Above: One of my CRS enjoying the Hydrocotyle

Am feeling quite excited. Only 2 days till those eggs hatch (or dont)... well worth the wait.
One of the rams is continually guarding the eggs. The other one seems to be off to the other side of the tank. They had a squabble yesterday but seem to be okay with each other today.

Strange creatures they are.

EHEIM OPAL - Blue Ram Spawning Already?

Came home today from work to see the two Rams laying eggs.
I am a little confused as I thought they were both females.

I guess i have to wait and see if they hatch =p

Also the berried female shrimp has dropped at least half her eggs since I have acquired her. They are now more difficult to see.
From what I hear they go from black -> red -> grey -> clear
It seems she is the greyish stage.

Note: After reading online, i have realised it takes about 40 hours for these eggs to hatch. If they do not hatch in this time; it is likely that I may have a couple that may have confused one another for a male. Fingers crossed. I'll update the blog as soon as they hatch.

CRS caught mating?

above: my baby ghost knife

I did a 20% waterchange for my Shrimp tank today.
Soon afterwards they got really excited and started dancing all over the place.
I think one of the females may have released a sex pheromone.
Anyways I caught one of the males in the act on video.

Not sure exactly what he is doing but he may be trying to mate with the other CRS.
Anyways no more waterchanges for another 2 weeks until the pregnant female hatches those eggs she is carrying.

Click here to see the video

EHEIM OPAL - NEW FISH

I got the following new additions to my 180L today.
1. 2x Blue Rams
2. 2x Clown Loaches
3. 1x Ghost Knife

The clown loaches are a bit skinny but soon enough Ill fatten them up =)

Update on Riccia

Remember this old picture to the left? I am surprised to see how fast Riccia really grows with good lighting.

SHRIMP TANK- Berried Female Purchased!

Here is a pic of my berried Crystal Red Shrimp.
The others are still too young to berry but this one was
picked up from my LFS and has survived a 6 hour trip back home.
Lucky!

Parameters
My shrimp tank's water parameters are currently close to perfect and hopefully will stay that way. My water parameters are:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0 to 5
pH - 6.4
kH - 1
Unfortunately I am losing a battle with green spot algae. I am currently not injecting CO2 into my tank because i dont wanna stress out my berried shrimp.

Enter the EHEIM OPAL 100 3FT 180LITRES

HUGE update.

Firstly I apologise for not updating my blog for the past week.
I recently acquired a newly purchased EHEIM OPAL aquarium.
It is an absolutely beautiful tank with low iron starfire glass.
I have sold the 90L mountain scape.

Here are some specs
New range of quailty Eheim tanks for the hobbyist.
Some features that set these above the rest :
Starfire glass for ultra clear viewing.
Waterproof T5 light systems incorporated into the hood.
"Air flow " technology which allows air exchange to prevent water condensation.
Soft closing doors,anti-slam hydraulic hinges.

In addition to the tank; I was lucky enough to purchase a BERRIED crystal red shrimp from my LFS =) It has successfully survived the journey home without losing its eggs. It stayed in its bag for approximately 6 hours so i am quite surprised.
I will take some pictures of this shrimp later.

Water has cleared

The water has finally cleared and again I am awaiting a plant package from
Rob AKA Anonymous.
Mini pellia / flame moss.
Bobitis
Java fern
Narrow Leaf Java fern
Rotala rotundifolia
Staurogyne Tropica
Didiplis Diandra
Hydrocotyle

I have done the following things today:
1. Seachem Purigen placed intot the 50L shrimp tank canister filter
2. Moved my albino pleco "Ugly" into the 90L mountainscape tank.

OMG rescape!

Above left: Nothing like a good afternoon trying to rescape the 90L aquarium. Frustrating and Fun.
Ill post another pic when it all clears up!
Above right: My shrimp home is complete (carbon cylinders topped with Peacock moss).
However the shrimp seem to be ignoring it grrrr.
What a waste of money!

The following changes have been done to the 90L tank mountainscape.
1. Rocks moved closer together
2. Heater moved out to the side where less visible
3. Filter moved to an area of less visibility
4. Sloped the gravel higher to the right and towards the back
5. Adjusted rock positions.
6. Planted some remaining HMs.


Ive moved my 2x SAE to the larger 90L as they seem to be chasing and stressing out my shrimp. Mr Ugly albino pleco - ure next!

NEW 90Litre tank fitted out

I have spent the day shopping. My new tank is now fitted out with new gear and filled.
The light in the 90L will always be pinkish due to a different spectrum of light.
Anyway here is a list of gear i have purchased.

1. Another EHEIM 2213
2. Another Jagar 125Watt
3. Three rocks. One large and two small.
4. Also purchased carbon cylinders for my CRS tank. Will post pics of this later.

