Low Tech Tank 10g Chrome Metaframe

[*Ci*]

I found a pristine 10g chrome Metaframe tank and I think I would like to set it up as a low tech shrimp habitat with mosses, epiphytes and maybe some kind of carpet plant like pygmy chain swords or crypt parva.
The original hood holds an incandescent fixture for two bulbs, so I’m wondering if these led bulbs would be sufficient for my needs:

Amazon.ca

I will probably choose a simple black background and black sand or fine gravel, although I do have a bunch of used, but dried out ADA aquasoil, if that would be better.
I’m squeezing this tank into a crowded room on an antique table, which I think I will sore up a little bit first. I have virtually 0 kH and gH tap water so I can easily adjust it for any shrimp variety, but I have not chosen the perfect ones yet : )

So happy to have a winter project going!

 

[Art]

Well that does look like an antique! I even see the under gravel filter pipes there. Of course, the incandescents give away the age. Nice find!

Can say much about the bulbs except try them. However, be careful with the housing. Not sure how water proof things were back then.

 

[*Ci*]

I decided to get a Current Satellite Pro LED fixture and hide it under the stainless hood. It is the same brand as all the ones on my other tanks, which I am most familiar with. I also ordered an Oase Filtosmart canister filter, with a built in heater. I know neocaridina shrimp like cooler temps, but I want options.
I’m debating doing something creatively tacky with this tank - I’m thinking of a park-like shrimp playground … with a hairgrass “lawn”, moss trees:


Stone lined paths made of lava beads:



And shrimp hide play equipment:





Will keep updating as ordered equipment arrives and the set up commences!
I will also be looking for ideas for other plants as “shrubbery” that will work well in this setup - no c02, but light intensity can be adjusted.

 

[*Ci*]

I finally received some of the stuff I ordered from Amazon. I built a wall out of the lava beads to line the “path”, by superglueing them together. But, after the fact (>rollseye<) I read that CA glue actually doesn’t hold up over time under water, so I coated the whole assembly with resin. I also built a little “fire pit” to hold food or maybe mineral rocks for the shrimp.

The tank is cycling right now with ADA aquasoil, an Oase Filtosmart 100 with a spraybar across the short end, a Current Satellite Pro plus light fixture mounted up inside the chrome hood (after removing the incandescent fixture. I found a beautiful piece of art glass for the background which has a light on a time behind it for a nice sunset-y glow when the main lights go off.
The little trees will have Christmas moss growing on them and I‘ve ordered hairgrass and some other plants , arriving later this week.
I’m leaning towards Caridina shrimp and am contemplating an RO unit to reduce the high phosphates in my tap water.

Will update when the tank is planted!

 

[FrankZ]

I can’t wait to see this grown out. That pathway is great!

 

[Burr740]

Man I love these old meta frames. My grandmother had one when I was a kid, and then later my decade long career as a sheet metal mechanic gave me a special affinity for them

That one looks in mint condition. Is it an old original one or some kind of replica?

 

[*Ci*]

That one looks in mint condition. Is it an old original one or some kind of replica?

I don’t know - it does not have a slate bottom, but was reglazed at some point with clear silicone (the originals had some kind of black tarry goo), so the bottom might have been replaced. The Chrome (or actually stainless steel, I believe) is perfect, but the glass is more scratched up than I thought after I bought it. Looks okay enough with water in it, though.
My father had all kinds of metaframe tanks when I was a kid (the 60’s), so they are tré nostalgic!

 

[Burr740]

I believe youre right, its polished stainless steel iirc. Have you tried putting a magnet on it? They wont stick to *most stainless steel.

*except late model refrigerators. And it has to be a regular old magnet not the suped up neodymium magnets like come with knife holders and that sort of thing

 

[*Ci*]

The magnet does not stick : )
I came across these two articles of interest.

