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Its Discobee. thanks. Thanks for sharing our awesome setup! This photo was approx 3 years ago. Out recent conversations with multiple breeders (some are members of this forum) were in the last few days. We discussed how the prices of shrimp have fallen so much in recent years, that they are using different methods for limiting their expenses. We also no longer use this method because there are parts you dont see that take a long time to setup, break down, and just easier methods now. Now we use corner HMFs. We've noticed no advantage of one method over the other as far as shrimp health and production. its more about setup costs and ease of use especially for people with multiple systems or racks. We like to try every method so we have experience and can share our knowledge. photos of our newest rack tanks. Corner HMF along with eheim 2213.

I would prefer neos but it seems I've made the mistake of getting an active substrate for them and from what I've read they won't do well with that. I have a ph and a tds meter coming in tomorrow morning though so I guess we'll see how that is and go from there.

I'm super excited to share with you guys some info about my latest project. I have managed to cross some of my nicest female aura bee with my German red pintos (from Germany) a few months back. I now have two batches of babies from two different females. The female aura carries the fishbone pattern. However, I don't see it in any of the offspring yet. I do see zebra and spotheads which are showing up in f1. It also appears that one set of babies shows blue as dominent and the other set of babies shows red. I can't wait to see where this project goes. So far there have been 3 batches of babies born since 8/21/15

I hope you all don't mind me sharing this here as well! I recently submitted an article about shrimp macro photography to Photography Life, and they decided to publish it! I hope you all enjoy it too https://photographylife.com/aquarium-macro-photography-of-ornamental-shrimp

Soothing, I currently have my TTs in card params (Controsoil to pH 5.85, GH+ to 5-6), but I'm thinking about slooooooooow dripping some into my Neo chemistry (GH/KH+) to see if they can make the transition and have a dedicated home.

There you go. That's probably closer to what you're going for.

maybe I'll try RKK 1 strip X red Tiger, don't want to mess with those beautiful pintos.. hahah

Aside from water parameters, they also breed and grow much slower, and deaths in the colony require more recovery time, compared to neos, which can bounce back nicely from disasters, at least in my experience. I've only just started getting my first caridina babies this month, since my shrimp just hit maturity recently , but I can tell that I even though I have 8 berried caridinas, I won't be running out of tank space soon. On the other hand, my neos are starting to clog up the 5 gallon tanks I keep them in.

I lost all of my TT's (need to ask James He maybe they were imported)... so no help with TT's. But I have Aura Blues and I believe they're same shrimp but different color... If it's right then I keep mine in more caridinas parameters (ph 6.6-6.8, TDS about 160-180) and they breed very well for me. (The TT's I had were with my cherries in inert substrate).

Someone told me recently, "Man, what a great idea you came up with, using all of those seeds and leaves and stuff in aquariums! This is so cool!" I was totally flattered...then I had to set him straight. I immediately had to tell him that Tannin absolutely did NOT "invent" the concept of using botanical materials in aquariums. I explained to him that the idea of using leaves, seed pods, etc. is not "new"- it's been around for many years. We didn't "come up with" the idea. What Tannin has done, is to survey, curate, collate, and refine their collection, and use in aquariums. We've taken the concept that was already there to some extent, and elevated it with lots and lots of experimentation, technique, a passion for the aesthetic, ideas, a bit of romance, and a fascination with the utility of these materials-and created a more concise, cohesive, and "one-stop-shop" for your aquatic botanical needs. In short, we innovated, based upon some ideas that were already there. And in the process, we've developed an inclusive, unique brand, and most important- recruited a growing, global community of like-minded aquarists who have helped us to follow up on our core mission to become "...more than just a purveyor of aquatic goods. We’re a mood, an atmosphere, a space to be. A living breathing, creative canvas to express yourself." And for that, we've been called "innovative" many, many times. We'll take that, with some qualifications. What we were jokingly referring to as the "New Botanical" style has become just that- a style. A "movement" within the hobby, fostered by many passionate hobbyists who are interested in a new form of aquatic creativity. Many of you already dabbled in the idea, and were looking for a "home." YOU- the hobbyists of the world, are actively creating and forwarding the art, style, technique- and movement...every single day. All we did was share our passion and curate the concepts, romance the ideas. You're running with it. Tannin is a sort of example for aquarists in that you don't have to start with a completely "blank slate" to create meaningful change and to create innovative ideas within the aquarium hobby. There is no shortage of examples of this in our hobby "history" (click to read more)

With active substrate, I 2nd cards.

Thanks for sharing Eric, very interesting and nice to learn what other breeders around the world are doing now.

