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Thanks Buck. Jason insisted that I post photos of the feeding frenzy in my other shrimp tanks. Well here's tank number 2. The shrimp are just as insane in this tank for the green goop.

I was at age of aquariums the other day I picked up a little green elements light and decided to do a scape in a little hex tank. I grabbed some mangrove wood for the centre piece and it fit like a glove! I already had an idea of what I wanted to do with the scape, Belem hair grass front and blyxa japonica at the back. I'm not sure if I'm still keen on the blyxa I might change it to a stem or my old fav hygrophila pinnatifida... But I'll see how I feel after the dry start has progressed more. The details Tank: 25cm high and 25cm across octagon Soil: Ada Amazonia Filter: Aqua Eden 511 Light: green elements Flora: Eleocharis Belem, I'll update the others when I decide. Forna: atm I'm torn, being an octagon a betta would make for a sweet ufc thread title pun but I would also like a little school of rasbora brigittaeor similar micro fish(except celestial pearls been there done that haha). Then there is the colour of cherry to put in there, do I just put some yellows in or do I get some bloody marries... I have a while to work it out since after the dry start I have the Ada to cycle haha

After reading this thread with great interest and needing some new shrimp food, I thought that I'd give this recipe a go. Thanks to Jason for the recipe and advice. Made my first batch today with Chlorella, Spirulina, Kale, Bee pollen and Astaxanthin. Pictures below taken at 1 minute and 4 minutes after being in the tank. Can't even see the food lol

With such a great number of hobbyist joining the forum, thought I'd start a thread on some basic shrimp maintenance/breeding advise and techniques I'm guided with..... Water Parameters (WP) is critical, so depending on the shrimp type, do some research and ensure your tanks (WP) are within the recommended range. There are extreme cases (i.e. PH at 5 or 7.5 where CRS are successfully kept/bred, but on avg. these WP are theoretically a good starting point.... Caridina (CRS, CBS, SW/GB, TB*, Tiger**..) PH - 6.4 KH - 0-2 GH - 4-6 TDS - 100-200 Temp - 21-23 *TB (KK, WR & BB) - Some breeders prefer a slightly lower PH (5.6 - 6.2) for Taiwan Bee **Tigers - Some breeders prefer a slightly higher PH (7-7.4), KH - 2-8 and GH - 6-10 for Tigers Neocaridina (All colour variants of Cherry Shrimp) PH - 6.4 KH - 0-2 GH - 4-6 TDS - 100-200 Temp - 21-23 There's several thread on the forum with regards to soil type/recommendations, filters, chillers etc, so I'll just focus on the "day to day" maintenance and breeding habits I practice religiously... * Weekly water change (WC) is beneficial to even the best filtered system. I only do a 5-10% weekly WC per week, just to "freshen" the water. Add minerals like salty shrimp, mineral powder etc... On each WC. * The quality and consistency of Tap water varies. Reverse Osmosis (RO) water is recommended, to avoid any imbalances/pitfalls that can occur. Control what goes into your tank, to ensure minimal unexpected deaths. * Ensure a varied diet of commercial and fresh food to your shrimps, including. Powdered food to feed your shrimplets.. I daily feed all my shrimp, and depending on stock levels and shrimplets, two feelings per days are done. * Do water top ups caused by evaporation. I use straight RO water to top up all my tanks. * filter maintenance is done every 6-8 weeks for all my nano tanks, and 8-12 weeks for my breeding racks. This ensure the filters/bacteria is running efficiently. Ensure the filters are only rinsed off with the tanks water...do not over clean, and or use tap water, as this will kill the beneficial bacteria. * On a established system, ensure your nitrates are kept below 20ppm. Low nitrates do promote breeding ! Other notable mentions.. *Shrimp consume their exoskeleton that they shed during molting. This is a a rich source of essential minerals for the shrimp, so do leave them there for their consumption. *Iodine supplement is not necessary as freshwater crustaceans obtain iodine from their food. *Metals like zinc, lead, and elemental copper, are toxic for shrimps and will kill them. *Majority of fish feed on shrimps. Although through clever aquascaping, a co-existance can prevail, But it really depends on the seriousness you take your shrimps/hobby, i.e selective breeding program's, exotic shrimps ... *Hiding spots/shelters are important especially in periods of molting. Shelters can be bought or created via aquascaping. *Avoid chemical, and short term solutions...i.e. PH Up/Down.....I personally don't use ferts, and anything chemical.... *During our summer periods, have a Plan B even if you are running chillers. Have some RO ice blocks in the fridge for emergencies.. *Observe your shrimps, and develop an eye to notice any changes in their behaviour. This may highlight some potential issues before it becomes real issues. *Shrimps require oxygen rich waters. Ensure ample aeration, surface agitation etc... *PATIENCE IS KEY Mother Nature, whether purely natural or influenced by us do throw all of us a "curve ball"... So don't be discourage, get advise and share the grief with this forum, as your experience will help others.... No doubt, there's '000's of other advise, so please do add it onto this thread.......

