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I have been experimenting. We have been discussed and talked about feeding shrimp leaves and fruits on many occasions. And the results are quite well documented in the use of leaves like Mulberry, Oak, Indian Almond (Kattapa), etc. However, the idea of feeding shrimp flowers is still very new. After all in the wild, things like leaves, twigs, branches AND flowers all drop into rivers where native shrimps will use a food source. In terms of nutritional value, you will find nutrients and minerals in flowers that are lacking in leaves (and vice versa). I'll expand on one of the main benefits of a nutrient found in flowers that aren't present in leaves a bit later. HOWEVER, NOT ALL FLOWERS ARE SAFE FOR EATING. So we will start with those flowers that are known to be edible. Of course that are literally hundreds of varieties of edible flowers. We all know about cauliflower and broccoli, those are some common flowers we eat regularly. My experiment is limited to what I could source close by. The flowers I tested on my shrimp include Rose, Nasturtium, Dandelion, Chrysanthemum and Pansies. Caveat: I KNOW for sure that these flowers in my backyard have not been sprayed with anything else apart from tap water and rain. No pesticides, fertilisers. If in doubt, DON'T use it. You could try other flowers that are easily sourced in your garden. But please note - I have limited my research and experiments to flowers only. Not the leaves of these flowers. As a cautionary warning, some leaves are sappy and oily, and might not be too safe to feed your shrimp. So I take no responsibility with the leaves of these flowers. Although, Ineke has fed Nasturtium leaves to her shrimp which they seem to like and was safe as mentioned in another thread. Preparation: 1) Pick fresh looking flowers with no visible damage. Select flowers that you KNOW have no previous pesticides or fertilisers, and don't grow down stream from sources of water that might be contaminated. 2) Gently wash them (flowers are very delicate and soft) 3) Remove as much of the base of the flower (the stem, receptacle and sepal). Usually only the petals are what we want. 4a) Place into tank fresh. (Recommended) 4b) Or Blanch it for 1-2 minutes in hot boiling water. Remember, flowers are soft, they don't need to be blanched for much longer. 4c) Freezing or Drying. While it's possible to freeze or dry flowers for storage and feeding at a later date, I'm not sure what nutrients will be lost. 5) Ensure any decayed leftovers are removed if left uneaten after a few days. Review of the flowers: I have searched high and low in the scientific literature for quantitative data on the nutrient content of flower petals. There are relatively few references, particularly in English. Most of the literature is focused on evaluating flowers for their sensory characteristics, such as appeal, size, shape, colour, taste, and above all, aroma, which is important for the cosmetic and perfume industry. Available data on a number of edible flowers show that petals also contain an array of vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamins A and C, various B vitamins, folic acid, and minerals including calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and phosphorus. Apart from the nutritional value of flowers with the abundance of vitamins and minerals, flowers also contain a huge amounts of carotenoids and flavonoids compared to leaves. Specifically, Crytoxanthin, Zeaxanthin and Lutein which is obviously lacking in the leaves. Just look at the pretty colours of flowers. Zeaxanthin and Lutein has been known as a natural source of colour enhancement in fish (and maybe shrimp). These carotenoids are regularly added to fish food from sources like spirulina. Zeaxanthin enhances the Reds and Oranges while Lutein enhances Yellows. Flowers are also high in