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.

RESCAPE #4

Above: Rescaped my aquarium again and now it looks a lot better thanks to Astrosag from Planted Aquariums.

Sad to say guys that my Blue Ram eggs didnt ever make it. They never hatched and instead turned white. After reading a bit online, I think I had 2 females instead of one male and one female. Therefore I made a purchase of a Stud Ram called "Tommy".
He is a little shy now so I will post his pics up later when he stops hiding.

RESCAPE #3

I did a rescape on my EHEIM opal.
Basically I tried to create a focal point and divided my ambulias down the middle. I also moved the red stems to the side a little. Still needs a lot of work though.