General overview of vintage stainless tanks and resealing them:
Stainless Steel Slate Bottom Aquariums

And a post on Pemco Aquariums with old magazine article on their manufacture:
The Illustrious Pemco Aquarium

In the magazine reproduction there is an ad for Pemco hoods which look exactly like mine, plus it appears that Pemcos were made with glass bottoms from at least 1948.. My tank is not stamped with any company logo, but it’s looking more like a Pemco than anything.

 

[*Ci*]

I received my initial plant order yesterday. I tried to choose plants that seemed to be ok with no c02 and cool temps. I’m setting the heater to 70F to get the plants started, but plan on turning it off when it’s time for the shrimp.

Eleocharis pusilla - left hand ‘lawn’
'Vesicular montagnei 'Christmas Moss’ - on the trees
Hydrocotyle tripartita - on the back and sides, right hand
Shinnersia rivularis 'Weiss-Grün - back right corner
Gratiola viscidula - will be a ‘hedge’ on the back and sides, left hand
Subwassertang - on an ss screen on the right


The dwarf hairgrass was a lush tissue culture and I intended to plant tiny pieces, evenly spaced … but quickly lost patience, lol! So, I unravelled the clumps into long narrow strips and used lead plant weights bent into U shapes to hold them down.
I can’t seem to edit out the intense glare on the white pathway gravel. I guess I need to fiddle with the light settings, but that’s a bit of a bother just for a photo. Anyway, the Shinnersia is already melting, and I expect some of the others to follow suit, so it will probably look a lot worse before it gets any better!

 

[*Ci*]

Today I had an RO unit installed, mainly for use on this tank, but also for drinking water.
I went with a super delux model - it’s tankless (cleaner, less maintenance), electric (which makes it pretty fast) has no remineralizing cartridge, does 800gpd, has a built in uv sterilizer and tds meter on both the under sink housing and the faucet. It has an amazing 3gal pure to 1gal waste ratio.
It cost a lot, but money … meh! I got a plumber to install it because I needed a hole drilled in my sink and a couple of other small plumbing issues to take care of.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

 

[*Ci*]

The Shrimp Playground is still showing ammonia and nitrite. To my amazement, none of the plants melted. The Shinnersia is growing well, and the others are hanging in there with not much growth but signs of rooting. I added a couple of tiny red tiger lotus bulbs that were fading away in my other tank. And I have yet to see a speck of algae.
I had the heater set to 70F to lessen the shock for the plants and am turning it down one degree a week, and then maybe off for good, since this will be a Taiwan Bee shrimp tank.

 

[*Ci*]

The Playground is officially cycled! I added squeezings from my established filters, which definitely helped speed things along. I built the arbour using unfinished craft sticks of unknown species (the skinny slats are bamboo, the posts were just labeled “hardwood’). I’ve read that the original Gorilla Glue is waterproof once cured so I used that, with clamps ... I guess we will see if it holds up over time.
I soaked the arbour in a bucket for a week, but it’s still floating, so there is a rock on top. I’m hoping the wood will darken and even grow some algae, eventually.

The Hydrocotyle tripartita has grown enough to start climbing the arbour. Moss is filling slowly and I’m finding that the trees are hard to keep perfectly upright. The subwassertang is lush, the dwarf hairgrass is ok, but not thriving I would say. The tank is at a steady 65F with the heater on the lowest setting, gH adjusted to 6dgH, pH is 6.6, kH at 0.

I am going to keep adding 2ml of ammonia every day and let the tank mature further before I purchase the shrimp (caridina). No sign of any algae yet.

 

[*Ci*]

Today my Caridina shrimp arrived!
10 Blue Bolts
6 Black Pandas
4 Shadow Pandas (black and blue)

They will interbreed and produce all 3 varieties (in fact, the Shadow Pandas result from crossing the other two).
I’ve been adding Bacter AE which is supposed to help build a biofilm, and I adjusted my parameters to exactly what the breeder was keeping their shrimp at. All the shrimp survived the overnight shipping across the country, and seem to be doing well. I drip acclimated them for 2 hours before adding to the tank. They are very small!