# Shrimp Tank - Juwel Rekord 60



## LondonDragon

Hi Guys, has some might be aware sometime ago decided to setup a shrimp only tank to see if I could breed some cherries and hopefully one day some decent Crystal Reds.
The Tank has been up and running for about a month and since over the past week I have noticed loads of little Cherries on my community tank, guess they are breeding well, caught a few and placed them on this tank, also managed to get 5 Red Crystal not very decent grade just want to see if they do well in the tank before I splash the cash on them.
Tank is no way finalized in terms of flora and scape, it was just bits and pieces I had laying around, just want to create a decent environment for the shrimp not really concerned how it looks as long it looks decent 

..::Juwel Rekord 60::..
Volume: approx. 54 Litres
Measurements: 61 x 31 x 36 cm
Lighting: 2x15w T8
Powerhead: Eheim Aquaball (circulation)
Temp: 25ÂºC
Substrate: 9l bag of ADA Aquasoil Amazonia II

.:Flora:.
Cryptocoryne Bullosa
Microsorium Pteropus
Vesicularia Montagnei (Xmas moss)
Vesicularia ferriei (Weeping Moss)
Taxiphyllum sp.(Flame Moss)
Anubias barteri var. nana
Monosolenium Tenerum (Pellia)
Staurogyne sp.

.:Fauna:.
6 Guppies (temporary, will be gone by next week)
15 Cherry Shrimp
5 Low Grade Crystal Red

.:Fertilization:.
TPN+ & EasyCarbo
At the moment dosing 5ml of each twice a week.

.:Maintnance:.
Weekly 50% water change

.: Photos :.




































Critics and Comments always welcomed


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## Mark Evans

*Re: The Shrimp Paradise - Juwel Rekord 60*

moss city....is that a moss wall? looks great londondragon. how long does it take to get moss to look like that?

ive never grown moss. thats something next on my list of plants to grow. im working my way through tropicas catalogue


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## TDI-line

*Re: The Shrimp Paradise - Juwel Rekord 60*

Nice work LD.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: The Shrimp Paradise - Juwel Rekord 60*

Some more photos taken today  I am finding more and more cherries on my main tank! 
Added another 6 to this tank today, they breeding like rabbits in the Rio 125 lol

Cherry:





Crystal Red:




















Amano Shrimp:





Thanks for looking


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## durtydurty

*Re: The Shrimp Paradise - Juwel Rekord 60*

Love the Moss, The Crystal red shrimp are great. 

Really really love the tank.


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## aaronnorth

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

nice tank, the right piece of wood stands out too much though IMO


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## tko187

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Hey another tank from LD, first i want to say thanks for the link to the site its great and very helpful indeed! It was your juwel 125 that i saw on PFK site and was so inspired to have a great planted tank. Loving it and for a 60 ltr it looks quite big, keep em coming, i will try n grow one of them walls just need to grow enough.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Thanks guys  comments always help to know what can be improved 

tko187 its nice you took up on the link, told you it was great here and you would get a lot of help 

As Dan would say!! UKAPS BABYY!!!!


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

looking groovy mate 

I wants some red shrimpses


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				Matt Holbrook-Bull said:
			
		

> looking groovy mate
> I wants some red shrimpses


When I breed some I will send you a few larger ones


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## tko187

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

How are you finding the ADA A/S, did you find it makes any levels go up, just wondering as i have bought the same, also did you use the powder form over the normal stuff or not? Just see a lot of people use this to make it look better as the A/S is quite large!! 

Yes im forever on here, wife aint too happy!!


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## John Starkey

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Hi,i love your setup its really nice i will try to do one of these sometime,i am still gettinig things together for my opti-white setup,regards john


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## LondonDragon

*Re: The Shrimp Paradise - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				saintly said:
			
		

> moss city....is that a moss wall? looks great londondragon. how long does it take to get moss to look like that?
> ive never grown moss. thats something next on my list of plants to grow. im working my way through tropicas catalogue


Missed this one! The moss was setup on the tank about 3 weeks ago, its growing pretty well, suprised by the growth and the lack of algae for now! If you want to try some let me know, I will have some weeping moss by the weekend.
Btw thanks for the cabinet info, managed to get one like yours delivered for Â£59.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				tko187 said:
			
		

> How are you finding the ADA A/S, did you find it makes any levels go up, just wondering as i have bought the same, also did you use the powder form over the normal stuff or not? Just see a lot of people use this to make it look better as the A/S is quite large!!
> Yes im forever on here, wife aint too happy!!


I haven't noticed any problems with the AquaSoil, and I didn't get any powder, just the Amazonia II. Looks good to me I like the larger grains and love the colour. Its always best to be here than looking at naughty stuff LOL so she shouldn't be complaining 

Thanks John, opti-white would be nice too, if not for the prices LOL


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## Mark Evans

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Missed this one!


its ok LD   




			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> If you want to try some let me know, I will have some weeping moss by the weekend.



Thanks, maybe in the future i could have some? towards autumn im looking at setting up a optiwhite 120 x 40 x 65, with drift wood etc and some moss would come in handy. not unless i set up my small tank just to see if i can grow it first :? 



			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Btw thanks for the cabinet info, managed to get one like yours delivered for Â£59.



your welcome.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				saintly said:
			
		

> Thanks, maybe in the future i could have some? towards autumn im looking at setting up a optiwhite 120 x 40 x 65, with drift wood etc and some moss would come in handy. not unless i set up my small tank just to see if i can grow it first :?


Just let me know when you want some, I am now growing Spiky, Weeping, Xmas and Flame moss


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Added a few more Red Cherries from the main tank, I just brush the net agains the moss wall and pick up lots of little Red Cherries, another 6 today and 5 yesterday


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## tko187

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Its always best to be here than looking at naughty stuff LOL so she shouldn't be complaining



Exactly lol


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## tko187

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

I love your moss, i have some in my tank but dont know if its the same as yours, its on a coconut, I also love the spiky moss in your other tank, what are the names of these as im gonna order some?


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				tko187 said:
			
		

> I love your moss, i have some in my tank but dont know if its the same as yours, its on a coconut, I also love the spiky moss in your other tank, what are the names of these as im gonna order some?


At the moment I have Weeping moss (wall on both tanks), Spiky moss (right hand side of main tank), Xmas moss (on the branch that makes a bridge) and Flame moss (on the right hand side of this tank), I can send you some weeping moss now if you want, and I will have Spiky moss in a few weeks time to send out again (sent to 4 people last week, so need to grow a bit more). Xmas moss and flame still need to grow and settle in the tank.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				saintly said:
			
		

> LondonDragon said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Btw thanks for the cabinet info, managed to get one like yours delivered for Â£59.
> 
> 
> 
> your welcome.
Click to expand...

Make that Â£49 including delivery  think thats a great deal!


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## tko187

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Thanks LD i would love some i dont know if its the same as i have in my tank on this coconut





ill p/m you with details. Cheers,also the spiky moss, is it planted in the substrate, ive never seen it like this, i thought it just attached to wood or rock???


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

That on the coconut shell is most likely Java Moss, the one I have on the substrate is attached to a rock, which as now been covered which forms a nice carpet


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Just a quick update, things are growing nicely on this tank, earlier in the week I moved this tank to the new cabinet and its settled quick nicely. Only been dosing 5ml per week of TPN+ and EC, lets see how this does. Haven't added any more shrimp to the tank, still hoping to get some Red Nose and some Sulawesi, maybe later in the week. Have also some good news about the CRS, see photos below.

Tank View:





Closer look:





Red Cherry Shrimp:





Now for the good news, two of my CRS are carrying eggs!!










Close up of the eggs:





Comments and critis always welcome, thanks for looking


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## Mark Evans

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

that moss is fantastic LD   gimme gimme....

mark.


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## steve2tanks

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Love the moss wall at the back looks really healthy,good look with the crs


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## a1Matt

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

awesome pics, especially the two showing the eggs.   Shoud I place a reserve order now for some CRS from you LD


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## Superman

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Congrats on the eggs.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Thanks guys, I have now spotted a third shrimp with eggs, so hopefully will have quite a nice number of them.
The idea is to then start sending them to forum members at little price, like a pound each or something to start everyone breeding them and then make them available to everyone.


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## spaldingaquatics

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Hi LD,

Well done on the crs that's great news,

People like you who breed them with the intention of supplying to increase the availability without making a huge proifit deserve a big shout out,

most people breed to make a huge profit 

but I respect people like you alot more, well done mate


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## JamesM

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

That's one of the best things about this forum - members are always willing to help out for little or no profit.

Thanks LD, and congrats mate  Your shrimp only tank is exactly what I wanted before I went plant mad  Good work mate


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## a1Matt

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				spaldingaquatics said:
			
		

> Hi LD,
> 
> Well done on the crs that's great news,
> 
> People like you who breed them with the intention of supplying to increase the availability without making a huge proifit deserve a big shout out,
> 
> most people breed to make a huge profit
> 
> but I respect people like you alot more, well done mate



I couldn't agree more


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## Dan Crawford

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

fantastic work mate, on the tank and the CRS. Happy days!


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## Lisa_Perry75

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Hi LD,
Tank looks great, where did you get the crystal reds from?


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Thanks guys, I just think Â£14.99+ for a CRS is a total rip off, Lisa I got mine at my local LFS for Â£3 each, they are low/non grade but I wanted to try to breed these before I splashed some cash on some proper grades and they look good anyway. I will see what kind of colouration I get on the offspring, will also get some bee shrimp (same as CRS just black and white).
Considering getting some Sulawesi as I have seen someone breed both Sulawesi and CRS in the same tank, but most claim they need different water parameters, I have my doubts concerning that, I might just get a batch of 10 from my LFS at Â£7.50 each and see how that goes.


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## Laffers83

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Superb work with both the planting side and camera side as always LD, the close up of the eggs is probably one of my favourate pics I have seen taken since I have got into fish keeping. 

I Have a friend in Sweden who is well into this shrimp and he has some high grade CRS and absolutely loves them, I'm sure you will to.  I may be getting a few of them shipped over to me at some point, to go in an 80l I am currently getting ready, if I can get them to breed I aim to do the same thing as you are.  Would be nice to be able to chip in somehow and help out the members who help poor, clueless planters like me!!

As Spalding mentioned, the amount you seem to give out to the forum in way of advice, plants and not to mention the promotional work you do )) makes you a real credit to the forum.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Thanks Laffers83  if you ever get a shipment from your friend in Sweden let me know and we could always go halves on postage costs if you live near enough London for local pick up. Cheers


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## Voo

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Looks like a really nice setup you've got there.
How did you make the moss wall? I tried one before but fish kept going behind it and getting stuck - i guess it's ok once it's grown in though.

Also, how often do you feed the shrimp?


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				Voo said:
			
		

> Looks like a really nice setup you've got there.
> How did you make the moss wall? I tried one before but fish kept going behind it and getting stuck - i guess it's ok once it's grown in though.
> Also, how often do you feed the shrimp?


Moss wall was created with a plastic mesh, you can see on the photo below, sits nice and tight against the glass so no danger to fish.






I feed the shrimp daily with high calcium pellets designed for crabs and crayfish.


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## passerby*

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

great tank, im really starting to like moss's cause of your tanks, the dark greens and black/brown colour of the substrate creates a nice mix of colours with in the tank.
nicee tank. Keep up the hard work....
cheers....passerby


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## johnny70

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Stunning tank mate, beautiful, love the moss   

As regards to the moss wall, how did you attach the moss to it? I have a ton of moss I want to do something with in a tank, my SAE always eat it in the big tank and my Laetacara always dislodge it in their tank   really frustrating, so I may try something like this for my cherries and crystals as they need a new hoem to carry on breeding

Cheers,
JOHNNY


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## TDI-line

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Great tank LD. Nice one.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Thanks guys 

Got some good and bad news about this tank!

The good news is that the Red Cherries have bred and now I have lots of little shrimplets swiming about. Some of them so tiny they are hard to spot.

The bad news is that my CRS are not doing so well, hardly see them in the tank and yesterday found one of the females that was carrying eggs dead, could be the high temperatures we are experiencing, the other day tank was running just over 30ÂºC
Two more were carrying eggs so just have to wait and see if anything come out of those, so far not keeping my hopes up.

Will try and get some photos of the tank at the weekend.


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

More bad news, got home today and two more CRS dead, another one carrying eggs  only have 3 left now and I can't find them in the tank  
The red cherries are ok though no deaths and shrimplets are doing fine!!!


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## johnny70

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Sorry for your losses mate   I too have had a real problem with my crystals, I have lost 5 large adults this last week, my temp hasn't got about 26c  for them, but good news mine have had some babies and I have mini ones zooming around the tank  

JOHNNY


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## JamesM

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

What about changing some water everyday to drop the temp LD? 

Or do you have any spare 12v pc fans you could hook up?


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				JAmesM said:
			
		

> What about changing some water everyday to drop the temp LD?
> Or do you have any spare 12v pc fans you could hook up?


Been doing that, but the temp shoots right up the next day, managed to get a fan today so going to hook that up and see if it makes a difference, also going to keep the tank hood suspended for heat to escape and only have one bulb on for the time being.


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## JamesM

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Good stuff, hope it work out for you mate


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				JAmesM said:
			
		

> Good stuff, hope it work out for you mate


Just think its a little too late for the CRS, only have 3 left now, think one of them still has eggs but I haven't seen any of them around the tank


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Well just had another look in the tank and the last female with eggs is dead too!!! So no hope now.... 
Anybody care to donate some CRS??


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## JamesM

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

Oh crap 

If it were the cherries I wouldn't worry - I lost 8 out of 10 back in March - I now have 60+. Crystals aren't something I'm going to introduce until much later. Fussy buggers 


Have a look on http://www.shrimpnow.com/forums/ - some people there have raised the eggs artificially after parents suddenly die...


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				JAmesM said:
			
		

> Have a look on http://www.shrimpnow.com/forums/ - some people there have raised the eggs artificially after parents suddenly die...


Too late, they been flushed!!! Going to wait until the heat wave is over then will get some more, might try Sulawesi instead!


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## aaronnorth

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*

How long has the tank been set up when you added the CRS


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## LondonDragon

*Re: Shrimp Only Tank - Juwel Rekord 60*



			
				aaronnorth said:
			
		

> How long has the tank been set up when you added the CRS


Couple of months, they were doing fine and even got the eggs while in the tank, until the heat wave!
Temp this morning with the fan was down to 23ÂºC, bit late to save the females though!


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## LondonDragon

Just a quick update, the tank is doing great and the red cherries are breeding just fine  this morning I counted at least 32 shrimplets that I could see. I haven't given up on the CRS, I should have a delivery on Tuesday of 15 to try again, I have kept fans on the tank now to keep the temps at around 23/24ÂºC.

Here some photos of my Cherries:











The shrimplets around a pellet:





One of the tiniest shrimplets in the tank on the flame moss:





Another female carrying eggs  on the weeping moss:





Thats all for now, thanks for looking


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## Themuleous

I see you've got proper millions of cherries as well, hey?  Mine have exploded in numbers since I got them, I'm half wondering how I'll stop them taking over! 

Sam


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## LondonDragon

Themuleous said:
			
		

> I see you've got proper millions of cherries as well, hey?  Mine have exploded in numbers since I got them, I'm half wondering how I'll stop them taking over!
> Sam


There is a "Sale" section on this forum


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## LondonDragon

Just a quick update guys, my delivery arrived today, been way to busy today, just managed to get some shots of them a few minutes ago, here are my new babies 

Full tank shot to start with, this is how the tank looks now:





My new CRS 




















To finish off another very tiny Red Cherry shrimplet:





Thanks for looking


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## Steve Smith

Lovely looking tank mate   Inspiring me to think about a shrimp tank again, seeing as my last one didn't really work too well...


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## aaronnorth

Tanks looking good, good luck with these ones


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## LondonDragon

SteveUK said:
			
		

> Lovely looking tank mate   Inspiring me to think about a shrimp tank again, seeing as my last one didn't really work too well...


Many thanks, the red cherries are doing great and breeding very well, just spotted a lot of new shrimplets yesterday, very tiny one almost naked to the eye, and a couple of female cherries with eggs so more to come.
Lets hope I can breed the CRS this time round, one of them was already carrying eggs so fingers crossed there. 
What happened to your tank?


