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Small Update: Everything is traveling well, I've got 2 or 3 berried mums. The smaller ones are growing up fast and my sunkists are going well too. Here are some pics of my nicest berried. Nomming on some of my homemade food. Louis

I have almost all good news to report for the last week. The only bad news is I lost the first female that berried for me. She was the last sick/discolored shrimp in the tank. Of the 13 I started with I have 6-7 remaining. On the positive side, at least one of the shrimplets from the female that passed is doing well. The batch of shrimplets that hatched a week ago are also thriving. I have no idea how many I have, but I can usually spot 6-8 without looking too hard. They have become more mobile which also makes it easier to spot them. My remaining female has a full saddle. I expect her to berry up any day now. It looks like my colony actually has a shot. So take the above and add it to the fact that I started a CRS tank and you can see that it has been a very good shrimp week for me . As always, I want to thank Shrimpy Daddy for advising and educating me. He has saved me and my shrimp a lot of stress. Here are a couple of my adult shrimp (males I think) Here is the shrimplet from the female that I lost Here are a couple of my 1 week old shrimplets

The Green might be to do with the light over the tank?? Moss are a really hard one to ID accurately, the Scientists that ID moss do it under a scope and look at the leaf formations and many other things, not the over all shape a growing form, growing conditions make a huge difference to how they grow and look, the easy ones are flame, pearl and ones like that. The one in the photo on the tree has the classic triangular growth. I bought Xmas moss years ago and a scientist ID it as normal Java, it was grown differently, Java is a broad sword to draw but a number I have bought and sent off came back as the same thing from the same scientist. She loathed doing OS moss, as she held a strong view it should not be here. Retired now DAM. There is a member here that may shed some light on the subject as they work in that field. Bob

Poss I dont think intense light would be slowing growth. Growth of plants depends on three factors (light, nutrients and CO2). If any one of the three is low, the mosses will grow slow. I would suggest increasing both nutrients and CO2 if you want to see faster growth. The risk is that you could get algae growing quickly, so it might be best to leave well enough alone.

Name - Bamboo Leaves Type of Shrimp fed - RCS, CRS, CBS and Taiwan bee Price - Cheap, and can be purchased as substrate for terrarium Preparation- I boil them and dry them or put them in right after I have boiled them. Breakdown Time - Average Shrimp Acceptance - Good Rating - 4/5 Pros - does not change color on the water. Cons - Not all off it gets eaten or breaksdown. Comment - I love to use them, as the shrimps seems to love them, and they are easy to giv.

Kiz there is a number of Deperess species and sub species that are well worth breeding and can get up to the 7cm max size, usually around the 5 mark, the colour range is really good, Black with red claws, Red, Blue both light and dark and greenish. One day, time and space. I will try to post some photos soon for every one, once again its one of those thing you are most likely not going to find on the Net. That is not my photo, but that is one of the small ones Bob

