I'm planning on turning my 30Litre BiOrb into a shrimp tank but will obviously need to make some changes. My plan is...

Remove the filter and central tube completely. Seal up the bit the air pump attached to with something... silicone? This will enable me to get rid of the horrid ceramic media that came with the BiOrb and instead use a dark sand or fine gravel which would be better for the shrimp and mean they stand out more.

I'm planning on having quite a lot of plants in there and running a fluval mini filter. I saw on another forum that someone managed to fit one of these in their BiOrb and it kept the water pretty clear.

Is there anything else I haven't thought about?

Hi Ali

I've seen pics of some conversions for shrimp

Aquarium sealent should work when you remove the central section/tube (don't use normal sealent as it's not fish safe). The biorb media should already be in Peter's tank anyway.

Just a heater then! The smallest I've seen sold in the UK are 50 Watt. Most people aim for 1 W per litre then round up to the next size. I've seen overseas sellers on ebay selling 30 W versions, but never here in the UK

Yeah the BiOrb stuff is in the big tank for now, it'll be a while before we can do all this, but just want to make sure I have a foolproof plan!

Our BiOrb was always at 21c or 22c which according to the wonderful wikipedia is perfect for cherry shrimp so maybe we wouldn't need a heater?

There are quite a few UK sellers on eBay with 25 watt heaters.

This one is very inexpensive, but may be physically too big:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AQUARIUM-25W-25WATT-FISH-TANK-HEATER-STAT-TROPICAL-/150388640370?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item2303dc8a72

or if you wanted a brand name, there's the Fluval compact 25 watt one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/fluval-compact-aquarium-heater-25-watts-UNBREAKABLE-NEW-/330594149965?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item4cf8f2664d

or the Interpet Delta Therm 25 watt:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-INTERPET-AQUARIUM-DELTA-THERM-HEATER-25-WATT-/380177498985?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item5884584369


HTH

EDIT:

Quote:

You'll probably need one in Winter unless you keep your house at that level consistently 24 hours a day all year round

How funny, I was just clearing up the other day and found my mini fluval and a 25 watt heater that I used to have in my shrimp tank. I've no plans to use them in the near future so I was planning to sell them anyway (if they still work, I will check). I've no idea what they're worth. Are you interested?

Okey dokey! The proper BiOrb heaters occasionally come up on eBay so I'll keep my eyes open for one - looks like they're all 50w but should fit in at least. If we don't manage to get one by the time we're ready for shrimp we'll go with one of the ones you suggested.
I'd be interested to know how others here have set up their non-BiOrb shrimp tanks - any links/pictures/advice?

Absolutely interested Fishy! Have a think about how much you'd want for them and let me know

Right, they are both working! There's no sponge for the filter but you can just cut one to the right size, that's what I used to do. They're both a bit limescaly so I'll give them a good clean.

No idea what a fair price is A tenner for the both? I'll throw it open to the forum

That seems perfect! If you work out how much postage is I can give you some money (paypal, bacs?) and PM you with my address.

No idea on the postage, I guess it will be around £1.50 ish? I can let you know. I have paypal I will PM you.