Tanks Aaron


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## Steve Smith

My cherries died off over a few weeks.  I think it might be the dechlorinator I use (pond stuff).  I suspect I was using too much as it's very concentrated.  My amanos seemed fine in the same tank.


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## LondonDragon

SteveUK said:
			
		

> My cherries died off over a few weeks.  I think it might be the dechlorinator I use (pond stuff).  I suspect I was using too much as it's very concentrated.  My amanos seemed fine in the same tank.


Shame that was, my cherries doing fine even when I noticed temps over 30ÂºC but by the time I got the fan and did water changes and stuff was too late to save the CRS. Now with the cooler weather shouldn't have a problem (hopefully).


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## LondonDragon

Love my little shrimplets so here are a couple more photos 

Both shots on the Xmas moss:






This one with a little snail too 





The RCS seem to be settling in pretty well, with the fan going I can maintain the temp at 22/23ÂºC.

Thanks for looking.


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## LondonDragon

Well just a quick update, got some twigs and put it in the tank to break the mass of green lol
Here is the outcome, what do you guys think??? 





















Thanks for looking


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## planter

Love it ..... very dramatic . The twigs add a natural look.


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## LondonDragon

planter said:
			
		

> Love it ..... very dramatic . The twigs add a natural look.



Thanks, just thought it was getting too green


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## LondonDragon

Not much happening here other than the Red Cherries breeding like rabbits!! Last time I counted it was about 60 or more shrimplets in there of various sizes and the females are carrying eggs. The CRS are doing well to but so far no news on them breeding, I haven't seen the female carrying eggs since I put her in the tank.

Some photos: 




















CRS:

























Thanks for looking, critics and comments always welcomed


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## Ark

what are you planning to do with the babys i can take some off your hands for a healthy sum...

also what size are the holes in you plastic mesh for you moss wall as i wantd to try one but the smallest size mesh my local hardware shop has is 6mm i tried it with riccia last time but the riccia kept escaping through the holes

IMO tqigs look good it sort of looks like the edge of a bank of a river... did you have to treat the twigs before you put them in?


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## planter

Nice pics LD,

Eagerly awaiting your next post


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## aaronnorth

The twigs are great, perfectly positioned!

I like to all green tanks, if done properly it can look very good. not sure about the rock under the bridge though  :?


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## Thomas McMillan

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> The twigs are great, perfectly positioned!
> 
> I like to all green tanks, if done properly it can look very good. not sure about the rock under the bridge though  :?



If I'm honest, I don't really like that rock either, or the other one to the right. I just don't think they look quite right but it's still a great tank though, especially since adding the twigs!


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## aaronnorth

what grade are the shrimp?


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## LondonDragon

Thanks for the reply guys, I didn't plan anything for this tank to be honest, I just threw in everything I had laying around that was spare and just created a nice environment for the shrimp, maybe I should really sort out the rocks, get some proper stuff for this tank to make it better eye pleasing  the shrimp seem to love it lol 

Ark to answer your questions, I got the mesh of ebay, the 6mm seems fine, just attach the moss to the mesh with cotton thread don't sandwich it between two meshes, then you see no mesh and becomes a hit straight away thats what I did, otherwise you will have to wait about 8 months for the moss to cover the mesh, and the way I did it, it was covered on day one , regarding the twigs I didn't do anything with them, just threw them in.
The cherries will eventually be for sale to forum members at a cheap rate really, I was thinking 15 for a tenner, will see. Just have to find out some cheap packaging materials to make it worth it.

Have a suprise for this tank today, this morning I headed over to MA @ Morden to pick up some nice Cardinal Sulawesi shrimp, wow I just love them  brought 10 in the end and hopefully they will do well in the tank and will also breed. Here some photos of the new babies 

These were in the maternity unit, before I let them loose:















Now loose in the tank:



































Think thats enough photos for one day! lol  I will try and get better photos these are too good!


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## Mark Evans

oh dude im jealous. i want nice shrimps. 

actualy you might be able to help. 2 weeks ago i had 3  up the duff shrimp. there now dead! the others that werent pregas are fine. is this normal?


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## Ark

those shrimp look great my local MA has them to baby ones Â£2.50 each,
how many shrimp do you have in total now?

Are the twigs ones from the garden? if so do they have to be completley dead before you stick them into the tank so all the moss and stuff on it has fallen off...

how long did you cycle the tank before you put the shrimp in cuz i read they are highly sensative to nitrates etc..
i am in the midst of setting up a nano cube and want to keep shrimps.. could i use moss balls and amazon frogbit to speed up the process as they are good at taking in nitrates and stuff?


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## JamesM

Stunning LD! Hope they do well and breed mate!


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## aaronnorth

so tempting   

How much were they?


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## LondonDragon

saintly said:
			
		

> oh dude im jealous. i want nice shrimps.
> actualy you might be able to help. 2 weeks ago i had 3  up the duff shrimp. there now dead! the others that werent pregas are fine. is this normal?


These are lovely mate, but don't put them in a tank with CO2 or they will be dead very soon. PH needs to be 7+ too.
About your shrimp strange one, which kind were they? Amanos? Never seen that happen before, well except with my CRS when the temp went right up, I am now keeping the tank at around 23ÂºC



			
				Ark said:
			
		

> those shrimp look great my local MA has them to baby ones Â£2.50 each,
> how many shrimp do you have in total now?
> Are the twigs ones from the garden? if so do they have to be completley dead before you stick them into the tank so all the moss and stuff on it has fallen off...
> how long did you cycle the tank before you put the shrimp in cuz i read they are highly sensative to nitrates etc..
> i am in the midst of setting up a nano cube and want to keep shrimps.. could i use moss balls and amazon frogbit to speed up the process as they are good at taking in nitrates and stuff?


Â£2.50 for Sulawesi????? think they might have been cherries, if they are Sulawesi then go there and buy them all for me 
I picked up the twigs from the park while walking the dog, just pick up the dry branches that fall off trees then it will be fine, all the wood in that tank came home that way lol
I setup the tank for about two months before I added the shrimp, I used water and filter media from my main tank to help things along, because I used ADA Aquasoil I did 60% water changes every couple of days for 2 weeks, after that I added 6 guppies from my main tank and left it for two months, then got rid of the guppies and put in some shrimp.



			
				JAmesM said:
			
		

> Stunning LD! Hope they do well and breed mate!


Thanks mate, I do hope I can breed them, otherwise they will look nice anyway, and if they pass away then thats the end of Sulawesi for me 



			
				aaronnorth said:
			
		

> so tempting
> How much were they?


They just look amazing, the photos don't do them justice  they sell 3 for Â£21.


----------



## aaronnorth

> They just look amazing, the photos don't do them justice  they sell 3 for Â£21



not as tempting as before   I owuldnt mind paying if they were more hardy.


----------



## aaronnorth

do you add any calcium additives or is that just for snails?


----------



## LondonDragon

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> do you add any calcium additives or is that just for snails?


I feed the shrimp with calcium rich foods meant for crabs and crayfish, they love them


----------



## Thomas McMillan

wow, they're the sexiest bunch of shrimp i've ever seen.

with regards to the tank, i think it looks good that you just threw everything in, kind of like a jungle feel, especially with all of the mosses.


----------



## planter

Lookin good Paulo   

I think you will agree as good as your pictures are they still dont do these superb shrimp justice. Its not till you see those little white legs flashing away that you get to really appreciate them. Keeping my fingers crossed they do well for you!



			
				Ark said:
			
		

> those shrimp look great my local MA has them to baby ones Â£2.50 each,
> how many shrimp do you have in total now?



Which MA ?????? I will buy them all at that price too    (LD???????)


----------



## LondonDragon

planter said:
			
		

> Which MA ?????? I will buy them all at that price too    (LD???????)


Thanks Chris, they are trully stunning  they stand out so much too on the plants and the dark gravel just amazing!!!
I was first on those at Â£2.50, I will sell them to you at Â£4 each! LOL


----------



## steve2tanks

Those shrimp look so cool,i hope you get a nice colony of them going like your cherries


----------



## Ark

judging by everyones shocked reactions at 2.50 per shrimp im gonna have to double check them tommorow and make sure they wer in fact sulewesi ones they wer to small to tell the differecne


----------



## LondonDragon

steve2tanks said:
			
		

> Those shrimp look so cool,i hope you get a nice colony of them going like your cherries


I do hope so too mate, if they breed well then I will have to select a few users to try and build numbers up and make them more accessible to everyone. 



			
				Ark said:
			
		

> judging by everyones shocked reactions at 2.50 per shrimp im gonna have to double check them tommorow and make sure they wer in fact sulewesi ones they wer to small to tell the differecne


I would be suprised if they were, but if they are then its the bargain of the year


----------



## LondonDragon

Some more photos of the Sulawesi, they have started shedding their shells which I guess its a good sign, they go very light once they change them and can hardly notice the spots.





















Thanks for looking, comments and critics always welcomed


----------



## johnny70

stunning mate, stunning, put my pictures to shame


----------



## LondonDragon

johnny70 said:
			
		

> stunning mate, stunning, put my pictures to shame


Thanks mate, if you had a nice macro lens I am sure you could do the same


----------



## Fred Dulley

Nice shrimps mate. Not to mention the quality photos.
My Harlequins didn't arrive


----------



## LondonDragon

Fred Dulley said:
			
		

> Nice shrimps mate. Not to mention the quality photos.
> My Harlequins didn't arrive


Thanks Fred, shame on the Harlequins, MA @ Morden should have some next week, I am thinking about them lol
But I think I will setup another 60 liter tank just for the Sulawesi and leave the current tank just for the CRS and Cherries.


----------



## Thomas McMillan

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Fred Dulley said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nice shrimps mate. Not to mention the quality photos.
> My Harlequins didn't arrive
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks Fred, shame on the Harlequins, MA @ Morden should have some next week, I am thinking about them lol
> But I think I will setup another 60 liter tank just for the Sulawesi and leave the current tank just for the CRS and Cherries.
Click to expand...


LondonDragon's actually gone shrimp mad.


----------



## LondonDragon

Thomas McMillan said:
			
		

> LondonDragon's actually gone shrimp mad.


Shrimp are great little things and the problem is that they are too expensive, if a few of us could start breeding them on a regular basis and distribute them here on the forum, would make them available to everyone for a small price


----------



## LondonDragon

Hi guys, just a quick update of the tank itself, they shrimp are doing great, and the red cherries are breeding pretty fast, have little shrimplets all over the place, will have to get rid of some soon enough.
Few photos to see whats going on:





















Thanks for looking


----------



## aaronnorth

beautiful, the rock inder the arch is getting less noticable now


----------



## LondonDragon

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> beautiful, the rock inder the arch is getting less noticable now


Thanks, the rock is way at the back of the tank, just looked like it was right underneath the "arch".
I planted some willow moss at the front of the arch and the shrimp love it, cleaned it up in no time, but now its full of snails so no sure if they will eat it, time will tell.


----------



## Ark

i was wonderin wether i could use twigs and branches off an apple tree in my back garden snap em off and let em dry out

also if you ever trim you moss and need to get rid of it i bagsy first batch

ark


----------



## Thomas McMillan

I think this tank is looking much more pleasing now that the rocks are less noticable. I'll most likely be looking for some cherries when my 35ltr is ready in a month or so - I'll know where to come


----------



## LondonDragon

Ark said:
			
		

> i was wonderin wether i could use twigs and branches off an apple tree in my back garden snap em off and let em dry out
> also if you ever trim you moss and need to get rid of it i bagsy first batch
> ark


You can use the branches if they are completly dead and dry, then you just add them to the tank. I sent out so much moss last month that now it will take a couple of months to recover and get some more to send out, I always post it in the Sale section for donations.



			
				Thomas McMillan said:
			
		

> I think this tank is looking much more pleasing now that the rocks are less noticable. I'll most likely be looking for some cherries when my 35ltr is ready in a month or so - I'll know where to come


When you first add the rocks they are nice and clean and shinny, after a while they get some algae and stuff and become more integrated into the tank, all takes time  regarding the shrimp I will be looking for someone to send my first batch as a test run, so will most likely only charge postage and packaging costs for that  
Already have the breathable bags, now need to find some decent boxes.


----------



## Ark

put me on the shrimp list...


----------



## joyous214

I'll go on th shrimp list please!! either that or rent a van and nick your tanks.


----------



## LondonDragon

Hehe there is no shrimp list  Once available I will post it in the Sale/Donation section of the forum  
First come first served


----------



## LondonDragon

Haven't posted here in a while, only thing new here is the pile of Fissidens Fontanus that I took from the main tank to place here, no overall photos as the battery run out just some of the cherries on the f fontanus.
No breeding signs on the Crystal red or the Cardinals, but well over 100 red cherries now and yesterday counted at least 11 females carrying eggs!!





































Thanks for looking


----------



## tanker

i dont have experience of keeping shrimp but would like to set up a shrimp tank in near future. i've read that CRS and sulawesi shrimps prefer different kind of water parameters. 
CRS prefer softer slightly acidic water that aquasoil tanks usually provides
but sulawesi prefer harder and pH of up to 8. 

londondragon, u're keeping both kind of shrimps in the same tank, is there any sign of stress for any shrimps? it'll be nice to be able to keep both in the same tank really


----------



## LondonDragon

Tanker, keeping both species in the same tank is not a problem, however it might be when it comes to breeding, if the conditions are not optimum for both species one might not breed, both the Crystal and Cardinal are doing fine in the tank, I will see how both do in the coming months, if I see no breeding from either I will setup a tank just for the Cardinals.


----------



## joyous214

Nice new photos...! im just about to set up a shrimp tank im so excited...!!


----------



## LondonDragon

Just a quick update, was checking the tanks this morning before I left for work and feed the shrimp.
To my amazement I spotted a Crystal Red shrimplet  only saw one but looks like they are breeding 
They are so tiny and look amazing  I will try and get some photos.


----------



## joyous214

awww wow how exciting...!


----------



## LondonDragon

Some photos, didn't manage to catch the tiny CRS shrimplets, maybe next time 

The mass of Red Cherries:















Shrimplet on Fonstanus:





Mountain of Fissidens Fontanus, have to get some back in the main tank, thinking of creating a carpet with it in the shrimp tank 





Soon to start shipping out some cherries, I have all the packaging now


----------



## Thomas McMillan

Bloody hell, you must have gazillions of cherries! Any recent full-tank shots?


----------



## Fred Dulley

Nice pics, mate.
Woop, mail order shrimp is nearly here!


----------



## Ark

im in desperte need of cherries 
dont want to get off ebay

tell us when you put them on

are you only selling babies or are you gonna sell some bigger ones

Ark

do you breed amano's?


----------



## Stu Worrall

bloody hell! its a shrimp army. hopefully mine will multiply like that when i get some. pity the amanos dont do the same!


----------



## LondonDragon

Thomas McMillan said:
			
		

> Bloody hell, you must have gazillions of cherries! Any recent full-tank shots?


There are well over a hundred in there now lol regarding the tank I just been letting things grow, I haven't trimmed anything since I setup the tank, here a full shot:







			
				Fred Dulley said:
			
		

> Nice pics, mate.
> Woop, mail order shrimp is nearly here!


Thanks, I will be staring to send some out soon, if people can garantee they won't be in a tank full of large fish and make fish food 



			
				Ark said:
			
		

> im in desperte need of cherries
> dont want to get off ebay
> tell us when you put them on
> are you only selling babies or are you gonna sell some bigger ones
> Ark
> do you breed amano's?


I will only be sending out medium size shrimps, not tiny shrimplets and most likely some females with eggs too.
Amanos are a different ball game as they need salt water to grow the shrimplets, that would need a complete new setup.
I am trying to breed Cardinal Sulawesi in the same tank, will see how those do.



			
				stuworrall said:
			
		

> bloody hell! its a shrimp army. hopefully mine will multiply like that when i get some. pity the amanos dont do the same!