Name - Oatmeal Type of Shrimp fed - RCS Price - Cheap Preparation- Nothing Breakdown Time - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Good Shrimp Acceptance - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Excellent Rating - 5/5 Pros - Sinks well, no preparation needed. Seems to be my shrimps' favourite food, actually. Long shelf life because it is dry. Cons - When put into water and when shrimps eat it, there is some oat "powder" floating around. Does not cloud the water but maybe if you are worried about overall cleanliness, oat breaks down quite a bit. Comment - Easiest food ever. Commonly available and can be bought for cheap in supermarkets. No preparation required, sinks by itself. Holds it shape but does break down a little bit. Shrimps love it, it is soft and seems easy for them to eat. Also contains beta-glucan which enhances their immune system. Name - Banana Type of Shrimp fed - RCS Price - Cheap Preparation- Weigh it down as it floats Breakdown Time - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Poor Shrimp Acceptance - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Average Rating - 3/5 Pros - No need to blanch Cons - It floats, need to weigh it down. I do this by sticking a needle through it since it is too small to be sunk using a stone or a fork. Breaks down fast so might make a mess. Soft and mushy, making it difficult to handle. Comment - Use the soft part inside, I tried the stringy parts on the peel and shrimps do not want it. The shrimps prefer oatmeal over banana but they will still eat it. Banana is famous as a good source of potassium but I do not know what is the function of potassium for shrimps. Name - Spinach Type of Shrimp fed - RCS Price - Cheap Preparation- Rinse well, blanch in microwave for a few minutes Breakdown Time - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Excellent Shrimp Acceptance - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Excellent Rating - 5/5 Pros - Holds its shape, soft therefore easy for the shrimps to eat Cons - If you do not find organic ones, pray that the possible pesticides were removed during preparation. Comment - They like it. Big surface area so a lot of shrimps can eat it at once and they do not have to fight over it. Floats even after I blanch it so I sink it down with a stone. Preparation is easy too, just put in a glass of water and microwave it for three minutes. Rich in iron but just don't expect your shrimps to turn into Popeye. Frozen spinach is also available. Name - Frozen green pea Type of Shrimp fed - RCS Price - Cheap Preparation- Microwave in a glass of water for a few minutes until soft Breakdown Time - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Excellent Shrimp Acceptance - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Good Rating - 5/5 Pros - Holds its shape, lasts long. Sinks by itself after blanched. Frozen so it has long shelf life and the process during freezing it and packaging prevents it from being contaminated as well. Cons - If not blanched long enough, green pea stays hard and difficult for shrimps to eat. They will not eat it if it is still tough. Comment - Take just one pea, microwave it. The shell will break, discard the shell and just use the soft pea inside. Easy preparation, shrimps like to eat it and it lasts for 2 days (!!!) before they finish it. Makes a good holiday food if you will be gone since they will take their time to eat it. Often used for bloating in fish so perhaps it might help the shrimps as well since it is rich in fiber. Plenty of vitamins as well, especially Vitamin K. Name - Various leaves (Dry Riparian Leaves from Aquagreen) Type of Shrimp fed - RCS Price - $5 per 60g Preparation- Rinse and boil prior to use Breakdown Time - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Excellent Shrimp Acceptance - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Average Rating - 3/5 Pros/Cons - Makes a good leaf litter. Cheap compared to IAL. Comment - http://www.aquagreen.com.au/plant_data/Dry_Riparian_Tree_Leaves.html Store unused leaves in a dry, airtight container. Takes a few weeks before the shrimps would graze on it, probably the time for it to build up some biofilm. If you layer a lot of it, it makes a good hiding place for shrimps as well. Boil and just leave it in the tank and the shrimps will graze on it after some time. Basically put and forget about it. There is tannins as well, but small amount and probably none left by the time you finish boiling it. You could use the boiled water after you cool it down if you would like but I am unsure if the tannins have the same effect as IAL. Intensity of the tannin colour is very light too so you would need a huge amount to make a blackwater extract if you want to. After boiled, there is negligible pH change as well unlike IAL which changes pH considerably. Lasts for a long time. Name - Indian Almond Leaf Type of Shrimp fed - RCS Price - $5 for 10 leaves, pricing varies Preparation- Depends on quality of leaves, I just put it into the tank as it is because it looks clean Breakdown Time - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Excellent Shrimp Acceptance - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Excellent Rating - 5/5 Pros/Cons - Very popular. Tannin will stain water if used in big amount. I cut mine into half so it does not affect it very much. Lasts for long. Tannins have many positive effects. Watch pH as it will lower your pH. Comment - Store in dry, airtight container. Tannins from IAL have been said to be prevent diseases. Floats for a while then sinks after a day or two. Makes a good hiding and grazing spot as biofilm will build up on it. Shrimps immediately grazes on it after it sinks. Will last for a long time. Do not use activated carbon or it will negate the effect of the tannin unless you are using it intentionally because you do not like blackwater effect. But if used in small amount it will not stain your water. Name - Broccoli Type of Shrimp fed - RCS Price - Cheap Preparation- Rinse and microwave for a few minutes in a cup of water until soft Breakdown Time - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Good Shrimp Acceptance - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Excellent Rating - 4/5 Pros - Sinks after microwaved, high in Vit C Cons - The shrimps prefer to eat the broccoli head. As they pick on it, there are little green particles dispersed around. Quite messy. The stalk holds its shape though, and is also edible. Can be left for days as it is big (takes long to consume) and does not disintegrate. Comment - Considering the mess (and the fact that I dislike to eat broccoli), I probably will not feed this often to my shrimps but it is good for variety. Name - Lettuce Type of Shrimp fed - RCS Price - Cheap Preparation- Rinse and microwave for a few minutes in a cup of water to blanch it Breakdown Time - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Good Shrimp Acceptance - (terrible, poor, average, Good, excellent) Good Rating - 4/5 Pros - Holds its shape. Large surface area. Soft. Cons - I could not find organic lettuce but surely it must be sold somewhere? Did not have any problems with non-organic vegetables so far though. Comment - Sink it down with a stone as it floats. The shrimps prefer the broccoli but good for variety, might as well feed it to the shrimps if you have it available as some variety. I used iceberg lettuce. I wonder if other types of lettuce will affect shrimp acceptance. Good source of Vit A and potassium. I will post more as I try more food! Imo natural food is more economical than commercial food and provides variety for your shrimps! Edit: - Added more food