aquaprawn

Oh yes, I think you have a good point about the air pump thingy. This means I'll have to continue to look for that fish.. Thank you for your advise.

Okay, as promised, here's the update. I'm unable to find Hockeystick Pencilfish. So I placed 6 Chili Rasboras into a quarantine tank for suitability observation. I noticed that they tend to occupy the mid to lower zone, so this is not ideal as the larvas are usually on the upper zone. And they might pose a threat to the PRL babies lurking on the substrate. Secondly, I placed a few larvas into the tank to see if the Rasboras would snap them up. Unfortunately they are not very enthusiastic. The six of them looked at the wriggling larvae and ignored it - none actually took a bite. These were quite disconcerting, so I decided not to put the Rasboras into the tank. So I had to try another method. I placed mosquito repellent just a few inches behind the tank. Its the Citronella based air freshener. Over the next few days, I noticed a dramatic drop in the adult flies lurking on the surface of the tank - presumably repelled by the Citronella scent. There are still larvas in the water, but I hope when the adult fly emerges, they will not come near the tank. Fingers crossed, it will solve the problem. Thanks.

Thank you very much. That's reassuring enough for me.

Thanks. I will provide an update. Going to check out a few LFS over the weekend to see if I can find that Hockeystick pencilfish. If I can't find it, then I'll try the Rasboras.

Thank you so much!! I'm certainly impressed with the 6s. Those are really nice looking PRL you have there partying in the bowl

Thank you SM. I read every word of your adventure with interest and will look for Hockeystick Pencilfish. I've never heard of the fish, so thanks for introducing it to me. I will try to look for them in the LFS but I don't think I can purchase them online as I'm on the other side of the globe I did manage to find a different variety of Pencilfish though. https://www.lelong.com.my/pencil-fish-aquarium-fish-aquacult-181964387-2018-08-Sale-P.htm I think this is N. unifasciatus. I've definitely seen this in LFS, but I think this variety won't do as this one likes the mid to lower part of the aquarium. The variety you mentioned was N. eques. I'll need to look for that. Can I ask is the Hockeystick Pencilfish a very small fish? About 30 or 35mm? I do readily have Chilli Rasboras though as they're in my other 3 footer tank.

I have freshwater gnats breeding in my tank. They look a lot like mosquitoes and the larvae is constantly seen wriggling in my tank. When I open the top lid, I constantly many adults fly out. Manual removal of the adults or larvae is no use as it keeps coming back. This is happening in my PRL breeding tank which is semi planted. Its a 75 liter. There are many shrimp babies. If I add a handful of Mosquito Rasboras (Boraras Brigittae), will this solve the problem and will they also snack on the shrimp babies? How do I solve this pest problem? Thanks.

I have a PRL tank with many tiny babies (as tiny as 2mm). I have a case of planaria and want to use the product No Planaria. The label says it won't harm shrimps, but I'm still worried as the babies are really tiny. Is No Planaria safe to use under such conditions? Thanks.

Congrats ddd_sss. I admire how you managed to get them to feed from the feeding bowl. I use that too, but they dislike going into the feeding bowl. Once they start breeding, its non-stop. I have 7 PRLs. And all 4 females were berried. Then they hatch, and a week later berried again. But I had to wait for about 2 months before seeing the first berried. Btw, can I ask what lens did you use to take those photos? They are excellent.

There's a visible orange mark on my female blue diamond. It was not there previously. This is the second time she's berried, and should I be worried about this?

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but Buce are just beautiful plants. If it helps, here's my Brownie Brown and it looks like what you have in your hands. And the sp Iris flowering. Tie it on a rock and put it on top of the substrate.

Mine are peaceful. They're good at stealing food though. They'd grab a food pellet and run with it.

Frankly speaking guys, I'll give you my take on this. High grade shrimp and CO2 don't mix. I find it frustrating that you can either have a nice high tech tank, or nice shrimps, but not both together. By high grade I mean CRS S and above. The higher the grade, the more sensitive. I've heard of a few who managed to find the sweet spot of balancing CO2, plants, and keeping shrimps healthy. But that is mostly a hit-and-miss story and many will say it depends on the shrimps ability to adapt, and many will die but you'll be lucky that some will survive. If you keep adding shrimps, eventually you'll be lucky enough to have a sustainable population. Then there's the odd story where you have a dead low grade CRS A, and a berried high grade CBS SS grade (happened to me). This was amongst five dead CBS, and another dead Tiger - I attribute my berried CBS as "I got lucky she's a survivor and managed to adapt". Because I've seen CO2 entering my tank, and I can see all the plants bubbling with photosynthesis - and I know there's CO2 in there, and its this CO2 that's killing my CRS. If I'm willing to shut off my CO2, the CRS shrimp population will explode. As for the Neos, and Tigers, they are doing well amidst the CO2. They're a tough bunch because unlike the higher grades, they didn't go through so much selective breeding that weakened it. For me, I'm going to try to reduce the CO2 by just a notch. If the CRS still don't make it, I may refocus on the Neo line instead. There are plenty too from Rili shrimp to BV, but admittedly the Caridina line are much more beautiful. However I have no joy in looking at beautiful shrimps in an ugly tank (ie low tech tank). As one person said, "Either high grade or high tech. If both, be prepared to keep adding shrimps."

Thank you all for the replies. I appreciate it very much. I think I get the point. I need to adjust my water parameters to lower GH/KH and further lower the temp. I'll be investing in an RO unit because my tap water is too hard. And I'll lower the temp on my chiller. I can't do anything about the fluctuating PH because I need to keep injecting CO2. Have been thinking about setting up a low tech tank just for shrimps, but that's in the pipeline.

Thank you. I'll add some more info on my water chemistry. PH 6.7 to 7.3 KH3, GH6 TDS160 Temp: 77F-78.8F Based on the parameters on the website you provided for :- Crystal Red Shrimp Red Bee PH: 6.2–6.6, KH: 0–2, GH: 4–6 TDS: 100–180, Water temp: 70-73F But somehow I'm puzzled by these. Looking at another site the data is different:- http://www.planetinverts.com/Crystal%20Red%20Shrimp.html It says PH6.5-7.5. Temp 64-78F. So which site do you follow?