Yep cherries are not hard to breed given the right conditions 

Some more shrimp shots 

Cherry on the Xmas moss:





Closer shot:





Cherry on the Fissedens Fontanus and a snail, this tank is full of snails too:





Tiny shrimplet on the Willow moss:





thanks for looking


----------



## steve2tanks

That full tank shot looks good with all the moss, bet the shrimp love it


----------



## LondonDragon

steve2tanks said:
			
		

> That full tank shot looks good with all the moss, bet the shrimp love it


Yeah, its growing a bit wild though, I might give it a trim soon and also there is a pile of Fissedens Fontanus on the right hand side that needs sorting too, I just put it in there as it was getting some algae in my main tank, now its clean but full of shrimplets and snails lol


----------



## Thomas McMillan

I'm loving the overgrown look!

I've just realised how amazing it is, how different all of the mosses look close up.


----------



## steve2tanks

Yeah a little trim would look better with the moss sent to me  

Only messin mate,i like the over run look you have now


----------



## joyous214

wow     lovely tank, i love the wildness. and shimps everywhere wow!!!


----------



## sari

oh, that's a shrimp heaven! Is your water soft? :?:


----------



## LondonDragon

sari said:
			
		

> oh, that's a shrimp heaven! Is your water soft? :?:


According to some tests I have seen here Thames Water in London is hard, I haven't tested it myself.

A few more photos I took tonight when I got home from work:

Managed to catch the little Crystal Red, I have only seen one at a time, so not sure if its always the same one, as I was taking the photo it decided to swim away:






Another Crystal Red, very much low grade this one:





The Fissedens Fontanus, looking very healthy now in the shrimp tank:





A shrimplet enjoying the fontanus too:





The 3 species of shrimp I have in this tank:





Cardinals vary in colour when you just turn on the lights, some almost have no colour:





Cardinal trying to hide behind the Willow moss:





Another Cardinal:





Once again:





Apologies for bombarding you guys with all these photos, I will give it another break for a while hehe 
Thanks for looking.


----------



## Steve Smith

Gorgeous cardinals mate


----------



## vauxhallmark

Wow, those cardinal shrimp are spectacular!

Where did you get them, if you don't mind me asking?

Mark


----------



## LondonDragon

vauxhallmark said:
			
		

> Wow, those cardinal shrimp are spectacular!
> Where did you get them, if you don't mind me asking?
> Mark


Thanks, got them from MA @ Morden


----------



## vauxhallmark

Lovely - I was there last weekend - didn't see any of those though.


----------



## LondonDragon

vauxhallmark said:
			
		

> Lovely - I was there last weekend - didn't see any of those though.


I went there specially for them as I had reserved some and even then I couldn't spot them in the tanks, they are so tiny and not easy to see, next time you down there ask for Chris.


----------



## vauxhallmark

So how big were they when you got them - and how big are they now? Have you had any breeding success with them yet? Can't say I know about them, have to look them up. Presumably they won't cross with the other two species you've got in the tank?

I'm full of questions today   

Mark


----------



## JamesC

Beautiful. Great to see the fissedens doing so well.

James


----------



## joyous214

WOW


----------



## LondonDragon

vauxhallmark said:
			
		

> So how big were they when you got them - and how big are they now? Have you had any breeding success with them yet? Can't say I know about them, have to look them up. Presumably they won't cross with the other two species you've got in the tank?
> I'm full of questions today
> Mark


They were not big, just over a cm and they are not much bigger now, its early days for the breeding yet, they are young shrimp, I read somewhere they start breeding at 5 months old so not really sure how old they were when I purchased them, so I will give it a few more months and see, if by January I see no breeding I will get the Cardinals their own tank.
The 3 species I got don't cross breed, but I am now limited to these 3, anything else I had now will either cross with the CRS or the Cherries, Sulawesi species to what I read on many sites don't cross, but I have seen proof elsewhere that proves otherwise.



			
				JamesC said:
			
		

> Beautiful. Great to see the fissedens doing so well.
> James


Thanks James, its one beautifull moss


----------



## sari

I've managed to obtain some fontanus and can't wait  ! You have some beautiful shrimp, I have never seen cardinals before.


----------



## aaronnorth

would you want the lower grade CRS breeding with the higher grade ones? just thinking if you ever sold them on thats all


----------



## LondonDragon

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> would you want the lower grade CRS breeding with the higher grade ones? just thinking if you ever sold them on thats all


Not really fussed about grading, just got some to see if I can breed them, if I ever got some grade SS or SSS I would setup their own tank, would be worth the investment.


----------



## aaronnorth

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> aaronnorth said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> would you want the lower grade CRS breeding with the higher grade ones? just thinking if you ever sold them on thats all
> 
> 
> 
> Not really fussed about grading, just got some to see if I can breed them, if I ever got some grade SS or SSS I would setup their own tank, would be worth the investment.
Click to expand...


i would hate for something to go wrong, i dred the thought


----------



## LondonDragon

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> i would hate for something to go wrong, i dred the thought


Yeah I know, was pretty peed off when I lost all my CRS over the summer during the heat wave and they only cost me Â£3.50 each!


----------



## Fred Dulley

Just curious mate, but how many Cherries did you start off with?
Got 14 myself, no breeding yet I'm afraid  :?


----------



## LondonDragon

Fred Dulley said:
			
		

> Just curious mate, but how many Cherries did you start off with?
> Got 14 myself, no breeding yet I'm afraid  :?


I started with 20 in my main tank, they bred in there and managed to get about 25 to the shrimp tank when it was ready in June, there are well over 100 now.


----------



## LondonDragon

Few more photos, today did a major prune of the tank while I was watching the boring draw of Sweden 0-0 Portugal this evening, which finished moments ago. Have quite a lot of Weeping moss growing spare and trying to decide what to do with the pile of Fissedens Fontanus that I have left too.

These series are all about cherry females carrying eggs:


























Thanks for looking


----------



## Thomas McMillan

More females with eggs?! You really are trying to take over the world with a Cherry Shrimp Army, right?   

Any full tank shots after the prune?


----------



## LondonDragon

Thomas McMillan said:
			
		

> More females with eggs?! You really are trying to take over the world with a Cherry Shrimp Army, right?
> Any full tank shots after the prune?



I counted at least 16 cherry females with eggs today, and thats the ones I could see at the front of the tank hehe  I will get some full tank shots tomorrow once the water settles after the change and prune.

Here some more shrimp photos  






















Cherry Acrobatics!!





 uploading a few more maybe I will post them too hehe


----------



## LondonDragon

Might aswell post the last bunch lol 

CRS on the Pellia:





Macro of the Pellia:





Cardinal Sulawesi:















Thats all for now


----------



## aaronnorth

beautiful shots Paulo


----------



## joyous214

wow


----------



## LondonDragon

Thanks everyone  here a few more LOL

Here how the tank looks after a big prune of the Weeping moss:





Feeding time:















These shouldn't take too long to be born, you can noticed their eyes in the eggs:





"I feel over crowded in here, help me":





"Ok , I am making a run for it":





Thats all for now


----------



## Thomas McMillan

Soon the cherries will be overflowing over the water level and out of the tank!


----------



## JamesM

Paulo, is that o2 or co2 you're adding via the filters venturi?

Looking great mate, really healthy


----------



## LondonDragon

Thomas McMillan said:
			
		

> Soon the cherries will be overflowing over the water level and out of the tank!


LOL its not that bad, they were all at the front eating  Soon I will start selling a few cheap 



			
				JAmesM said:
			
		

> Paulo, is that o2 or co2 you're adding via the filters venturi?
> Looking great mate, really healthy


Thanks James, its O2, I leave it on 24/7  its good for the shrimp, specially the CRS.
There is no CO2 in this tank, no EasyCarbo and TPN+ only 5ml every two weeks.


----------



## joyous214

nice... very cheerful


----------



## LondonDragon

Well was playing with my close up filters today so took a few more shots 
No cropping in these photos, just a resize.

Close up of a cherry:





Another one similar:





Sulawesi Cardinal:





One more of the Cardinal:





Crytal Red Shrimp:





The 3 Species in the tank:





Thanks for looking


----------



## Stu Worrall

great pics there LD, that CRS is pin sharp!


----------



## planter

love looking back over this journal LD    A real inspiration. Surprised I havent seen a few more nano shrimp journals on the forum given all the nanos in stores at the mo.


----------



## beeky

Been any sightings of more baby CRS's?

I take it there's no news of the cardinals breeding?


----------



## vauxhallmark

Wow, I don't know if I'm more jealous of your shrimps, your camera, or your photographic skills!

Stunning pics - those Cardinals are looking great - you've had them a few weeks now. Did you have any losses? Are they still only 1cm? It's an amazing lens you're using if so - is it even more than macro?

Who's got eggs?

One last Q - how big were your Crystal Reds when they got eggs (and that one baby)? I reckon mine are about 16-20mm, including tail at the moment. they've been in the tank a month now. I bought six, but one died on the second day   . Now I've either got four or five (haven't seen five together, but haven't found another body), but some are beginning to look a little deeper bodied than others, so I'm hoping I've still got males and females. The bloody Amanos are always covered in eggs, but are too difficult for me to culture at the moment, so it's just a nice big free meal for the fish (and other shrimps I expect) every now and then. I haven't seen any eggs yet on the CRS, but your picture of them with eggs shows me what to look for. Their stripes are a bit more defined than your ones, so if I do get any offspring they can come to your shrimp heaven, and hopefully breed even faster.

Keep up the good work!

Your neighbour,

Mark


----------



## altaaffe

Great shots and great to see the shrimp doing so well.  Gotta love the shots of the Cardinal.


----------



## LondonDragon

Many thanks guys, so far no more breeding news from the CRS or the Cardinals, the cherries keep on breeding, had my first trial run of sending shrimp via the post to SteveUK all went well and will soon offer more for sale if people want them.

Mark many thanks for your comments hehe I purchased 10 Cardinals and usually see 7 or 8 together at the same time, but so far haven't seen any dead, the CRS purchased 15 also never see more than 7 or 8 together but again haven't spotted any dead, I haven't seen the little CRS in a couple of weeks, but I haven't been looking, been getting home every day at around 10PM so haven't had much time for the tanks, just feeding and water changes.

I use my old Konica-Minolta 5D with a Tamron 90mm macro lens and some close up filters for the extremely close up shots, I don't crop the photos, just resize, apply some USM and play with the curves, also use an external flash unit most of the time used wirelessly above the tank.

The Cardinals are bigger now, close to 2cm so are the CRS, don't think they grow much bigger, from what I have read CRS and Cardinals start breeding at around 5 months old, so early days still 

Amanos are a totally different ball game, and don't have the time or patience to breed them 

Thanks everyone for looking and for your feedback, thats what keep me going most of the time


----------



## LondonDragon

Just did a short video of the tank this weekend after the water change, don't know what happened to the quality of the video, after upload its became a little blurry.

Anyway here it is:  

Thanks for looking.


----------



## Steve Smith

Cool!  Loads of shrimp zipping about!


----------



## Thomas McMillan

Oh my god! I didnt' know shrimp could swim like that! There's gazillions of them. Really nice video too.


----------



## Themuleous

Haha thats mad!

Sam


----------



## LondonDragon

Thanks guys, they don't swim about like that all the time, but once in a while I find them all zipping about, its pretty cool to watch hehe


----------



## samc

wow uv got so many shrimps they look great how many did you start off with?


----------



## Egmel

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Thanks guys, they don't swim about like that all the time, but once in a while I find them all zipping about, its pretty cool to watch hehe


Apparently the males all zip about like that when the females are emitting a certain 'I'm Ready' hormone


----------



## a1Matt

Egmel said:
			
		

> Apparently the males all zip about like that when the females are emitting a certain 'I'm Ready' hormone



Much like us humans then


----------



## LondonDragon

Some news, yesterday was having a closer look at the shrimp to see what I could find and to my suprise, I saw a CRS with eggs and even more suprised was that I also saw a Cardinal with eggs  My calculation of around Xmas or January were spot on for them to start breeding 

This week I sent out about 75-80 Red Cherry shrimp and can't even notice they have gone LOL have to get rid of some more.

Hopefully in a few months time I can start sending out Cardinals and CRS shrimplets too


----------



## vauxhallmark

Woo-hoo!!

Get the macro lens out! 

Glad you've had a bit of good news.

Mark


----------



## Thomas McMillan

That's so awesome... Nice one! Keep us posted on the births


----------



## LondonDragon

Took the camera out but didn't catch any of the shrimp with the eggs this time, here is a full tank shot of how it looks at the moment, shrimp seem happy in it haha







Thanks for looking


----------



## George Farmer

Great little set up, Paulo!

You're really tempting me to set up a shrimp-only nano on my desk...


----------



## Superman

Keep up the good work Paulo.
I'm sure if your shrimp aren't happy, there's no hope for any of us!


----------



## LondonDragon

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Great little set up, Paulo!
> You're really tempting me to set up a shrimp-only nano on my desk...


Thanks George, everyone should have a shrimp only tank, they are great fun, this was setup more for the shrimp that the scape really, so lots and lots of mosses in there, also a good way to grow stuff to send out to UKAPS members, including the shrimp hehehe  
I am considering setting up one just for my Sulawesi Cardinals and then get another Sulawesi species in the tank with them and some Sulawesi snails.
I am considering what to do next with my Rio 125 as due to recent problems its not looking as I wanted, and it would be oportunity to replace the gravel, will see which comes first


----------



## Joecoral

Thats looking great LD! and congrats on the CRs/Cardinal eggs!
To save me trawling back through 18 pages, whats your fert/carbon dosing regime on this tank?


----------



## LondonDragon

Joecoral said:
			
		

> Thats looking great LD! and congrats on the CRs/Cardinal eggs!
> To save me trawling back through 18 pages, whats your fert/carbon dosing regime on this tank?


Well hardly nothing really, I dose 5ml of TPN+ when I do a water change, which is every couple of weeks, thats about it.


----------



## Joecoral

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Joecoral said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thats looking great LD! and congrats on the CRs/Cardinal eggs!
> To save me trawling back through 18 pages, whats your fert/carbon dosing regime on this tank?
> 
> 
> 
> Well hardly nothing really, I dose 5ml of TPN+ when I do a water change, which is every couple of weeks, thats about it.
Click to expand...


Is that all!?? It looks fantastic, everything looks so healthy!
Why can't mine look like that


----------



## LondonDragon

Joecoral said:
			
		

> Is that all!?? It looks fantastic, everything looks so healthy!
> Why can't mine look like that


And thats when I can remember to add it lol sometimes it goes a month without any ferts. Guess the AquaSoil does help.
I planted it heavy from the start with lots of mosses, java fern, anubias and couple of crypts. I only pruned it first time after 4 months, mosses grow nice and healthy and with so many shrimp I never notice any algae except in the flame moss on the right hand side below the themometer.


----------



## LondonDragon

Some bad news with this tank, I stopped seeing most of the Sulawesi Cardinals so did a clear up of the tank and removed most of the mosses and everything and they are all gone, packed up and left the tank! RIP!
Cherries have been breeding like crazy, I have been sending lots out over the last couple of months, I must have shipped around 300 so far, now have to wait until the little tiny ones grow before I can ship some more.
The Crystal Red are fine but still no luck with breeding, since the Sulawesi are gone I am going to lower the temp in the tank to encourage the CRS to breed.


----------



## keymaker

Sorry to hear about your Cardinals. Did you change anything in the tank maintenance regime? They were fine for months.

I did not see you mention it anywhere - do you use CO2 in your tank? I guess not.


----------



## Thomas McMillan

^ no co2 is used in this tank if i remember correctly, just easycarbo when paulo remembers 

such a shame about the deaths. at least now the CRS might have a better chance, eh


----------



## LondonDragon

keymaker said:
			
		

> Sorry to hear about your Cardinals. Did you change anything in the tank maintenance regime? They were fine for months.
> I did not see you mention it anywhere - do you use CO2 in your tank? I guess not.


Yeah they were doing well and even spotted one with eggs, nothing changed really and maintenance was done the same way. Might have been the numbers of cheeries that upset them, must have had in there over 250 at one stage, maybe more.
No CO2 or Easycarbo in this tank, only 5-10ml TPN+ at each water change.



			
				Thomas McMillan said:
			
		

> ^ no co2 is used in this tank if i remember correctly, just easycarbo when paulo remembers
> such a shame about the deaths. at least now the CRS might have a better chance, eh


Temp is now down to 22-23C which should encourage the CRS to breed, they are all still there, lets keep fingers crossed.


