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Some shots from the tank. Set-up is a work in progress as I'm changing over my external filter (from a massively over-size Fluval to a Eden 511) so I have a sponge filter in the tank as extra back-up through the change over. Layout won't really change much, the base is sand and the rocks (granite) have been recycled from Zebra shrimp Biotope tank #1. I'm using RO with a dash of benibachi salts to raise TDS. Water parameters are: TDS 40 ppm temp 20*C pH 7 GH 0-1 KH 0-1 Just wanted to show off this pic to point out that not all zebs have he same black/white patterning. Lots of pics of the zebs show the 'nice' black and white coloured individuals, but they can also look like this. Still a nice looking shrimp but no large white stripes.

So as noted in the "flimsy shelves review", I was having trouble with the set-up sitting on a flimsy set of shelves. Last weekend I swapped over to the "Rack It" shelves from Bunnings - the thickest steel version which comes in black (which I used) or galvanized. I am super happy with this set-up and still kicking myself that I didn't use it to begin with. Its 1200 long BETWEEN the uprights, and 400 mm wide. All the shelves are fully adjustable to any height and you can have as many or as few shelves as you like without paying extra because all the pieces for the stand come separately. I went with four shelves. The set-up: Sorry for the blurry pics, I forgot to switch the camera from macro mode While setting up I stood in the center of one of the horizontal beams and it barely flexed. I lay down on the shelves and there was no movement. Only one minor issue/change: To get the bottom horizontal beam to sit on the bottom, you have to trim the bracket on the two ends of the two horizontal beams (and paint the bare metal to stop corrosion). This gives you an extra 50mm between the bottom shelf and the shelf above. I used an angle grinder to make the cuts and I had some paint left over from painting the mdf shelves (which you should also do otherwise they will swell if they get wet, and they will get wet being around tanks! ) which took about 20 mins total including dragging the angle grinder out of the cupboard and fitting a new blade. Cutting time was only 2mins for all four cuts. I think an extra 50mm is worth 20 mins of extra set-up time. Usual bracket Trimmed bracket

Short Creek is an interesting little spot. It is located near a tea farm on the tablelands above Cairns. Why is it named 'short creek' you ask? Well it might have something to do with a 'short' drop! We only sampled a short section but found a wide variety of organisms above these water falls including Caridina confusa, purple spot gudgeons and a species of freshwater crayfish (I forget the name, Bob will remind me when he remembers that I caught one for him, and he didn't catch any!). Water parameters (in May) were: pH: 6.8 TDS: 21 Temperature: 19*C GH: < 20 ppm KH: < 10 ppm the shrimp were mainly located in the back eddies associated with vegetation or branches ect. that were hanging into the water. Unfortunately it was drizzling with rain most of the time we were there so I wasn't able to get any nice shots of the shrimp fresh from the creek. I did get a nice shot of a purple spot. However I have pics of the confusa I brought home, currently housed in a temporary set-up alongside some snails (temp 20*C, TDS 60, GH and KH < 1, pH 7). I'm not sure why these are called the false zebra shrimp. For starters, these are massive compared to the zebras (4-5cm vs. 3cm for zebs). I've really fallen for these guys and can't wait to set up their new tank. I think they should be called fusa (The Fusa are coming - Madagascar, anyone?) or confusa. 'False zebra shrimp' (yawn) just undersells them so much. They aren't fussy at all, eating all of the normal aquaria shrimp fare. Likewise I haven't lost a single one through the travel and their housing. They can be a little rowdy at feeding time, crawling over each other and running off with bits of food away from the others - maybe not ideal for keeping with smaller shrimp like Malanda, chameleons or Zebs. But I find that adds to their appeal, rather than detracting. I will report on things like 'how good an algae eater' or 'ease of breeding' once their new tank is set-up, BUT breeding should be relatively straight forward as I believe they have large eggs and drop direct developing young, similar to zebs. Another cool thing with these guys is that can seem to have a golden glow and iridescence - at least under the LED lights over their temporary housing. hopefully I can get some better pictures of what that looks like with more time.

This was the most entertaining comp in ages! especially when Oz joined in. provided many shits and giggles. Good stuff man!

So a sneaky preview from my new biotope tank for keeping zebras. Here is a video of them munching on some Boss Aquaria snow.

Just wanted to share a pic of my Bucephalandra sp. "Brownie Ghost" which has started to flower.

First person to identify where the zebra shrimp (Caridina zebra) is in this picture gets their choice of a prize from me. The fine print: As the prize, I have on offer a dark blue cherry from choc parents, as many riffles as you would like (within reason), some mosses including the relatively rare mini bolbitis, a 'rare' fern collected whilst I was in Cairns, driftwood pieces, and possibly some other things if you aren't interested in any of these. Please note for members located in WA and TAS, there may be state rules preventing me from sending you plants and/or shrimp, but we will discuss options if a member from those states wins. Open to any of the other mods as well because only I know where the shrimp is. Sorry international members - this comp is open to Australian based members only. All you need to do is copy the pic above, use paint or another program to draw a circle around the shrimp and re-post the picture here in this thread. First person who does so gets the prize.

I think Callan has found it (third time lucky indeed). PM me mate to arrange your prize. For those who still haven't spotted it, its a shrimplet (small), newly hatched, that is more red and white rather than black and white, almost dead centre of the picture. I'll post a pic with it circled tomorrow. Until then, enjoy trying to spot it. Or, as in Ozshrimp's case, not.

