Aquamaxx 17.1 Gallon Caridina Tank Build

[Steensj2004]

Woke up to my first CRS casualty, from this new batch. Bummer, but it was expected. 

[sdlTBfanUK]

34 minutes ago, Steensj2004 said:

Woke up to my first CRS casualty, from this new batch. Bummer, but it was expected. 

That's pretty good if you have only lost one after the first week, keep up the good work! Hopefully you have plenty of baby shrimps to watch still?

Simon

Edited November 24, 2019 by sdlTBfanUK

[Steensj2004]

1 hour ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

That's pretty good if you have only lost one after the first week, keep up the good work! Hopefully you have plenty of baby shrimps to watch still?

Simon

That’s what I was thinking. If I can make it another week or so, hopefully the rest survive.

 

The baby shrimp are running around in the open much more now, they have grown well. I really only see 5 at a time, but there might be more than 5. I don’t know if 5 out of a hatching is a decent ratio, but, I imagine at best I have 5-7. Still, the same mother is berried again already, so I’m not too worried about it. 
 

Did a water change today. As well as changed one sponge on the filter. Trimmed some moss and plants, too. Tanks looking great, and everyone seems to be happy!

[OzShrimp]

If you dont mind browns hopefully you get some snow whites eventually in your mix, were one of my favorite shrimp 

[Steensj2004]

Is it normal to have some shrimps grow much faster than others from the same batch? Some of these are nearly 1/2 the size of the others? Hmmm. All seem healthy, and have some great markings. I didn’t anticipate that big of a size difference.

1 hour ago, OzShrimp said:

If you dont mind browns hopefully you get some snow whites eventually in your mix, were one of my favorite shrimp 

fingers crossed!!!

[jayc]

Yes, not abnormal.

Maybe they got more food than the smaller ones.

 

[Steensj2004]

Update: 

Just back from visiting family for the holiday. Buddy looked after tank, abs did a fantastic job. No additional casualties to be noted. Yes! Nuisance Algae is 99% gone, abs everything looks GREAT! First generation of babies have grown more, abs they are out as much as the adults. 

[jayc]

Wow lovely tank!

So what did you do to get rid of the algae again? Did you follow my advice to cut light period to 6 hours? 

You might be able to increase that to 7 or 8 hours now. Give the plants a boost but hopefully still keep the algae in check. It's a fine a balance.

 

 

[Steensj2004]

1 hour ago, jayc said:

Wow lovely tank!

So what did you do to get rid of the algae again? Did you follow my advice to cut light period to 6 hours? 

You might be able to increase that to 7 or 8 hours now. Give the plants a boost but hopefully still keep the algae in check. It's a fine a balance.

 

 

I sure did, thanks for the advice. I both cut down the light schedule to 6 hours, completely removed the blue spectrum, decreased the intensity of each other spectrum  to 35-40%, and started dosing a bio-available carbon source( Easy Carbo). Algae turned red, pink, than white. Nearly gone.

 

Thanks for the help!!

[sdlTBfanUK]

Everyone loves to hear a success story and thanks for the pictures, it all looks great! The plants are growing really well!

Simon

Edited December 2, 2019 by sdlTBfanUK

[Steensj2004]

Update:

3 Red Crystals are mamas, all three are holding, although I’m not sure how far apart they berried, and in what order. Algae is gone, completely. Yay!!!

I’ve started to increase and vary the diet for the herd. Today, Broccoli.

[sdlTBfanUK]

Hopefully you will soon have a tank full of babies. Usually the eggs go from yellow (yolk) to grey as they mature so that may give you an idea how far along they are!

Make sure the vegetables are ORGANIC, non poluted or pesticides etc?

Simon

[Steensj2004]

Pics!

 

 

Edited December 10, 2019 by Steensj2004

[sdlTBfanUK]

Lovely pictures. I like the wild type brown with a stripe, I have some of those from red cherry but could never cull them as I quite like those?

Having the mix of CRS and CBS makes it much more interesting to look at. Hopefully the wait for babies isn't too distant!