----------



## LondonDragon

Haven't posted anything here in a long time, I had some problems with the mosses in this tank, they started falling apart for some odd reason. Then I had some issues with the water becoming a little cloudy too, I have now fixed those issues and tank is looking good again and the mosses remaining are looking healthy. On the right side of the tank I am also cultivating Fissedins Fontanus, trying to make a wall of that, me and my walls! lol
This morning also spotted a couple of tiny CRS shrimplets, but at the same time a dead adult so will have to wait and see.

Some photos of what the tank looks like at present:



























I was bored so here a couple of where the tank sits in the room:











And on the other side Pixie was having a rest 






Thanks for looking


----------



## aaronnorth

bloody hell i didnt realise you had that many shrimp   

I like the last picture


----------



## LondonDragon

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> bloody hell i didnt realise you had that many shrimp
> I like the last picture


Hehehe and this is after I have shipped out around 300 to members of this forum.
As you can see Pixie was helping me out lol

Shame I lost my Cardinals, but that is not the end of me trying them, I will eventually set up another tank just for them.


----------



## George Farmer

Nice shots mate.

It's always interesting to see how folks' tanks fit into their living spaces.


----------



## John Starkey

HI Paulo,i absolutley love your dog,whats the breed called ? regards john.


----------



## LondonDragon

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Nice shots mate.
> It's always interesting to see how folks' tanks fit into their living spaces.


Thanks George, a few members have posted similar shots including yourself so thought I would post some too 



			
				john starkey said:
			
		

> HI Paulo,i absolutley love your dog,whats the breed called ? regards john.


Thanks John, its a Portuguese Podengo (smooth coat)  more info here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1514


----------



## Thomas McMillan

I have to admit, I preferred it before but if it wasn't working out then you gotta sort it  it's slowly growing on me though, at the end of the day this is just to keep and breed shrimp successfully so it don't matter what it looks like as long as it looks decent... which it does


----------



## TDI-line

Great journal LD, your shrimp army is great, and has given me a few ideas.


----------



## Themuleous

And I thought I had a shrimp problem! 

Sam


----------



## LondonDragon

Thanks guys  I had 4 Bosemani fry in the tank and when catching them some shrimp went in the net, the adult bosemani took care of them in no time LOL so I always have a backup solution if no one wants them  lolol


----------



## LondonDragon

Some of my new baby shrimplets 
















Still only a few mm long, hope these ones grow to full adults and that I can breed them


----------



## StevenA

Very nice Paulo  8)


----------



## Superman

Very jealous, I need to get my Rekford 60 setup asap!


----------



## hellohefalump

nice shrimplets, what are the darker ones?  Are they baby CRS (does the colour come later?)


----------



## LondonDragon

Cheers guys, I didn't breed these one myself but I hope to breed them in the future 



			
				hellohefalump said:
			
		

> nice shrimplets, what are the darker ones?  Are they baby CRS (does the colour come later?)


Dark one are the original "CRS" or as they are best know Crystal Black Shrimp (CBS) they remain black. They can cross breed and some will breed both Red and Black.


----------



## Egmel

It's journals like these that make me all the more tempted to set up my tank at work... just you wait until I get my first pay check, it's going to be carnage  (or maybe I'll be good and wait until I've submitted as I keep on saying I will!)


----------



## LondonDragon

Not a lot to update here folks, I am still fighting the "milky" water battle here  its been 3-4 months now and no sign of it going away, after a water change it looks clear then the next morning is back to "milk" again. 
I have tried adding an extra filter, purigen, fine meshes, avoid touching the substrate, daily water changes, nothing as worked, I am thinking about tearing it down and replacing the Amazonia II substrate which is the only thing I can think of to try next!!!

I am going to do a water change today and then take some photos of how it looks at present. thanks for looking.


----------



## nry

My milky water was down to me using dry (OK, mixed with water) trace mix from AE.  Something to do with one of the ingredients, the chelator I think - I was advised (by this forum) to try a different trace mix and after switching to Tropica PN I've never had milky water since.  Some water just doesn't like the 'cheaper' chelators used in some of the dry trace powder mixes.


----------



## LondonDragon

nry said:
			
		

> My milky water was down to me using dry (OK, mixed with water) trace mix from AE.  Something to do with one of the ingredients, the chelator I think - I was advised (by this forum) to try a different trace mix and after switching to Tropica PN I've never had milky water since.  Some water just doesn't like the 'cheaper' chelators used in some of the dry trace powder mixes.


I only dose TPN+ in this tank, no dry powders


----------



## mfcphil

Forgive me if its already been answered as I flick through and have not read all of this YET! 

Is there a how to guide anywhere on making a moss wall?

Does the moss wall collect a lot of debris.

Tank looks fantastic!!


----------



## mfcphil

After more reading of your journal I see the moss wall went the journey.


----------



## LondonDragon

mfcphil said:
			
		

> After more reading of your journal I see the moss wall went the journey.


The mosses in this tank also started falling apart after a while and just now starting to recover, funny thing is they started falling apart also in my main tank at the same time, which is a totally different system which gets dosed completly different. The only thing I can think off was the water changed in some way or the other!!!

A quick shot of the tank:


----------



## Nelson

wow :!: .not got many shrimp then  .
neil


----------



## LondonDragon

nelson said:
			
		

> wow :!: .not got many shrimp then  .
> neil


I have another tank just for cherries too  these are my selective more reder breeding attempt.


----------



## TBRO

Wow, your leigions are vast indeed ! Any luck with the cardinals ?


----------



## LondonDragon

TBRO said:
			
		

> Wow, your leigions are vast indeed ! Any luck with the cardinals ?


The Cardinals are long gone right about the time the water went "milky", coincidence?? Maybe!!!
I am trying now to breed the Crystal Reds & Blacks, I have seen the odd shrimplet but then they disappear and the females show up dead, which is another worry.

I might try that Oliver Knott substrate which lowers PH and creates better conditions for shrimp in general. 

Few more photos (not great quality but tank is not great at present and glass was a little dirty):































Thanks for looking


----------



## nry

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> nry said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My milky water was down to me using dry (OK, mixed with water) trace mix from AE.  Something to do with one of the ingredients, the chelator I think - I was advised (by this forum) to try a different trace mix and after switching to Tropica PN I've never had milky water since.  Some water just doesn't like the 'cheaper' chelators used in some of the dry trace powder mixes.
> 
> 
> 
> I only dose TPN+ in this tank, no dry powders
Click to expand...


Might be worth trying the dry power instead?


----------



## LondonDragon

nry said:
			
		

> Might be worth trying the dry power instead?


Nothing to do with the water cloudiness IMO, even when I didn't dose anything for a few weeks it remained cloudy.


----------



## LondonDragon

Did some work in the tank today, after messing about with the substrate the water went completly milky again, I am pretty sure it is the Amazonia II soil. Either way I removed the Internal Juwel filter rated at 280lph and installed a new internal filter rated at 400lph plus the Eheim Aquaball and see what impact that has on the tank.

I have decided though that I will get a 10 liter bag of Oliver Knott fine soil for this tank, so maybe in the next couple of weeks I will completly redo this tank, going to be interesting fishing all the shrimp out since I can't see anything inside the tank once I mess about with the substrate.

I will post a video later how the tank looks after messing with the substrate as a warning to anyone that decided to get Amazonia II, after 6-7 months it will look like this 

Thats all for now


----------



## Mark Evans

paulo, food for thought. 

i'm no expert on shrimps, its just observations.....in my 2 footer with old AS which has lost most of its properties(i think) my cherries were pinky/red. i've now put the same shrimp in my new 120 with oli knott substrate and they've gone bright red! there all much happier feeding too!


----------



## StevenA

Shrimp look great LD    Just noticed in my shrimp only tank that I have two more Red cherries pregnant, and also one of my Crystal reds   I've always used Akadama in this tank with no problems so far. Hopefully the Crystal red shrimplets will survive


----------



## LondonDragon

Just a quick video so you guys can see what I am talking about, after I mess about with the ADA Amazonia II soil in my tank this is what I have to look forward too for the next few weeks:



It only clears 80% after many water changes, and I had to up the filtration too to clear the dust, the filter sponges are full of mud.

The soil started breaking up after about 7 months in the tank, its been like this now for about 4 months.


----------



## Steve Smith

I bet you can't wait to get rid of it mate!


----------



## JamesM

Yeah, that horrible mate... gutting 

What are you thinking of replacing it with?


----------



## LondonDragon

SteveUK said:
			
		

> I bet you can't wait to get rid of it mate!


Yeah tell me about it, hate looking at this tank at the moment!!



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> Yeah, that horrible mate... gutting
> What are you thinking of replacing it with?


10l bag of Nature Soil fine should be arriving today 
So hopefully it will be gone tomorrow hehe


----------



## LondonDragon

Just a quick update, the 10l bag of soil arrived  so tomorrow I am doing the change over 

Just spend a few minutes removing all the plants into a bucket ready for tomorrow and was planning on catching the shrimp to a different tank for a couple of weeks until things settled down in this tank.

But how can I find them???? LOLOL











Time for a couple of water changes!!  :?  :?  :?


----------



## milla

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> But how can I find them???? LOLOL




Try this method LD worked for me.  



Though with how many shrimp you got you may need a few bottles


----------



## LondonDragon

milla said:
			
		

> Try this method LD worked for me.
> 
> Though with how many shrimp you got you may need a few bottles



Thanks a lot for the video, going to make my traps right now and hopefully in a couple of hours I can take a few hundred out hehe  I will update later on!!


----------



## Mark Evans

thats a well cool trap


----------



## LondonDragon

Well I am exhausted!!! 4 hours last night catching shrimp and this morning catching the rest, was a challenge! Specially when I couldn't see much inside the tank even with only 4 inches of water at the bottom.

The traps didn't really work, but was worth a try, set up two and caught about 20 shrimp each, so a few hundreded still left inside lol in the end I covered the gravel with a mesh that I had to create a moss wall and then just using a net swirled around in the tank and caught all of them without catching the gravel  worked a treat 

I have now completed all the work, I really like the Nature Soil look and no more cloudy water, even after a refil of the tank with new substrate and using the existing filters which still had some mud in them, didn't want to clean them too much.

Some photos later today, off to the park to catch some sunshine before the Arsenal vs Chelsea game, in the end didn't get the tickets  oh well there is always the final


----------



## Thomas McMillan

Glad to hear you sorted it - that's a good catching technique too! Post some pics when it's all set up again


----------



## glenn

hey LD!    just wanted to ask how you set up your moss wall? is it the same as what aquaticmagic sell- 2 peices of mesh with moss inbetween,cable ties and suction cups?

i want to give it a go in my 60L, it makes the tank look *more* underwater than it all ready is if you get what i mean


----------



## LondonDragon

Here we go!! A few photos of the substrate change today, goodbye ADA Amazonia II FOREVER!!!! Worst thing I ever purchased in my life!!!

Tank clean and ready to go:






The inspector watching to make sure I was doing everything properly:





Just after planting and turning on the filters:





4 hours after setup, crystal clear water for the first time in about 4-5 months!!





Closer look:





Really like this substrate, colour and size are perfet for this size tank:





I couldn't find the rocks I needed so used what I have and this tank now needs a few extra plants too.

But I am happy that I can now look at this tank again, shrimp will go in later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Thanks for looking


----------



## fish.com1

Looking good. Is the naturesoil the fine version?


----------



## LondonDragon

fish.com1 said:
			
		

> Looking good. Is the naturesoil the fine version?


Yes it is the fine version, 10 liter bag was more than enough for this tank, got some left over for a nano tank when I get it.



			
				glenn said:
			
		

> hey LD!    just wanted to ask how you set up your moss wall? is it the same as what aquaticmagic sell- 2 peices of mesh with moss inbetween,cable ties and suction cups?
> i want to give it a go in my 60L, it makes the tank look *more* underwater than it all ready is if you get what i mean


It is indeed the mesh from aquaticmagic, but I didn't "sandwich" the moss between two meshes, I only used on mesh and stiched the moss the front of the mesh using cotton thread, this way you get an instant fill otherwise it will take months for it to grow through the mesh and fill in.


----------



## glenn

do you do the moss wall in sections or do you have enough moss to cover the whole wall right away?


----------



## LondonDragon

glenn said:
			
		

> do you do the moss wall in sections or do you have enough moss to cover the whole wall right away?


First time I did it was in sections on my main tank, and has I had more moss I kept redoing it bigger. When I did the wall in the shrimp tank I had enough moss to cover the whole thing in one go.


----------



## Nelson

hi paulo,
looking good already.what moss have you got on the wood.
thanks
neil


----------



## Mark Evans

if my tanks anything to go buy, the growth you'll get from the nature soil will impress you.


----------



## Nick16

where did you get the cabnet?


----------



## glenn

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> glenn said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> do you do the moss wall in sections or do you have enough moss to cover the whole wall right away?
> 
> 
> 
> First time I did it was in sections on my main tank, and has I had more moss I kept redoing it bigger. When I did the wall in the shrimp tank I had enough moss to cover the whole thing in one go.
Click to expand...


lucky boy, i wish i have enough to do mine in one go


----------



## LondonDragon

nelson said:
			
		

> hi paulo,
> looking good already.what moss have you got on the wood.
> thanks
> neil


Thanks, its flame moss, with some weeping and willow moss mixed in with it.



			
				saintly said:
			
		

> if my tanks anything to go buy, the growth you'll get from the nature soil will impress you.


I am more interested in the water parameters it creates for the shrimp, not planning on keeping much in this tank other than low demanding plants 



			
				Nick16 said:
			
		

> where did you get the cabnet?


Its a Fluval Roma 90 cabinet, got it on ebay, was less than fifty quid delivered.



			
				glenn said:
			
		

> lucky boy, i wish i have enough to do mine in one go


Post on the wanted section someone might be able to sort some out for you.
Mine all died away when I started having the problems with the cloudy water, maybe coincidence maybe not.
Lets see how things do from now on.


----------



## Steve Smith

Fantastic Paulo, I bet you're relieved to have that sorted out


----------



## aaronnorth

looking good, the wood is nice  I may try the substrate as i really like the look of it.


----------



## LondonDragon

SteveUK said:
			
		

> Fantastic Paulo, I bet you're relieved to have that sorted out


Tell me about it, its been a long time since I actually enjoyed looking at this tank again!!



			
				aaronnorth said:
			
		

> looking good, the wood is nice  I may try the substrate as i really like the look of it.


Thought you would say that about the wood   I am very pleased with the substrate, just have one complaint about it so far, its seems light so if the flow is high towards the substrate it moves it about. I have changed the flow paterns to see.


Some more photos, didn't use my macro lens so not great but ok:

Fissidens Fontanus carpet:















After spending 5 hours catching shrimp so that I could change the substrate this is what I had left LOL






Anyone want some shrimp???


----------



## Garuf

Good to see you took the plunge. It's lovely. I'd bite your hand off for those shrimp if only I had a tank.


----------



## JohnC

bloody hell, that's alot of shrimp.


----------



## Superman

hijac said:
			
		

> bloody hell, that's alot of shrimp.


and I bet he's sent a load too!


----------



## LondonDragon

Garuf said:
			
		

> Good to see you took the plunge. It's lovely. I'd bite your hand off for those shrimp if only I had a tank.


Yeah best thing I ever did, the substrate looks great, lets see how it does from now on, I am going to try a few plants here to see how they fair with only TPN+. Any time you want some let me know.



			
				hijac said:
			
		

> bloody hell, that's alot of shrimp.


Yeah even I was suprised how many I had, but I don't think I managed to catch all the little tiny shrimplets, there here hundreds of those in the tank and water was too cloudy to spot them.



			
				Superman said:
			
		

> and I bet he's sent a load too!


Yeah I have sold, gave away, exchanged well over 400 shrimp since December. I accept exchanges for stuff too!!


----------



## glenn

what grade are the two shrimp in the first picture, ss?


----------



## LondonDragon

glenn said:
			
		

> what grade are the two shrimp in the first picture, ss?


They were sold as S, but I am not sure if they are! I haave a bit of a mix in this tank, S, A, and Low, both red and black. Just going to try and see if they breed first and separate later. I am not only keeping the really deep red cherries in this tank too to try and breed a better selection.


----------



## glenn

are you not worried about the cherrys bredding with the crystal reds and getting lower grade ofspring? or even with the blacks?


