SHRIMP TANK - Super Superb SS

Here are pictures of my SS shrimp as promised. Not the best pictures but ill post some better ones up in the future when they have settled in more.
Its time for another cull, a few more will be going into the cull tank.
Hopefully Ill get some SS babies soon =)

SHRIMP TANK - Beasty Setup

Well, as I promised here is a picture of the shrimp tank with the chiller and canister setup. The chiller is a beast. It is just so huge. The cut off temp is calibrated at 27 degrees. This will protect my shrimp against heat waves and provide some security against mass losses during the summer. I have just invested too much money in these shrimp to see them die.

I will post some pics of the SS shrimp in the next few days. Have been so busy the past few days.

SHRIMP TANK - SS No Entry Crystal Red Shrimp

Above left: A grade is almost due to give birth to more shrimplets. By the calendar she is due today or tomorrow. She berried on the 7th September.
Above right: Another picture of her and her eggs.
Below left: New SS no entry. Colour is a little translucent as it has been added to the tank 5 minutes ago. Will post another pic again soon.
Below right: Black shrimplet. Wonder what grade it is... probably an A

Went down to my LFS today and got another 2 crystal reds.

They were expensive (for SS no entries). Anyways, recently i've noticed small black shrimplets in my tank which I am happy about. Enjoy the photos!
I have counted 4 berried females which means the one that had shrimplets recently has already berried up again. Its like a shrimp explosion in my tank. I think I have counted at least 11 shrimplets so far and another 10 at least are due tomorrow.
The female A Grade (my largest female) is due today and she can barely move because is chock a block full of eggs. I think she has dropped none since she berried up. When she moves around the tank she falls on her side a lot LOL

EHEIM OPAL - New plants

Got some new plants today.
1. Proserpinaca Palustris - 3 stems
2. More Staurogyne tropica clippings

Also rearranged a few plants in my tank. Hopefully for the better.

SHRIMP TANK - Tiny Shrimplets 1 day old

If you look carefully at the two pictures above you will see two baby shrimplets. The one on the left leaf is a day old and the one on the right is approximately 2 weeks old (see previous threads). The day old one appears to be black in colour

The A grade shrimp in the above picture is the mother of the larger baby crystal red shrimp in the picture below.

I recently bought a chiller for the shrimp tank. It is the Hailea 150 (i think that is how you spell it). I will post some pictures of my Shrimp tank with the chiller setup tomorrow.

SHRIMP TANK - Some more photos

left: Pregnant female feeding upside down.
right: Baby CRS about 2 weeks old

Some various pictures of my Juwel Rekord Shrimp tank.
It seems one of my berried females has had babies sometime today. Ive counted 7 shrimplets in my tank so far.
Will post some pics up tomorrow.

EHEIM OPAL - Water Clarity Resolved

Above left: Tank has cleared
Above right: Riccia Pearling like mad
Below left and right: Java Fern forming plantlets

Tank now looks a lot better. The Biochem Zorb works really well. I might leave it in for a month before using a recharged bag of Purigen.

Another thing I have noticed today is the way Java Fern grows. When a leaf gets damaged it sprouts little leaflets and at first I was a little confused. After further reading, it seems you can just pluck those leaflets to propagate the fern.

You may notice I have green spot algae in my tank. It is a real pain in the arse. I have decided to leave it and let it grow out. Apparently after my tank is aged it will resolve itself.

EHEIM OPAL - Water Clarity Problems

The water has gone cloudy in my tank.
I think it may be caused by overfeeding.
To alleviate this i have done the following:

1. Dosed with Seachem Clarity
2. Changed carbon filter
3. Backflushed my canister filter and rinsed out sponges
4. Vacuumed gravel
5. 20% water change

The Seachem Clarity is very disappointing so far.
Not only has it made the cloudiness worse but it has turned the water brown. I am now relying on the packet of Biochem Zorb I put into my canister to remove the impurities.

Lets wait and see....

