Hello! Help please!

Brilliant! I'll look into getting some that size. :thm:

I still haven't decided completely on which kind of filtration to use, I thought it would be best to find out what size tanks I'd need and then get the best I could afford, three separate internal filters being more expensive than undergravel system, but possibly better(?).
I'm also starting work part time at a public aquarium pretty soon so I'll find out what kind of set up they recommend.

Thanks again!

Sarah :dance2:
 
Personally I like to stay away from undergravel filtration in marine setups.... they've just always become more work than was needed.

You won't need a skimmer on a 10 gallon tank, but it might be worth it to set up an aquaclear mini to assist in cleanup and waterflow...

my smallest marine tank is a 10 gallon.. it has two ac mini's (added the second one for extra water movement a few months ago) whereas my big marine tank has a skimmer and 3 powerheads.
On my 10 gallon I was able to buy a couple of 20" - 33 watt fluorescent light fixtures from Home Depot for around $15 CDN each. They come with a fixture and cable etc... they aren't a high quality light that you would use on a reef (or bigger aquarium), but they work great for the 10 gallon hermit tank (live rock, lots of coraline algae, feather dusters, 1 peppermint shrimp and a handful of snails and hermit crabs). These lights need to be 5-8 inches off the water, so I hung them from above...
 
Last edited:
Hi I have jut finished my Hons Degree In Bussiness I.T (boring i know) so i am very interested in your project (i had to do a dull project on databases!)

Have you formulated some research questions yet or a hypothesis to test? how many tanks will you run ?
 
Hiya, I think I'll definately go for either an internal or external filter then! I think the idea of the undergravel system was attractive because i don't want to spend a lot of money setting up his project, as it'll only be running for a relatively short time!
I've also been thinking about using plastic tanks - any views? Obviously they're a lot cheaper but it seems in the aquarium hobby things being cheaper isn't usually a good thing!

Luckily I've managed to work out a deal with my local public aquarium (the one I'll be working at pretty soon), and they can get me some shrimps at trade prices and then they'll have them back when I've finished the project! They've also offered lots of help with the setting up and things. Don't you just love it when things work out?!

Thanks again!

Sarah :D
 
DansMarineTank said:
Have you formulated some research questions yet or a hypothesis to test? how many tanks will you run ?
Click to expand...

I'm trying to put my hypothesis into words at the moment, it's a lot harder than I thought it would be! I'm going to run three tanks, unless I find I can get the facilities/funds for more, more repetitions of the experiment obviously being better. :dance2:

Sarah x
 
Hello again,

I thought I'd update you with my progress!

Basically, I wrote an 'action plan' which I took to my tutor and he's changed my project slightly so that now, rather than keeping the shrimps in different sized groups, I'm going to use different lighting cycles. Hopfully this'll mean that it'll be a bit cheaper for me!

I also went to the head aquarist at the public aquarium I work at and he told me how to set it up. I'll be using:

4 tanks, about 45 litres each (I got told off for using gallons and inches!), containing 2 shrimps each and filtered using a sump and a canister filter. Each of the tanks will have an over flow which will run into the sump through Hep pipe, it'll be heated and then filtered and pumped back up to the tanks by the filter (a big Ehiem one).

I think I might have two of the tanks on a day/night lighting cycle and two with the lights on all the time, that way I get more repetitions and hopefully more results. I'm a bit confused about what to do with the lighting timers though, it really needs to be automatic as i won't be here all the time.

Any ideas?

Thanks again!

Sarah :dance:
 
I must have missed it somewhere, but what is the actual parameter you're measuring? What are you expecting to alter by using different photoperiods?

I am also a bit curious as to why some will be in constant light. According to what I know of the circadian rhythm literature, it will make the shrimp arrhythmic, but also acts as a stressor.

How do you plan to shield the tanks from each other, so that the light from one group doesn't affect the other?
 
I'm not quite sure whether I'll have some in constant light or just different lengths of time with light, if 'constant light' is going to act as a stressor I'd rather not keep them under those conditions. Apparently I'll probably get more results from using different light cycles, as I'm measuring the number of molts in a certain period of time and apparently light will affect this more than being kept in different sized groups.

I'm going to sheild the tanks completely from one another so no light gets from one to another!

Sarah :dance:
 
I just had a chat with my tutor and the animal welfare lady and I've decided it would be better (okay, maybe not better, but easier!) to do the experiment on native UK shrimps. It's a bit rubbish because they're just brown and boring but this way I can choose my own ones (small ones - more likely to moult) and I don't need to heat the water. They're also a lot more tolerant of changing salinities and temperature.

I wish I was still using cleaner shrimps! :rant:

Sarah
 
Shrimp are cool, no matter the species.

Interesting that your local shrimp are so tolerant. Seems like a lot of the time temperate species don't like the warmer temperatures in aquaria, even unheated ones.

What species is it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom