Tully Gorge, home of the zebra shrimp

[fishmosy]

Tully Gorge.

The place where the shrimp are tributaries flowing down the sides of the steep gorge towards to main river above.

After climbing down.

The waterfalls mean no fish predators, but predators are still here.

A collection of leaves from the creek

And the trees from which they came

Water parameters: Main creek

pH 7.5

TDS 17

Temp. 19.3*C

Water parameters: Side Creek

pH 6.3

TDS 17

Temp 21.3

[fishmosy]

[fishmosy]

The side creek. Water parameters above:

This was an isolated water hole in a side creek, full of leaves.

This hole seemed to have a high proportion of shrimp without much white.

Does this have something to do with the lower pH in this hole (as TDS was the same)? I think it might as my zebs tend to show less white when my pH drops. Something that needs to be looked into.

[fishmosy]

Native bananna tree

Mosses were growing in some places

Sometimes detours were necessary.

Some shots of the rocks

[fishmosy]

This was as high as we climbed but there was plenty more creek to explore.

This pool was nice as it had a moss wall (big rock, left hand side).

Only creature I saw alongside the shrimp.

Look at the strength of the white on this one

You can get really close to the shrimp, they have almost no fear.

[Squiggle]

Stunning shots dude, so interesting to know how low the TDS is in those creeks, definitely a big help to anyone trying to keep & breed Zebs, awesome stuff dude. :victorious:

[fishmosy]

Yeah mate basically pure rainwater and pH don't mean much, but TDS is consistent.

[fishmosy]

As an interesting side note, Tully Gorge was butterfly heaven. We saw at least 5 species.

This is as good a pic that I got. A ulysses butterfly.

[KFenk]

Wow so awesome. What an experience! The zebs are so cute and quite abundant by the looks of it

[Baccus]

Great pictures and fascinating to see the zebs natural home.

I would have been as excited about seeing the Ulysses butterfly as the shrimp. When I was in Cairns/ Kuranda in April I got to see 3 Ulysses in the wild on three separate days, they truly are a beautiful butterfly.

[fishmosy]

Yeah the butterflys were awesome. We saw at least two dozen ulysses on the drive in and out.

@Kfenk: Thanks, the zebs are abundant where they are found.

[northboy]

I am glad there is Butterfly lover on here, I use to collect but not now, I have planted the plants for them and am waiting for the first Ulysses to arrive, I have had other visitors so far.

The Zebs are absent below Waterfalls because of predators but above the falls they are everywhere, as Ben got to see.

Bob

[Heavyd]

What a truly beautiful spot.

This is the best advertisement to keep zebra shrimp I have seen so far ;)

[Wraithie]

This is awesome, thanks Ben!

so keen to try keeping these guys, I have a tank set aside so hopefully I'll be able to get some at some stage :)

[warren63]

Great pics Thanks for sharing and I like others are now bigger zebra shrimp fans

[BlueBolts]

Thanks for sharing those pics, and the documentary that came along. Very information and very cool...absolutely beautiful :encouragement:

[Garnelchen]

Thanks Ben for sharing!

I hope I can go there one day! Is that near where you live, Bob?

The zebra shrimp are stunningly beautiful.

[Aquathumb]

Amazing thankyou for taking the time to put this up. I very much enjoyed it. On a side note 4 of my female zebs are berried atm! Woohoo

[Squiggle]

Awesome stuff dude, well done! :encouragement:

[KillieOrCory]

Awesome stuff! :encouragement:

Only creature I saw alongside the shrimp.

Do you know what sort of tadpole this one is? If you squint it looks like a hillstream loach :P

[Squiggle]

That's what I was thinking dude, hahaha :victorious: Definitely love to know what it is! :encouragement:

[fishmosy]

Awesome stuff! :encouragement:

Do you know what sort of tadpole this one is? If you squint it looks like a hillstream loach :P

I'm a fan of hillstream loaches too. Unfortunately no hillstream loaches native to Australia but the Sicyopterus and Stiphodon gobies are native and are pretty similar in behaviour and habitat requirements.

Bob thought it was the tadpole from a rainforest frog, can't remember which one. Definitely not a cane toad though!

[fishmosy]

Amazing thankyou for taking the time to put this up. I very much enjoyed it. On a side note 4 of my female zebs are berried atm! Woohoo

Woohoo, well done. Now the long wait until they hatch. Post some pics plz.

[northboy]

The Tadpole is from the Torrent frog, one they thought was in serious trouble until they looked a bit further away and found they are common in the right places.

A bit like the Echaminsis rainbow, out side the lake in the right places it is very common and widespread, so they dropped the ball on that one to.

Bob

I

[Shrimp Aqua]

Nice to see after such a trek into these areas you can be rewarded with something so special, these native Zebs must surely compete for popularity with CBS once they have been established into the shrimp keeping community.