antioxidants, they are antiseptic, antifungal and anti-inflammatory. This sounds too good to be true. It's like feeding medicine to your shrimps to fight viruses and bacteria. On to the review of specific flowers. Dandelions: Say what?! That's a weed! It sure is, and I have heaps growing in my front garden. Now I have a use for them. Dandelion is a perennial plant with jagged, bright green leaves to 30cm long, a hollow flower stem to 30cm and one terminal yellow daisy. Has been subject of many studies investigating it's ability to even fight cancer! Dandelions, contain numerous flavonoids and carotenoids with antioxidant properties, including four times the beta carotene of broccoli, as well as lutein, cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin. They are also a rich source of vitamins, including folic acid, riboflavin, pyroxidine, niacin, and vitamins A, B, C and D. Minerals including iron, potassium and zinc. The rich yellow colour of dandelion flowers comes from beta-carotene - Lutein specifically. Side note: the leaves are apparently also really high in Calcium (187mg per 100g), rivalling Mulberry leaves. But I have not tried feeding Dandelion leaves, nor do I know if they are safe. But people eat them. The Chinese, European and Native American have been using the dandelion plant for centuries to treat digestive, kidney and liver ailments. I fed my shrimp a fresh dandelion as one experiment. The first day in the tank, the shrimp investigated it, but didn't seem to be eating. It wasn't till the 3 day that I noticed them actually munching on the flower. The petals probably needed to soften first. The second experiment was with a blanched dandelion. This time the shrimp took to it the same day. And average sized flower was consumed within 3-4 days in my tank. Verdict: Big tick. They loved it. Too early to tell if there is any impact on colouration of the shrimps. Nasturtiums: Nasturtium is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.5 m (1ft 8in) by 1 m (3ft 3in). It is part of the Watercress family. The most common variety is Tropaeolum majus. The peppery flowers are good in salads and pasta dishes. A 2009 study by the Universidad Nacional de Colombia identified the group of phenols or phenolic compounds in the pigments of orange and red flowers of Tropaeolum majus as anthocyanins. Anthocyanins, which are abundant in blueberries and red cabbage, help neutralise the damaging effects of free radicals, thereby helping to protect us from chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Anthocyanins are anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer and antioxidant. Nasturtiums are high in Vitamin C, about 45 milligrams vitamin C per 100 grams, and also contain Vitamin A and flavonoids anti-oxidants like - carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. They also contain Minerals like Iron, Calcium. Nasturtiums might not pack as much nutritional value as dandelions, but it sounds great to feed shrimp occasionally, to combat diseases due to it's antibiotic, antiseptic, and antifungal properties. I fed Nasturtium flowers to my shrimp in a similar fashion to Dandelions. Fresh and Blanched. The shrimp had very similar reactions. They ate it when the flowers were soft. Verdict: Another big tick. They loved it. Too early to tell if there is any impact on colouration of the shrimps. I do have one shrimp that looks unwell. I'm keeping an eye to it to see if there are any improvements. I won't go into detailed reviews on the Rose, Pansies or Chrysanthemum flowers, as I couldn't find much information on it's nutritional value. But the results are very similar. There are dozens of other edible flowers that could be introduced to your shrimp as long as you take the necessary precautions on where you collect these flowers. Some other possibilities include: Daisies, Sunflowers, Daylilies, Violets, Tulips.

