From betas and water critters to SHRIMP

[EverStuff]

This has been such an up and down since I started and it hasn't even been a year yet. It all started with a beta in a jar. As long as I can remember when growing up, my Dad always had one or more fish tanks. I always have been drawn to the water and the things growing in it; aquatic insects, fish, plants. I just love being by the water. I've had fish tanks on and off all my adult life. One of the first things I wanted when we moved out to Idaho was another fish tank. We got a 36 gallon bow front. I've also had an assortment of bettas living in glass vases, with plant cuttings growing out of the top.

 

I'm also somewhat of a procrastinator. So the water levels in the vases and the fish tanks would drop. Algae grows on the sides till you can't see if there is anything still living inside or not. I'll admit it got a little yuck looking from time to time. I cleaned out the 36 gal, threw in some fake plants, refilled the water and let it go with occasionally topping off the water lever when the water got too low. The fish got old and died and I was left with three neons, and three white clouds. The vase with no fish, just some plants sat on the kitchen table. And then I discovered shrimp.

 

I don't know what made me get a wild hair up my ass and decide I wanted little critters in the water of the vase that I could watch while I sat at my computer. I think the seed of the idea got planted at Christmas this last year when I got my granddaughter a sea monkey kit. I knew the irrigation ponds next to us would get all sorts of critters during the summer, including freshwater fairy shrimp. Mostly they come in clear-ish red, but I've seen some green ones and I decided I needed them. In the middle of winter. In Idaho.

So I tromped out to the irrigation run off pond next door and grabbed a couple handfuls of mud surely full of horse, cow, and whatever other kind of dried up poop and goop, and dropped it in the vase full of murky green/brown water that I hadn't cleaned out in ages. I knew the eggs dried up with the end of irrigation season and when the water came back in the spring, the critters would hatch. I ended up with a million almost microscopic daphnia and copopodes, but no shrimp. Enter 15 tabs open across the top of my web browser, looking for where I can find these fairy shrimp. I didn't want sea monkeys, they're brine shrimp. And then I ended up on youtube, and found freshwater aquarium shrimp!!! 

 

Neocaridina Davidi, or Cherry Shrimp. They come in a whole skittles pack of colors!! I need these! I need a whole tank full. Reds and blues and blacks and yellows, and oh man, look at the green ones. So let the research begin. Cause I'm great at research and organizing and planning what I need. 

 

First off the fake plants need to go and I need to start doing regular water changes in my tank. I needed live plants to filter out the nitrates in the water that naturally occur from uneaten fish food, fish and snail waste, and decaying plant material. Annnd I don't want to spend a million dollars on plants so I can save money for the shramps!!! Where can I find aquatic plants in Idaho, in early spring, while we're still getting below freezing temps in the mornings, and occasionally snow? 

 

So I went hiking down to Ritter Island. One of my fav places to hang out. Natural springs, crystal clear water, waterfalls. It's so beautiful down there, and the water doesn't freeze where it comes out of the sides of the mountain. Honestly any excuse to go hang out down there is a good one. Plus, I found a you-tuber that did a few vids on using terrestrial (land growing) mosses underwater in his tanks. I was super excited. I got baggies and baggies full of mosses and plants growing under the water and rescaped   my fish tank. I found some pretty pieces of lava rock and cut a few pieces off my pothos (houseplant) that I knew could live under water. It looked so pretty. I bought prolly 20 of the little ghost shrimp you can get at Walmart for .39 cents a piece and chucked them in there.  If I could get them to live, I could start thinking of where to order my cherry shrimp. 

But the ghost shrimp died. A few here and there. So I figured they're kinda like feeder goldfish, bred in ick conditions, not expected to live long. I kept buying 5 or 6 more at a time. They're only .39 cents a piece. When I thought everything finally looked good, and was doing well I found cherry shrimp at Petco and bought three cherry shrimp. They weren't super red, but I had SHRAMPS!! 