----------



## JohnC

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Superman said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and I bet he's sent a load too!
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah I have sold, gave away, exchanged well over 400 shrimp since December. I accept exchanges for stuff too!!
Click to expand...


want any blyxa or weeping moss?


----------



## LondonDragon

glenn said:
			
		

> are you not worried about the cherrys bredding with the crystal reds and getting lower grade ofspring? or even with the blacks?


Cherries don't breed with Crystals, but the lower grade Crystals can breed with the higher grade and the crystal black too. I just want to breed them not really interested in grades at the moment, just managed to get them at a good price so went for it.





			
				hijac said:
			
		

> LondonDragon said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Superman said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> want any blyxa or weeping moss?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...

How much weeping moss we talking about?? would be nice to recreate my moss wall now that I sorted the tank. cheers


----------



## aaronnorth

lol, the fissidens carpet is looking great too, not seen it done before.


----------



## Steve Smith

Ace mate!  Lovely looking fissedens.  Nice and crystal clear water too!


----------



## LondonDragon

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> lol, the fissidens carpet is looking great too, not seen it done before.


Cheers, I have been growing that for about 4 months now, I couldn't use it as a carpet in the previous substrate as it would get covered in dust in no time so it was a high fissidens wall, now it looks great in the ground as a carpet  Might give it a trim soon and expand it.



			
				SteveUK said:
			
		

> Ace mate!  Lovely looking fissedens.  Nice and crystal clear water too!


Cheers, I love fissidens, shame it grows very very slowly, but in turn is good for maintenance. Water never been so clear mate  which is great for photography too now  

Some macros I took this afternoon (couldn't get any of the higher grade CRS), cherries are my selective higher colour reds for the future generation, most are adult females:
































Thanks for looking


----------



## JamesM

Awesome pics Paulo


----------



## LondonDragon

Thanks James 

Managed to catch some of the higher grade Crystals today 































Thanks all for now, thanks for looking


----------



## JamesM

How is the breeding going with the crystals bud? I'll be having some of those off you asap!


----------



## aaronnorth

nice pics Paulo.


----------



## LondonDragon

JamesM said:
			
		

> How is the breeding going with the crystals bud? I'll be having some of those off you asap!


I have had a few females carrying eggs in the past and have spotted CRS shrimplets in the tank, but the females seem to die just before they hatch, also never saw the shrimplets develop, but with all the problems I had in this tank not sure what might have caused it, I will now wait and see what happens with the new batch.



			
				aaronnorth said:
			
		

> nice pics Paulo.


Thanks Aaron


----------



## JamesM

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> JamesM said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How is the breeding going with the crystals bud? I'll be having some of those off you asap!
> 
> 
> 
> I have had a few females carrying eggs in the past and have spotted CRS shrimplets in the tank, but the females seem to die just before they hatch, also never saw the shrimplets develop, but with all the problems I had in this tank not sure what might have caused it, I will now wait and see what happens with the new batch.
Click to expand...

Coolies, good luck mate


----------



## LondonDragon

Quick video of how the tank looks now 



thanks for looking


----------



## glenn

cool! just watched the video and it lookes very nice, when the carpet fills out it should be excelent   i never realised how much the shrimp 'zip' about   and the flow looks brilliant judging by the plant movement


----------



## LondonDragon

glenn said:
			
		

> cool! just watched the video and it lookes very nice, when the carpet fills out it should be excelent   i never realised how much the shrimp 'zip' about   and the flow looks brilliant judging by the plant movement


Yeah most people say that, must be something in my water haha mine are always very active, there are only 15 CRS and 25 Cherries in this tank, keeping the numbers low to see if the CRS breed, I have another tank for the Cherries for the time being.


----------



## Tony Swinney

Looking good Paulo - nice to get rid of the cloudiness huh ?

I think I might have to get some of those black & white shrimp - very cool  8) 

Cheers

Tony


----------



## JamesM

Nice... early days yet, but have you noticed any improvements with plant growth?


----------



## LondonDragon

Tonser said:
			
		

> Looking good Paulo - nice to get rid of the cloudiness huh ?
> I think I might have to get some of those black & white shrimp - very cool  8)
> Cheers
> Tony


Thanks Tony, hopefully I can have some for members in a few months time 
I do like the black and white ones too  Its great to have crystal clear water again, seems like I have a new tank! hehe



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> Nice... early days yet, but have you noticed any improvements with plant growth?


Don't have many plants in this tank as you can see, the crypts have melted some of the leaves but that happened in my other tank when I took them out and replanted them, everything else is low demanding plants that grow slowly anyway so hard to tell.


----------



## Dave Spencer

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! I wish I could keep shrimp for more than a couple of months. Major jealousy.  

Dave.


----------



## Dan Walter

Awesome pics!


----------



## Joe Faria

OlÃ¡ Paulo,
It's been a while since my last post here in UKaps....
Glad you managed to sort the problem with your tank....you are not the first one, having problems with ADA Amazonia II, lately...
Good luck with your tank from now on and, btw great pics.

AbraÃ§o,
Joe Faria


----------



## LondonDragon

Dave Spencer said:
			
		

> AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! I wish I could keep shrimp for more than a couple of months. Major jealousy.
> Dave.


I am sure you can keep them too, you have to try some of mine and you will see 



			
				Dan Walter said:
			
		

> Awesome pics!


Many thanks Dan 



			
				Joe Faria said:
			
		

> OlÃ¡ Paulo,
> It's been a while since my last post here in UKaps....
> Glad you managed to sort the problem with your tank....you are not the first one, having problems with ADA Amazonia II, lately...
> Good luck with your tank from now on and, btw great pics.
> AbraÃ§o,
> Joe Faria


OlÃ¡ Joe, a quanto tempo!! 
Yeah that version 2 of the soil should never have been sold and its still being sold by some retailers!!
Many thanks  
AbraÃ§o


----------



## LondonDragon

Few more photos of the shrimp tank, the water is still crystal clear  the crypts have melted away, only leaving a few leaves which seems to have stopped melting now, so hopefully they will make a quick recovery now.
The Fissidens Fontanus carpet is growing very fast, I have been dosing 10ml of TPN+ twice a week now, I am thinking of doubling its size soon, it creates a great effect and its slow growing so not high maintnance, I have a lot of flow in this tank and the carpet is always clean.

This is the very first time I saw the little shrimplets coming out of the eggs, amazing stuff 






Some photos of the plants, snails and shrimp 




































Thanks for looking, comments always appreciated


----------



## Tony Swinney

Great pics Paulo - love the carpet you've got going on - is the the fissidens ?

And those black and white shrimp are too cool    8) 

Tony


----------



## JamesM

The Fissidens looks amazing, Paulo 

Is that first crystal carrying eggs? Save me some of the juniors mate!


----------



## LondonDragon

Tonser said:
			
		

> Great pics Paulo - love the carpet you've got going on - is the the fissidens ?
> And those black and white shrimp are too cool    8)
> Tony


Yep its the Fissidens as mentioned in the chat, there will be some in the post for you tomorrow 
Hope the black shrimp breed too  fingers crossed



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> The Fissidens looks amazing, Paulo
> Is that first crystal carrying eggs? Save me some of the juniors mate!


Thanks James, I am loving it too  I can just picture a carpet in my Juwel Rio haha
I don't think its carrying eggs mate, just the cherries so far


----------



## JamesM

Those orange dots look a lot like eggs to me mate... might be wrong though  

I'm going to have to get fissidens off you at some point... I put mine in the large tank while I cleaned out the shrimp tank, and my yoyo loach ate it all within minutes


----------



## LondonDragon

JamesM said:
			
		

> Those orange dots look a lot like eggs to me mate... might be wrong though


Haha that first photo is a cherry, read the description above it 



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> I'm going to have to get fissidens off you at some point... I put mine in the large tank while I cleaned out the shrimp tank, and my yoyo loach ate it all within minutes


haha let me know when you ready for it and I will save you some at the next trim


----------



## JamesM

This one mate... I know what a cherry looks like 


Thanks bud, will let ya know soon


----------



## LondonDragon

JamesM said:
			
		

> This one mate... I know what a cherry looks like
> Thanks bud, will let ya know soon


Crystal eggs are brown  I don't see any in there hehe


----------



## JamesM

Ah, cool... is that always the case with their eggs mate? I've had cherries with white, green, and yellow eggs.

Always good to know


----------



## LondonDragon

JamesM said:
			
		

> Ah, cool... is that always the case with their eggs mate? I've had cherries with white, green, and yellow eggs.
> Always good to know


I only seem them before with brown eggs, so I couldn't say otherwise but then again I could be wrong haha


----------



## mr. luke

THey start off very pale dark brown then go a very dark almost black colour over a short while


----------



## Steve Smith

The Cherries I got off you, LD, always seem to have either pale or quite bright yellow eggs


----------



## LondonDragon

mr. luke said:
			
		

> THey start off very pale dark brown then go a very dark almost black colour over a short while


Thanks for the confirmation 



			
				SteveUK said:
			
		

> The Cherries I got off you, LD, always seem to have either pale or quite bright yellow eggs


Yep cherries are like that, saw one releasing the shrimplets last night, amazing stuff!!


----------



## Mark Webb

What a great thread! Just read through. I have a Juwel 60 which I am having some success with breeding CRS. I plan to soon strip it down and replant.
Do you continue to use the original filter supplied with the Juwel?

What filtration do you use in your nursery tank?


----------



## LondonDragon

Mark Webb said:
			
		

> What a great thread! Just read through. I have a Juwel 60 which I am having some success with breeding CRS. I plan to soon strip it down and replant.
> Do you continue to use the original filter supplied with the Juwel?
> What filtration do you use in your nursery tank?


Hi Mark, success with CRS congrats  so far no luck here!!!
I have removed the Juwel filter as it was complete pants and clogged up too quickly, I am running two internals at present, a cheap one off ebay that is rated at 400lph and an Eheim Aquaball rated at 280lph.
On the nursery tank I run another Eheim Aquaball


----------



## Mark Webb

Thanks but congrats are not in order. I put 6 Cherry and 6 CRS in my tank and a month later the 6 cherries were gone (although they lasted long enough to photograph for my avatar!) and young CRS appeared. Just lucky! I now have the bug and will replant with moss for the shrimp and have another go at Cherries. Would also like to try CBS and Cardinals having seen them in your thread. I am planning to use a Fluval 305 external with sponge on the inlet to stop shrimp being sucked in. How long would you suggest running the Fluval to mature before removing the internal Juwel filter to make more space? I must say having looked at the Aquaball it looks Shrimp friendly in so far as they cant be sucked in.
I think I see the filter box still in your Juwel? Have you considered removing it if you are not using the filter?


----------



## LondonDragon

Mark Webb said:
			
		

> Thanks but congrats are not in order. I put 6 Cherry and 6 CRS in my tank and a month later the 6 cherries were gone (although they lasted long enough to photograph for my avatar!) and young CRS appeared. Just lucky! I now have the bug and will replant with moss for the shrimp and have another go at Cherries.


Shame about the cherries, mine breed like crazy and I now have over 300 at least, if you want some let me know.



			
				Mark Webb said:
			
		

> Would also like to try CBS and Cardinals having seen them in your thread.


Cardinals would be best kept separate as they need different water parameters to breed and higher temps than the CRS.
The CRS need about 24C to breed and the Cardinals around 27C.



			
				Mark Webb said:
			
		

> I am planning to use a Fluval 305 external with sponge on the inlet to stop shrimp being sucked in. How long would you suggest running the Fluval to mature before removing the internal Juwel filter to make more space? I must say having looked at the Aquaball it looks Shrimp friendly in so far as they cant be sucked in.


Fluval 305 will be fine with a sponge on the intake, I would suggest leaving it there for about a month minimum, maybe two to be on the safe side. Aquaball is full of sponges inside so shrimp can't get sucked into the pump.



			
				Mark Webb said:
			
		

> I think I see the filter box still in your Juwel? Have you considered removing it if you are not using the filter?


It was there in the earlier shots, I have removed it when I changed the substrate.


----------



## Mark Webb

Any ideas why Cherries would not survive where CRS do?


----------



## LondonDragon

Mark Webb said:
			
		

> Any ideas why Cherries would not survive where CRS do?


To be honest not sure, its usually the other way round, in my experience cherries are very hardy!! Were you dosing anything into this tank?


----------



## Mark Webb

Dosing plant fertilizer at water change + powder to increase kh (using RO water)
Can I ask what brand of food you suggest for shrimp, currently feeding mine on fish food (Tetra Prima)


----------



## LondonDragon

Mark Webb said:
			
		

> Dosing plant fertilizer at water change + powder to increase kh (using RO water)
> Can I ask what brand of food you suggest for shrimp, currently feeding mine on fish food (Tetra Prima)



Why use RO water?? could be the powder you using? I use tap water with no conditioners or anything.

I am only dosing TPN+ at the moment, no carbon of any sort.

Food used: Tetramin Flakes, JBL Shrimp, JBL Crab, Sera Shrimp, Algae Waffers, Granule from LFS.


----------



## Mark Webb

I am an ex Marines man. The RO setup is there so I thought I may as well use pure stuff so I know whats going in. Do you not use de chlorinator?

What is TPN+ ?


----------



## LondonDragon

Mark Webb said:
			
		

> I am an ex Marines man. The RO setup is there so I thought I may as well use pure stuff so I know whats going in. Do you not use de chlorinator?


No need to use it, you only taking out stuff of the water that then you need to put back for plants.
I haven't used chlorinator in years!!



			
				Mark Webb said:
			
		

> What is TPN+ ?


Tropica Plant Nutrition Plus, an all in one fertelizer for plants.


----------



## LondonDragon

Just spotted a dead S grade CRS in the tank and on closer inspection it was carrying eggs 

I noticed the temp was at around 26ÂºC with the heater off, so I have dug out the fans to get the temps down a little further.

I spotted another one that might be carrying eggs but its not an S grade, after about 45 minutes the temp has reduced to 25ÂºC lets see how low it gets with the fans.


----------



## Superman

Sorry to hear about the losses Paulo.
Chin up fella.


----------



## LondonDragon

Thanks Clark, the temp is now at 23ÂºC which is much better for the CRS!! fingers crossed but fans are noisy


----------



## Steve Smith

Unfortunate mate   Fingers crossed for the rest of them 

I read somewhere that you generally get about 1 in 10 of the same grade shrimp from a batch, with the rest being lower grade.  Is this correct?


----------



## Tony Swinney

Sorry to here about the loss Paulo - hope the others are Ok in the cooler water.

Tony


----------



## steve2tanks

Yeah sorry for the loss,you'll have to keep an eye on it over summer :?


----------



## LondonDragon

Temp is now between 22-23ÂºC which is good for me, need to find a better solution though as I don't like the noisy fans.
Will also do a water change tomorrow just in case. I have had this problem in the past, when the females start carrying eggs they die  will see how it goes


----------



## LondonDragon

Finally some good news, this morning saw a few CRS shrimplets in the tank  the temp with the fans has been between 21-23C even on the hottest days which is great  Only saw 3 or 4 this morning and they were hidden so no photos for now.

Happy days!! (as George would put it)


----------



## JamesM

w0000000t! Well done mate!


----------



## Superman

Great news Paulo, hope there's a good number of them and they pull through.


----------



## samc

great news paulo hope they carry on breeding and you have some so sell me


----------



## LondonDragon

Thanks guys, lets hope they survive long enough now 
Some photos of the tank, couldn't get any macros of the shrimp batteries on the external flash were drained!!






















Thanks for looking


----------



## rawr

Wow, this is turning into something nice! I love the ferny island and u-shaped composition - you're onto a winner here mate.


----------



## TDI-line

Great pics LD, as usual.


----------



## LondonDragon

Thanks guys  feedback much appreciated


----------



## aaronnorth

Awesome tanks & congrats on the CRS.
WHen using the external flash do yuo hold it above the tank? thanks.


----------



## LondonDragon

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> Awesome tanks & congrats on the CRS.
> WHen using the external flash do yuo hold it above the tank? thanks.


Thanks Aaron, yep I place the external above the tank on wireless.