Simon

[Steensj2004]

3 hours ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

Lovely pictures. I like the wild type brown with a stripe, I have some of those from red cherry but could never cull them as I quite like those?

Having the mix of CRS and CBS makes it much more interesting to look at. Hopefully the wait for babies isn't too distant!

Simon

The picture doesn’t really do it justice. The other two of them are  actually green, a dark emerald green and yellow. I have 3 of them. Unfortunately, all males.

Edited December 10, 2019 by Steensj2004

[sdlTBfanUK]

Now you say, I can see it is greenish and I had forgotten you said you had Jades in that tank!

It looks/sounds like you are pretty set now! I hope the older babies are now half size and still doing well, and you will soon have another load of babies to watch? Fingers crossed you get a brown one at some stage................

Simon 

[Steensj2004]

On 12/10/2019 at 10:58 AM, sdlTBfanUK said:

Now you say, I can see it is greenish and I had forgotten you said you had Jades in that tank!

It looks/sounds like you are pretty set now! I hope the older babies are now half size and still doing well, and you will soon have another load of babies to watch? Fingers crossed you get a brown one at some stage................

Simon 

Well, I’m not sure that he babies are half size. They are probably around 1/4-1/2.” Everyone is healthy, and I’ve been able to count 9 babies at one time. Hoping the now 3 new mamas drop soon! Eggs still look fairly brown.

[Steensj2004]

Update. 
 

Things are going great. No casualties, 4-5 Berried females, as well as a new generation of babies located this AM( I saw 5). 
 

I’m fighting this odd dusting on leaves, seems to be an algae. Not sure why.

 

Don’t mind the particles in the pics, just fed BacteriaAE

[sdlTBfanUK]

The pictures are a bit too small for me to make out whether there is a bit of algae, but if there is I wouldn't worry too much it may clear up with time and as I can't see it it's not rampant!

It sounds like you aren't having the 'stop breeding in winter' problem that many have. Are the green jade neos doing well in with the crystals still?

Simon

[Steensj2004]

3 hours ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

The pictures are a bit too small for me to make out whether there is a bit of algae, but if there is I wouldn't worry too much it may clear up with time and as I can't see it it's not rampant!

It sounds like you aren't having the 'stop breeding in winter' problem that many have. Are the green jade neos doing well in with the crystals still?

Simon

The Jades are thriving, but I’m fairly certain I have all females, so no breeding. The lack of breeding also may reflect water parameters. I’ve set up a smaller tank with substrate, drift wood, and rock that will produce a better environment for Neos. As soon as it’s cycled( should be another 2-3 weeks before I’m happy), I’ll transfer them into that tank. I’ll likely order another refresh of jades abs let them do their thing.

Some pics including a FTS

[sdlTBfanUK]

The tank has grown in nicely, you must be pleased with how it has all turned out?

The crystals have really good colour and must be happy enough if they are breeding!

Look forward to hearing/seeing the new neo tank at some point!

Simon

[Spongy]

On 1/1/2020 at 9:33 AM, sdlTBfanUK said:

The pictures are a bit too small for me to make out whether there is a bit of algae, but if there is I wouldn't worry too much it may clear up with time and as I can't see it it's not rampant!

It sounds like you aren't having the 'stop breeding in winter' problem that many have. Are the green jade neos doing well in with the crystals still?

Simon

They look like little beauties. Hope all is well. x

[Spongy]

On 11/25/2019 at 11:50 PM, Steensj2004 said:

Is it normal to have some shrimps grow much faster than others from the same batch? Some of these are nearly 1/2 the size of the others? Hmmm. All seem healthy, and have some great markings. I didn’t anticipate that big of a size difference.

fingers crossed!!!

It's happened to me. They are great, we call them invisishrimp. Love 'em. How has my life become shrimplated? Lol. LOVE IT! x

The females grow bigger. x

 

[Steensj2004]

Update:

Lost a clutch of eggs, female molted and left them. She also passed a day later. Bummer. 3 other females getting close to dropping, so that’s good! Still yet to see a CBS baby or mix.

 

cucumber day

[Crabby]

That’s unfortunate. I lost one the other day as well. By CBS do you mean crystal black or brown?