I’ve got 4 shrimp in the tank and I’m now waiting for the tank to cycle. I’ve got some new gear on the way though; fresh test kits, a wavemaker, lights and more (couldn’t help myself!).

Parameters:
Alk: 13 dKH
Nitrate: 5 ppm
pH: 8

AquaClear 20 impeller on the left, and the new larger blades on the AquaClear 50 impeller in the middle.

I’ve owned a few of these AquaClear hang on back filters over the years and they’re really easy to modify. Just by changing the impeller to one from a more powerful unit increases the flow from 350 litres/hour to 550 litres/hour

After a bit of research I ordered an AquaClear 50 impeller (number 634), and a spare shaft in case (I didn’t end up needing it at all). It popped right into the pump and as soon as I switched the power back on it was clearly evident that flow was up 2 fold!

Shot a little video of this octopus.

He was actually pretty big!

And super aggressive attacking my net more than a few times.

I saw this shrimp move like a roach, it looks a lot like a pistol shrimp (but with 2 long claws).

Hands down the nicest star fish I’ve ever seen in a rock pool.

There were heaps of these big slugs too.

Collected some more natural sea water today and couldn’t help but do a spot of rockpooling, (which was one of my fave things to do as a kid!). It’s amazing what you’ll find in rock pools if you’re patient enough to wait for creates to present themselves.

Today I played with an octopus, who kept attacking my net as I was trying to catch shrimp!!! He was damn strong and almost took the net off me at one stage!