journal my setup

[HexaD]

Thanks!! Really appreciate it guys!!

HexaD, just curious, did those blue Choc cherries stay blue, or did they revert back to Choc ?

Here are a few pics after a few dayssome are coloring up, some are not, some are missing, I bought like 30 and couldnt see any, so I cleared the plants and only see 8. Sigh, no bodies, no nothing, I don't think I can ever breed cherries. Why is it so tough?! Gbang said that Benibachi isn't good for cherries, guess its my setup then..

Oh man, how much did the Totto filter cost in Hong Kong dollars? I might get one next time I'm over there

It was HKD980 :) Just be aware its a pain in the butt to bring back as you might damage it if you don't hand carry it. But you'll definitely have an awesome time if you go HK, I can personally guarantee you that!and this is what I've been busy with lately hehe, first time dog owner and this lil naughty boy has been consuming so much of my time!

[Squiggle]

OMG dude, he is sooo cute, what sort is he? Looks like he's got some chihuahua in him, very cool :encouragement:

[ineke]

HexaD' date=' just curious, did those blue Choc cherries stay blue, or did they revert back to Choc ?[/quote']

Why do they revert BB I had 2 really nice blues but they are now chocolate does the ph affect them. Mine is higher than Dean's was

[BlueBolts]

Why do they revert BB I had 2 really nice blues but they are now chocolate does the ph affect them. Mine is higher than Dean's was

There's a tendency of the choc's shrimplets turning from blue to choc, as they mature. The "blue" seems to be their base and/or stress colour. As cherries ideal WP is toward the higher PH, GH...., I deliberately keep my blacks in the opposite WP (i.e. low PH, GH...) etc, so that I can selectively breed the blacks better .....the theory is that if they are black at this range, they'll be even better at their ideal WP. I'm constantly culling my black cherries......

[KiwiBigD]

There's a tendency of the choc's shrimplets turning from blue to choc' date=' as they mature. The "blue" seems to be their base and/or stress colour. As cherries ideal WP is toward the higher PH, GH...., I deliberately keep my blacks in the opposite WP (i.e. low PH, GH...) etc, so that I can selectively breed the blacks better .....the theory is that if they are black at this range, they'll be even better at their ideal WP. I'm constantly culling my black cherries......[/quote']

I like that as a method for improving the blacks, that should work across all Cherries, excellent idea!

[ineke]

So to your way of thinking and experience it would be better for me to put my chocolates in my benibachi tank with the crystals? The chocolates are in cherry WP's and not as dark as when I got them as these are my best shrimp I want to look after them as best I can.

[CNgo2006]

So to your way of thinking and experience it would be better for me to put my chocolates in my benibachi tank with the crystals? The chocolates are in cherry WP's and not as dark as when I got them as these are my best shrimp I want to look after them as best I can.

If you want to look after them best you can then of course you should have them in their ideal WP...so what you have them in atm is ideal not in the benibachi

[KiwiBigD]

So to your way of thinking and experience it would be better for me to put my chocolates in my benibachi tank with the crystals? The chocolates are in cherry WP's and not as dark as when I got them as these are my best shrimp I want to look after them as best I can.

No thats not really what he's saying, he's saying that for himself with his selective breeding project that if they are coloured well

in non-ideal conditions then when switched back to ideal they should be pretty much stunning. It enables BB to isolate and further

develop his line quicker as the quality shrimp show up quicker and easier in the rougher conditions, easier to isolate culls.

But otherwise they should be kept in conditions that are more favourable to them, i.e. higher Ph etc.

[ineke]

Thanks I was a bit worried when my chocolate/blues lost their colour. The female berried ones are nice and dark though. So I will leave them in Cherry WP

[KiwiBigD]

Females do always tend to be stronger coloured, especially when berried. Males generally far paler by comparison.

[shrimpstan]

That's what I thought too about the dettol' date=' its like you never know what's left on your hand after you come back from work or after doing the dishes an hour ago, lets see what the other say! The last moss in the pic is mini fissidens :)[/quote']

haha this is what i tell my gf.. 'babe i cant do the dishes cos of the chemicals and i need to do work on the tanks today'... works every. single. time! :) :)

not so much on the vacuume tho.. i tried but it didnt fly.. :p

i have 3 towels i use for my tanks and water changes. they are never machine washed just rinsed in water and dried on the line. i never soap my hands if i plan on scaping that day. if in doubt i rinse in tap water then scrub them on the towels i mentioned and not an unexplained dead shrimp in over a year!! wouldnt do the detol tho..

