fluval spec

[stonedaquarium]

hi guys,

there is a sale on the fluval spec at PJS richmond... and i was looking at it for a CRS tank.... as my CRS does not seem to breed well with my PFRS and yellows so i am thinking of having it only as a CRS only tank... and maybe some blue rilis.. lol.. just want get some feed back on the fluval spec as for shrimp keeping? anyone have experiences with it?

Thanks

[BelieveInBlue]

Never tried the Spec, but wouldn't it be easier (and cheaper) to just buy a used 10/20g kit off someone? You could probably get a heater, filter, tank, hood, and lights for under 100 dollars.

[Morainy]

I haven't tried the Spec but it would probably work well. Why not try an Ebi, though? Four times the size. Or one of the 4 gallon Eheims that Atom has?

I like the Spec, though, and hope to set one up one day. I bought one to donate to a school fundraising auction and bid on it but didn't get it, lol.

[spit.fire]

You can pick up fluval shrimp tanks for 100$ in stores if you keep an eye out, just don't step on the glass top like I did

[Captured Moments]

I have a Fluval Spec and I have cherry shrimps in there with plants in there as well. The filtration is good.. I just add a bit of filter floss on top of the sponge to add extra screen to reduce possibility of maybe tiny shrimps passing through the grid at the top and into the filter compartment. I have quite a few baby cherry shrimps in there now.
It doesn't come with a heater so you need to think about a small one (maybe a Hydor mini) if you want to heat the water otherwise with the LED light and pump running, in a cool room where mine is, the temp is in the low 70's. F

It's only a 2 gal so you are not going to be able to keep tons of CRS in there but the Spec is perfect for a desk right besides me when I am on the computer typing like now, like allways spending time on my computer...

[Tarobot]

i had a spec and over 200 cherry shrimp in it the main issue are the baby shrimps climbing into the back filter foam part and it's impossible to get them out and you worry about whether or not they'll survive in there is why i stopped using the spec for breeding.

[stonedaquarium]

I have a Fluval Spec and I have cherry shrimps in there with plants in there as well. The filtration is good.. I just add a bit of filter floss on top of the sponge to add extra screen to reduce possibility of maybe tiny shrimps passing through the grid at the top and into the filter compartment. I have quite a few baby cherry shrimps in there now.
It doesn't come with a heater so you need to think about a small one (maybe a Hydor mini) if you want to heat the water otherwise with the LED light and pump running, in a cool room where mine is, the temp is in the low 70's. F

It's only a 2 gal so you are not going to be able to keep tons of CRS in there but the Spec is perfect for a desk right besides me when I am on the computer typing like now, like allways spending time on my computer...

capture moments... how did you stuff it with filter floss? does it not slow down the flow? basically im planning to use it for a CRS only tank... about 20 CRS and all moss, ferns and anubias. I dont plan on running CO2 in the tank as i want to get the parameters right for breeding CRS.

[Captured Moments]

The Fluval Spec has an additional bypass inlet lower.. that explains why the pump can still be running while doing water change, so the addition of floss to the top of the sponge if too restrictive would by design allow some of the inlet water to be taken in from that bypass port down below.. Personally I don't think the spec is a good choice for shrimp breeding especially if you are doing CRS.. cherry shrimps I don't care so much is I loose of the babies and they manage to get behind and stuck and die, etc.. I am not looking at a 100% survival rate in my cherry babies.

[stonedaquarium]

managed to swing by king eds awhile ago to get an ocular on the spec... It seems ok... the only concern would be the top part which capture moments and tarobot mentioned that could possibly cause some problems with the shrimplets getting sucked in.

Im not the most handy person out there so this might just be a wild guess... it seems if you filled the intake part with some more foam filters and place some filter wool infront of it seemed to be enough i think ( which i may also be wrong lol) to prevent the shrimplets from getting sucked in...

Visually observing it it the foam portion seemed to be the same size as two foam filters of the AC20...