And then I found WORMS!!! Planaria. Little flat head worms that bite the shrimp and breed like crazy. I had them everywhere. They came from my plants I collected. They caused them to get bacterial infections and killed them. One of the red cherries died. The ghost shrimp were getting bacterial infections and muscle necrosis. Some of the moss wasn't doing well under the water, and the aquatic plants were disintegrating. It made the shrimp's shells turn white before they died. None of this short thick moss lived. Neither did any of the stuff that looked like little star flowers. 

 

I dosed the tank with wormer and took out the mosses that were dieing. Petco was having their dollar a gallon sale and Scott seeing how excited about the shrimps I was, bought me a 20 gallon long, a 10 gallon, and a 5.5 gallon tank. Once they were cycled, I could tear down the 36 and I could do everything right this time, including treating the plants before I put them in the tanks. 

[EverStuff]

The water cleared up. I ordered Matten filters for the 20 and the 10 gallons. Changed the rock with moss in the 20, and slowly started adding plants that were properly treated for insects and parasites this time. The fish left in the 36 were moved to the 10 gallon to help cycle it and I tore the whole 36g down. Cleaned the gravel and more hiking for pretty lava rocks.

 

Where we live is full of old lava flows and some of the rocks were really neat. There's collapsed lava tubes that make mini caves.

 

The couple Petco Cherry Shrimp got moved to the 20 gallon once the water parameters were correct and the tanks were finished cycling. 

And then Scott told me to order my shrimps already. I'd been compulsively obsessing over these little critters for months and pouring over you tube videos, joining groups for shrimp on face book, order the damned shrimp!! lol.

 

Reds and blacks in the 20 long, blue jelly and blue dreams in the 10 gallon.

 

Only I made a terrible mistake. Some one messaged me when I started inquiring about who had neos for sale and how much. I didn't know anything about imported versus home bred shrimp. This seemed like a hell of a deal and I ordered so many shrimp. But they started dying off one or two here, and three the next month, one more the next week. They were breeding and having babies, but I never saw any of them really living to adult shrimp. I kept testing my water (with strips, another mistake).

 

I joined a few more Facebook groups, this time with auctions. I won a few for random skittles, and got a few yellow and orange. I didn't even know I liked these colors until I separated them out into the 5.5g and they looked amazing against the black substrate. I won another couple auctions for only yellows and orange rili. I was having babies and I loved them. I took so many pictures I had to start deleting them off my phone after I loaded them on my computer. 

 

I was waiting patiently for the population explosion I kept readying about other people having. "I started with 10 three months ago, and now I have 100's of babies!!" I know the auctions I was winning were for young shrimp, but either mine weren't breeding or the babies never made it. I was getting very discouraged. I did more research. The test strips were crap! I had no idea I needed to test of GH and KH, I had no idea what my PH was except for the highest color on the test strip. I'm on well water and thought I was so lucky not to have to worry about having to treat my tap water. I was so wrong.  

 

[EverStuff]

I got an API master test kit, but they don't come with the GH and KH test. I ordered one from Ebay, not realizing it was coming from the UK till after it shipped. In the meantime I tested and found my water is amazingly hard. Like 8+ hard. I had been having so much trouble with my shrimp from failed moults. They were trying to moult, couldn't and dying. I was getting babies in all the tanks though. Walmart to the rescue. I started buying gallons of distilled water and mixing it with my tap water to bring the PH down. I was starting to have babies living and growing. The yellows tank was doing the best. I also won an auction for more orange rili and they were so beautiful. One was berried and finally things were going the way they were supposed to. 

 

The populations in the red tank and the blues were also both starting to grow. Scott and I were talking about making the back empty bedroom into my office to do crafts, set up a couple more tanks. I was slowly finding a tank here, a hood there, another tank, a light, on Facebook and the thrift stores. It was all accumulating in the garage. The spare room needed a complete overhaul. It was my daughter's old room and a very..... Bright green... In order to hasten the hubster along in getting my room started I started taking over the kitchen, setting up more tanks on the kitchen table and the counter. I found a Fluval Chi at the thrift store for $10. I bought another 10g from Petco. I also discovered dirted tanks on the internet, and had to have them. I had a one gallon jar laying around and that was my first experiment in a Walstad Dirted Tank. 

