29G Shrimp Tank

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myswtsins

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I did find it at lowes for twice the price. But I went looking through my substrates in the basement again and found almost 3 gallons of black flourite sand. Probably not enough though. But it really made me want a nice black substrate. So, off to tractor supply for some black diamond blasting sand. :D No CEC value but with just some crypts I can throw some root tabs in there.
 

fishorama

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RCS look great on black...Flourite Sand is what I had my MA cherries on. Since you already had it, you know it's hard to vac...a good chance to practice your "swirl & vac" technique, if you've lost the hang & detritus studying looking for lighter than F. sand shrimplets. 3 gallons seems like maybe enough for your 29g, I'm trying to picture volume vs area...but when I bought mine, it was an opened bag & a 10g & cheap! 2 inches may be enough for most crypts...maybe 2.5.

Well, I have to say, just when you convinced me to maybe try oil dri, I'm disappointed it's "endangered" at Wally cheap prices (at least where you are?). I may buy 2 bags if mine still has it...next trip.
 

myswtsins

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It ended up being about 2.5 gallons and was too much actually. I bought 100lbs of blasting sand and 50lbs of safe T Sorb anyways though, get it while I can! For anyone interested though the flourite sand and BDBS look VERY much alike. And the STS looks darker than I thought but I haven't gotten that wet yet to see the true color. I'll post some pics later.
 

fishorama

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Good, I'm still working on acronyms...black diamond blasting sand (BDBS)...STS?!? Safe-T-Sorb? Sorry, I'm lame. Yes, I need pics! My "next" tank is a 60" x 18" x 24" high, custom stand, was gonna be discus...but still isn't...
 

myswtsins

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Good, I'm still working on acronyms...black diamond blasting sand (BDBS)...STS?!? Safe-T-Sorb? Sorry, I'm lame. Yes, I need pics! My "next" tank is a 60" x 18" x 24" high, custom stand, was gonna be discus...but still isn't...
You got all the acronyms right. ;) Almost an ideal tank size, 24" high is a bit too high for me to work in easily but I am super jealous none the less! I love 5ft tanks, I'll never have one in this house though so I need you to start that guy up and get a journal going! :)

Unfortunately my update is a sad one. I got a wicked stomach virus and had to cancel my trip to PA and didn't even make any progress with the tank. Feeling a bit better today but still just taking it easy so updates are a bit behind. Those thicker pieces of wood still have not sunk yet. :(
 

fishorama

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The custom part of the stand is it's made to my height & arm length, I can reach the back bottom ;). We got to fit a place in our old house.

I thought fluorite has CEC, not just inert. Is Safe T Sorb similar to oil dri? Can't wait to see.

Feel better soon, road trips should be fish & plant fun!
 

myswtsins

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That was a lousy week! Ugh. Finally got to some fish business today and nothing worked out. lol Short version is my lighting situation is not going to work so I am just biting the bullet and BUYING a NEW light, ekk! Good thing about that though is that I can move forward with the tank. With my old setup I had to build a light hanger so the tank had to be moved and blah blah blah. New light will just plop onto of the tank, done! And this will be my first foray into LED so that's fun!

Safe T Sorb is like oil-dri, fired clay, but not as dark in color. Although STS might be fired at a higher temp then oil-dri which is always better. I won't be posting pictures of the STS because I won't be opening the bag, just fyi. There are comparison pics on google though. I will get around to comparison pics of the flourite and BDBS soon though...maybe right now....
 

myswtsins

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Black diamond blasting sand on left, flourite on right. Dry on bottom, wet on top.


Close-up. dry in front, wet in back, BDBS left, flourite right.


Close-up wet in front, Reverse! BDBS on right, flourite on left.
 

fishorama

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Well, dang, they look the same to me! But what about the Flourite CEC? Not maybe worth the price difference but since you already have it...

Too bad about the lights, which LEDs did you go with? I'm hoping to wait it out until prices lower.(I'm a late adapter to new tech...shhh, I still don't have a smart phone, lol, too cheap)

I'm glad you have recovered...BTW I think I have those same plates, lol.
 
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