I think you got it man!

Looken Good Ben and nice colour to work with and I guess now is a good time to tell you we got a green one about 3km away from there on the other side of the Tea plantation, on a sad note they did not make the trip home as I was side tracked and packed badly, we were taking Bird photos. Bob

Its on the white rock just to the left of the ridge in the stone aginst the bigger granite rock. About two inches from where it was circled. Its tail goes back towards the larger stone

Wow this is quite hard.

After receiving my new anubias plants this morning and being amazed at the quality i am pretty sure one of the ones i already had was a coffeeolia to. Anyhow i scraped the front of my tank yesterday after packing plants for a sale on here an got reinvigorated passion back for what was behind the glass as opposed to just letting them breed. Though i would share some photos of what i have got so far anubias wise and thrown in some shrimp pics to, just taken on my phone. Azfelli O/T Shrimp

And some more good news from today....

In reference to the conversation that started in this thread ... http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/index.php/topic/7693-prevent-algae-going-everywhere/?view=getnewpost where Ozshrimp mentioned that he had to dispose of a plant due to it being infested with algae ... I have started this thread in the hopes of helping others who might have the same issue. Have you ever had a prized plant that was infested with algae? The algae has grown in between your plant and has become one big mass of algae and plant. To the point of not knowing where the plant started and where the algae ended? Where manual removal is too difficult, and futile cause the algae just grows back, and where spot dosing with Excel/glut/Dino spit would kill sensitive plants like mosses, pellia or fissiden? Using regular algaecides on plants will kill delicate and sensitive plants like pellia and mosses. Well, I have found one product to be different. And I have tested it with great success with my own algae infested plants. I have mini pellia that had Staghorn algae and BBA growing through it. My Peacock moss was also infested with Staghorn. Manually pulling it out was destroying my delicate mini pellia. And it was fuitle ... the algae would just grow back in a matter of days. I had to researched a better way of treating algae, that had interwoven itself into the mini pellia. The moss, I wasn't too fussed about. But pellia is more precious to me. I came across a product that showed promise. Searching for local retailers brought me to two. And by luck both are SKF sponsors !!! Cha-ching! What's this product? EasyLife AlgExit. Notice it will treat filamentous algae - that's the staghorn, hair and string algae, Brush and beard algae. Notice also that it says it is safe on plants and shrimp. I can personally vouch for the safe with shrimp and plants statement, within reason. It is safe with higher order leafy plants. It is also safe with delicate mosses, pellia and fissidens AS LONG AS you don't use too much of the product and leave the plants soaking in it for longer than 3 days. How do I know this? Well I tested the limits, so you don't have to. (Warning: Do NOT follow this example - it is a test of limits to see what dosage will harm plants) I put in a small bunch of mini pellia into a plastic container, with just enough water to cover the plant ... approx 100ml of water. In this container I added 1ml of AlgExit. Left it for 5 days. Please note the dosage according to the instructions is 10ml per 100Litres. Or 1ml per 10L. So 1ml of AlgExit in 100ml of water is many times over the dosage. (anyone want to try calculating how many times over?) Inadvertently, a shrimplet (1mm) came along with the ride in the plant. Didn't notice it until about 15-30 minutes into the treatment. The shrimplet was removed from the container, and survives to this day. At this crazy overdose levels and 5 days of treatment the mini pellia is now showing signs of not surviving. It's back in my tank now, to see if it pulls through. Needless to say, the algae on that test plant was all dead. (End of warning. Recommended treatment method follows below) However, with more reasonable levels of dosage my mosses and mini pellia will survive even harsh dosage treatments. The following is proof. Mini pellia that was treated about 2 months ago. Not a sign of BBA, brush algae or staghorn. The plant is very much alive and thriving. This is a more recent treatment. Started 6 days ago. I had algae growing on the stainless steel mesh as well as in the mini pellia. Notice the algae is now purple? This will turn white in a few days and die off. the shrimp will graze on it too. But the pellia is unharmed. Same plant, another view. Notice the purple bits in between the Pellia? That's the dying algae, but the pellia itself is a lush green. I have managed to clear it out/eradicate/kill the algae within 3days, without killing the mini pellia. This is the treatment method. 1) Remove the plant for treatment into a bucket. 2) Add enough water to cover the plant. Make a note of the amount of water used. 3) Add up to 10 times the dosage. Recommended dosage was too slow. 4) Keep the algae infested plant in AlgExit for no more than 3 days. 5) Remove and rinse with clean water. 6) Return to tank and observe the algae. If it has not changed colour in the next day or two, return to the treatment bucket for another day or 2. Repeat from step 5 until algae changes colour. eg. I use a 1Litre container for mini pellia, it's only a small plant. I'd add 500ml of water and 1ml of AlgExit. (yes it's more than the recommendation above, but I'm a Pro at it now ) I remove after 3 days , and that is what you see in the picture above. All the algae has turned purple on the steel mesh. You can treat it in the tank, but you'd have to use more of the product. And I suggest following the manufacturers dosage. But this method will treat the algae infected plant in a targeted approach without impacting the main tank, at a much faster rate. You can get the Easy Life AlgExit from our favourite sponsors Age of Aquariums and Tech Den. Hope you found this useful. If it saves you from throwing away a plant, let me know. I get encouragement that I have helped someone else, and we get confirmation it works.