I put in a couple ghost shrimp from the 36g, and some lower grade cherry culls and peewees.  Three weeks later I did the Fluval and the new 10g. 

 

 

Work started on the back bedroom FINALLY!! All the thumbtack holes filled, a new coat of paint, benches going up. 

 

And then disaster struck. Scott was away for the weekend and we had a power outage. The power went out early evening and was out for seven hours overnight. I thought the shrimp would be fine. They ship for up to a week sometimes in little bags with no water movement, and move happily into their new tanks with no problems. I gave the tops of all the tanks a good swish before I went to bed, to break up the water surface. Everyone was fine when I woke up. When I got home from work most of my shrimp were dead! I had one orange rili and three yellows left in that tank. 60% of the reds were dead, one black left alive. I had so many babies in there. All gone. The blues tank was the worst. I was having a population explosion finally. 90% of the adults and every one of the peewees, juvies, and sub adults were dead. I'd lit oil lamps the night before. I had to refill a couple from the last time I'd used them. I had lamp oil on my hands. The blues tanks was the first one I'd swished. I was devastated. I thought I was really starting to get a hang of shrimp keeping and doing everything right.  

 

I did a massive water change on all three shrimp tanks, hoping I didn't kill the last of the survivors. The Fluvial, dirted 10g, and the 36g were all safe. Either no shrimp yet, or I hadn't gotten my stupid hands in the tank. I called my husband just gutted. It was such a stupid stupid mistake. I wanted to give up and give away all the tanks, the shrimp, all of it. He didn't let me. 

 

I didn't know it, but knowing passionate and interested in shrimp I'd become, Scott was researching RO systems. He knew I could only stick with neos and not get into caridinas unless I had an ro. He encouraged me to get a few more 10g's at Petco's next dollar a gallon sale, and bid on more shrimp auctions. I won a few for blue dreams, and lime green from people I knew and loved the looks of their shrimp. While at Lowes for more supplies for the shrimp room, he bought me a shelving rack! 

 

The lime greens didn't look very green. More like a paler golden back with a much lighter colored stripe, but they were having much greener babies. 

 

The couple blue survivors went into the Fluval with the new blue dreams I won. 

[EverStuff]

I got my RO unit. Ryan Curtis at TheShrimpFarm.com helped me pick out exactly what I needed. I got a booster pump. Scott got it mounted in the utility room for me. 

I finally was able to start setting up tanks in my room. All the benches are done, the rack is up with the cross supports under the shelves. 

 

 

 

 

 

[EverStuff]

The blue dreams in the fluval tank are doing amazing. They're breeding like rabbits, the babies are growing to juvies and soon some of them will be ready to start breeding themselves. 

 

 

 

In the last three weeks, I've had three hatches of new babies. I've turned the 10g dirted tank into a second blue tank. This one will be the best of the blues without any dark markings. I want the brightest blue I can get to breed out. 

 

The 20g tall in the corner has blue velvets. I have a few babies already and another female berried. 

 

 

 

The 5.5g is my reds. I have two very red noes to toes, some with clear spots still on the legs, but they're beginning to breed again. 

 

 

 

The first tank I set up for caridina started with neos first. The babies from the yellow/lime green tank were throwing these very ugly mustard yellow shrimp that I didn't care for at all. I did want to start putting neos in with the caridinas so I could have more colors without cross breeding. I experimented with these ugly shrimp. The yellows is a dirted tank, and the tannins were making the tank quite dark. Once I got these "ugly shrimp" into clearer water, a better light, and they molted once or twice and are now adults big enough to breed, wow, did they change. I have Green shrimp. This tank also has my low grade aura tigers in it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original 20 long I didn't convert to dirt while I was on the dirted tank obsession. This tank has my orange rili. Right now I have 8 females, but I'm without a male. 

