Fluval Ebi Shrimp Tank

[OllieNZ]

Hi All
Picked up an ex display fluval ebi 30x30x35cm today for a bargin price. The plan is to do a tank for CBS and RCS shrimp. As it was a bit of an impulse buy I'm not sure what I'm doing scape wise yet.
Having not run a tank this small or used power compact lighting before will the 11w over this tank require easy carbo/co2 ?

Anyway here's the tank

Not quite sure what to make of the co2 kit lol

And the best bit

 

[Nathaniel Whiteside]

Good find mate, I ran one of these for a while. had 2 lights on mine though.

Good luck with it!

 

[Palm Tree]

Im selling the light that came with mine on here as I think they are a bit underpowered unless you have two which alot of people use. I also removed the background on mine as in my opinion it looks too fake.
The CO2 kit is a joke, I would sell it and use easy carbo or just dont use CO2.
I brought mine as an impulse buy aswell and then found out it was too small for my liking as im used to 4-6ft tanks and I just felt It wasnt worth the effort for such a small tank.
Harvey

 

[Matt Warner]

Hi, it looks like you've found yourself a bargain with this tank. I have the fluval flora which I think is a great little tank too. Firstly I disagree with the light being underpowered. I used to think the same but if you inject enough co2 and choose the right plants, they will grow fine under the single light. You could just get a glass diffuser and a bubble counter to inject co2 with the little co2 bottles. Hope to see some more photos soon.

 

[Ady34]

I tend to agree with Matty, the light is more than enough and any c02 you can provide will help the plants. The supplied c02 kit is a bit cumbersome for a small tank, takes up a lot of room and looks a bit distracting...probably not the most consistent way to apply c02 either.
There are some very successful tanks just using liquid carbon, check out Harry Robinsons 'Natures River' nano, it looks great.
If your not wanting to dose any c02 id opt for some floaters to subdue the lighting further, or choose hardy species like anubias, mosses, crypts, ferns etc. You could always totally rethink and simply add a sandy substrate, some wood and add a leaf layer for the shrimp to feed from, theyll be more than happy with that.
Have fun.

 

[Palm Tree]

Thats good to know that the light isn't underpowered however I would seriously think about ditching the co2 kit, from what ive read you have to fill up the diffuser twice a day and you cant simply use a glass diffuser as there isnt really a proper regulator with it its just an on off valve. The cartridges only last about a week I think aswell and they are expensive to replace. If you are dead set on using the co2 kit though you can get 16g co2 cartriges for bikes and they fit ok and I think they're cheaper.

 

[OllieNZ]

Thanks for the advice all.
My concern was the light would be too powerful for the size of the tank. I have no intention of using the co2 unit that came with it, I already have a proper reg for an FE and easy carbo if I do decide to go that way. I think I'll probably go down the low tec route.

Been asking about shrimp compatiblity here http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=23754 as I was going to add the amanos from my big tank and had a few concerns about amanos with smaller shrimp.

Im also considering fish, I really like the look of rasbora brigittae anyone got any experience with these little guys?

 

[joanne]

Great price I have just set up one of these tank and have gone low tech. If you keep the background you need to put some more silicone glue on it as they tend to come off.

 

[wazuck]

That's really good. I'm looking for one for my next project. I may just get a new flora and sell the co2 kit. Im already bidding on an 88g kit that I'm going to subject to some mutilation. I may be buying a second light for it also.

 

[AAB]

I have a brand new (still boxed) light for Ebi that I bought for £33, but never got round to using it. Open to sensible offers if anybody is interested in buying.

 

[OllieNZ]

Did a bit of preliminary hardscaping last night.....

Got Wood? Why yes!

Still need to decide on sand/gravel for the foreground and trim the cut piece that sticks out.

 

[OllieNZ]

Well Ive picked up some black sand which seems to have gone dark grey under water(not a bad thing). Filled the tank and now have floating wood This means I cant plant till it sinks. Im planning on using easy carbo initially while I get my co2 system sorted. Is there any issues with overdosing it while there is no livestock in the tank?

 

[tim]

depends on plant choice some will melt with too much liquid carbon weight the wood down with a rock for a week or so mate then you can plant straight away

 

[AAB]

A bit of advice from me is to put some extra silicon on the foam background before you start your scape.

Last Saturday I came home to find the foam background on my less than 5 months old Ebi floating at the top, uprooting most of my established plants and leaving me with a mess to clear up. From doing a quick Google search, it seems that this is a common problem with these tanks.

 

[Nathaniel Whiteside]

A bit of advice from me is to put some extra silicon on the foam background before you start your scape.

Last Saturday I came home to find the foam background on my less than 5 months old Ebi floating at the top, uprooting most of my established plants and leaving me with a mess to clear up. From doing a quick Google search, it seems that this is a common problem with these tanks.

Happened to me too. Probably about the same time too. Was funny though!

 

[AAB]

A bit of advice from me is to put some extra silicon on the foam background before you start your scape.

Last Saturday I came home to find the foam background on my less than 5 months old Ebi floating at the top, uprooting most of my established plants and leaving me with a mess to clear up. From doing a quick Google search, it seems that this is a common problem with these tanks.

Happened to me too. Probably about the same time too. Was funny though!

Come to think of it now yes it was kind of funny, but I tell you I wasn't laughing when it happened.

 

[OllieNZ]

A bit of advice from me is to put some extra silicon on the foam background before you start your scape.

Last Saturday I came home to find the foam background on my less than 5 months old Ebi floating at the top, uprooting most of my established plants and leaving me with a mess to clear up. From doing a quick Google search, it seems that this is a common problem with these tanks.

Happened to me too. Probably about the same time too. Was funny though!

Come to think of it now yes it was kind of funny, but I tell you I wasn't laughing when it happened.

Cheers for the heads up guys the woods finally decied to sink, I planted up last night, so pics tonight after I've charged the camera battery

 

[OllieNZ]

Just need to pick up some moss, an external filter and sort my pressurised co2 for it now (and take some better pics)

 

[OllieNZ]

I've had a bit of a disaster with this tank. Total cryp melt, My kids pulling up the stems and feeding them to the HOB and now an on going problem with noisy 2213s (zooplus are sending out a third one ) I've switched the tank back to tap water, picked up some narrow leaf java fern and the crypts are coming back. The only thing that hasn't been bothered is the H. Japan. Ive also added 5 amanos and 10 cpds.

 

[nayr88]

Agg mate!
Shame to hear its not doing so well, crypt melt is a given so dont let that bother you, fern looks good and H.japan well give it some time to establish
I've always had good experiences with it, all I do is stay right on top of trimming it and replanting as often as possible. Get yourself a couple pots of low light loving stems and take the ps3 away haha

I should have some moss in about a week. Only java but your welcome to a portion.