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

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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.