# Seeking advice- 60P low tech



## Sacha (22 Apr 2015)

Hi all, 

I am after a bit of advice. I have the opportunity to get myself an ADA 60P (tank only). I have been wanting to set up a low-tech shrimp tank for a long time now, but never got around to it. I have had a 125L high-tech tank for a few years now and I am very happy with how the tank is doing at the moment. I was wondering what I would need to get started with shrimp in a 60P.

FILTER. 
Will I need one? If so, what kind? All I have is a spare APS 1400lph external filter... which is probably overkill to the point of destroying the shrimp? 

LIGHTING. 
What kind of lighting do most people use with the 60P? bear in mind this will be a non-Co2 tank so I don't want to overdo it. 

HEATER. 
Will I need one? Are there any discreet and small ones at a reasonable price? 

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I have never kept shrimp before. Cheers,


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## Ryan Thang To (22 Apr 2015)

Hey
I have a ada 60p high tech and if you like it to be low tech then it should be easy.

Your filter will be fine just put loads of media and some purigen. Oh and don't for get a shrimp guard. Spray bar would be best to slow flow down.

Light i would use a tmc aquar bar 500. Cheap and really good for plants. I have 2 but 1 would be just fine.

Substrate i like to use soil. Any would do just so it can help lower ph down or tropica soil capped with your choices of gravel.

Heater is only use in the winter time but once weather warm up mine always stay around 18 to 20c. I find shrimp don't bread in high temperature so under 20c is good.

have a look at my journal its really simple low tech. http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ryan-twin-aquanano.33329/

Cheers
Ryan


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## Sacha (22 Apr 2015)

Thanks a lot for the reply, that's really helpful. I'll check out your journal now.


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## Sacha (22 Apr 2015)

Ryan, 
Your tank is fantastic, great work. Exactly the kind of thing I have in mind for my own. 

About the TMC Aquabar. What do you use to actually fix it onto the tank?


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## Andy D (22 Apr 2015)

You can use the TMC rim mounting brackets (with an MMS rail).

It's worth getting the dimmer too.


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## Ryan Thang To (22 Apr 2015)

here are the details

http://www.aquariumonline.co.uk/
Aquabar 500 Freshwater
AquaBar Tank Mounting Bracket in Silver
AquaRay MMS Rail 790mm
AquaBar Dimmer Switch. just in case you want it dimmer.

have a search around for good price. some time ebay is good.

here a picture of my aquabar


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## Sacha (22 Apr 2015)

Fantastic, thanks a lot for the details. Looks like just what I need!


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## Andy D (22 Apr 2015)

One thing I would suggest. If you opt for the 1610mm MMS rail it will leave you enough spare rail in case you wish to add a second light later on.


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## Sacha (25 Apr 2015)

So people. 

It looks like I've gone and done it! Brought the 60P home this afternoon. 

Now the most important things are lights and a cabinet. I don't fancy spending hundreds of pounds on the cabinet, does anyone have any recommendations for something that will do the job and do it well? Ideally I would like to be able to conceal the external inside the cabinet.


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## Ryan Thang To (26 Apr 2015)

Hey Welcome to ada group. sound like your going to do the same as me. Believe me my stand it from ikea £35. Perfect fit. Look at the picture i sent you. I use one panel for the bottom with no screws and the other panel at the back with some nails prefect fit. For extra support i cut some 3-4 inch strip of mdf and wrap it with white vinyl. Really simple. Also the stand give you extra 10 cm  the back which i leave all my fert and fish food. I got black background so you can't see the back.

I will post s picture for you later.

here the link
http://m.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/art/00134052/
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00134429/?preferedui=desktop

Cheers
Ryan


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## Sacha (26 Apr 2015)

Hi Ryan,

The stand in the previous photo you posted is from Ikea? It looks great! I thought it was an ADA cabinet!


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## Ryan Thang To (26 Apr 2015)

No dude. I too didn't want to spend loads. Just do what i done with the panels and add some extra support. Im out atm but when im home i send you inside cabinet picture to let you see how its done. Real simple and a bargain


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## Ryan Thang To (26 Apr 2015)

I just notice you live in London. Where abouts?


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## Sacha (26 Apr 2015)

I live in Ealing but am always driving all around!


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## Ryan Thang To (26 Apr 2015)

Oh you on that side. Im from east London Hackney. I work up Milton keynes and come back to London on the weekends.


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## ajm83 (27 Apr 2015)

legytt said:


> Hey Welcome to ada group. sound like your going to do the same as me. Believe me my stand it from ikea £35. Perfect fit. Look at the picture i sent you. I use one panel for the bottom with no screws and the other panel at the back with some nails prefect fit. For extra support i cut some 3-4 inch strip of mdf and wrap it with white vinyl. Really simple. Also the stand give you extra 10 cm  the back which i leave all my fert and fish food. I got black background so you can't see the back.
> 
> I will post s picture for you later.
> 
> ...



Any chance of seeing pics of how you added extra support?

Thanks


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## Rahms (27 Apr 2015)

The stand thread in the DIY section is worth a read as well, if you'd like a go at making one yourself.  That's my summer project!


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## Ryan Thang To (27 Apr 2015)

ajm83 said:


> Any chance of seeing pics of how you added extra support?
> 
> Thanks


Yeah sure. 


 
I use 3 pieces which i cut for a perfect tight fit wrap with white vinyl. 2 each side and one in the centre back.


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## Ryan Thang To (27 Apr 2015)

I use one shelf panel on the bottom and one the back prefect fit.


