Think its a QLD chameleon

[Baccus]

G'Day, I think this guy is a QLD chameleon shrimp, and sadly I am pretty sure I only have the one.

Its always stayed small and slimmer than a cherry shrimp, and everytime I find it in the tank it is black with the tan stripe.

Whatever it is, I think its a little stunner.

[Ziek]

Stunning shrimp mate, love how intense the stripe is down it's back.

[fishmosy]

Thats a cool shrimp. How did you get it or did it mysteriously arrive with shrimp/plants?

[Baccus]

Thanks, It may have come with some shrimp from Juls, or it could be a local I caught ( doubt its a local one though), other wise I am a bit stumped on where it came from, but I am very fond of it.

[northboy]

Its a Serratirostris for sure you can see the nose to tell, That is the first way to ID any shrimp, like you long arm its a M. lar 100%, it will take on colour when it reaches 10cm body if its a boy and shading if its a girl

Bob

[Baccus]

That's great to know about my mystery long arm. I am pretty sure its a female, I am sure it is that one that was berried at one point. Its not quite 10cm yet but I wonder will it still take on any colour with the white sand in the tank? I know my other shrimp are all sorts of colours with the white sand. but I don't know if it will influence the M. lar. I'll have to let my friend know who collected them for me that they now have an ID :)

[northboy]

It will take on faint colour, there is thousands of them migrating at the moment from 5 to 10cm in length and they vary in colour to, nothing like the stunning colour of an adult male.

Having eggs they will be infertile and if they were fertile they would be way to hard to raise as they have planktonic lava.

If you like your Macrobrachium shrimp you will love the M. hanschenii and M. latidactylus they are odd arm mini macros.

Bob

[northboy]

OH you Caridina here still could be a Darwin form as it is mostly the DNA that is different

Bob

[Baccus]

Do you have any pictures of M.hanschenii and M. latidactlusthey? An adult male M.Lar sounds interesting, I noticed on my M.lar it has developed a red line going across its back about where the black and white spots used to be, it still has the black and white spots at its tail. I don't mind the Macobrachiums but the ones around here I know get huge and are very good fish/ smaller shrimp and even snail eaters. Thats why I ended up just having the local macro's in my old bathtub down the back, nothing they can demolish on me down there.

[northboy]

Unfortunately colour patterns mean nothing on shrimp and is not a way to ID them because they change all the time and through out there life cycle.

Lar is a really good fish eater and gets to about 45cm tip of claw to tip of tail for males and 20cm for a Female.

The other 2 are not good fish eaters because they only get 5 to 7cm body size and 7 cm is a monster.

No photos but the Latidactlus you will find average photos on google and the Hanschenii is a Blue form with one big and 1 small hairy claw

Bob

[Baccus]

I checked out pictures of M. lar, but they all looked like mature ones, and mine even at 7 or 8cm has nipper arms that are the same length a seach other and both arms are thin with only tiny little nippers on the end. The only fish I have seen it eat was a golden tetra....but it could have died from another reason, I haven't seen it grab the cherry shrimp but when it waves its arms at the cherry shrimp as it searches for food the cherry shrimp will skip out of the way. Even if it does eat the odd cherry shrimp, the population is not deminished and that particular tank always has BN fry being hatched and partially growing up in.

[northboy]

Sorry should have said, the arms are only big on dominant males, as in the most bossy has the biggest arms and the least bossy has very small arms, Females have small arms to. They will be carring eggs soon so I will get some female photos for you,

Bob

[Baccus]

Thanks, my ones arms are so thin and the nippers so tiny I wonder how she could catch fish, compared to my local types which I have watched catch guppies and neon tetras. For a shrimp I think she is pretty smart, shows a lot of interest in the goings on outside of the tank and is quick to cotton on to new food possibilities. In a way she is like royality in the tank, with her shooing motions at the other shrimp and I can just hear her saying in a rather posh voice "be gone with you erksome riff raff"

[bailey88]

I've got some of these local caught stuff im not sure what are they look good in the tank though

[northboy]

Put up some photos and we might be able to give you an idea of what they are?

Bob

[Baccus]

Some more of your girls, Bob

Nicely berried

And this beautiful golden girl who hung around long enough for a photo, before disappearing back down her log

One of the red noses was looking really nice lastnight with a bright red belly line, but of course it was hovering about like a helicopter doing the length of the tank so I was not able to get a photo of it.

[northboy]

Looking good, holey Krap that's a tail full, the shrimp are living very well.

Bob

[Baccus]

I think both femeles have about that many eggs, I new it was a lot but I guess I thought it was normal for them to have loads like that. Good to know its because they are happy and healthy.

I went out to the creek again to try and find the gobies, but they just would not emerge. But strangely heaps of sub adult macrobrachiums where out and about, they even came and cleaned our feet. There was only about 5 rainbow fish hanging about but they where to timid to clean us. Unlike out at Callide creek where the rainbows and hardy heads would mob you till you where trying to chase them away.

And sadly it looks as though the early heatwave we had here a couple of weeks ago has done in the bulk of my zebras :sorrow:, I practiacally dismantled the tank lastnight and could only find a couple. I guess the tank staying over 32 degrees for a few days really wasn't good for them.

[northboy]

Yep long periods over 29/30 will do them in, mainly from lack of O2, the hotter the water the less O2 it can hold and nothing you can do will increase the O2, the boiling water theory, that is from personal tests with an O2 meeter.

Bob

[Baccus]

Yeah, I had the HOB filter running flat out making strong ripples across the surface, a bubble wall blasting away and the the far corner of the tank another stone, all in the attempt of keeping as much surface movement as possible to help in the cooling. I think the worst thing was even though I had already turned off the tank heater weeks ago, the suddenness and length of time the hitwave came was what did it. There was no gradual build up with the heat, it just came and then a few days later we had another cool snap. Heck I was just about dieing at work and got a dose of heatrash all over my back, so I can understand how the poor shrimp suffered.

The few that survived I am hoping will continue to live, and be able to breed. If they manage against the odds I am hoping that their offspring will be more tolerant of high temps. At least then I will have a good base towork from.

[northboy]

That is the right sort of thinking, breed toughness in to them and the PERFECT starting point.

When will you have the tank ready for the 2 new species, xmas present. Or do you want to hold off until the summer heat goes? late xmas present

Bob

[Baccus]

I am thinking a late xmas pressie, it hasn't been to bad here the last week or so but we have had strong winds, once those winds drop again I think we will be back to horrid hot, still muggy days. That will also give me plenty of time to get the water just right, as well as raid some of my other tanks for some more weed etc. Do these guys like being in weedy areas? Or more open sand/ rock areas, or even in leaf litter like macros?

At least the car shed is a bit cooler now during the day too now since we put in a whirly bird on the roof, it makes a huge differance in the shed.

[northboy]

Give me a yell after Xmas then, I hope to be battling flood water soon, it really dry up here, some places I go I have never seen it that low?

Got 2 x 25cm freshwater Pipe fish last night, really cool

Bob