----------



## LondonDragon

Just took some macros has one of the little CRS was right at the front of the tank, they don't look high grade at least not this one but its a start 

Spot the CRS (and not the dirty glass):





















Adult CRS:





Some of my adult Red Cherries:










Thanks for looking


----------



## fish.com1

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> quote]
> Nice shot Paulo! Is it the fissidens he's foraging through?


----------



## LondonDragon

fish.com1 said:
			
		

> Nice shot Paulo! Is it the fissidens he's foraging through?


Thanks, yep it is the Fissidens Fontanus


----------



## Mark Evans

you are king shrimp LD. what lens are you using or rather the focal length?


----------



## LondonDragon

saintly said:
			
		

> you are king shrimp LD. what lens are you using or rather the focal length?


Thanks Mark, I am using the Tamron SP Di 90mm f2.8 Macro lens


----------



## AdAndrews

awsome, cant wait to get my cherrys now!!


----------



## LondonDragon

Just a quick one!! Today I spotted 4 CRS shrimplets, they have grown twice the size since I first spotted them on Saturday


----------



## LondonDragon

Few more shots I took today how things stand, keep seeing just a single CRS shrimplet so not sure if its always the same one or if there are more in the tank, there are so many plants now that its hard to tell. I did see 4 at the same time once when they first appeared.






























As always I had help:






Thanks for looking


----------



## TBRO

Hey, Fantastic Fissidens carpet, the shrimps clearly love it! I've seen some of my CRSs with eggs but I've never seen a baby, would be awsome if you could get them breeding! Is it possible to get higher grade babies than the parents? As mine are low end.

Regards, Tom


----------



## LondonDragon

TBRO said:
			
		

> Hey, Fantastic Fissidens carpet, the shrimps clearly love it! I've seen some of my CRSs with eggs but I've never seen a baby, would be awsome if you could get them breeding! Is it possible to get higher grade babies than the parents? As mine are low end.
> Regards, Tom


Thanks Tom, the eggs will hatch and babies survive if temp is kept below 24ÂºC otherwise you will struggle. I am not sure about the grading of shrimplets but depends on their genetic structure I guess, if previous generations have been higher grades then maybe that can happen, but I am not sure about that. The shrimplets I have seen look grade A from grade S female and possible lower grade male.


----------



## Mark Evans

looking smart paulo!

I'm always in envy of your moss


----------



## JamesM

Looking ace Paulo! Just keeps getting better!


----------



## LondonDragon

saintly said:
			
		

> looking smart paulo!
> I'm always in envy of your moss


Thanks Mark, since changing the substrate is all going well, lets see how long that lasts 



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> Looking ace Paulo! Just keeps getting better!


Thanks James


----------



## Steve Smith

It's really looking nice mate.  I take it the Nature Soil is doing well?  Lovely Fissidens mate!


----------



## rawr

It's looking as great as ever! What's that small leaved plant in the substrate?


----------



## LondonDragon

SteveUK said:
			
		

> It's really looking nice mate.  I take it the Nature Soil is doing well?  Lovely Fissidens mate!


Thanks Steve, the naturesoil is holding well, but so did the Aquasoil for the first few months so only time will tell, but so far hppy with it. 



			
				rawr said:
			
		

> It's looking as great as ever! What's that small leaved plant in the substrate?


Thanks Thomas, the plant on the right is Staurogyne sp.  grows much better than in my high tech tank!


----------



## TDI-line

This is a great Journal Shrimp King.   

Do you run CO2 on this tank Paulo? And was you going to split up the CRS with the cherries.

Mine are breeding like mad on there own, i think there's about 10 adults, and 20 juvenilles and probably around 40 tiny ones too.


----------



## fish.com1

Looking much better than before the rescape Paulo  

What species of anubias is in the first pic? It's leaves look tiny.


----------



## LondonDragon

fish.com1 said:
			
		

> Looking much better than before the rescape Paulo
> What species of anubias is in the first pic? It's leaves look tiny.


Many thanks mate, the anubias are the petite version, the smallest anubias I have ever seen, I thinking of using them in my nano tank, need to find some more small plants.


----------



## Dan Crawford

Lookin sweet Paulo! really really nice and textured


----------



## LondonDragon

TDI-line said:
			
		

> This is a great Journal Shrimp King.
> Do you run CO2 on this tank Paulo? And was you going to split up the CRS with the cherries.
> Mine are breeding like mad on there own, i think there's about 10 adults, and 20 juvenilles and probably around 40 tiny ones too.


Thanks Dan, I am going to split the cherries soon to encourage the CRS to breed more, otherwise because the cherries breed some much the CRS will just not breed. Due to already being too many shrimp in the tank.

Will be a challenge to get all the cherries out!! lol I might wait and setup my nano and then move the CRS into that instead, would be easier to catch them since there are only about 15.

I am not dosing CO2 into this tank, a couple of ml of TPN+ every other day and one ml of Easycarbo when I dose the TPN+, been doing that for two weeks now to see if plants respond well.


----------



## Dural

Wow i've just spent the last few hours going through this whole journal, what a change in styles from beginning to present! I'm looking to strip down my 35l nano and make it into a moss tank, not sure about keeping all my cherrys shrimp though. As you've found out they breed like wild fire, what have you done with the other 200 odd that you took out the tank after the substrate issues? 

Most of my cherrys are no way near as red as yours, i guess the mosses help and dark substrate helps bring out the colour in them. Might try my hand at some CRS much like yourself not bothered about grades if i could pick some up cheaply, they seem harder to breed which in my tiny tank would be a blessing. 

Can't wait to finally move out of the parents and have some space for more tanks, anyway better get off to sleep, work in the morning. 

Thanks for the great read!


----------



## LondonDragon

Glad you enjoyed the journal Dural, it has been an interesting ride for me along the past year.

I am keeping the surplus cherries on a separate tank where they are breeding like crazy also, then sending off to people as they ask for some. I am going to move the CRS once I get my nano setup to encourage them to breed more, or move out the cherries from this tank, still not decided yet on which way I will head. 

The dark substrate does help with the colours, I holding tank has plain gravel and the shrimp take an almost transparent colour, if I then move some to the main shrimp tank then they go red in a couple of days. Very odd!!

I am just keeping easy plants in this tank at the moment and the mosses seem to be doing great for a change, lets see how long that lasts hehe

Thanks for the feedback, any questions just fire them my way.


----------



## Dural

I'm thinking about getting a small 3l bag of naturesoil fine, you said that it seems very light and moves around the tank, do you have any problems cleaning your tank when vacuuming the substrate?


----------



## keymaker

LondonDragon said:
			
		

>


Paulo, what is this plant? I did not see you mention it in this post, just these pictures.


----------



## George Farmer

Staurogyne sp.


----------



## keymaker

Thanks, George!

Now I searched on its name and just found out that Paulo actually mentioned it before... Sorry.


----------



## LondonDragon

Dural said:
			
		

> I'm thinking about getting a small 3l bag of naturesoil fine, you said that it seems very light and moves around the tank, do you have any problems cleaning your tank when vacuuming the substrate?


Its not a problem really unless you have like a power head pointing at the substrate, but you can adjust it, I have a very strong internal filter in this tank which lifted the substrate a little, just took a little adjusting to get it right.




			
				keymaker said:
			
		

> Thanks, George!
> Now I searched on its name and just found out that Paulo actually mentioned it before... Sorry.


Yeah I did a couple of posts back hehehe its a very nice plant and its doing much better in the low tech tank than its doing in my main tank! Funny that!! Must be the Naturesoil


----------



## lljdma06

This is a great tank.  I like the fissidens very much.  Makes me want some.


----------



## LondonDragon

lljdma06 said:
			
		

> This is a great tank.  I like the fissidens very much.  Makes me want some.


Many thanks  Can't you get it states side???


----------



## lljdma06

I can get it through Aquaticmagic and Aquabotonic carried it a while ago, so when I want it, I think I'll be okay. I definitely want it for the 36g I just setup a journal for.


----------



## LondonDragon

Just a quick update, the first batch of shrimplets from the CRS are growing nicely and are now about half a centimeter long  I have noticed some little 1mm shrimplets so they must have bred again, during the water change a few days back I counted 10 little ones, but the tank is so heavy planted that there could be many more.
During this heat wave the couple of fans I have over the tank did a great job in keeping the temps below 25ÂºC, last year the tank temp shot up to 32C and wipped out my CRS so I am very happy this time, best tenner I ever spent 

Well an update is not an update without some photos, so here it goes:






































Thanks for looking


----------



## JamesM

Show off! 


Nice one of the little CRS bud  

50p each to me or something wasn't it?


----------



## LondonDragon

JamesM said:
			
		

> Show off!
> Nice one of the little CRS bud
> 50p each to me or something wasn't it?


50p ok, I thought we agree on 10p!! but 50p will be fine, I take 100!!


----------



## JamesM

The cheque is in the post!


----------



## samc

congrats on the others crs they look ace!

you adult cherrys look nice too, didnt know they were that red

ill still have some when i get set up


----------



## Mark Evans

8)  paulo, i had to don these sun glasses mate....those cherries are vibrant


----------



## LondonDragon

samc said:
			
		

> congrats on the others crs they look ace!
> you adult cherrys look nice too, didnt know they were that red
> ill still have some when i get set up


Thanks, some of the cherries grow to be that colour and some don't so when I send out shrimplets is just luck of the draw really, there is quite a mix of heavy red and not so red, I might feed the non-so-red to the rainbows one of these days! lol


----------



## LondonDragon

saintly said:
			
		

> 8)  paulo, i had to don these sun glasses mate....those cherries are vibrant


Hahaha thats how they came out of the camera, all I did was a quick resize and thats about it


----------



## TBRO

As always very impressive. Do you're shrimps come from different sources to mix up the gene pool ? I worry mine will be more interbred than a dalmatian dog :!:  

T


----------



## LondonDragon

TBRO said:
			
		

> As always very impressive. Do you're shrimps come from different sources to mix up the gene pool ? I worry mine will be more interbred than a dalmatian dog :!:
> T


Many thanks, I have mixed cherries to my collection in the past year 2-3 times and the CRS are from two sources. Not sure if that matters too much though, but a good point, will have to read up on it.


----------



## tanker

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Well an update is not an update without some photos, so here it goes:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for looking



wow, whats the plant?its nice.... it carpets, but doesnt look like moss


----------



## JohnC

tanker said:
			
		

> LondonDragon said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well an update is not an update without some photos, so here it goes:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for looking
> 
> 
> 
> 
> wow, whats the plant?its nice.... it carpets, but doesnt look like moss
Click to expand...


That looks like fissidens. 

Great picture LD.

John


----------



## LondonDragon

tanker said:
			
		

> wow, whats the plant?its nice.... it carpets, but doesnt look like moss


It is indeed Fissidens Fontanus, it doesn't really carpet, its attached to a aluminium mesh the size of the carpet then it just fills in and hides the mesh and creates a nice carpet feel, the good thing about it is that I only have to trim it once every 2-3 months hehehe


----------



## JohnC

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> tanker said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> wow, whats the plant?its nice.... it carpets, but doesnt look like moss
> 
> 
> 
> It is indeed Fissidens Fontanus, it doesn't really carpet, its attached to a aluminium mesh the size of the carpet then it just fills in and hides the mesh and creates a nice carpet feel, the good thing about it is that I only have to trim it once every 2-3 months hehehe
Click to expand...


Is Fontanus the one that actually fastens to things? ie wood?

If so next time your trimming give me a shout, i'm gagging on giving it a shot.


----------



## LondonDragon

hijac said:
			
		

> Is Fontanus the one that actually fastens to things? ie wood?
> If so next time your trimming give me a shout, i'm gagging on giving it a shot.


Yep thats the one, will do my best not to forget when I trim it, I was thinking of expanding the carpet so se will see. If not there should be a fair bit to donate to members of the forum.


----------



## LondonDragon

Just a quick update, the first lot that bred are about half a cm in size now and I have seen about 6-7 of them at the same time in the tank so things are looking good, today I spotted some more tiny 1mm red/white CRS. But also spotted 3-4 Black CRS, so I now have the Red and Black Crystals breeding in the tank  
The fan really helped with the hot weather, the temps never went above 25C, now the its becoming a bit cooler and with the fans was taking the temp down to 18C I have turned them off, so the temp now stays are around 23-24C


----------



## LondonDragon

Some tank photos taken tonight:


























Thanks for looking


----------



## Mark Evans

good god man! thats stunning! you sure know the meaning of "clean"   

mate, your still the king of moss! and I think I speak for MOST of us on UKAPS moss isn't as easy as people make out! good stuff paulo. i have a very short list of people i'd turn to for good and sound advice....your now on it for moss and shrimp


----------



## JamesM

Excellent work Zoidy


----------



## rawr

Wow, what have you been putting in this tank?! It's grown in _*so*_ fast!

By the way, I don't know if your images are really large, but they aren't fully loading for me - maybe resize them to smaller dimensions.


----------



## LondonDragon

saintly said:
			
		

> good god man! thats stunning! you sure know the meaning of "clean"
> mate, your still the king of moss! and I think I speak for MOST of us on UKAPS moss isn't as easy as people make out! good stuff paulo. i have a very short list of people i'd turn to for good and sound advice....your now on it for moss and shrimp


Thanks Mark, this tank has been amazing clean since I went over to Natursoil, even when I mess about with the substrate the water remains clean, can't wait to change the gravel in the other tank to Naturesoil!!
Also I know what you mean about mosses not being that easy, just hope mine stay nice for a while and don't turn to muck like last time hehe and I am no king of anything, just luck lol



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> Excellent work Zoidy


Thanks James  I am trying! shame about my other tank LOL



			
				rawr said:
			
		

> Wow, what have you been putting in this tank?! It's grown in _*so*_ fast!


Thanks Thomas, I am just doring TPN+ in this tank when I can remember to do so, once or twice a week.



			
				rawr said:
			
		

> By the way, I don't know if your images are really large, but they aren't fully loading for me - maybe resize them to smaller dimensions.


Photos are only 800 pixels wide, must be the server where they located that is slow.


----------



## andyh

The tank looks stunning!   

Its good to see a different style of tank up on here, and you certailnly seem to be the master of all things shrimp and mossy!

I hope my new setup is half as good as your pics! :?


----------



## Tony Swinney

Looking great Paulo, I love the fissidens carpet - definately on my 'to do one day' list   

Breed up some of the black CRS for me would ya   

Cheers

Tony


----------



## George Farmer

It's a festival of green textures! I love it!


----------



## aaronnorth

Beautiful tank Paulo


----------



## LondonDragon

Many thanks guys  

BTW: Do my photos show up too dark??? couple of people mentioned they were. cheers


----------



## aaronnorth

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Many thanks guys
> 
> BTW: Do my photos show up too dark??? couple of people mentioned they were. cheers



Not on  mine, only the last pic but i presume you was focusing on the Staurogyne anyway.

However, i have been told my monitor needs calibrating


----------



## Gill

OMG THat is Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo Spectacular,Stupendous, Super, Stunning


----------



## hellohefalump

Paulo your tank is looking great!

One question, how do you get your cherry shrimp to go so red?  Mine (ones I got from you!) are red, but not nearly as red as yours are!  They seem happy enough, because they're breeding.  What are you feeding yours?


----------



## LondonDragon

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> However, i have been told my monitor needs calibrating


Think mine does too, have to check that Pantone thingy again, shame they cost a fortune!



			
				Gill said:
			
		

> OMG THat is Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo Spectacular,Stupendous, Super, Stunning


Thanks Gill  glad you liked it 



			
				hellohefalump said:
			
		

> Paulo your tank is looking great!
> One question, how do you get your cherry shrimp to go so red?  Mine (ones I got from you!) are red, but not nearly as red as yours are!  They seem happy enough, because they're breeding.  What are you feeding yours?


Hi Helen  the shrimp I sent you are a mix bunch you will get some really good red ones and ones that don't go so red, I have lots of not so red in my tank too, but I have purchased a few extra reds recently to improve the genes and try to get all of them red, I have been doing a selective breeding program recently also, again to improve the colours, also a reason I haven't sold any recently and won't be for a few months now.

You need to feed them high calcium foods, I feed mine Hikari crab/lobster & shrimp foods, Sera Shrimp, JBL Shrimp, Algae waffers and an LFS granule, I mix and max on a daily basis to ensure an healthy diet.

