Caridina confusa - the false zebra shrimp

[fishmosy]

 my newly berried Caridina confusa

 

Edited August 22, 2016 by fishmosy

[Baccus]

Very nice, and the best of luck with the babies.

Sadly my false zebras failed to thrive and now after I put the remaining ones in with my DAS, DRN, Chameleon, Blackmore River I don't think I have any false zebras left.

[fishmosy]

That's a shame. They come from the same areas as zebs, often in the same rivers/creeks, so they are best kept in a similar manner. I can post up how I keep mine if people are interested. 

[Grubs]

2 hours ago, fishmosy said:

I can post up how I keep mine if people are interested. 

*Encouragement*

BTW - I'm very impressed with the (for want of a better term) the "Micro Bolbitus like" plant that your C. confusa is climbing over.  Did you collect it on one of your trips?  Seems to have a decent amount of fresh new growth.  I have something similar  that was given to me by Jeff at LCA but its gotten quite "leggy".  I think it needs more flow to keep it shorter but haven't found much info on growing it.  I'm treating it like a moss or bolbitus (ie. pretty much ignoring it and hope it grows).  It did attach to a pebble for a while but has worked itself loose.

Edited August 22, 2016 by Grubs

[fishmosy]

Thought someone might ask about that @Grubs. I call it mini bolbitis, I actually have two types, this one and a smaller variant with thinner multi pronged leaves. They originally came from Harvey Creek near Cairns. 

mine seem to do really well in my CRS tanks, but poorly in my cherry tanks. 

Will post my set-up soon. 

[fishmosy]

Caridina confusa set-up

The tank was originally set-up for zebs. So it has a Quartz/granite sand base, with larger pieces on granite stacked on top. The tank was cycled for six weeks before the shrimp went in, using a large aqua one sponge filter that now resides in the left rear corner. Water parameters are maintained the same as zebs, TDS 20 - 40, KH and GH < 1, temp 20-22. I use RO water and Salty Shrimp minerals for water changes.

Since the shrimp went in, I added a massive bolbitis that fills up most of the tank and a native fern. Also added an AZOO HOB filter for extra current. The black rocks down the front have mini bolbitis and a freshwater bubble algae that come from similar water parameters (see my video on Caridina longirostris to see the bubble algae in the wild). 

There is also a mulberry leaf decomposing amongst the bolbitis, but I haven't seen the shrimp eating it, so I won't be adding it again. 

The tank is lit with an Aqua Pro Z 60cm, which spans two tanks as my tanks sit end-on on the rack (from memory, the tank is 1*1*1.5 ft). There is getting to be a nice cover of algae on the walls, but there is a bit of hair algae developing on the bolbitis. 

Edited August 24, 2016 by fishmosy

[fishmosy]

Awesome news, I've finally spotted some new bubs. they are transparent and hard to see but I have around 20 or so. they are around 6mm at the moment. Only found them because I moved them to a different tank to make room for some new shrimp which should be arriving in a couple of weeks.

 

 

 

[Baccus]

Great to see some bubs, I miss my confuse but at least my Chameleons seem to be breeding up a storm.