 

 

 

[EverStuff]

I was super excited to start with real caridina shrimp. The aura blues are a kind of an in between shrimp. Scott let me order some supplies on Amazon. I got a couple new lights, some airline connector valves, and my first crystal red and crystal black shrimp. I love these shrimp. My favorites are the ones with more white to red/black, two little white dots on the back of the carapace in the black/red. I only ordered five of each, so it's going to be a while before this colony starts doing anything. 

 

 

 

 

 

Shadow pandas were my next mistake. I thought for sure getting some shrimp from someone local-ish would be a good thing. I drove an hour and a half to the next big town. It was someone in a Facebook group I'm in. Her health is poor and she was looking to start cutting back on her shrimp. The shrimp looked nice, the tank looked nice. I got six of them and she put in one little golden bee shrimp.  Two weeks later and she messages me asking if I would be interested in buying the last 10 she had. She just can't take them dying off one at a time here and there anymore. She must be doing something wrong. I thought I must have been doing something wrong because I was down to only three left of the six. Hard no from me. I don't want to buy anymore of your shrimp that are dying! I had gotten a few blue bolts from some I trusted online the same time I got the crs and cbs. They're in with the remaining shadow pandas. 

 

 

 

 

[Fishnshrimp]

Does this story continue? My eyes are blurry and I'm still ready to see 'and then......'. Lol. You must have a VERY tolerant husband. Please continue!

[EverStuff]

23 hours ago, Fishnshrimp said:

Does this story continue? My eyes are blurry and I'm still ready to see 'and then......'. Lol. You must have a VERY tolerant husband. Please continue!

 

My husband Is amazing. He's puts up with all the crazy things I've wanted to get into. A garden bigger than the foot print of our house. Raising pigs and steers for our freezer. He built me a two story chicken condo. Laughs at me when I use as he calls it, "Red hillbilly twine" to make fences he knows aren't going to keep the horses in, when I want to turn them loose under the trees to eat the grass. 

 

 

 

 

 

The shrimp story does continue. We're up to today!! I've got three tanks on the rack and a bunch of supplies. Yellow and lime green neos, blue cobalt neos, orange rili neos. Four tanks now on the bench on the South wall. Blue velvet neos in the corner, Blue Bolts/ Shadow Pandas/ Golden bees/ Cherries, my console my broken heart shrimp I just got in yesterday in  with the CRS/CBS, and a new 5.5g I just set up the other night as my latest caridina tank. Four tanks on the bench on the west wall. Red neos, blue dream neos, green neos and arua blues, and a cycling caridina tank. I wanted ghost bees for that tank, and joined an import pre order group. I had put in a tentative order the first day for them, but told him to hold off while I tried to save up some more money for something else. The agreement I have with the hubster is all my tip money from grooming dogs is mine to do whatever I want with the shrimp. I don't spend any money from either of our checks, but I can buy as many shrimp and tanks and whatever I want, and he can't bitch about shrimp taking over the world. Well when I realized I wasn't going to have enough money to make the min order for anything else, I asked for an invoice. Someone had come in on the third day of the pre order and bought 300 ghost bees and there were none left. 

 

To console my broken heart, I ordered shrimp from Barbee Bees and The Garden of Eder. Grant and Steve where both having specials. From Steve I ordered 10 juvie low to mid grade mosura blue bolts. They should have shipped out yesterday.

 

From Grant I ordered 10- f5 to f7 tibee oebt x CBS michiling x ghost bees, and 10 Red Tibee(Safari/DM genes). These got here yesterday. They are so fun!!! So many different patterns and colors. I put them in with my CRS/CBS. I'll just let them have a free for all, and then start pulling out interesting ones I want to select breed. 

Black Tibees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one has some neat orange throughout 

 

 

 

 From the Red Safari tank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then this one just because it's my fav shrimp. This was from the first caridina order a little bit back. 

 

 

The shdaow/bb tank has new occupants. I was running out of room so I took the cherries from the walstad jar and slow dripped them and put them in that tank. The little blue bolts are doing well. 

