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It looks like Cladophora but don't be too disheartened, Marimo balls are a type of Cladophora & they only grow 1cm per year(which is why they are protected) the reason they grow round is because they are constantly rolling in the bottom. These may be a similar, slow growing, form of Cladophora, like the illusive Aussimo Balls.

I thought I had a lifetime supply of mulberry leaves as my neighbour had a big tree that hang over the fence, until one morning I heard a lot of chain sawing going... yes they chop down the mulberry tree and all the trees in there backyard. I told my friend of my despair to which she quipped "Why don't you buy a dwarf mulberry tree" Since I live in a unit with a sunny balcony that was perfect. So to those that occasional ask Where can I get mulberry leaves this is your answer. Leaves for Shrimpies, Mulberry pie for me.

Hi all, A new scape has been born recently, so I am sharing the process here with anyone interested in small tank Dry Start Method scaping. I wanted to try my hand at an Iwagumi style scape.... not sure if this fits the true profile of Iwagumi, but that was the intention. THE TANK: Aqua One Ecostyle 42 Dims: 41 x 25 x 30 cm Heater: 25W Filter: Built-in trickle style Light: DIY LED using 10 x 1W 6500K CO2: DIY Sugar/Yeast (2 cups sugar, 1/2 teaspoon Yeast, 1.75 Lts water) Ferts: EI Dosing with Macro - KNO3,KH2PO4, Micro/trace + Fe HARDSCAPE: I wanted to use Sieryu Stone as my hardscape material, because I love the character this stone has. The substrate used in this tank is Fluval Stratum - depth 50mm (front left) to 100mm (back right) [ATTACH]5876[/ATTACH] STARTUP: The decision was made to use HC as a carpet for this scape and the Dry Start Method (DSM) was adopted after seeing the success others had had in their tanks. I modified the output of the humidifier with a length of hose to direct it into the tank. Humidifier: Humidifier test: PLANTING: As mentioned before, HC was to be used as the carpet and Eleocharis acicularis (Hair Grass) used as a central rear height feature plant. [ATTACH]5879[/ATTACH] Both plants respond well to DSM, and so it was time to set it in motion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL3_3ZpZHSY DSM was left to its devices for 5 weeks ... On a daily basis I would mop up any excess water that pooled in the lower left corner hoping to prevent mould or algae growing as a result of stagnant water. At the end of the 5 week period some BGA had reared its ugly head but thankfully no mould. Hopefully the BGA has been removed and controlled during day 2 water change. Staurogyne repens (tropica) has been used to fill around the rocks to add a contrasting sized but similar height plant. Lillaeopsis brasiliensis has been added to the Hair grass patch also to add contrasting leaf size and a more stand out central height feature. A few young Pogostemon helferii are also planted, but not holding out much hope for the success of this plant as the young plants are not in good shape to start with ... but fingers crossed. :) US Fissedens tied to small rocks have been placed at the base of each of the rocks to soften the transition of HC to rock when the Fiss grows in. After planting out the remaining plants I set-up the filter, CO2, and heater then flooded the tank with aged tap water. Introducing "The Steps" [ATTACH]5880[/ATTACH] A couple of close-up snaps [ATTACH]5882[/ATTACH] DIY LED: The built in led for this tank was rather lacking in plant growing potential, so I decided to retrofit the original light with my own designed LED setup. 10 x 1W 6500K chips were decided upon and 2 x computer cooling fans employed to keep them cool. [ATTACH]5883[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]5884[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]5885[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]5886[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]5887[/ATTACH] Cookster

+1 shrimp ALWAYS takes precedence :-)

Nice Black Bar Endlers mate! I love the original black bar type. I don't keep them anymore but used them ages ago to develop my own colourful endler hybrids. At the moment starting to set a few strains. Lots of work and time just like shrimp keeping but lots of surprises along the way too. This is what I did to my Black Bars ;-)