Hope that helps


----------



## George Farmer

Paulo -  Do you think one of the keys to success with moss is shrimp.  I'm assuming they crawl all over freeing it from detritus, algae etc?


----------



## LondonDragon

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Paulo -  Do you think one of the keys to success with moss is shrimp.  I'm assuming they crawl all over freeing it from detritus, algae etc?


I would have to say yes on this one George, I have tried moving mosses from my main tank to the shrimp tank that were covered in algae and after a couple of days there is no sight of it, they are always going through the moss, specially the Fissidens Fontanus which in my main tank I can't keep it clear of hair algae.


----------



## George Farmer

Thanks mate.

Hopefully I'll have some luck with the moss in my nano after I add some shrimp soon...


----------



## LondonDragon

The new batch of cherries are coming along nicely, got some nice reds in there 







Thanks for looking


----------



## NA-Fan

Wow!  That's an incredible amount of shrimp (or is it shrimps?!)

Nice photography as well.  The moss looks like the perfect home for them and I bet they are great at keeping it clean.

I love it!


----------



## andyh

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> The new batch of cherries are coming along nicely, got some nice reds in there
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for looking



Whoa there!!! And you said you didnt have many good ones! You fibber! They look great and so does that fissidens!  

When can i place my next order?


----------



## LondonDragon

NA-Fan said:
			
		

> Wow!  That's an incredible amount of shrimp (or is it shrimps?!)
> Nice photography as well.  The moss looks like the perfect home for them and I bet they are great at keeping it clean.
> I love it!


Think its shrimp hehe many thanks 



			
				andyh said:
			
		

> Whoa there!!! And you said you didnt have many good ones! You fibber! They look great and so does that fissidens!
> When can i place my next order?


They are too small still, maybe in a couple of months time in the new year 
Still looking for some super reds to mix with these ones.


----------



## andyh

> They are too small still, maybe in a couple of months time in the new year
> Still looking for some super reds to mix with these ones.



I might know a man, but he doesn't have the flash gear to send them in the post!


----------



## samc

real nice paulo  

the fissidens carpet is looking smart too. really green


----------



## viktorlantos

if i would be a shrimp i would dream about a fisssidens bed like this   
looks great!


----------



## Mark Webb

What a great batch, and nice shots too   

How many shrimps did you start with?


----------



## LondonDragon

andyh said:
			
		

> I might know a man, but he doesn't have the flash gear to send them in the post!


It doesn't take a lot, breathable bags from ebay, heat packs from ebay, rubber bands and some boxes, shed some paper, mix them all together and voila hehehe 



			
				viktorlantos said:
			
		

> if i would be a shrimp i would dream about a fisssidens bed like this
> looks great!


Thanks Viktor  I love the Fissidens, thinking about expanding it to the whole tank now that its about 2-3 inches deep.



			
				Mark Webb said:
			
		

> What a great batch, and nice shots too
> How many shrimps did you start with?


Thanks Mark, I started with about 20 shrimp, but I have sold/given away about 400-500 so far! LOL
This are my latest selective breeding batch to try and get nicer colours.


----------



## flyer2308

well i have just read your journal from start to finish.

tank looks great and so do the shrimp.

hopefully setting up my own shrimp tank soon and would be over the moon if its as good as this one!!


----------



## LondonDragon

flyer2308 said:
			
		

> well i have just read your journal from start to finish.
> tank looks great and so do the shrimp.
> hopefully setting up my own shrimp tank soon and would be over the moon if its as good as this one!!


Glad you enjoyed the rollercoaster ride  and I am sure you will do just fine 
Welcome to UKAPS


----------



## peti44

Hi, 
Lot's of people have told me that fisssidens fontanus grows slowly and vertically towards the light, and it can easily get 'algaetic'. Is that true? In your tank it is really nice, it makes a beautiful carpet, that's why I ask you.   
Thanks!


----------



## LondonDragon

peti44 said:
			
		

> Hi,
> Lot's of people have told me that fisssidens fontanus grows slowly and vertically towards the light, and it can easily get 'algaetic'. Is that true? In your tank it is really nice, it makes a beautiful carpet, that's why I ask you.
> Thanks!


Missed this one sorry, just keep plenty of shrimp in the tank then you will never have an algae issue with it  Mine is about 3cm high now and no signs of any algae  But there are about 200-300 shrimp in the tank!

Speaking of shrimp, this morning there were about 20-30 crystal red and black shrimplets all over the place


----------



## peti44

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> peti44 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi,
> Lot's of people have told me that fisssidens fontanus grows slowly and vertically towards the light, and it can easily get 'algaetic'. Is that true? In your tank it is really nice, it makes a beautiful carpet, that's why I ask you.
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> Missed this one sorry, just keep plenty of shrimp in the tank then you will never have an algae issue with it  Mine is about 3cm high now and no signs of any algae  But there are about 200-300 shrimp in the tank!
> 
> Speaking of shrimp, this morning there were about 20-30 crystal red and black shrimplets all over the place
Click to expand...


Thank you very much, you helped me a lot. Maybe I'll give a shot to this plant.    
By the way, your tank looks really great, if you have new pictures, I'd love to see them.


----------



## LondonDragon

Haven't posted any photos of the shrimp in this tank for a while, here are some shots taken tonight:

A super red I picked up at Living Water on Saturdays Meet up (got 6 of these but 2 did not make the trip back home)















Photos of my Crystals offspring (some of the reds picked up at MA Morden also on Saturday):





















Thanks for looking


----------



## Steve Smith

Great photos as always mate.  Would love some of the offspring of those super reds


----------



## LondonDragon

SteveUK said:
			
		

> Great photos as always mate.  Would love some of the offspring of those super reds


Thanks Steve, think it will be a while before we start seeing some of those  fingers crossed! My Crystals have finally decided to breed so should have some of those soon it all goes to plan, very slow to build up a decent population, nothing like cherries!!


----------



## Jase

Crackin' photos Paulo , gorgeous Super Reds, I just can't get close enough to get some snaps of my 'Super Reds'


----------



## CeeJay

Hey LD

Great shrimp photos.
Their home looks pretty cool too   
Is that Fissidens on the floor of the tank?


----------



## Jase

I hope you don't mind me posting my crappy photo Paulo...best I could get


----------



## LondonDragon

Jase said:
			
		

> Crackin' photos Paulo , gorgeous Super Reds, I just can't get close enough to get some snaps of my 'Super Reds'


Thanks, you will need to use the macro mode of the camera or on a DSLR a proper macro lens  I have the Tamron 90mm f2.8, nice red you posted also, wanna swap some?



			
				CeeJay said:
			
		

> Hey LD
> Great shrimp photos.
> Their home looks pretty cool too
> Is that Fissidens on the floor of the tank?


Thanks Chris, yep thats a Fissidens carpet, the only one I have seen yet haha I just trimmed the 3cm high Fissidens and expanded the carpet which is looking pretty crap at the moment until it grows back, but once it does I will have the whole front of the tank covered in Fissidens.


----------



## FishBeast

I love shrimp so much. That very red one looks amazing. Are you still aiming for are more pure red strain?


----------



## LondonDragon

FishBeast said:
			
		

> I love shrimp so much. That very red one looks amazing. Are you still aiming for are more pure red strain?


That is always the plan, but I think I need a couple of more tanks for that to work better so I can do more selective breeding, think I might get a couple more nanos to try that


----------



## Jase

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Thanks, you will need to use the macro mode of the camera or on a DSLR a proper macro lens  I have the Tamron 90mm f2.8, nice red you posted also, wanna swap some?



That's taken with my Canon 400D with 50mm F1.8. I've been looking at getting the Tamron 90 for a while and I think you've made my mind up with those shots   Is yours the new 'Di' version?

I will happily swap some with you once I have a few more, need to fill my 125l shrimp tank first


----------



## LondonDragon

Jase said:
			
		

> That's taken with my Canon 400D with 50mm F1.8. I've been looking at getting the Tamron 90 for a while and I think you've made my mind up with those shots   Is yours the new 'Di' version?
> I will happily swap some with you once I have a few more, need to fill my 125l shrimp tank first


Yes its the Di version, checking a recent photography magazine that compare 4 macro lenses, Tamron, Sigma, Canon and Nikon, the Tamron was the overall winner in terms of price and quality of photos, the only thing I don't like about it is that it sometimes wonders about while focusing, all my macros are manually focused.


----------



## Jase

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> the only thing I don't like about it is that it sometimes wonders about while focusing, all my macros are manually focused.



Would it put you off buying it again? Perhaps using more light would counteract it?


----------



## LondonDragon

Jase said:
			
		

> Would it put you off buying it again? Perhaps using more light would counteract it?


Well I haven't tried the sigma one for my camera, but I have a Konica-Minolta, you do have the option of the Canon macro lens which will probably be more expensive but better suited to your camera.


----------



## frothhelmet

What is that moss in the bottom left-hand corner of you shrimp tank? Spiky? 

I must say, your tank looks incredible. 

Btw, am now thoroughly worried as I have just set up a 60l with Amazonia II.Who would have thought that ADA would sell garbage? Terrified as to what will happen in 6months...


----------



## LondonDragon

frothhelmet said:
			
		

> What is that moss in the bottom left-hand corner of you shrimp tank? Spiky?


From which photo? The tank has changed so many times lol



			
				frothhelmet said:
			
		

> I must say, your tank looks incredible.


Many thanks 



			
				frothhelmet said:
			
		

> Btw, am now thoroughly worried as I have just set up a 60l with Amazonia II.Who would have thought that ADA would sell garbage? Terrified as to what will happen in 6months...


It will turn to mud and you will need to replace it  good luck


----------



## frothhelmet

From which photo? The tank has changed so many times lol

The most recent 'full-tank' shot.

That moss looks gewd.


----------



## LondonDragon

Well have some news about the Naturesoil in the tank, after using for a few months since I swapped the Amazonia II, it is also turning to mud and making my tank cloudy  so looks like I will have to replace it again. Also since the water has become a little cloudy I have lost all my Crystals both red and black  

Time to start all over again  I was going to try Flora-Base next but since that is smilar to Nature soil I am going to give it a miss, I am going to order some Shirakura Red Bee Sand instead for this tank and rescape it once again!


----------



## flygja

Sad to hear you lost all those beautiful shrimp. Experience from others have shown that Amazonia I crumbles a lot less than Amazonia II, and there's quite a big demand here these days. A new scape is always good!


----------



## Garuf

How are you this unlucky with substrate?! I've never had any issues with ADA and I've heard nothing but good things about Oliver knotts stuff. :S


----------



## Mark Evans

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Well have some news about the Naturesoil in the tank, after using for a few months since I swapped the Amazonia II, it is also turning to mud



i wonder why this is paulo? 

 I've used nature soil 3 times and it stayed in one piece every single time.

I do tend to leave it alone once the scape is up and running though


----------



## George Farmer

I think because of the nature of these types of products, eventually they will all turn to 'mud'.

Differences in individuals' water chemistry, temp., maintenance habits, manufacturer's quality control, natural variations in product etc. etc. will all have an influence on the rate of 'decomposition'.

I have always advised that these 'complete' substrates i.e. ADA Aqua Soil, Oliver Knott's Naturesoil, Columbo FloraBase, are better used by aquascapers/plant growers that do not wish to re-scape frequently due to the mess that is caused by disturbing these types of substrates.  It's the same reason we don't vacuum them (and the same reason Tom Barr switched from Aqua Soil to Ecocomplete in his infamous 12 foot Behemoth tank).

If you like a re-scape without changing the substrate every time then a non-soil based product may be the better choice.  Great results can still be achieved in inert substrates.  The Tropica/Interzoo display tanks are a good example (except Oliver Knott's).

I still really like these soil substrates for their great growth, water softening properties, and forgiveness with regards water column dosing, but sometimes it is worth considering other options.


----------



## beeky

I won't use the Tropica substrate for the mess that occurs when something is uprooted. It used to turn my water to soup every time. I think it would be better if the cap were sand rather than gravel as I used. Do you think using a sand cap on AS would work to contain it? It would probably cause it to disintegrate faster due to the weight. Although it would probably work it's way to the bottom before that point.

I think I've just answered my own question!


----------



## LondonDragon

Thanks for the feedback guys, I do not touch this tank at all when it comes to substrate, I have no plants in the substrate as all the plants in the tank are ferns, mosses and anubias, so they are all in pots, attached to wood, rocks and mesh, I think next time I will just use plain gravel like I use in my Rio for the last 7 years without any problems.

Mark I don't think you used this soil for long periods like I have, reason why you probably never saw these problems, I used both soils for just over 12 months in the tank each time.


----------



## Mark Evans

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Mark I don't think you used this soil for long periods like I have, reason why you probably never saw these problems



true. I cant judge the products.



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> I have always advised that these 'complete' substrates i.e. ADA Aqua Soil, Oliver Knott's Naturesoil, Columbo FloraBase, are better used by aquascapers/plant growers that do not wish to re-scape frequently due to the mess that is caused by disturbing these types of substrates.



top advice  8)


----------



## samc

shame this has happened again mate  

i personally think the problem is the shrimp. they clean the substrate all day long. i often see them breaking clumps up, so i guess they keep breaking it up until its mud.


----------



## LondonDragon

samc said:
			
		

> i personally think the problem is the shrimp. they clean the substrate all day long. i often see them breaking clumps up, so i guess they keep breaking it up until its mud.


Could be a possibility I guess, but think I will just have to replace it with normal gravel/sand since I don't root any plants in the substrate anyway. bummer!

I did speak to a shrimp breeder that uses fertile substrate but he says he needs to replace it every 8 months before it starts turning bad and releases some toxics that wipe out the CRS. Don't know if that is true though but in both my cases seems to be!


----------



## NeilW

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Could be a possibility I guess, but think I will just have to replace it with normal gravel/sand since I don't root any plants in the substrate anyway. bummer!
> 
> I did speak to a shrimp breeder that uses fertile substrate but he says he needs to replace it every 8 months before it starts turning bad and releases some toxics that wipe out the CRS. Don't know if that is true though but in both my cases seems to be!



Being the shrimp fan you are I'm sure you've seen it, but is that Red Bee Sand worth a go?  Also meant to ask how you think Sulawesi Cardinals would do in a temp of 23 degrees with Crystal Reds - I saw you had some at the start of the journal and wondered wether you had any success?


----------



## LondonDragon

NeilW said:
			
		

> Being the shrimp fan you are I'm sure you've seen it, but is that Red Bee Sand worth a go?  Also meant to ask how you think Sulawesi Cardinals would do in a temp of 23 degrees with Crystal Reds - I saw you had some at the start of the journal and wondered wether you had any success?


I am thinking about the Red Bee Sand, but postage costs as much as a bag!! lol Still thinking about it, might go for sand or gravel to be on the safe side.

Bad idea to keep Crystals and Sulawesi shrimps, you would be better off having a Sulawesi only tank as they need temps of around 26-27ÂºC and that is too high for Crystals.

I lost all my Cardinals when the Amazonia II went bad after a year and also lost most of the Crystals, after the rescape and substrate change I used Naturesoil instead, was great and the new batch of Crystals started breeding pretty well, then after a year its all turning to crap again and lost all my S grade Crystals.

Not sure if I will try Crystals again, but I am tempted to give it one more go! Its becoming expensive this hobby lol


----------



## NeilW

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> I am thinking about the Red Bee Sand, but postage costs as much as a bag!! lol Still thinking about it, might go for sand or gravel to be on the safe side.
> 
> Bad idea to keep Crystals and Sulawesi shrimps, you would be better off having a Sulawesi only tank as they need temps of around 26-27ÂºC and that is too high for Crystals.
> 
> I lost all my Cardinals when the Amazonia II went bad after a year and also lost most of the Crystals, after the rescape and substrate change I used Naturesoil instead, was great and the new batch of Crystals started breeding pretty well, then after a year its all turning to crap again and lost all my S grade Crystals.
> 
> Not sure if I will try Crystals again, but I am tempted to give it one more go! Its becoming expensive this hobby lol



This lot says theyre getting some 'coming soon';
http://www.aquashrimps.co.uk/categories/Shrimps-Products/
worth dropping them an email?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my CRS as I havn't had any issues with sensitivity since keeping them for a year, I only had a problem before I bought a heater and the temp went down to 15 degrees because of tight housemates  

I buy a mix of grades too so I don't notice a massive hole in my wallet and its nice to have the variety - almost look like a different species the proper S grades!