[shrimpstan]

i am, however, confused as to why u kept having deaths as it seems u have a very over filtered system and dont seem a nube at all.. opposed to me where i use smaller filters and less experienced but no deaths?? thats shrimp huh? did u ever end up realising what went wrong.. more so when ur ss cbs died n the chocs? just wondering.

[HexaD]

i am' date=' however, confused as to why u kept having deaths as it seems u have a very over filtered system and dont seem a nube at all.. opposed to me where i use smaller filters and less experienced but no deaths?? thats shrimp huh? did u ever end up realising what went wrong.. more so when ur ss cbs died n the chocs? just wondering.[/quote']

beats me buddy, beats me.. I lost all the dark knights from Gbang and Dean, all 50.. Another few hundro and 50 lives down the drain just like that. Guess I shouldn't have chosen Benibachi, and should have used ADA for cherries instead.

Some updates on the tanks, it's good to have my puppy to care for as it takes my attention away from the tank, stopping me from dipping my hands or doing anything destructive into it. Not to mention the $$$ saved!

40cm cube is wasted, sitting there housing some culls which seem to be doing well with no deaths.

2ft with CBS genes dominating the CRS genes

3ft community tank with RCS and DAS

It's very depressing.. Now at a crossroad, not sure what I want to do, one hand the 2 ft is throwing out some nice SSS and SS but having random deaths (maybe 1 a fortnight?) and the other hand I spent too much on the new cube but it's doing nothing. Should I transfer all the SSS over to the 40cm cube? Or should I just leave the SSS in the 2ft? Or should I venture into TBs in the 40cm cube? I really want to try some but since I had the puppy, my perspective has changed.. I think along the lines of "Wow, $800 for 3 shrimps which I don't even know if they will survive or I can use that money and buy a healthy little puppy that will keep me company for the next 10+ years." Zz.. But with that said, tax season is around the corner, and boy am I tempted to go to my LFS to get something like this baby!

But there is no space in the house or garage (besides looking being fugly in the living room), so it's not happening :(

[Neo-shrimp]

Really like the scaping n d also admiring those tanks HexaD...Wondering what type of moss on the bottom left hand side just below the beeramid in the first pic?Thanks for the update....

[Squiggle]

Looks awesome dude, sounds like you've got some serious decision making coming up in the next couple of weeks :dejection: I know dogs are awesome but how much fun is Shrimp Staringâ„¢ :victorious:

[Garnelchen]

Your tanks look so beautiful, Hexa! Absolutely stunning!

I hope that you can sort out what's causing the problems with your shrimp. :dejection:

[ineke]

Sorry to hear you are still having trouble HexaD that's a real bumma. The tank looks beautiful such a shame you can't do what you want. Which LFS do you go to? I can't find any down my way that have shrimp tanks like the ones you just showed. I've only looked at a few in the northern suburbs though.:encouragement:

[HexaD]

Thanks guys! Is everyone like me eagerly waiting for their tax return? lol! Hopefully Dean will have another shrimp sale by then! :D Wishful thinking :)

Really like the scaping n d also admiring those tanks HexaD...Wondering what type of moss on the bottom left hand side just below the beeramid in the first pic?Thanks for the update....

It's US fissidens buddy! I have some if you like, just PM me :)

Sorry to hear you are still having trouble HexaD that's a real bumma. The tank looks beautiful such a shame you can't do what you want. Which LFS do you go to? I can't find any down my way that have shrimp tanks like the ones you just showed. I've only looked at a few in the northern suburbs though.:encouragement:

Yea, maybe it's the water in my area? *shrugs* It's Elitefish in Mount Barker, quite a drive, but definitely worth it! They are awesome for people who can't DIY like me, they can customize your rack down to size, filtration and include EVERYTHING in the package like heaters, lighting and substrate etc, their facebook link is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elite-Fish/190635247661659I strongly recommend you to suggest to your hubby to go up to Hahndorf for a romantic German food getaway before stepping on the gas at Princess Highway and say "OPS MISSED THAT TURN, guess we gotta go Mount Barker to grab some McDonalds then!"

