Can you spot the chameleon shrimp?

[Baccus]

See if you can find the chameleon..... first off I had only seen the Darwin Red Nose (hint)

The next couple of pics should make it easier. :)

[HexaD]

ninjas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ineke]

They blend in very well!

[Baccus]

They certainly do, and because they are so shy I don't have a clue how many are actually in the tank. I could upset them and take out their log, but that's fighting dirty I feel.

[Squiggle]

Very cool pics, chameleons are awesome at playing hide-n-seek! Lol :encouragement:

[ineke]

What are their water requirements ? I haven't headed down the track of natives but I do like the Chameleons. We don't actually see much about them on our forum .

[Baccus]

I can only really go on the general parameters that Dave said about them. Which is Acidic to neutral, hardness - soft to neutral, temp 24-30 degrees cel but prefer 28-30 (mine have gone hotter but not on purpose so over 30 they can also handle :spank:). Filtration shouldn't be too strong or the shrimplets will get sucked up, and standard levels of oxygen. Foodwise give them tree leaves but also some meaty foods in their diet, along with fish flakes and other shrimp foods. Currrently I give mine IAL, silky oak, ice cream bean leaves and am thinking about trying them on Macaranga leaves, Macaranga tanarius but I will be sparing with it since its tannins from the bark is used to treat fishing nets in Molucca. Also the fruit, leaves and bark of this tree is used to make a fermented drink, and I don't need to make my shrimp drunk.

The main secret with them seems to be to ensure you pre-age their tank water when doing water changes. Don't do a drop and top and just add straight tap water then add dechlorinator, always make up the amount of new water you will need in advance and let it mature. I use a large plastic tub for this and while the water is "dechlorinating" I have an airstone bubbling away in it.

They are a small shrimp and really do best on their own without other fish either eating them or even bigger shrimp bullying them.

Also I don't siphon the tank that these guys are in, (makes for a mucky tank if you stir up the water but the shrimp seem to LOVE the mulm) the mulm makes good food for the shrimp and because the shrimplets are so tiny I am always afraid of sucking them up and throwing them out with the water. Instead when ever I stir up the tank I rely on the filter to suck out the free floating particles and then I give the filter fibre etc a wash in clean dechlorinated water.

I am looking at adding a section of white sand to the tank my natives are in and seeing what that does to their colourations. I did have chameleons on white sand before and they still stayed mostly dark (sometimes dark maron red) but they tended to never leave the safety of the wood in the tank.

[Dave]

There is some info on the Aquagreen web site.  They are also found in brackish water at Tumbling Waters but don't need sea water to breed.  They live among the leaf litter and aquatic grass at the edge of the river.  Water is generally warm hardness about 100 to 200 ppm, carbonate hardness 60 to 80 ppm salinity 50 - 500 ppm.  Can be in water that is half the strength of sea water.  The Daly River is full of them on Tipperary Station, probably in other places there is Val beds and other aquatic vegetation.

Edited September 1, 2014 by Dave

[fishmosy]

Agree with everything Baccus4702 and Dave have said. I have a couple in a tank with light coloured gravel, they have stayed dark but there is also plenty of wood and plants. They are gorgeous shrimp....when you can spot them.