So after moving from an apartment to my first house in July of 2007 I immediately started setting up a shrimp room in one of my extra upstairs bedrooms (completely normal right?). I had 7 20gal tanks, 1 29gal, and 1 10gal tank in that room at one point.In January of 2008 my roommate moved out and so the logical thing to do was turn that room into a shrimp room also. I had 8 more 20gal longs in that room at its peak.
While setting up the 2nd shrimp room (no pictures) I flooded my upstairs. I was filling a drilled 20 long and forgot to cap the bulkhead. To make things worse I was listening to my MP3 player at the time so couldn’t hear the water pouring out of the back. I dont’ know how much water was dumped before I noticed but I had over a gallon of water that dripped through the ceiling on my first floor.
A week or two after the first flood I was drip acclimating some blue tigers and forgot about them. The bucket filled up and once again started emptying on the floor. Probably had about 3 gallons or so out on the floor again. While it didn’t pour through the 1st floor ceiling like the the first flood it did discolor the ceiling.
I had been thinking about moving everything out into the garage because all that water (and weight) on the 2nd floor always worried me. How stupid would I feel if they broke through the floor. Water changes were also a royal pain because I had to bucket RO water upstairs. After the two leaks I knew I had to speed the move up. Below are outlines of the setup.
Setup Catagories- Completed between March and April of 2008
Floor - The first thing I did in the garage was get an epoxy coating on the floor. I wanted something I could keep clean so I could go in there with bare feet and not track all the dirt into the house.
Access - I had a garage service door cut into the wall so I could go directly from my garage to my back yard without having to go through the house.
Temperature control - I had another hole cut in the wall for a window airconditioner. With summer tempetures getting over 110F I knew I needed some serious cooling to keep the temp under control. The ceiling and back wall were already insulated when I bought the house. I used some Styrofoam garage insulation kits I bought at Home Depot to insulate the garage door. In July I decided to get insulation blown into the side walls to cut the electric bill and help keep it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
Electrical - To power the air conditioner, lights, airpump, and anything else I needed out in the garage I added 2 20amp curcuits with the help of Bill Southern. He helped me figure out what I need and wired it up out at the box. He showed me how to wire up each outlet and then let me use his tools. With his instruction I was able to complete the rest of the electrical wiring myself.
Water - Again with the help of Bill I got a hose bib installed in the garage. Luckily there was one already outside so we just had to tee it off and have another one in the garage. I also drilled a hole through the wall and put a drain so I could drain all the water from water changes outside into the back yard and use it to water my yard (and eventually to fill a pond ;))
Tanks - In an effort to get a large amount of water for a cheaper price I purchased 10 155gal stock tubs. These tubs were about $1/gal and are normally used for watering livestock. The huge water volume should allow for massive shrimp populations and much steadier water conditions then you could get in a smaller tank. I am also using glass tanks though nothing near the size of the tubs.
Racks - Originally I planned to build racks out of wood that would go above each tub and hold 6 40gal tanks. After a few weeks of trying to build a rack to hold some 20gal tanks I realized carpentry wasn’t my strong suit. I had looked into various types of shelving but I couldn’t find anything that would support the kind of weight I was looking for. My dad suggested pallet racks. I was able to find a place in Phoenix that sold used pallet racks. I purchased 4 10ft pallet racks. I would have a total of 8 shelves to use for the 4 racks. Each shelve would support 4000lbs!! This also allowed me to stack my tubs which saved me a TON of room.
And now some pictures 
Pallet racks before assembly
One of the racks assembled. You can also see the electrical work at the bottom of the wall.
Pallet Rack with tubs on it. Also note the generator on the floor in case the power goes out. The white pipe on the top is part of the air system.
Layout of Pallet Racks. You can see the 2x4's that go across the beams. On the right you can see the 3/4" particle board that was placed over the shelf. You can also see the garage service door that was installed and the insulated garage door. You can see more of the air system in this picture as well (white pipe)The white pipes are part of the air system. The shelf on the top right is where the air pump will sit. Before I had the pallet racks I was trying to figure out how to space all these tubs. You can make out the epoxy flooring, insulated garage door, the air conditioner, and the garage service door in this picture.
4 Comments
This is starting to look really good. I can’t wait untill you start shipping to Canada then i might get some shrimp hehehe
Wow, I thought I was reading my own Discus Hatchery setup story. I too set up an over-the-top Tenecor 120-gallon planted tank with Discus in 2002, complete with VHOs, UV, automated CO2, fertilizer metering pumps, all automated and housed in a custom stand and canopy I constructed (as cabinetry and finish work are my main hobby). The RO/DI drum in the garage, teed off the hotwater tank cold side, with the waste plumbed to the house A/C condensate drain pan in the attic. A never ending project, that I’m continually re-inventing, but have fun doing it. Have also come a long way from the clown-puke gravel and bubbling treasure chest tanks from back in High School.
Have been breeding Discus in a 6-tank rack system I set up in my bedroom, all manifolded to a common drain/fill setup that allows simultaneous draining then filling of all 6 tanks. The accidental water spillage still seems to happen, so that’s getting old. The garage may be the next re-location!! The wire rack systems from Home Depot hold three 20-gallon tanks nicely with no problem, but I do like the pallet rack idea. IKEA also has some nice square-tube, expanded metal, two-post, floor to ceiling rack systems I’ve been eying.
Then I bought the Cherry and Amano shrimp from AZ Aquatics last fall (2008) for my 120G tank. And they’ve been breeding like rats! At $6 each for the Cherry, I’m glad I didn’t buy any more than 4. I think they’ve even been interbreeding and created a hybrid Cherry/Amano. I had the same idea of getting a couple of stock tanks from the feed store and setting up a hatchery as well. That will be the next project! Hot up here too, so I’d definitely have to insulate the walls and ceiling of the garage, foam panel the door as you did. I taped, textured and finished the garage, along with the floor epoxy years ago for my woodshop, along with a couple more 20A breakers, outlets, and nice ceiling shop lights, so at least that’s done.
Keith
Elk Grove, CA (Sacramento)
Make sure you send me pictures when you get that sucker up and running. Amanos and cherry’s can’t interbreed :). Amanos need brackish to full strength sea water for their larva to develop. Cherry shrimp do not have larva and the young hatch looking like tiny adults and breed completely in fresh water.
You’ve got MTS like crazy! Nice looking shrimp room. What is the setup for filtration and how do you do your water parameters in the big grey tubs? That would be a good blog article. I’d also be interested to see if you have any “show” type planted tanks with shrimp?