The Petco Bookshelf Aquarium: Prepping For Cherry Shrimp Colony

[Gvilleguy]

Bought the Petco Bookshelf Aquarium this week. I'm planning to get it up and running for a Cherry Shrimp colony over the next few weeks (or month, depending on cycling).

I will update this post with pictures and details this weekend, but the quick stats are:

Acrylic 6.6 gallon
24 inches wide
8.13 inches deep
9.25 inches high

23" inch light hood, 18" T5 "Red" 15 watt bulb - think I will swap the bulb for something more plant friendly
HOB power filter, non-branded, with a nice plastic housing and lid
So watts per gallon = 2.27

First impressions:
1. The acrylic tank was well packaged, scratch free, and thicker and sturdier than I expected - impressed; there is a very slight bow shape to the front of the tank which is kind of nice
2. There are black, plastic frames for the bottom and top that are detachable - they fit well
3. There is a clear lid with cut outs for filter and heater

Everything seemed to fit together well. I filled it with about an inch of Tahitian Black Moon sand last night, let it settle, and fired up the filter to let it run overnight. When I checked on it this morning the filter was making that irritating hissing sound caused by air escaping from where the tube covers the impeller. Not impressed with that. I turned down the filter flow and the hissing sound was much reduced. If that continues I will likely swap it out for an Aquaclear.

 

[biogirl52]

Looking forward to seeing it. I have been considering getting one of those for my desk. I will look forward to photos

 

[Gvilleguy]

Thanks, Biogirl. Tonight I am installing a 3d foam background. I think it is going to look good with the black sand, plus give shrimp little ledges to cling to.

 

[Gvilleguy]

I was able to upload some pictures to flickr tonight. Here is the sequence from unboxing to sand to 3D background. The tank still has to be cycled, and I have not decided on further scaping, other than planning to add plants and a different light bulb.

Unboxing:

Shows the bow front shape and thickness of the acrylic:

Filter: I do like the adjustable flow valve, and it works:

Cutting out the inserts for the heater and filter was difficult. Wish the plastic tabs had been thinner:

Wow, this light is RED!

3D foam backdrop, made by Universal Rocks, bought from Amazon. It was a 24 x 12 piece that I had to trim down to 8.25 inches tall, and also had to shave a bit off one side to get it to slide in without warping. It was easy to cut with a fine bladed hand saw.

(My daughter's hand.....not my zebra bracelet!!)

The foam floats on its own, but seems to be held securely with:
1. The sand against the base
2. The two black clips in the picture below
3. The tension from each side

The Fluval Chi Large Mountain insert, co-opted for the Petco Bookcase!

And my first rough draft below. Water is still cloudy. Hopefully will settle down. I suppose with the foam backdrop I'm going to have to attach a small heater to one side or the other and hopefully conceal it with a tall plant. I also do not like the water line showing at the top, but that is a detachable rim, so I can't have the water go that high or it leaks. I may try to find some plastic trim that can extend the coverage at the top.

I will report back with additional aqua-scaping and cycling results on this new filter.

 

[garyspence84]

Tanks looking really nice.

Why not just put a line of black gaffer tape round the edge to cover the water line? It's a quick fix for the time being. Iv done this with MANY tanks over the years

 

[Gvilleguy]

I thinks that a great idea, Gary. I will look for some vinyl black tape. I only need like a 1/2 inch strip around the top. The tank cleared up a lot overnight...it's looking really good! I'm anxious to get going on the cycling now!!

I could just put existing media in there from my other tank, but I actually want to try Dr. Tim's nitrifying bacteria in a bottle to see if it works or not. If it doesn't work I can always discard the new media and instant cycle using mature media from my 2 year old tank.

 

[garyspence84]

Then your a more patient man than me. I would just be taking some mature media from an existing filter. Bit in the interest of an experiment..... it'd be good to see if these things actually do work or not. There's been a lot of talk about it but no actual written results.

My hat comes off to you mate good luck

 

[biogirl52]

That turned out awesome!!! I love how long it is. I was just going to ask you where you got the foam but I see you said so, haha.

 

[Salam]

It looks really nice! Looking forward to reading on how you get on with the bacteria in a bottle. Nice experiment

 

[Gvilleguy]

Okay - the experiment has begun. I will probably also post this part as a separate thread in a different part of the forum, since bottled bacteria has been discussed so many times. But here is what I did:

First, picture of tank before I started - I added black tape around the upper rim to hide the water line (thanks, again, Gary!), and added an artificial log. Once cycled I will add some live plants to fill it out. Will attach Java Fern to the log. Oh, and I swapped the bulb for a plant spectrum bulb.

Tank filter ran for almost two days with dechlorinated water.

Pre-cycle water stats in tank:

Date.........Ammonia...Nitrate...Nitrate...pH........Temp(F)...Notes
8-Sep-2012...0.0.......0.0.......0.0.......7.4-7.6...78.5F.....

I configured the filter as follows:

Added pre-filter sponge on intake...and Fluval sponges and Biomax pellets in the chamber:

I also added an air stone to help with aeration, which I think the bacteria like.

I added 0.4ml ammonia, let it settle for almost 30 minutes, and then tested for ammonia. It came in right around 4 ppm:

So then comes Dr. Tim's magic bacteria:

This dose was for up to 30 gallons, which I thought was overkill. However, the bottle specifically says that you cannot over dose, and for best results use the entire bottle in the filter. So I shook it up and poured it into the filter!

And....my tank immediately turned cloudy white!

In the 30 minutes since I dosed and typed up this log entry, the cloudiness has subsided about 50%. So by morning it should be better.

So...that's it. I hope I haven't forgotten anything. I added a little heater to try and raise the temp a few more degrees from 78.5F. I will test for ammonia and nitrites twice per day and re-dose with ammonia if it goes close to zero. Will update when I know more.

 

[garyspence84]

What a difference a bit of black tape makes eh?

So how long does it say on the bottle for the filter to be fully cycled? I'm glad someone's actually trying this method out and posting results. Well done and good luck.

 

[Salam]

Woah! That's cloudy! I really wonder if the ammonia will be much lower this morning than it would be without the bacteria.

 

[Gvilleguy]

The tank water was cleared up when I got up this morning.

My 12 hour tests show a slight, but definite, change in stats.

pH = 7.4/7.6
ammonia = < 4.0, but not yet 2.0
nitrite = > 0.0, but not quite 0.25 (a paler blue than normal zero)
nitrate = > 0.0, but not quite 5.0 (definite orange tinge to the yellow)

This is SIGNIFICANT for my tap water, since for my last true fishless cycle, with no added mature media, it took 16 days to get my first slight drop in the ammonia level. And 72 days to cycle.

Gary - I checked Dr Tim's FAQ online, and he claims that your tank is immediately cycled and ready for fish. So I guess he is saying zero days to cycle. And I suppose this could be somewhat true, since adding a few fish at this point would produce a very low level of ammonia compared to 4.0, right? But I would never do that...would always monitor fishless until I knew stats were processing correctly.

 

[garyspence84]

I think your quite right in NOT putting any fish in yet. But Yeh, I suppose your right, a few small fish won't make an awful lot of difference to water stats.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Wow! 24 hour results are very promising!

Ammonia = 1 ppm (down from 4 ppm)
Nitrite = a solid 0.50
Nitrates = a solid 5.0

I am impressed so far.