Spouse wants office shrimp too - how best to make it a surprise?

[Coluber42]

Well, obviously not a total surprise. But upon seeing my pictures, my better half wants office shrimpies too. I have ordered another tank, and I think it would be fun to bring it over there basically all set up and ready to go.

So tell me if this scheme sounds reasonable: Start the tank off with some water and macro algae out of my first tank, maybe some rocks or shells too. That should theoretically speed up the cycling-and-algae-growing process, right? Then to bring the tank across town, decant most of the water into a jug or something and carry the tank, water, and critters (still in their shipping packaging - I'd probably do this on the day they arrived or the next day) over to better half's office, put the water back in, and put the critters in. It's a ~2-gallon glass tank, for what it's worth - so all this should be reasonably somewhat portable.

But all this decanting, recanting, and portaging is presumably going to stir up the substrate and stuff. And obviously it will mess with the biofilm and uncover any algae growing on the sides. Will that be a problem? Will it need to settle or re-grow or whatever in the new location before the snails and shrimp go in, or could they go right in?

Or is there a better way to do this? I'd really like to deliver the fait accompli all on the same day, but if that's really just not realistic, obviously I won't do it that way. What do you think?

[tooth]

If I understand the process, you will use water and substrate from an established tank to seed a second tank. I'm not understanding the part about emptying the second tank prior to transport. Why not just set up the second tank once, in the office where it's headed? Maybe that's what you are saying...
One worry I'd have is that the new tank will not be cycled completely with just the addition of substrate from the first tank. Depending on the substrate used in the second tank, you may get an ammonia spike even adding the 'cycled' substrate from the first tank.
The way I'd do it, for what it's worth:
Set up the new tank with the seed water and substrate, wait until you see new algae growth (shouldn't take long), then add the shrimp.

[Coluber42]

I'm still letting the new tank cycle for awhile at my shop. The thing is, I want to be able to add shrimp on the same day I bring it to the new location. Since I can't really carry a full tank across town, I'll have to remove enough water for the rest not to slosh out and then put it back when I get there.

So I guess my real question is, is this a reasonable way to transport a tank so that it's ready for animals when it arrives (assuming it's ready in the first place)?

[tooth]

Sounds reasonable to me. As long as the portage is short so things don't dry out. Depending on the substrate, if the water sloshes around enough there might be a time required for settling.

[Ace]

He will love it no matter what. And you can get yourself some insurance by adding an instant cycle product.

[Ace]

May we have an update please?

[Coluber42]

Where things stand is that I got a second tank and set it up with a light, sand and decorations, plus macroalgae and some water from my first tank. Like in my first tank, the decor involves shells that I suspect have organic matter still stuck in them, which needs to finish decaying and cycling out. I've been seeing the same cobweb-type stuff I saw in my first tank, too. I'll be away all next week, so nothing further will happen at least until I get back - which is probably just as well. My primary concern at the moment is the snails from my first tank that are not doing well. The second one has basically the same stuff in it, so either it just needs extra more time to cycle, or there's something in there that's bad for some of those snails.

So that's where it's at. I'm trying to not be impatient and not rush things!

[Mustafa]

Your original plan in the first post of this thread sounds reasonable and doable to me. I don't foresee any problems with that.

[Coluber42]

Yesterday at long last, I delivered the new tank. I had ordered the shrimp last week, but left them in their shipping bag for the trip across town. I left the snails and decorations in place, decanted about 3/4 of the water into a separate jug, and called an Uber to get me across town so that I could hold the box containing the tank and try to keep it from bouncing and sloshing too much during the trip. When I got there, I put the water back in and added the shrimp.
The tank is an ~8" cube. I made a wooden platform for it with a vertical arm cut to match the light and a lazy susan on the bottom so you can easily rotate it or just pick up the whole platform to move it. I made a lid for the tank too, since I couldn't find one to fit it. Here's a photo, although it looks better once the light gets plugged in:


Spouse was very excited, and the shrimps were a big hit around the office.

[KenCotigirl]

Nice setup. Thanks for providing the picture.

KenP

[Mustafa]

Awesome setup! The lazy susan and the lamp holder are great ideas!

[Linda's supershrimp]

What type of LED light did you get? I bought a Fluval 2.7 gallon so I could get a LED light that worked. My shrimp hide in the filter section! It would be nice to see them. LOL

[Linda's supershrimp]

What type of LED light did you get? I bought a Fluval 2.7 gallon so I could get a LED light that worked. My shrimp hide in the filter section! It would be nice to see them. LOL

[Coluber42]

The lamp is a cheap fish tank LED lamp from Amazon. I made a stand for it instead of clipping it directly to the tank side.

[Mustafa]

Hey Coluber42...your picture has disappeared! Can you do me a favor and fix that? And if you can't, just send me the picture and I'll upload it here.