Now the good news: The Flame moss seems to be healthy but i heard it takes about a month to start growing upwards. I suppose we need to wait for that to happen too.

EHEIM OPAL - Complete Stock List

.

It has been a while since I have listed the plants and fish in my EHEIM OPAL so I have decided to do a post about how all the plants and fish are going. Ive only started the CO2 reactor a few weeks ago so the plants are beginning to grow in slowly now.
The Peacock moss is really taking off as well as the Ambulia.

I sell my plants regularly so if you need any just let me know. Drop me a comment. Can post interstate to anywhere in AUSTRALIA.

Plants:
Front left: (on the tile) Weeping moss
Front left: Staurogyne Tropica
Front left: Pogostem Helferi
Front left: Red Tiger Lotus
Front left: Anubias
Front left middle: Hemianthus micranthemoides or HM
Front left middle: (on driftwood) Peacock moss
Front left middle: (on driftwood arms) Christmas moss
Front left middle: (on driftwood long arm) Fire moss
Front left middle: Tricolor Lotus
Front left back: Ambulia spp. green
Center front: Glosso
Center back: Riccia
Center back: (on tile) Mini Pellia
Center middle: Hemianthus callitrichoides or HC
Center middle: Lilaeopsis
Right back: More Ambulia
Right back (little towards center): Baby tears
Right: (on driftwood): USS Fissidens (left arm)
Right: (on driftwood): Peacock moss (center arms)
Right: (on driftwood): Windelov Lace Java Fern, Narrow Leaf Java Fern and normal Java Fern
Right: (on driftwood): Java Moss (right arm)
Right: I think the red stem is Rotala Macandra
Right: Red Ambulia

Fish:
3x Siamese Algae Eaters (Bully, Smartie, Dummy)
2x Borneo Hillside Suckers (Rocky and Cutie)
1x Albino Bristlenose Plec (Ugly)
4x Corydoras Pigmaeus
3x Blue Rams (Male is Tommy)
2x Clown Loaches
4x Clown Killifish

SHRIMP TANK - Some pregnant shrimp Photos

Top: A Grade
Bottom: B Grade

Here are some pregnant shrimp photos taken on my iphone with a magnifying glass. The B Grade was berried in the beginning of September so she is due in about 5-10 days. (That is why you can see the eyes of the baby shrimp in her eggs).

The A Grade was berried on the 7th September so she is approximately 1.5 weeks pregnant and due at the end of the month. Her eggs are reddish brown.

Enjoy the photos.

EHEIM OPAL - New plants

top left: Pogostem Helferi
top right: USS Fissidens

Unfortunately the Blue ram eggs never made it. "Smartie" my boisterous SAE raided the nest and ate all the eggs.

Ive added 2 new plants to the aquarium today.
1. Pogostem Helferi
2. USS Fissidens

The Fissidens cost me $10 for 20c piece amount so hopefully it will grow out in time and make it worthwhile. The Pogostem looks awesome.

Another update on the shrimp tank. Saw the males dancing this morning. Came home after work to find another A grade pregnant. That makes 4 pregnant females =)

EHEIM OPAL - Scaping update

I have taken the Riccia off the driftwood and moved it to the back of the tank in the middle where the focal point is. I am preparing the driftwood for hopefully some Weeping Moss. Trying to acquire it has been difficult.

EHEIM OPAL - Blue Rams spawning again

The blue rams are spawning again, this time they have chosen the gravel to lay their eggs on.
I have now got a male so this time hopefully the eggs will hatch.
I expect the hatching time late afternoon Friday. Will keep you updated on how it goes.

EHEIM OPAL - Feeding Pigmy Cories

I don't know what it is with cories but they are real comedians!!
This one just wouldnt want to let go of his bloodworm LOL
Video tells all.