Thank you, Eric! I was asking about powdered form. I like Prime and use it in my goldfish tank but somehow I liked to use a small measuring spoon and it was a perfect amount for my 2g backets. I found it hard to measure right amount of Prime for small tanks.

Thanks, I will try to cross it with normal CBS or Taiwan shrimp, who knows maybe I can make more like this one. I'll post an update when I do so. At this moment I don't even know the sex of this shrimp.

sp. Api api is now assumed to be extinct in the wild. Albimarginata, brownorum, persephone, and livida are all in trouble from what my friends over there say. Almost all are being pressured by palm oil. I hear the easiest to breed is siamorientalis and splendens both of which are gorgeous and wide spread so as bogo says below, if you are worried about wild collection, they are the safest. Splendens is reportedly wild in the us now!

Most important question is what did you breed the Tibees with? If Tibee x Tibee, you will receive Tibee. If you are certain that the Tibee bred with a Taiwan Bee then the result is Taitibee. Pintos are Taitibees, they are just specific patterns like Galaxy, Spotted Head, Zebra, Skunk, etc.

So I had an uncomfortable experience at an LFS today. I was looking for a particular fish, so I wandered down an aisle at the back of the store. I could see 2 men talking in front of a shrimp tank, and I assumed both were store employees. One was asking the other what the difference is between red rillis and red cherries. The second guy wasn’t sure, so of course nosy Sarah just had to insert herself into the conversation and explain. Once I explained that, the first guy started asking me more questions, like how to tell the males and females apart. I was looking in the tank trying to show him the differences, and I noticed that the shrimp in the net that guy #2 had just scooped up had a ton of Ellobiopsis (aka the green death). So of course being nosy big-mouthed me, I immediately declare that this shrimp is diseased and should be culled immediately, and that most likely all the other shrimp in the tank have been exposed and should not be sold. I look up, and guy #2 is clearly pissed, while guy #1 is fascinated and concerned (and of course now has a ton more questions). It was at this moment that I realized that I just interfered with a sale. It wasn’t 2 employees at all, guy #1 was a customer. Ooops. So I do really feel bad, but also the store employees should have been taught about and not be allowed to sell clearly diseased livestock. Also, they were ridiculously overpriced. I think they guy ended up buying some yellow neos from a different tank anyway. I did apologize to the employee afterwards, and he was cool about it. Told me he learned something from me, and thanked me. But still, the whole experience left me feeling kinda yucky and jerky. Just thought I’d share and see if others here would have done the same.

It's so funny that you say this. The reason I had thought guy #1 was a store employee in the first place was because he had opened and held the door for me to come in to the store! After I gave him the advice, he said "I'm glad I held the door for you. I got great free advice!"

As a newcomer myself, I have learned the hard way that a TDS meter is good to have. I had well established tanks with good parameters checked out with test strips. But still lost my shrimp as it seems the only thing I couldn't check out was the amount of solids in my tanks.

Super Sarah to the rescue! I believe it is our duty as humans to do what we can to help others. Makes no difference if it after a disaster, holding a door, helping someone with difficulties, or informing others about the hobbies we enjoy. I get great satisfaction that I can make a difference in someones life thru knowledge given to me by my parents and others during my lifetime. Right On The Mark Sister!!

I had something similar happen at a LFS. Watched a young kid tell a customer that that its ok to keep 3 red tail sharks in a 10g tank

Don't feel bad! You saved someone's tank and probably more in the future.

I agree! You educated (at least a little bit) the customer and saved hime from bad first expirience! You did good!

I don't think you should feel bad at all.

Thanks so much everyone. Hopefully I'll be active again soon. We are in a holding pattern right now just trying to figure out what is going on.

So I have this sort of confession to make. When I first added plants to my office blackwater aquarium, it was really as sort of an experiment to see how they would fare in the dark brown botanical milieu I created. It was more of "let's see if this works for me." I was actually, in my head at least- violently opposed to the idea of incorporating plants at all into the 'scape. My thinking was that the green would somehow "violate" the "sanctity" of my little blackwater utopia hardscape, and take it in a direction towards a more traditional planted tank! Seriously. I was that worried! However, I took some comfort in knowing that the planet would have to "fend for themselves" in this tank; there would be no supplemental fertilization, special lighting, excessive pruning or other "management" common to planted aquariums. I was committed to letting the plants just "be"- the ultimate survival experiment. (click to read more)

I personally also like the look of not a lot of extra stuff in the tank, just a piece of wood and some moss, ferns or buces, the greenery of plants makes it also look more natural and the added benefit of removing nitrates and so on This is my preferred way