 

I haven't lost another shadow panda since the last one earlier this week. The golden bee is still thriving, I hope. It seems to be bigger than it was a couple weeks ago when I got them, so I hope it's molted successfully since it came here. Two of the cherries are berried. One has a very nice solid color red, for a rili, but it's got bleed through all over it's body. No good defined margins, just random blotches of clear. One of the males and a few of the females look like once upon a time in their lineage they were blue bodied red rili. Their undersides and legs are blue-ish with poor red color over the top. I pulled them out of the cull tank to begin the walstad project. 

 

 

I am getting a few blue/red rilis from my velvets tank. I've set up a marina box and pulled three out of the main tank now to grow out. 

 

One of the greens is being a freak and turned this strange orange color this last week. I can't get a good picture that shows the color I see with my eyes. These have been the weirdest color changing shrimp ever. 

 

In the last little bit of space I have on the bench I set up another 5.5g tank for caridinas. I know eventually I'm become like every other addict here on the forums, and turn the tanks short end facing out so I can set up MOAR TANKS!!!! lol. For now I like being able to look in the long ways and see the whole tank. Scott is already talking about maybe putting up another bench/shelf over the benches I have for more tanks. I have room on the east wall between the door and the closet for a skinny rack. 

 

 

In the marina box on the bench is hundreds of amano eggs. The last time my female was berried I tried raising them out. I bought a salinity tester and everything. I'm also horribly impatient. I didn't mix until ALL the salt was dissolved. I filled a little plastic canister and moved the zoe over after a few days of them hatching. I think they lasted a week before they were all gone. I had the remains of the salt water in a gallon jug with a cap on it. I measured it the other day and the little indicator was pegged at the top. I wanted it to read between 17 and 20. I waited 30 days after the giant female molted and berried up again before scooping her out and putting her in the breeder box. Good timing too cause a couple hours later, I had a few free floating zoe. 

 

When I got home from work the next day I was bummed over shrimp yet again. All the eggs were on the bottom on the box. I could see eyeballs and everything. 

 

Not to worry it seems. They's hatching without her. Every time I see them bunched up in the corner of the breeder, I suck them out and transfer them over to the canister with the salt water. 

 

[Fishnshrimp]

I'm jeleous!! I think you may be referring to baling twine. Nope won't keep horses or cows in BUT is a necessary STAPLE in life-ie: duct tape, wd-40, (If it moves n shouldn't use duct tape, if it doesn't move use wd-40)..

For some reason, I  can't see ANY of the shrimp pics (just lines n lines of code). The "farm" critters pics did appear🤗🤗🤗.

NOT that I'm admitting to anything, but you could fit tank on back of TOILET. I had hanging bowl in bathroom, long ago in small house.

Since you groom dogs, have you ever thought about alpacas? They hum, and decent $ for hair/fiber, easy keepers. Initial expense $$.

Don't also want to mention peacock (s), stay away from guinea fowl (afraid of own shadow n noisy). 

My girlfriend raised emus. I've had a LOT of everything in my life. Lol. I'm at 4 tanks 10-100g, but I don't count the "under 3 gallon cull n experimental (also Walstad n other "ideas"). La - la - la - la🎶🎶🎶(fingers in ears- Cleopatra not the only Queen of d nile).

Wish I could see pics, unknown if it's because I'm on phone??

Friend of mine stopped by and 'took home some of my fish n bloody Mary/ rc shrimp. Lol. Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly🕸🕷🕸. HE had never heard of dwarf shrimp, when he left w/ 2 plastic bags (fish/shrimp/food/plants, he was talking about building a pond in spring.

They say that's how it starts, you know, with just a few 10 gallons 🐟🐌🦀🐡🐚🐟🐬😲😲😲

Do I feel bad about "spreading the addiction"------HELL NO.....(There are worse things I could do 🎶🎶than give away a shrimp or 2......🎶🎶I.could steal and I  could lie...🎶🎶)

ALSO, don't know where you live weather-wise, but have you tried "out door tubbing", ANOTHER can of worms🐛🐛🐛🐛, could lead to aquaponics, hydroponics, ponds etc. You'd need to clone yourself.

