Fire aquariums Knock off 60 P

[exv152]

Nice job Errol. I think I like the latest version the best.

[charlie]

Thanks.

[charlie]

At some point i was able to put a nice scratch in my shrimp tank, it`s smack bang in the middle of the front panel and jumps out at me each time i look at the tank, needless to say it irritates me and i want to reverse the tank making the scratch panel the back of the tank.
This means i will have to also reverse the scape , creating a mess in the tank up rooting  plants and hardscape.
I really don`t want to try and net the shrimp.
What do you think about attempting to do this with shrimp in?  I`m aware of the dangers of disturbing the substrate  hmmm, is it such a high risk?

[rivermuse]

My experience with re-scaping a planted shrimp tank with the inhabitants inside, has not been very good. The last time I moved a few plants and rocks. All 4  amanos jumped and committed suicide.  I realized that after a week while cleaning my office and some crystals died within two days. 

You could try to siphon water at the same time you start uprooting the plants / rocks so that the dark debris/mulm is taken out  is instead of spreading into the tank. You will need a bit of extra water ready. It would be easier if you had someone helping with that while you rescape. 

... Nice tank!

[charlie]

Thanks rivermuse, i`m hoping the shrimp aficionados among us would have shared their opinions 

[AngelaM]

I've only ever kept cherry shrimp and although I never I did a complete re-scape on a tank I did move them across town a couple times. I generally lower the water to prevent jumping out. Then I'd catch everything I could and sticking them in a bucket before moving anything in the tank. Generally, I was trying to keep plants in the substrate during this procedure but it was never particularly effective except with really heavy root feeders like vals, crypts, and swords. I never noticed deaths with this procedure that was really disturbing but then the tanks were such jungles I'm not entirely surprised.

Again, these were cherry shrimp and I always found them really hardy. I'd be more concerned with some of the more sensitive species.

[charlie]

Update- i did it  !, after no input  from the shrimp aficionados who visited, i took the dive  .
My strategy going in was to siphon approx 50% of the water to a holding container before moving anything.
While the filter was running, i gently removed the monte carlo ( wow lot`s of it), this created a mild clouding of the tank, i let it filter for an hour or so and then proceeded to remove the hard scape and the rest of the plants, storing them in the holding container with the 50% of  the water removed to try and preserve as much of the beneficial bacteria hosted on the hard scape and plants.
Let it filter again  while  waiting for my helper  ( nephews  , great to have those  ), took the time to apply black Vinyl to the front scratch panel.
Help arrived and  gently repositioned the tank, i then added some Prime to the tank in the event there was any ammonia spike from all the disturbance, also topped off the tank with some of the water removed to further help by having a larger water volume while it settled so i can re-scape  .
Did the re-scape followed by a water change incorporating  the rest of the removed water, added a second mature canister filter crossed my fingers , monitored the tank for the rest of the evening  time to sleep , so far so good.
Next morning got up and checked the shrimpies ,  who welcomed me by happily  doing their morning frenzy dance.
Proving once again , an exception to the saying " crystal shrimp is very sensitive"
I`m not advocating anyone do this , if you choose to do so, it`s at your risk as their is a risk.
Just wanted to share my experience

[AngelaM]

I'm glad it went well. The results are lovely.

[charlie]

Update:
I was asked if my luck/success remained unchanged, happy to report both shrimp and plants are doing great!

[exv152]

Nice looking crystals you got there Errol! I think big changes are possible even with sensitive fish/shrimp as long as one goes slow so as not to disturb the contents of the substrate too much, and by taking precautions like adding prime, WC's etc. But change is always a good thing.

[bergenm]

Nice tank! You are making me reconsider giving up shrimp...

[AngelaM]

Absolutely lovely shrimp. I'm glad the re-scape worked out!

[charlie]

Thanks guys, my hope is that my experience with Crystal shrimp will encourage others who are deterred by the general belief that they are super sensitive, I have no doubt that the higher grades may be a bit more sensitive .
Regards

[charlie]

Sadly this tank is no more 
Got an alarming call this afternoon to inform me one of my tanks is leaking, got home to discover it`s this tank.
Thankfully my wife was home heard drip drip, investigated and saw where it was leaking from.
I dropped the water level  below where the seam had let go, removed all plants, scape and shrimp to buckets.
The other sad part was that in the haste of moving a pair of Apistogramma Cac. orange flash, who was just set up to spawn , had spawned unbeknown to me and only discovered this when i was emptying the tank to make it ready for the shrimp, hopefully they will not be too angry at me and soon spawn again soon.
I think the tank heard of my intent to move the shrimp to a bigger tank i have in the works and took it out on me.
decisions decisions!

[exv152]

Close call Errol. Looks like you caught it just in time. Could've been a lot worse. Out of curiosity, because i also have a couple of these fire tanks on the go, how old was this tank?

[charlie]

Kudos to my wife for saving the

The tank was acquired fall of 2015.
I now have a legitimate excuse for a new tank

[cdylnicki]

Thank goodness!!  Let us know how things go!

[charlie]

Yes, shrimpies and plants are in another  tank , settling in nicely

[barefoot_golfer]

Stunning contrast