EHEIM OPAL - Close-up of my suckers

Top left: Rocky happy to be "King of his Rock"
Top right: Rocky keeping watch on Cutie
Bottom left: Ugly and Rocky looking pissed off
Bottom right: Closeup of Ugly

They all compete for that one smooth stone. However at the end of the day "Rocky" my largest male Borneo sucker wins. The albino bristlenose "Ugly" just cannot bother competing for the stone as she has better things to do. It is quite funny when Rocky decides to ram into her. Ugly just ignores him - must be the side armor.
During the day it's an ongoing competition for the stone, but at night the two Borneo suckers "Rocky" and "Cutie" can be seen sleeping side by side.


Above: Good night everyone

SHRIMP TANK - More Pictures of Pregnant Females

Here are some more nice pictures of some berried female crystal reds. You can actually see each individual egg. You can also see algae on my hairgrass =p

SHRIMP TANK [VIDEO] Dancing male shrimp

This is what happens when you do water changes and a female moults. She will release a sex hormone which makes the males go crazy looking for her. Here is a youtube video link of my tank captured during this event.

SHRIMP TANK - Shrimplets!

Above: Can you find the shrimplet? Wherez wally?

I was looking at my shrimp this morning and i noticed a small shrimplet! It wasnt any size I have ever purchased before so i called my wife to have a look. She discovered another one; this time it was TINY like 2mm long! It must have been from that female that had dropped eggs a week ago.

EHEIM OPAL - New Driftwood

I bought a new piece of driftwood the other day. It looks like a miniature tree. Spent all day today attaching small pieces of moss to it.

I also gave my Riccia a trim. I am planning to float it in the shrimp tank (the Juwel Rekord).

SHRIMP TANK - Three berried females!

top left: Juvenile Crystal Black shrimplet
top right: Juvenile SS+ no entry shrimplet
bottom left: Previously pregnant B grade
bottom right: Pregnant A grade - berried today

Major update time!

Yesterday I made the following purchases
1. Two SS+ No entry crystal red shrimps
2. Two S+ Crystal red shrimps
3. One Crystal Black Juvenile shrimplet
4. One Pregnant B grade female supposedly mated to a black male

Overnight one of the females in my tank (an A grade) moulted in my shrimp home and became berried! I now have three berried females in my tank! I suspect the added water from the newcomers may have caused her to moult and fall pregnant.
The shrimplets should be due at the end of this month!

I have also done a reading on GRADES and this is my understanding on the grades of shrimp.
C Grade - Mostly red few white lines or stripes. I find C grades hard to find in Sydney.
B Grade - As in picture below white and red stripes but white has red streaks through it and is not consistent.

A Grade - Evenly spaced White and Red stripes. White should be consistent and not splotchy or it becomes a B.

S Grade - Similar to A grade but white and red stripes but the colour should be intense and of higher quality. The color should be nice and opaque. The above picture could actually be an S grade but it was sold as an A. I think there is a grey margin between the two and interpretation is based on perspective.
S+ Grade - Here is where an S stands out to truly be an S grade. The red stripe just behind the abdomen is now in a V pattern instead of a rectangular stripe. There is more "white" than "red" on the shrimp due to this. Also the "tiger tooth" S+ would have a VV red pattern just behind the abdomen.

SS Grade - Single or double red circle on the back. The red circles are called "Hino's"
SS+ Grade - There is a red circle on the back separated by a white line. You can see this in the picture below.

SSS Grade - The body is white with a large or small Maru on the head.
SSS+ Grade - The body is white with a red "Mosura" Mark on the head. (crown / flowerhead).
SSSS Grade - Body is all white with minimal head gear. Only a few specks or dots.

All white shrimp are very rare. There are pure white breed of shrimps called Golden or Snow white shrimp that can be crossed with crystal reds or blacks to improve the white colouration.

Some more reading or pictures can be seen here:
http://www.planetinverts.com/crystal%20red%20shrimp%20grading%20guide.html

EHEIM OPAL - Riccia pearling

Above left: Shrimp tank - Juwel Rekord 50L. Atmosphere at night is incredible.
Above right: EHEIM OPAL - Riccia pearling.

I think my favourite plant at the moment is the Riccia. This plant pearls like crazy when the CO2 is turned up.