There's so many great DIY "fish n stuff" ideas out there and pics and learning from other people  (and their mistakes), lions & tigers & bears- oh my.

I'm afraid when I get really old, I 'll be a 'variation of the crazy cat lady, with all "her babies"---but it'll be fish, shrimp, plants, animals, etc.seeds in fridge, boxes of wood n stone-------yea she's sane. Lol

Don't laugh when you can identify with it.

Please continue...

 

[Fishnshrimp]

Got off on tangent, so, freezer for pigs, chickens-not a problem. The steer, for me a problem. Grocery store sells cow-but already packaged for me.

I hunt, no problem w deer, fish, fowl. I've had 4H calf--it would lead to more "pets".

Won't get into the garden sitation.

Please continue the "Building of the Shrimp Empire" saga.....

Don't knock it, my grandmother lived next to Frank Perdue --I remember when.

 

 

[EverStuff]

2 hours ago, Fishnshrimp said:

For some reason, I  can't see ANY of the shrimp pics (just lines n lines of code). The "farm" critters pics did appear🤗🤗🤗.

 

All the shrimp pics from all the posts, or just the last ones?

[Fishnshrimp]

Ok, u know people get paid to proof- JK.

1st post-pic shrimp in hand, tank pic, petco 1st 3 cherry, funky moss,  3 dirt tanks. (_all ok)

Next post 205- 5 pics ok ends in reds n blues.

3rd post 334-3pics (Last Walstad jar). Text ending "3 weeks later I did the Fluval and new 10g."

2 NO PIC

"Work started back.."

1 NO PIC

". work back BR, new coat paint, benches going up"

1 NO PIC

",,,he bought me shelving rack"

1 NO PIC

"having greener babies" 1 pic ok

"new blue dreams I won" 3 pic ok

Next post - "Got R O unit...Scott ..for me"

4 NO PIC

" blue dreams..start breedingthemselves

3 NO PIC

"I want brightest blue I can get" 1 pic ok

"another berried female"

1 NO PI

"5.5 is my reds...breed again 1red pic ok

1 NO PIC 

"this tank also..aura tiger in it"

5 NO PIC 

"8 females, but without male"

2 NO PIC

"before the colony starts doing anything"

4 NO PIC

"in with remaining shadow pandas"

5 NO PIC 

[My msg asking if u are cont.]

"under trees to eat grass" 4pic ok 

"Pic of mosura blue bolt" 1 pic ok

"Black Tibees"

4 NO PIC 

"neat orange throughout"

2 NO PIC 

"From red safari tank"

6 NO PIC 

"a little back"

1 NO PIC 

"little blue bolts are doing well"

1 NO PIC 

"to begin the Walstad project"

2 NO PIC 

[Green being a freak😂😂lol]

"weirdest color changing shrimp ever"

1 NO PIC 

"between the door and closet for skinny

1 NO PIC 

"free floating zoe"

1 NO PIC 

"eyeballs and everything"

1 NO PIC 

Video is ok

 

Stick a fork in me, DONE. Just a fyi, still really enjoyed the 'journey'🙂. Maybe it's just my phone.? Took screenshot of what I don't see-attached

[EverStuff]

The first couple pics I copied from a post on my blog. The homestead/critter pics also from the blog. All the rest I copied from my google acct. I just loaded all the pics here onto my blog, edited the post, copied and pasted from the blog. If this doesn't work I'll just give you the links to the blog posts. lol. 

[Fishnshrimp]

Hang on, let me go see if they have appeared.

[Fishnshrimp]

Nope, still no pics. Have someone else check for you and see if it works for them. I've kind of like got a "Bad-luck Shelprock" cloud hanging over me right now.