[Squiggle]

Too funny dude, that's a plan that just might work, hahaha :victorious:

[ineke]

Yea, maybe it's the water in my area? *shrugs* It's Elitefish in Mount Barker, quite a drive, but definitely worth it! They are awesome for people who can't DIY like me, they can customize your rack down to size, filtration and include EVERYTHING in the package like heaters, lighting and substrate etc, their facebook link is

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elite-Fish/190635247661659

I strongly recommend you to suggest to your hubby to go up to Hahndorf for a romantic German food getaway before stepping on the gas at Princess Highway and say "OPS MISSED THAT TURN, guess we gotta go Mount Barker to grab some McDonalds then!"

[HexaD]

So... Due to my failure to keep cherries alive, I took taking much time on debating what I actually wanna do going forward, I finally visited Eshrimp's place after many invites which I blame myself for being extremely slack and unmotivated with the deaths of Dark Knights from Gbang and Dean. Man.. His place is the BOMB, marine, freshwater, discus, africans, shrimps, frags, corals, Iwagumi, moss, 4ft tanks, 3ft tanks, 2ft tanks, Aquaone Reefs, 620Ts, breeding setups, Clown Fish spawing, American Staffies... You freaking name it, his freaking got it! Just such an awesome place to be, I bet every single one of us can just sit there alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll day long and admire all the life blooming around every corner of the house, so amazing :) I hate myself for not visiting earlier!

But since we are all here for shrimp, check out his amazing colony! Can you believe it was halved by dodgy triple washed organic baby spinach? Half of this pic? Jesus. Please. Please, imagine that for a second.

So Eshrimp walked me through his fishroom which was on his thread, and suggested I did something similar to what he has done with his rack instead of spending two grand on getting the LFS to build one for me. His rack, bought from Bunnings and put together with MDF boards was within budget, elegant, simple, DIY and without the complicated plumbing system with sumps that just runs on a Schego air pump and sponge filters, brilliant! So this was it, I spend whole of the following week just trying to come up with a budget until...

Eshrimp (of all people) gave me a call and directed me to this ad on gumtree

A 4ft divided tank with stainless steel mesh divider at substrate level? Check. Live stock? Check. Substrate? Check. Heater? Huge ass overpowered chiller? Plumbing ready to go? Lighting? Filter? Check Check Check, all this for.. $600?! Called up, EFT'ed on the spot to fend of holders and arranged pick up on the weekend http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/ipb3/http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/uploads/emoticons/default_smile.gif' alt=':D'>

So next step was the stand/cabinet for the tank to sit on. After some discussion, I was gonna get a Rack It 1200x600 benchtop from Bunnings till Eshrimp (I know, again right) found a Blue Planet cabinet and managed to get a cost price for me from Marine Plus for $200, sweet deal. Even sweeter that he actually picked it up and delivered it to me THAT NIGHT, can I even ask for anymore? Pictures will do the rest that happened on the weekend..

First up was a trip to Seaview, we managed to get our gear by adding a Schego pump with 3 x Air Sponge and extra hoses for the chiller. Followed by a trip to Bunnings to replicate the outlet (changing it from white to black)

So this is where the setup is right now and am waiting for the water to clear up. The plan is to continue breeding Rilis and yellows while I remove the cherries and swap them over for Dark Knights :) Anyone have any available for sale for this project?

Now the war against the evil trumpets begin..

Lastly, I would like to take the opportunity here to give a big and huge thanks to Eshrimp for spending his WHOLE Sunday to work on this project. From 9am to 9pm, 12 sold hours of driving, busting out the muscles to transport/carry, modifying the outlets, installing the gear, priming the filter while I just stood there trying to absorb as much as I can. Needless to say, I learnt a whole heap from him and have any good words to say for this great great friend. You are my savior and mentor despite putting many evil thoughts into my head, hehe :) I really appreciate the help you gave me today and simply cannot imagine me doing it alone without any of your help! THANK YOU!

[BlueBolts]

Well done Eshrimp. Great buy & setup. Can't wait to see it all in full swing !

[CNgo2006]

Nice looking setup and Eshrimp is what you call a true mate!

[MrShrimp]

What a great find, tank looks real nice. Yeap what a good friend you have to help and support you in this hobby. Your very lucky :)

[ineke]

Great find and good to see you get your interest back good luck this time HexaD hope it all works out for you:)