Steve R. Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 I am setting up a new tank for shrimps from the Malili Lake system in Sulawesi, which includes Lakes Matano and Lake Towuti. I am using a 40 gallon (151 liters) vertical tank. I set up the hardscape 10 days ago. I brushed off tiny algae from a stone from another aquarium and put them in the tank. There is some visible algae growth now on the limestone. Many of the stones contain holes in them, some even contain fossilized mollusks. The lighting is quite high, I use four 5000K LED bulbs. The lights are currently on for 15 hours. Substrate: Black sandblasting sand from Menards. Filtration: 1 Eheim 2213 canister filter; 1 large sponge filter Stones: Limestones were collected from the Manhattan (Kansas) area Temperature: 82˚F (28˚C) Water: RO water + Salty Shrimp pH8.5 The picture is a low tech iPhone shot. The substrate appears greyish because of the Salty Shrimp that did not completely dissolve. I had to shoot the picture at an angle because otherwise the reflections of the room windows would have been visible on the aquarium. aquariumlover10 and Louie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 looks good! what kind of sulawesi shrimp? You'll need to add Co2 when mixing the salty 8.5 to get it to disolve completely. jledermann 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted May 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 I want Cardinals for sure and some other species if I can get them and if they are affordable. I added CO2 for two days but could not dissolve everything. I heard from German breeders that they just Mix Salty 8.5 in RO water and then pour it in their tanks. They said it worked well for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Will the lime stone affect the kh, ph and gh over time? If the rock isn't inert it can affect water parameters. Maybe cause swings in water parameters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted May 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 That's possible. But I don't expect that it will have a big influence because of the high pH (target is between 8 and 8.5). I would be more concerned if the water was acidic. But I will monitor the KH, GH and pH. Limestone is also found in the Malili Lakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted August 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2015 Here is a quick update on my Sulawesi tank. The tank is well established now. I added Tylomelania zemis mini rabbit snails into about 2 months ago. I will soon order Cardinal shrimps. It was too hot for shipping in the last weeks. mayphly, Amyers22 and Louie 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr0p Posted August 14, 2015 Report Share Posted August 14, 2015 Beautiful setup! Looking forward to seeing the progression, and hoping the shrimp will love it! The cardinals are defenitly something I'm looking forward to in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted August 17, 2015 Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 I looked at this setup Steve on Friday and said to my self "Wow!", I may start my own Sulawesi colony. Love the layout, nice and simple, imagine having a 20 long or 40 breeder with this setup magnified! TheGardenofEder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted August 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Thanks. Yes from an aquascaping perspective, these vertical tanks are quite challenging. I just received 24 (20 ordered) Cardinal shrimps from thegardenofeder (good packaging, sent by USPS Priority Mail 3-Day, shipment took actually 3 days). Very excited about the shrimps. The shrimps are doing surprisingly well (see pic). I am slowly acclimating them right now. I put five (male) Caridina sulawesi culls into the tank seven days ago and they are alive and doing surprisingly well given the drastic pH change from 6.6 to 8.4 that they underwent. Male Caridina sulawesi in tank Caridina dennerli after opening breather bag nicpapa and TheGardenofEder 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted August 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 The little fellas did not waste time to get busy. They are kind of shy now, as expected, but I see at least 8 at a time. Really cool shrimps. Caridina dennerli (20 minutes after release) IMG_5716.MOV Caridina dennerli (16 hours after release) IMG_5718.MOV [edit: OK, I did not know that you have to download the videos. I will post them on youtube later.] Shrimple minded and revolutionhope 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimple minded Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Dem' Cardinals sure have some sexy legs. TheGardenofEder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted October 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 YES, I have a couple of berried Cardinals in the tank. I took the videos 2 weeks ago. Hope to find babies soon. The shrimps are getting more comfortable now and are less shy. Shrimple minded and nicpapa 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted October 14, 2015 Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chibikaie Posted October 14, 2015 Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 Hooray! Did the snails come from Bob's? If so, how are they doing now? I am thinking of ordering from him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimple minded Posted October 14, 2015 Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 I've gotta get me some Cardinals, those legs are just too much. [emoji7] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jledermann Posted October 14, 2015 Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 Awesome!! Hey I've got a question for you, do you have some series evaporation issues with the tank temp like 79-81 degrees F and what do you do just straight RO top offs with room temp water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wygglz Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Congratulations! How exciting. Now if we could only get Amazon Prime delivery on those babies! Please keep us posted and fill us in on baby progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillznglass Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Stunning. Time to get another set up going. Congrats. Very very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted October 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Awesome!! Hey I've got a question for you, do you have some series evaporation issues with the tank temp like 79-81 degrees F and what do you do just straight RO top offs with room temp water? Thanks guys. Good point. There is not problem with water evaporation in this tank. The tank has a glass canopy from Perfecto. This reduces evaporation enormously. I top off with RO or distilled water. I use a device called "The Little Dripper", which I bought for a paludarium. It works pretty well and I let the room temperature water drip into the tank over a 2 hours (or so) period. I did not perform any water changes since I put the shrimps into the tank two months ago! http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Labs-Drip-System/dp/B0002AQE6C Louie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jledermann Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Awesome! I'm speaking from my experience with my semi-successful Sulawesi project. Had serious evaporation from not having a sealed top and it was a losing battle, tank needed daily top offs otherwise I was replacing too much water at a time and it put the shrimp in a state of shock. Came back from a few long weekends to a 75% full tank and topping off was stressing the shrimp really bad. If (when) I do a Sulawesi tank again I will seal the top best I can. They are the coolest looking shrimp I've come across, tons of personality, very territorial, I just wish they weren't so damn shy!!!! Id have to sit next to the tank dead still for 5 minutes and they'd slowly start coming back out and I'd be able to watch them then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jledermann Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Also the key to these shrimp from what I found is get the tank on auto pilot and leave it alone!!! That's why I had such an issue with large amounts of evap. and topping off, the shrimp didn't like the new water even at the slightest temp difference, was adding "new" water daily so it wasn't the best situation. Louie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pratiksawai47 Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 But how come so much evaporation occurs? Sent from my MotoE2 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted October 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 I finally detected a few Cardinal babies. Lots of space to hide in the tank though. They look like miniatures of their parents. Already bright red. The adults get less and less shy every day now. Please excuse the bad picture quality of the babies. I don't have a macro lens and took the pics with my iphone 5S. Louie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted October 16, 2015 Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 Congratulations! This thread doesn't make the temptation any easier. Wygglz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted October 16, 2015 Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 Congrats!I have found that they really like microorganism food like Borneo wild Bebi. That, and Indian Almond leaves are all that I feed mine.Jlederman, sorry to hear you lost your Cards. Did you ever try auto topoff for that open tank? Louie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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