Still like reading it though😁

[EverStuff]

I seemed to have a huge problem with posting pics before so I switched over to my own personal blog for keeping track of what's going on. If I link to it for pictures, will they show up here? If not you can read and see the pics on my blog. I post all the good and the bad as I learn about ho to properly keep shrimp. EverStuff Shrimp

[EverStuff]

Too bad she won't stay blue. I talked to Grant last night who I got them from. He's had a few stay blue through being berried a few times, but said they eventually go black as they age. 

[EverStuff]

Another shrimp I've wanted almost as long as the ghost bees. OEBT. When Blue Crown Aquatics has a sale how can you say no? 

[EverStuff]

 Yesterday's projects in the shrimp room were tearing down the the white graveled neo tank and setting up the closed loop air system. 

 

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The 10g's really aren't making really good tanks for a dirted bottom tank. The tannins make the water so yellow, and I really don't like it.

 

 

It's working great in the 20 tall where I have plenty of plants and they can grow big and tall. More water means the tannins are diluted a bit more, so it's doesn't look as yucky.

 

 

I ended up with just a thin layer of gravel after I rinsed and rinsed to get rid of all the potting soil, so I decided to just keep it simple.  The taller plants that were in this tank will go into the 36g out in the living room. 

 

 

The gravel will turn somewhat tan-ish as the brown diatoms and biofilm cover everything in the tank, but the water won't be so ugly yellowed.

 

The other project yesterday was going and buying the pvc pipe, the clips to hold it up at the ceiling, and the fittings to make the corners and the down pipe to the air pump.

 

 

 

 

Scott put up the pvc pipes for the air system delivering air to the sponge filters and air lifters for the breeder boxes. I ran all the lines and connected them to each tank. Super happy with the way this turned out. The bigger tube from the air pump to the system gives me a lot more air than the way I had it rigged with a hundred pieces of airline, connector tees, and air regulators.

 

 

[EverStuff]

New blog post at EverStuff Shrimp

 

The Blue Dreams got a tank move last night. The white graveled 10g that I reset over the last weekend became their new home. 

 

 

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I can actually see them again. They're poking around and seem just as happy in here as they did in the Fluval.

 

The six gallon Fluval got a make over today. None of the wild plant I collected over the spring and summer made it. I tried adding different plants, but they all died. The substrate was potting soil with white gravel over top. It looked so pretty when I set it up.

 

 

Then after the plants died off and the tannins built up, I did a couple large water changes and added new plants. 

 

 

I never could keep a head of the tannin build up though. I couldn't get nice shots of the shrimp because the water was so yellow.

 

 

Last night I netted out all the shrimp I could find, and today I drained the tank. I found 8 juvies  and one adult hiding in there once I got most of the water and all the decor out. They joined their friends in the 10g. Took the Flual tank outside, rinsed and rinsed until all the potting soil floated out. Back into the shrimp room and refilled with a mix of remineralized RO and tap water till I got a GH reading of 4. Again this tank is simple with just a few rocks, plants, and a piece of driftwood. The gravel won't stay that pretty white as the diatoms and algae grow. I might go with Bloody Marys or Fire Reds in here. They look better on a darker substrate, but I don't want to reset it yet again, and I don't have any black gravel today.

 

After the reset

 

 

I have one aura blue in a bare bottomed breeder box on the ghost bee tank. She's berried by a ghost bee. All the other auras dropped their eggs, the ones that were berried before the move to the 20t, and the ones that berried after the move. They've been dropping eggs at the 5-8 day mark. Today is 11 days still berried. The bare bottom is so I can see any eggs if she starts kicking them and move them to a tumbler. I'm starting to wonder if I did something to turn all the male sterile? This one is bred to a ghost bee male, and still has her eggs as of today. 

[EverStuff]

Tank tour after rearranging the whole room. Scott put in extra supports under the shelves for me so I could put the tanks in short-side out, and helped me move one shelf up higher. All the tanks are now off the floor except for the 10g cube that's too deep to fit on the small wire rack and the 30g extra plants/mystery snails/neo culls tank. Happy Jax, happy shrimp.

 

[EverStuff]