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## Tim Harrison (27 Apr 2015)

I've done something very similar and it works OK...it is only egg box covered with foil coated thin board so you may won't to put something a bit thicker on top tho' to spread the weight; mine bent in the middle and the tank sank into it a bit.
NB unstrengthened the frame can take a max load of 20 kg on the top...that is according to IKEA.


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## ajm83 (28 Apr 2015)

Really nice setup legytt. 


Troi said:


> NB unstrengthened the frame can take a max load of 20 kg on the top...that is according to IKEA.


Hmm, that's a bit concerning. I have a 125L tank on top of my double width Besta, with only a few corner brackets as extra bracing (to stop it turning into a parallelogram!). I did jump up and down on the top of it and it was fine, so hopefully it'll stay together...


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## Ryan Thang To (28 Apr 2015)

Thank you. I try to keep it simple


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## Ryan Thang To (28 Apr 2015)

Sacha let us know what you got plan. Cant wait too see what shrimps you get.

I use rainwater work perfectly fine without no add on. Crystal Shrimp breeds like rabbits lol


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## Sacha (28 Apr 2015)

Thanks! 

Based on concerns about the load on the Ikea cabinet, I am considering buying one of these: 

http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wc...-oak-cabinet?gclid=CMW7orrtlsUCFQT4wgodt0YAog

More expensive, yes. But it would match my Juwel Rio 125 cabinet perfectly, and I would have peace of mind about the load. Also, I wouldn't need to do any kind of DIY to sort out my filter + pipework etc... 

It may be a while until I actually have livestock in there. I need to make space for the tank, buy a cabinet, buy lights, set it all up, plant it, get it all stable first! So looking at at least a few weeks! 

I don't know the first thing about shrimp either. So I'll have to research their requirements carefully before I buy them.


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## Rahms (28 Apr 2015)

You have to bear in mind that we live in litigation-land these days. Companies will put the absolute lowest numbers they can on their products, as long as it doesn't hinder their sales.  People don't generally buy kitchen cabinets based on their load-bearing capacity, so they quite happily stick a very low number on it because its not going to deter 99.9% of their customers, and protects them from any defects, regardless of how unlikely.

I'm not saying don't buy the roma stand, since it looks pretty good (I'd say better) and £90 isn't bad.  But for people who already have a tank on this (and have already strengthened it!) I wouldn't be too concerned, unless its being knocked left-to-right all the time, or being dragged around with weight on top


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## parotet (28 Apr 2015)

Another example of the IKEA cabinet. This will be for sure the next cabinet I will buy for my 60 liters tank. This member have not improved the structure and it works ok for a larger tank

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/colisia-vallem-90l.34873/

Jordi


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## Ryan Thang To (30 Apr 2015)

parotet said:


> Another example of the IKEA cabinet. This will be for sure the next cabinet I will buy for my 60 liters tank. This member have not improved the structure and it works ok for a larger tank
> 
> http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/colisia-vallem-90l.34873/
> 
> Jordi


Yep its the same as mine. My tank is only 30 wide so i got 10cm space at the back for fertiliser. I would definitely add some support tho


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## parotet (30 Apr 2015)

I am using another IKEA cabinet for a smaller tank (21 liters, a mini M knock-off) and I have added 4 metal L-brackets to prevent the top from bending. Easy and cheap. I also drilled holes in one side  for the filter tubing and protected all the wood joints with a white self-adhesive plastic sheet. The whole cabinet and extra materials cost 35€ (my DIY cabinets cost the double or more: wood, coating, materials, painting, etc. and look much worse).
The good thing about the mentioned Bersta cabinet is that the top wood is attached on (over? sorry my bad English) the side panels (and not attached between the side panels, as it happens in my cabinet) and this improves the resistance. However it is true that it is not real wood, thus making some improvements is always interesting, really easy, cheap... and you sleep much better knowing that your tank won't fall down!

Just two more questions... with the Bersta model I'm not sure what to do with the filter tubing. My first idea was not to use the back panel which is actually a kind of thin paper board (so tubes can reach the sides of the tank just from behind). Another option would be to drill large holes on the sides but my experience tells me that it doesn't look very nice as the melamine white cover cracks/peals and you need to buy some plastic rings to cover the mess. So, my two questions: do you find necessary to drill the side holes? Where do you buy the O-ring plastic protections?

Jordi


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## Akwaskape (4 May 2015)

Hi there if your after low tech have a look at my windowsill nature thread

Regards
nathan


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## Akwaskape (4 May 2015)

FILTER.
Will I need one? If so, what kind? All I have is a spare APS 1400lph external filter... which is probably overkill to the point of destroying the shrimp?

LIGHTING.
What kind of lighting do most people use with the 60P? bear in mind this will be a non-Co2 tank so I don't want to overdo it.

HEATER.
Will I need one? Are there any discreet and small ones at a reasonable price?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I have never kept shrimp before. Cheers,[/quote]

imho
1. No
2. Cfl or T8
3. No

Regards


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## parotet (4 May 2015)

Agree with the heater. No need to have one. My "only shrimps" nano tank (it has been both, low and high tech) never had heaters. I live in a warm area and temperatures in winter went down to 17ºC and shrimps (red cherries) kept on breeding at such temperatures. If you are using mosses, they really prefer low temperatures

Jordi


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## Akwaskape (4 May 2015)

Forgot to mention the no filter applies if your planning on going heavily planted low tech dirt. Without dirt and lots of plants I would put in a filter.


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