Wow... Congratz

Sorry to leave this thread for nearly a month. Anyway, the berried females carried their eggs to maturity and I have or had baby shrimp in the tank. Haven't seen one for a while but I haven't had much time to look. They were similar size to baby CRS (which they share the tank with) so certainly direct-developing. It was impossible to get a photo. If I get a positive ID for this species I'll post it here. When I get around to collecting some coloured Paratya again I'll start a new thread in the right section and continue the discussion about line breeding for colour and what I see as the problems with that idea. I still plan to get to Canberra this year (or early 2015 perhaps) and will be keen to do some collecting up there - hope you have some spare time for me, Serkan. The idea of direct-developing red Paratya is to much to resist.

My setup .... Caridina / king kong-panda-blue bolt- blue bolt mosura/flowerhead-red bolt-wine red-spotted head pinto hybrid/mischling-tibee-taitibee-royal blue tiger....Neocaridina /carbon rili

I've since confirmed that the shrimp above are Paratya australiensis.

Ok, so I thought I'd contribute to this thread & share a pic & info from a friend of the forum Chris Lukhaup, should help people ID some problems with this excellent quality macro shot. 1. Vorticellidae 2. Fungus 3. Ramularia/Cephalosporium 4. Some kind of parasitic worm(not sure what family it belongs to)

Anti bacterial / Anti Fungal treatments part 3 Antibacterial + Antifungal - The guava leaf. The guava tree carries with it a little known fact. It has active ingredients in its leaves which fights against bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella, Pseudomonas, Clostridium, and more. In the freshwater shrimp tank, guava leaves have been proven to prevent and eliminate the notorious gram-negative bacilli, facultative anaerobe bacteria, which are generally considered to be opportunistic pathogens-causing disease when shrimp are stressed. Add it to the tank much like you would Indian Almond Leaves, dried or fresh. Antibacterial + Antifungal - The banana leaf. Similar to the above guava leaf, but from the banana tree dur. Antibacterial, Antifungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-parasitic : Oregano oil contains many phytochemicals that have been studied for their health benefits. The main one that we will look at is: Carvacrol — a monoterpenoid phenol giving oregano its warm pungent odour. Medicinal actions include: antimicrobial, antitumor, antimutagenic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-parasitic properties. In other words - good for preventing bacteria, tumors, cancer, pain, inflammation and parasites. Carvacrol is considered one of the most active components of oregano oil. This oil has it all, being able to treat a wide variety of ailments from Bacterial, fungal, Viral and Parasitic. How to use: Carvacrol can come in many varying strengths, from 70% to 100%. Dilute it at roughly 1 drop to 5ml of water, and Soak it in some food for the ingestion (internal bacteria) or drop some in the water for external infections. Be sure to treat this outside of the tank, as Carvacrol is very likely to also kill beneficial bacteria. It is very important to dilute the oil, as it is very potent.

Anti bacterial / Anti Fungal treatments part 2 Antibacterial + Antifungal - Edible flowers. Read this post. Couldn't improve on it, even if I wrote it myself. :P http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/index.php?/topic/5701-edible-flowers-for-shrimp/ Antibacterial + Antifungal - Cinnamon sticks Releases essential oils and tannins. Dose 1 cinnamon stick bought from health food stores (not cinnamon sticks for decorations) of about 5-7cm per 20L of water volume. The sticks can remain in the tank after treatment. Or remove it if it does not match your decoration tastes. Antibacterial + Antiparasitic - Salt bath Already discussed earlier in this sticky. Salt bath with aquarium salts. Be careful not to use table salt with Iodine. Pure Sea water rock salts are also ok. Dosage: 1 teaspoon to 1 cup (250ml) of clean tank water (not tap water) prepared as an external bath (do not pour directly into your tank). Duration: 30sec to 1 minute. You might need to repeat this a couple of times Try not to dose your main tank directly, but instead, remove the problematic shrimp and treat outside the main tank. Preventative fungal or bacterial infections and assisting in moulting Dried Indian Almond Leaves, Oak Leaves and to a lesser extent Beech leaves contain humic substances that are slightly antibacterial and anti-fungal. Only dried and brown leaves of deciduous trees should be used. No ornamental trees or house plants should be used. An added benefit these leaves serve is that they are another food source the shrimp can eat. Alder cones contain fulvic acids (humic substances), buffer the pH at about 6 to 6.5, have a slightly anti-bacterial and fungicidal properties. For those of you who might be lucky enough to be able to source alder cones in Australia, and you don't mind the tannins produced, you have a good source of natural fulvic acids. As an added benefit, alder cones can be eaten by shrimp too.

After years of selective breeding I have managed to achieve my goal of breeding a totally unique snail. Hundreds of trials and false starts later I've managed to breed and enhance the unique characteristic I've been trying to establish. This trait started as a slight 'blemish' on the shell of one of my snails. As with all new traits, it takes a keen eye to recognize it for what it is, and to selectively breed to turn the 'blemish' to a full blown new variety. I had to cull a plenty to make sure I chose best of the best in each generation not to maintain the trait but to enhance it. Also super specific water conditions are also required to ensure that the trait is maintained and displayed for all its glory. Letting the water parameters deteriorate even a little bit could compromise the awesomeness of this trait. This is not a snail for the beginner!!! So I give you: The HAIRY Mystery Snail I will not part with this snail. Though offers over $10k are considered! ;) PS: I am not serious! :victorious: PS2: I'll never part with this snail!!! PS3: LOL