----------



## LondonDragon

I actually met the owner of aquashrimps a few weeks back, found out he lived just down the road. I will ask him if they are getting it in anytime soon, might be worth waiting for it I guess since I can pick it up locally and therefore not pay any postage costs like I did with some mosses I got from him.

I might just get some Grade A's again since MA sell them for Â£3.50 and see how those behave


----------



## Kosh42-EFG

Hi,

Just reading through this thread as a nice looking and successful shrimp tank looking for ideas and info as I'm hoping to turn by Garuf cube into a shrimp tank, and I noticed this:



			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

>



Is that wire mesh you have the moss attached to in the shot? Is it from here and the 316L stuff?

Also, nice idea on using thread to attach moss to a wall instead of sandwiching it between mesh... Though I will use fishing line as I understand thread rots over time...

Cheers,

Kosh

PS - Only up to page 14, so may have more question to come


----------



## Kosh42-EFG

Right, got to the end at last... Sorry to hear the substrate is causing you headaches again... What a bummer...

Note to self, use dark, inert sand for shrimp tank...

Loving the Fissidens carpet... Very attractive... May be a carpet to consider my new low tech main tank as it seems to work well for you with little ferts, no carbon and low light in the shrimp tank... If only I could find somewhere that sells it apart from being shipped half way around the world on E-Bay...


----------



## LondonDragon

Kosh42|EFG said:
			
		

> Is that wire mesh you have the moss attached to in the shot? Is it from here and the 316L stuff?


The mesh in the photo is actually this one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wire-Mesh-Secure- ... 4ceb858874 I have been using it for over 3 years and no problems, myself and a1matt as actually going to purchase some from the place in the link you provided, and yes 316 is the safe standard to use in aquarium, it won't rust.



			
				Kosh42|EFG said:
			
		

> Also, nice idea on using thread to attach moss to a wall instead of sandwiching it between mesh... Though I will use fishing line as I understand thread rots over time...


I have used cotton thread and even after a year of use it is still there and did not rot, by that time the moss grows into the mesh and kind of attaches itself anyway, if you use this technique then you get an instant moss wall as the sandwiched option will take about 8-10 months to get the mesh completely covered and you risk it melting. Also never allow the moss to grow more than 1-1.5cm from the mesh this will prevent it rotting underneath, also always use scissors to prune it and don't pull it with tweezers, to prevent it falling apart.



			
				Kosh42|EFG said:
			
		

> Note to self, use dark, inert sand for shrimp tank...


I am considering buying some "Shirakura Red Bee Sand" the UK source can only get it in August, and it costs 25 euros to ship from Germany, so I am still thinking about it as I want to sort out the tank before August, I might just go gravel and sand.



			
				Kosh42|EFG said:
			
		

> Loving the Fissidens carpet... Very attractive... May be a carpet to consider my new low tech main tank as it seems to work well for you with little ferts, no carbon and low light in the shrimp tank... If only I could find somewhere that sells it apart from being shipped half way around the world on E-Bay...


That carpet as taken me about 2 years to grow from a little donation I got here at UKAPS, PM me your address and I will send you some for a donation, not enough for a carpet off course but some to get you started.


----------



## dw1305

*Re: Shrimp Tank - Juwel Rekord 60 - Sulawesi shrimps*

Hi all,
I've been impressed with the _Fissidens_ (I got it from Paulo), it has grown much faster than I expected grown low-tech. 

If I was going to try and keep Sulawesi Cardinals (_Caridinia dennerli_), I would go down the species tank route with a silica sand/rock rubble substrate. An inert substrate/additive like Akadama would probably also do.

I've not kept them, but I've seen pictures of their natural habitat and it looks to be a "short rocky lawn", heavily grazed by snails. The water clarity  and general look is strongly suggestive of the marl lakes in the Burren, W. Ireland. Here the water is calcium carbonate saturated, but almost devoid of nutrients. I'd be tempted to use a small amount of shell sand and only fertilise with an N & P deficient mix (their native lake naturally contains K and Mg), aiming for an alkaline pH, but low conductivity. 

The Burren lakes have a patchy carpet of _Eleocharis acicularis_, and my planting would probably be only  sparse _ E. parvula_ and aquatic mosses, again the Burren lakes have a large number of these, and I would expect L. Matano to as well.  Flora was recorded as "_Ottelia, Eriocaulon and Lymnocharus _sp". 
Link here: <http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php?p=528955>.





"_In the Towuti, Matano and Poso lakes you can find pH between 7,4 and 8,2 according to collectors and these shrimp appear to require the higher pH. the conductivity is at about 224 ÂµS and the total hardness at about 6 DH. The water temperature is mostly stable at about 80 degrees F. in the deeper areas of the lakes, but in shallow water regions near the shore the temperature can rise to 84 degrees in the day_. "

I'd also be keen on some snails, I'm sure MTS would do and some of the _Tylomelania_ sp. would be good. Probably _T. patriarchalis_ (below). I'd also add some leaf litter, I've got some _Eriobotrya_ leaves (Loquat) that would be good,  the shrimps love them and they are very persistent.  




Finally I'd set up the tank and then leave it for several months so that it was fully established and stabilised and a good biofilm had developed, ideally a very short "stubble" of filamentous greens. 

cheers Darrel


----------



## dw1305

Hi all,
Just found some collated Sulawesi shrimp links  on "the planted tank"
<http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/s...es/107239-sulawesi-shrimp-guide-progress.html>.

I've only had a brief glance through them, but they look quite interesting.

cheers Darrel


----------



## LondonDragon

Thanks for the info Darrel  I am looking into starting a Sulawesi only tank pretty soon!

Haven't posted some photos of this tank in ages, here some taken this evening:

















Thanks for looking, comments and critiques always welcomed!


----------



## NeilW

What moss is that paulo? Looks great!


----------



## keymaker

The spotless health of you plants always amazes me Paulo. Great tank you've got there Mate!
Is that Anubias Petite in the middle of your last image? I've seen some at Interzoo, they look really fabulous. Great FG "spotting" plant or transition plant... And what happened to the Staurogyne?


----------



## LondonDragon

NeilW said:
			
		

> What moss is that paulo? Looks great!


If you mean the carpet its Fissidens Fontanus



			
				keymaker said:
			
		

> The spotless health of you plants always amazes me Paulo. Great tank you've got there Mate!
> Is that Anubias Petite in the middle of your last image? I've seen some at Interzoo, they look really fabulous. Great FG "spotting" plant or transition plant... And what happened to the Staurogyne?


Thanks mate, just having trouble again keeping the water clear in this tank, looks like its time to change the substrate again bummer!! That anubias petite I got it about 2 years ago, it had only about 5-6 leaves, its grown to the size since, really need to be chopped to encourage it to spread quicker I just like the effect at the moment.
The Staurogyne, well got lazy with trimming it all the time so rooted it in the end, was growing with much smaller leaves too due to low light and nutrients.


----------



## TBRO

Hey Paulo, any tips for keeping the anubis leaves clean in low ferts low CO2 system? Love the fissidens BTW


----------



## LondonDragon

TBRO said:
			
		

> Hey Paulo, any tips for keeping the anubis leaves clean in low ferts low CO2 system? Love the fissidens BTW


Just keep the light low  and keep on top of maintenance, don't do anything special for it really. During the time the anubias have been in the tank it has not been dosed that much, I have been dosing some DIY TPN+ over the past month due to seeing the ferns struggling a little.


----------



## LondonDragon

Shrimp arrived today from Shrimpking, well packaged no DOA and brilliant specimens 

Some photos of the shrimp, two of them were a prize in a photographic competition.




















Photos taken with my compact, I will get better shots later.

Very happy with the quality of these CRS  Lets hope this batch survives and breeds!!


----------



## andyh

Couple of beauties in there Paulo! If you dont mind me asking, what grade and how much where they? My CRS are breeding well now, but i would like to get a few more nice ones


----------



## NeilW

Lovely shrimp Paulo I'm jealous    .  My plan of action is to sell off/give away my lower grade babies and get some higher grades off Shrimp King to improve the genepool.  Don't know if you wanted to be my guinea pig and take some off my hands for free, I've never posted shrimp before so don't know how they travel so didnt want to charge.  I'm not sure you would want my A/B grades mixing with your nice new S's though


----------



## hydrophyte

LondonDragon said:
			
		

>



This is a real nice setup. I want to do a shrimp tank someday. Those new little specimens are super-cute.


----------



## LondonDragon

andyh said:
			
		

> Couple of beauties in there Paulo! If you dont mind me asking, what grade and how much where they? My CRS are breeding well now, but i would like to get a few more nice ones


Cheers and PM'ed!



			
				NeilW said:
			
		

> Lovely shrimp Paulo I'm jealous    .  My plan of action is to sell off/give away my lower grade babies and get some higher grades off Shrimp King to improve the genepool.  Don't know if you wanted to be my guinea pig and take some off my hands for free, I've never posted shrimp before so don't know how they travel so didnt want to charge.  I'm not sure you would want my A/B grades mixing with your nice new S's though


Cheers, I will not be mixing lower grades with these ones, to see if they breed as it is, they also have the wine red gene in them, so if they breed I might get lucky and have some wine reds in there 



			
				hydrophyte said:
			
		

> This is a real nice setup. I want to do a shrimp tank someday. Those new little specimens are super-cute.


Thanks, I am very happy with the shrimp also  you should go for a shrimp setup in one of your ripariums, would look great and its the ideal setup for them also, low tech, plenty of cover, just use plenty of mosses underwater and thats it


----------



## LondonDragon

More CRS photos, this time with the DSLR:











































Some photos of them "in-flight":


























Thanks for looking


----------



## Jack middleton

Jealousy is a cruel mistress, they're very nice, and I'm very tempted to order some myself in the hope that they breed, do you have any tips Paulo?


----------



## JamesM

Grrrr, I've put off posting in here as its doing my head in  I miss my shrimp tank so bad! 

Great shots Paulo, some cracking looking shrimp too mate... got any cherries up for sale? Drop me a PM if you have bud, ta


----------



## arty

Nice Tank. I like moss and looks nice and healthy. 

"At the moment dosing 5ml of each twice a week."

You dosing 5ml twice a week Easycarbo ? I just wonder, how i know this chem gone after 24h from water or not ?
Or You divide 10ml by weekly days ?

Best Regards,


----------



## LondonDragon

Jack middleton said:
			
		

> Jealousy is a cruel mistress, they're very nice, and I'm very tempted to order some myself in the hope that they breed, do you have any tips Paulo?


I hope they breed too, I have been trying for a while without much luck, might have been due to my laid back approach to tank maintenance, now I will keep on top of it and see what happens.



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> Grrrr, I've put off posting in here as its doing my head in  I miss my shrimp tank so bad!


haha just get another one, just though a couple of bricks in the tank and your done 



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> Great shots Paulo, some cracking looking shrimp too mate... got any cherries up for sale? Drop me a PM if you have bud, ta


Cheers mate, no cherries for sale at present, I had a little accident a few weeks ago that killed 200 of my best cherries  so not I had to start from what I had left, doing some more selective breeding so maybe soon enough will have some.



			
				arty said:
			
		

> Nice Tank. I like moss and looks nice and healthy.


Many thanks 



			
				arty said:
			
		

> You dosing 5ml twice a week Easycarbo ? I just wonder, how i know this chem gone after 24h from water or not ? Or You divide 10ml by weekly days ?


I am not dosing Easycarbo in this tank any longer, and haven't done so in a long time, I am only dosing EI all in one solution from JamesC recipe. I dose the tank 2 or 3 times a week about 10ml each time.


----------



## Gill

Stunning Specimens, and very nice shots of them.


----------



## LondonDragon

Gill said:
			
		

> Stunning Specimens, and very nice shots of them.


Thanks Gill


----------



## basil

Some really nice shrimp there. Just ordered the 6 pack of s-ss grade shrimp from Shrimpking myself........can't wait to get them!


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## LondonDragon

basil said:
			
		

> Some really nice shrimp there. Just ordered the 6 pack of s-ss grade shrimp from Shrimpking myself........can't wait to get them!


Nice one  if they are as good as the ones I received you will be very happy with them, unfortunately due to an accident with the filter I lost 4-5 of these great speciemens, lets hope the remaining breed.


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## niall_227

how do you get the moss to grow of the bog wood??? it looks amazing


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## LondonDragon

niall_227 said:
			
		

> how do you get the moss to grow of the bog wood??? it looks amazing


Just tie them down to the wood with some cotton thread or super glue them  some mosses will attach themselves to the wood after some time, but not all mosses do, a great one to attach to wood is the Fissidens.


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## Mirf

I used a hairnet to attach some java to my lump of bog wood


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## Kristoph91

Just finished reading this start to finish. I love it 
You are OBVIOUSLY a "mossmaster".

Brilliant.

Kris


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## LondonDragon

KrisHumphreys1991 said:
			
		

> Just finished reading this start to finish. I love it
> You are OBVIOUSLY a "mossmaster".
> 
> Brilliant.
> 
> Kris



Thanks Kris, this tank is still running, the CRS are long gone and for the past year I have been breeding a Blue Sulawesi shrimp that I obtained from Chris Lukhaup at Vivarium last year, not sure what to do with them at the moment but there must be over 500 in the tank at present lol 

The nicest ones are a really nice colour but most of them are very pale and will need a lot of selective breeding to get the best out of these shrimp which I don't think I will do that.


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## BigTom

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> not sure what to do with them at the momentl



I'd suggest sending some to me with that mythical filter fern cutting


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## LondonDragon

BigTom said:
			
		

> I'd suggest sending some to me with that mythical filter fern cutting


   yes been meaning to post that fern haha if you want to give the shrimp a go let me know, time to start sending out a few to see what people think of them


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## BigTom

Yeah would love to try some Paulo. What temperature are you keeping them at?

I think you've got my address, just send me a bill


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## Kristoph91

I'll take some too! Any pics of the said shrimp ?
Very interesting indeed. Is the Fiss still covering the floor or what ?

Love to see an update too!

Thanks,
Kris


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## LondonDragon

BigTom said:
			
		

> Yeah would love to try some Paulo. What temperature are you keeping them at?
> I think you've got my address, just send me a bill


I don't have a heater in the tank, they are suppose to be similar to cherries when it comes to temps and breeding lol at least they are for me.
See if I can sort that out this week, yes I still have your PM 



			
				KrisHumphreys1991 said:
			
		

> I'll take some too! Any pics of the said shrimp ?
> Very interesting indeed. Is the Fiss still covering the floor or what ?
> Love to see an update too!
> Thanks,
> Kris


I will let you know about the shrimp, should not be a problem 
I will try and give the tank a tidy up and take some shots, nothing special at the moment, just a tank covered in fissidens and pellia lol had a bucket full of string moss that went to an UKAPS member on Thursday. The carpet is still there but a lot of pellia got mixed with it and now the pellia out grows the fissidens, when when the pellia is removed the fissidens is still visible.


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## BigTom

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> BigTom said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah would love to try some Paulo. What temperature are you keeping them at?
> I think you've got my address, just send me a bill
> 
> 
> 
> I don't have a heater in the tank, they are suppose to be similar to cherries when it comes to temps and breeding lol at least they are for me.
> See if I can sort that out this week, yes I still have your PM
Click to expand...


Splendid


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## Kristoph91

Okey doke. Just PM me.  I'd love some new shrimp  
Wow I'd love to see a whole tank full of fiss! I'd say it looks great from the shrimps point of view, fields full of food.  
Pellia's always getting stuck into everything it can. 
Don't forget that I've got my name on some shrimp if you do start sending them out! 

Thanks,
Kris


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## Kannu

Are there any updates to this tank Paulo? And if you have any moss to spare, please let me know.


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## LondonDragon

Kannu said:


> Are there any updates to this tank Paulo? And if you have any moss to spare, please let me know.


Not really, this tank has taken total neglect for about 2 years now, its covered in ferns and anubias and has some fish in there, the CRS are long gone. I will try and get a FTS next week to see what a disaster it is lol 
Needs a rescape or given to someone who can do something with it lol case of too many tanks!


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