Barney Springs Atherton Table lands

[ineke]

Those shrimp are quite attractive aren't they? Even though they don't seem to have much colour the black along the back looks good.

[Baccus]

They have a real yellow tinge to them, so hopefully that will get stronger with breeding in captivity. There where also some blue tinged ones hiding down where there where fish. Since they have dropped the blue I have no way of knowing if they are all the same species and the blue was a defence/ blend technique the shrimp only used when possible predators where about. So far all seems good with these guys the only loses I have seen I can pretty much put down to just rough roads between Cairns and Rockhampton.

[ineke]

Be interesting to see how they settle and if they colour up. You could almost be forgiven in thinking they were poor quality yellow cherries!

[Baccus]

With a poor photo they could look like cherry shrimp but in the flesh they are very different. Hopefully in a couple of days I will be able to get some photos that will do these guys justice. They are also a rather placid shrimp, now they are pretty much used to the tank they don't zoom all over the place when you approach. I put them being placid down to coming from a no predator section of water, so they never needed to fear anything.

[ineke]

It's good if they settle would be a shame for them to be in a state of terror for too long. It amazes me how quickly some animals adapt.

[Baccus]

A better picture showing more detail on these shrimp, just need to play with the new camera more to fine tune its functions and abilities.

[ineke]

Are they staying in your net breeder? I wanted to use some for selective breeding but was told they climb out?

Is that your shadow in the left bottom of the picture ? I am really bad at taking pictures even when I have borrowed reasonable cameras. It takes a bit of practice!

[Baccus]

Quite a few have found their way out of the net while others seem happy to stay put in the net with the easy pickings food wise. The shadow I am not sure about. I only just got the camera this morning so I am having a play around with it. I can't wait to trail the 3D function it has too.

[ineke]

great stuff keep practising -i really want a camera too but i have spent so much money over the last few months i think i better wait a bit. when you have practised the 3D can you put a 3D shrimp up???

[Didge007]

That place looks stunning! One day I will make the trip up north (rather my partner will get his way for a 4wd trip) and explore some of the creeks.

The yabby is so cute! I caught a little yabby about the size of a shrimp around here but assumed it was a juvi? I let it go but now wish I wouldve at least gotten a photo.

[WooHoo]

That looks amazing. Love the little mussels. I have a bigger one I found and keep him in my tank. He moves once every couple of weeks and I have read they are very beneficial to your tank as they filter the water and remove impurities. Would love to find some more smaller ones

[fishmosy]

I'll add my pictures in here to keep everything in one place. Unfortunately we went to Barney Springs at night, so I wasn't able to get as many pics as I would have liked.

Frog in the leaf litter.

Subwassertang along with a nice pink/red encrusting algae.

Tiny yellow snail on the rock with subwassertang

Top pool with shrimp, moss and guppies.

This section is in the top left hand corner of the above pool, opposite to where the water flows into the pool from underground in the top right corner (where the light is shining). There was at least 8 metres square of moss in this section.

Shrimp amongst the moss

Edited August 9, 2017 by fishmosy
update pictures

[Squiggle]

Stunning pics dude, very cool, thanks for sharing! :encouragement:

[fishmosy]

Yeah its a shame the batteries in my headlight died, I was getting good shots. Then the second light that Bob lent me also died!

If I had of seen this area before tully gorge with the zebra shrimp, I probably would have done my biotope tank on this pool. It was amazing.

[Squiggle]

Hmmmm, guess you need another tank then, lol

[fishmosy]

I have plans yes.

[Squiggle]

Nice! Can't wait to see the new biotope. :encouragement:

[DeagonTheo]

You'll be a bit disappointed in the Atherton Tablelands, it's mostly dairy farms, they chopped down all the trees years ago. While we were there the largest tree still standing was knocked down by a storm. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting.

[fishmosy]

Some shots and videos from our latest trip to Barney - May 2015. This time we went during the day which enabled me to get a better understanding of how the pools are laid out and the habitats within the area.

Water parameters in the top pool were:

pH: Approx. 6.5

GH: 80 ppm

KH: 80 ppm

TDS 113

Temp. 24*C

 

This is a short video showing the top pool. The spring originates under the trees to the right. The pool flows out the bottom to the left side into a series of pools.

 

Underwater shots of the substrate

The red on the rocks seems to be some type of diatom or another algae. it does not grow where there is no light (e.g. on the bottom of the rocks). The rocks are mostly pieces of basalt (I've read geology reports which indicate this area of the Atherton Tablelands is primarily basalt), but you can also see small bits of quartz and possibly granite amongst the basalt. I'm guessing these have been brought up out of the spring as I didn't see any quartz or granite in the soil in the area surrounding the springs.

 

Does anybody happen to know which trees are surrounding the springs? I know they are a species of Ficus (Fig tree) but not sure which one.

Edited July 8, 2015 by fishmosy

[Baccus]

To id the the figs a picture of the fruit is really helpful as well as a close up of the leaves, I am thinking maybe small leafed fig off the top of my head since they dont seem to have a real curtian habit, nor do they seem to be strangling. From memory when I was there I dont think they where sandpaper figs either.

[fishmosy]

I have some leaves I brought back with me, although they are a bit brown. I'll thaw some out and grab a pic.

[buck]

eww is that a endler i see ? thats a bit of a shame!! other then that it looks amazing

[fishmosy]

Yep. The endlers were placed in Barney Springs as 'mosquito control' back in World War 2 when the area was used as a hospital. As such they are probably one of the purest strains of endler in Australia, if you are into that sort of thing of course! 

[buck]

its such a shame they didnt think to use native fish back in the day

[kizshrimp]

Haha Buck, they did... like introducing Mouth Almighty to Lake Eacham! Sadly when anything is introduced to a new environment,  there's a high chance for things to go wrong. An introduced species is still an introduced species regardless of the country of origin.