The Brave CR Shrimp

LINK HERE

Click link to see a video of a Crystal Red Defending his wafer from "Bully" my SAE

New TANK! Finally separating the CRS from the Fish

Above: "Rocky" the larger Hillstream Loach is quite happy to sit on his favourite rock all day. Sometimes I get a little worried as he doesn't have any interest in wafers unlike the smaller Hillside loach "Cutie".

I have a new tank!
After careful consideration. I have decided to keep my CRS but in a separate aquarium!
This means I can keep all my fish including my Siamese Algae Eaters. The larger tank will mean increased stocking rates.
The tank I recently acquired is an Aquaone Aquastyle 620 Curved Glass Aquarium.
It is in the process of being filled up with gravel. (will post some pics later on).

Here are the specs:
• 62x39x52cm.
• 90 Litres Capacity.
• Black finish
• Seamless front and side glass creates optimum viewing

My plans are to do the following:
- Move all existing fish to the Larger Aquaone tank
- Leave the CRS in the 15gallon 50L and get them to breed
- Move some of the existing plants to the larger tank

I have also recently purchased the following fish
- 5x pygmy corydoras

I have finally also got my water parameters under control in my 15gallon.
Measured ammonia today is 0mg/mL

Bye Bye CRS

Above: The moss has been identified to be peacock moss. It is settling nicely

I have been having a think about my CRS. They have really been a chore to keep alive.
Luckily none of them have died through the ammonia spike.
Although they are beautiful to look at; I do find them a little boring as all they do is eat.
Maybe ill get some more fish to spice up the entertainment a little
However most fish are not compatible with the shrimp so they may have to go =(

I am considering on getting one or two of the following fish for my tank in future.
1. 2x Pakistani Loaches
2. 2x Coryodras
3. 2x Cichlids

Unfortunately the larger SAE will have to go (maybe bully) to help with stocking rates

Riccia Carpet Mess

Woke up this morning to find the Riccia had fallen off the driftwood and made a complete mess of the tank. Stupid %@#$!
Took out the driftwood again and tied down the Riccia with green netting this time. I had to cut up my net to do this but i think it was worth it. Doesnt stick out as much as the red onion nets

Parameters this morning:
Ammonia - 0.6-0.7mg/L
Nitrite - 0.25mg/L (crap)
Nitrates - 20mg+/L

Hiding Equipment

1. Changed the filter intake cover to green and made it less visible
2. Moved the pipes and made them less visible.
3. Moved the heater towards the bottom behind the driftwood so that it is not as distracting.
4. Removed the stones.
5. Removed the netting from the Riccia exposing the carpet.
6. Black backing paper to hide wires behind the tank

Also took a huge risk today and removed the internal filter. I moved the sponge into the external canister. Immediately afterwards I realised there was a nitrite spike of 0.25ppm so ill have to check it again tomorrow.

Before and After

The Banana Lily has really taken off and since i've trimmed one of the stems reaching the surface, it is now shooting another 2 stems upwards. Ive taken a pic of it so that it may be compared to the other stems.
The Riccia carpet is also taking off but flaking small bits of Riccia in my tank. It does look very nice though. It needs to cover that mesh =p I shouldve chosen a green one

I gotta give a name to that other Borneo Sucker. He really likes that large rock. Hmm i might name him Rocky.

Anyways im off to my LFS to get my water tested and compared to all my kits. My ammonia is still showing about 0.5-1 ml/L and i get the feeling it is the ADA soil that is leeching it into the water. Still applying Seachem Equilibrium daily.

New PLANTS!!

Firstly the good news
Thankyou Victor for the following plants
1. HC (ive planted this towards the front of the tank)
2. Staurogyne (not sure what to do with this one)
3. Tiger Lily (pruned roots and leaves and planted in the middle)
4. Xmas / Peacock Moss? (lovely moss. Ive attached this to the top of the driftwood)
5. Some unknown red stems (planted behind the riccia carpet to provide some contrast)

I know the white pebbles look really ugly. But ill just have to ignore them for now because they are in there for only one purpose. To hold the Christmas / Peacock moss down.

I cannot believe it. I cannot seem to be rid of this ammonia. It must be leeching from the soil.
Today my parameters are:

ammonia 1mg/L
nitrites 0ppm
nitrates 20ppm (aargh! even after a 33% water change)

I have done the following things today
1. planted planted planted more and more again
2. water change 33%

Getting on top of the ammonia

The above is an update of the whole picture of my aquarium.

Currently I am having to do large water changes to get on top of the ammonia spike.
I have managed to reduce it to 0.25ml/L.
Nitrites are still high at 20ppm.

I got some seachem stability today and I will be double dosing until things are stable again.
Now awaiting my Tiger Lotus.