibrium takes a little time to dissolve, while the Fluval supplement is already liquid. I think Equilibrium costs less in the end, though, as it lasts forever.


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## daveyboy

Thanks everyone. I'll use up the mineral supplement that came with the Ebi first then change over to Equilibrium. How do I increase the KH?


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## daveyboy

I think I finally got my tank stabilized and no more molting deaths since last week.

pH 7
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
GH 5
KH 3

I took advantage of the boxing day sales at IPU and picked up 10 RCS and a Bamboo/Wood/Fan Shrimp. They are the neatest thing ever. I've been feeding the Bamboo Shrimp by grinding sinking wafers into a powder and suspending it in some tank water before pouring it into the water current.









Front view: Bacopa is all the way to the top now.









Close up of the RCS and Amano Shrimp.









Bamboo Shrimp hiding behind the heater. I have the filter turned on max for this guy.









Close up, you can really see their modified fans.

Do you think I can put another Bamboo Shrimp in my Ebi or would that we too much (overstocking)?


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## Morainy

What a sweetheart of a tank! Great job with your Ebi! And your shrimp photos are very sharp. I hope that you continue to post pics. 

My bacopa has grown to the top of my tank, too. It sure grows fast!


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## kid4life

oooooooo looks promising. so pretty. what kind of shrimp you going to put in it? ebiken has some awesome ones

[edit]

whoops. i didnt read till the end before i posted haha.


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## daveyboy

With the great boxing day sales at IPU I ended up picking up another Bamboo shrimp so now I have two. They seem to be doing well and both have now gone through a molt. The tanks only been a few months old so I feed them daily because there's probably not enough microflora to sustain them. I take algae wafers and the fluval shrimp food and grind them to a very fine powder using a mortar. I find the fine powder suspends better in the water and doesn't just sink to the bottom.









One of the Bamboos was acting funny yesterday and this morning. He wasn't fanning for food so I figured he was either sick or ready to molt. When I got home this evening, this is what I found behind the driftwood. I'm glad it was a molt and not a carcass haha. I placed the molt next to a RCS molt for size. It's pretty cool. They even molt their fans.









Here they are. The bottom one that's hiding is the one that molted. They're two completely different colours. The top one is a tan colour and the bottom one is a dark tree bark colour (almost like camo.) I think I'll call them Beech and Alder.









Here's the full view of the tank. The Christmas moss is starting to get kind of brown. Does anyone know why this is? I thought mosses were super easy.


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## Atom

Very nice Ebi. I find that Bacopa grows really well in my ebi except for the bottoms which becomes bare after awhile because it doesn't get enough light. Are you running just the one stock light?

I saw the bamboo shrimp at IPU and was fascinated. At one point they were all lined up in a straight line at the front of the tank. It was army-like. How are they doing for you?


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## daveyboy

I'm just running one stock light. All my plants are low light types. The Bamboos have been doing well but I do think that they'll need to be fed in a small tank such as the Ebi. Not enough microflora can develop to adequately sustain them. They are pretty big shrimp. They like to push each other around for the best perching spot to catch the current. The bigger one just uses his size and pushes the smaller one out of the way.


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## theinnkeeper

You ever think about adding an amano shrimp in there? Pat has some KILLER ones, he feeds them a special diet. they grew quite big with his food.


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