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I've just made myself a homemade food for the shrimps that they seem to love. The little buggers have completely swarmed the piece I threw in. Yes it's a bit of a teaser. More to come later. I'll share the ingredients.

The story behind it... I have long known the benefits of Chlorella for shrimp. So I bought 250gm of Chlorella powder from Squiggle on Dec 3 last year. Up until now I have been trying to figure out the best way of feeding Chlorella powder to the shrimp. If I sprinkled it in the water it would literally turn the tank green like it was algae infested, not a good look and not the best way of feeding. So up till this weekend I have been digging into ways to feeding Chlorella, and I drew on a few inspirations - Fishmosy's biofilm alternative http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/index.php/topic/7770-biofilm-alternative/ And Repashy Gel premixes. If I could get the Chlorella powder in a gel like substance for the shrimp like what fishmosy did with Spirulina, it would be my goal. So the question was what to use to hold the Chlorella powder. Then I drew on the idea of the repashy gel. Jelly was what it looked like to me. But Jelly and gelatin is no good for shrimp. Gelatin is animal based. So the next best option was ... AGAR AGAR !!! The more research I did on agar agar, the more convinced I was that this was the perfect vessel to hold all kinds of Shrimpy foods that we can feed our beloved pets. Agar is a gelling agent extracted from red algae (perfect). It's easy to work with (awesome). It's easy to find and it's cheap (perfect, kaching). It's all organic (you beaut). Ingredients: 1 teaspoon of agar agar powder (2gm). 350ml water. Chlorella powder 3 teaspoons. Bee Pollen 1 teaspoon. You can find agar agar powder in most Asian supermarkets, some health food shops, maybe even coles and woolies. Please buy only agar that has no other additives like sugar, flavouring, or colouring. Method: Add water and agar agar powder into a pot, and bring to a low boil. Stir constantly or the agar with stick to the pot. Keep heat low to med. Heat until all sign of the agar powder is dissolved (approx 5 minutes on low-med heat). Pour into a shallow and flat container (for ease of cutting later) Let it cool for 4-5 minutes. Crush the bee pollen in a mortar & pestle. Then sprinkle in the Chlorella powder and Bee Pollen into the container. The agar would not have set yet. Use a utensil of your choice to stir in the Chlorella powder and Bee Pollen, taking care to smooth out any lumps of Chlorella powder and Bee Pollen. Let it set in the fridge for 30 minutes. Cut a small square of the Chlorella powder and Bee Pollen Agar, and drop in the tank. Sit back and watch the shrimp swarm it. Note: does not pollute the tank either. I have since learnt that you can get a Spirulina, Chlorella, and Wheatgrass supergreen powder mix at health food shops. A small bottle is all that's needed ( I think it was about $16-$18). You could use this and create a really Super green food with Bee Pollen. Otherwise you can shout out to Squiggle for some. He will charge you appropriately. The original plan was to include Astaxanthin, but I could not find powder that was economical enough. But there is SOOOOOO much nutrition in Chlorella powder and Bee Pollen alone that this exercise was worth it. And seeing how much the shrimp are enjoying it ... priceless. If I can get pics, I'll post it tomorrow. Hope you have a go at it yourself. Version 2 will include Astaxanthin as the colour enhancer. So I am still looking for affordable astaxanthin powder. Cheers.

Hi all, I wrapped up my work early today. Hence, I setup my camera and managed to take some nice picture of my Japanese Red Bee shrimps. As such, I will like to share with everyone to cheer up your weekend. ^^ Cheers. Shrimpy Daddy

I'll post the Feb comp this weekend. This one is only going to be open for SKF subscribers only and will not have a post count limit. As mods know nothing about the comp they will also be allowed to enter.

Prize this month will be a biospon filter that has been kindly donated by a SKF member.

I too just made my own shrimp food and everything went very very well! I had 9 of 10 shrimp on it compared to 2 of 10 which I get from feeding benibachi red bee ambitious or bee pollen alone. And then later I found 2 Celestial Pearl Danio Fry, great night for me.

Second teaser today lol

You want to keep CRS right? In that case you want to get Salty Shrimp Bee shrimp mineral GH+ http://www.thetechden.com.au/Salty_Shrimp_Bee_Shrimp_Mineral_GH_230g_p/bm230.htm GH+/KH+ is for Cherries. As for mineral ball - If you want to get everything from Tech Den, you can try their new mineral block. http://www.thetechden.com.au/Ornamental_Shrimp_Mineral_Block_p/smb.htm Looks like it has everything you need in it, including a bit more. The Super Bee Max and Mineral powder you linked above is correct. Those were the ones I was referring to.

Cal Lab Black Earth Premium is fine for CRS too. Nothing wrong with using it for CRS. Benibachi is ok too. I'd add mineral powder on the base of the substrate, and either Mosura BT-9 or Benibachi Super Bee Max or Probidio Biodigest on the substrate in the tank. While you are at it, get some mineral balls and save on extra shipping costs. The mineral balls will help maintain minerals in the tank like a slow release tablet. You have tap water that is 30ppm? That's good tap water. You can get away with using it plus a good water conditioner and put off RO for a later purchase. You already have a TDS pen, so make sure you also get a GH/KH kit. And since you will be cycling a new tank, get an Ammonia and Nitrite kits too. Eheim 2213 will be ok for the 45cm tank. Recommend using Marine Pure spheres as bio media instead of rings. So your filter will have Coarse, medium, fine sponge at the bottom then Marine Pure spheres in the other trays above. +1 to all the other advice given so far. Mesh prefilter, Air con to keep the room/tank cool, etc.

Good to hear you treated the problem, i have heard of that stuff before, apparentlly you can also get it from some vets.

Yeah you would have to remove the shrimp first, thats why i havent done a soil change in 2 years. Hope things sort itself out for you though, i counted my crs colony inclusive of all sizes and i have over 100 shrimp now at present from new shrimplets to adults

Good evening, everyone!!! I was enjoying a pretty relaxed weekend. Hence, I decided to snap a few more photos of my JRB and would like to share with everyone. Hope you will enjoy looking at them. ^^ Cheers. Shrimpy Daddy