This tank is still a long way off from having shrimp in it but I figured I would start a journal from day 1! The tank itself is a nice neat unit purchased from Aquotix, it was surprisingly cheap considering the build quality and great lighting unit. It has the filtration and pump in a compartment in the back, with two pull out cartridge style filtration units that can be filled with whatever filter media you choose, mine will be full of ceramic rings and a bag of purigen as with all my freshwater tanks. The light unit is a 12w LED that seems to have a good spectrum and a separately comtrollable moonlight (2 blue LED's). Hopefully the pump provides enough circulation for good plant growth so the only mod I have to make is some fine mesh over the intake to the filter section. plans for plants are mini pellia moss, HC 'cuba', mini alternanthera and some pogostemon helferi stems. stocking plans are a couple of Oto's and hopefully some good quality Red Rilis. Maybe some Darwin Algae shrimp for bba algae control, do they play nice with Red Rili shrimplets? The tank will be 'dry started' to let the HC take root and carpet before I fill the tank with water, it will be the first time I've used the DSM to start a tank, so I'm interested to see how it goes. here are some photos of the scape so far, any comments and suggestions are most welcome! Tank and rocks ready to go: front on view view from the angle the tank will be most viewed from

That driftwood suits an octagon tank perfectly. You did well there.

Yeah you will need CO2 and high light for HC, this tank is currently dry start so the plants have unlimited CO2, they are yellow as the shop tank was unfertilised and HC goes yellow when it is Nitrogen deprived. Once this tank is flooded it will have a CO2 system installed, currently leaning towards the Ista tank and reg combo as they are the better looking unit, all stainless steel with mini gauges and smaller 0.5L bottles available, the tank has no cabinet so the co2 unit will be visible. I will have to check out Smiling rock next time I re-scape a tank, cheers for that. As Disciple said, make sure you give them a vinegar or acid test before you use them as they can cause your KH, GH and/or TDS to skyrocket.

Raukem, Make sure you do some test with the rock and make sure it is inert. I made the mistake before with stone that was suppose to be inert but messed up my WP.

Thank you so much for your info Jackson. I have been a few aquarium shops and pet stores in Perth eg. City Farmers, Pet City, Aquotix and Vebas. I found that those rocks are too pricey as they price them each unit. I just bought 5kg of Seiryu stones from Smiling Rock in Wangara today. Guess what! Only $2/ kg lol. They have all different sizes and other types of rocks too. It's worth to have a look. I had HC before when I was still in Brisbane but they died out without CO2. That's why yours turns yellow? I will stop by Perth Aquarium & Display Centre this week. Cheers

Very nice. Pygmy cories and a betta? Or guppies? I'm in love with German white tail tuxedo guppies so I could be bias. They are the only ones I breed. Haha.

Its so refreshing to see store names that i can relate too haha Good to have some more Perth members that post haha

Fresh greens and leaves are excellent food sources for shrimp. They love most vegetables. The best preparation is just quick blanching - I put mine in the microwave boil for a couple of minutes and then put into cold water. You need to be VERY sure that no pesticides have been used on the foods. Even some washed salad leaves and spinach sold in supermarkets have caused problems with a few members colonies. It's best if you grow your own. It's very easy to grow kale, spinach, lettuce in small pots and just pick a few leaves for the shrimp. At least that way you know they are safe. There are some good threads about the different fresh foods we feed under the nutrition headings - sorry I can't show the link it never works on my iPad but the search engine will bring it up. There is a list of the beneficial calcium available in the different foods too. Don't forget leaves are a great food source too. Most leaves are safe just but again read the threads . My shrimp love mulberry leaves the best and will leave everything else until the mulberry leaf is gone. They also love nasturtium leaves so I grow that too.

Apologies Basri!! It has been that kind of crazy year. Picking up sump and last two tanks on Saturday for Rack 2.0, so will be posting a new thread soon. i may have to go through the phone and find some nice shrimp images to share. They have been prolific this year. Thankfully!!

Love bucephalandra.... I have a few varieties..unnamed I run 2 bps co2 under medium light.......getting reasonably fast growth i don't fert as I have CRS and rillis in that tank fave is mini Catherine (I think) atm

This is now planted! Picked up some HC and Lilaeopsis today and did some planting. Hopefully it does ok with the colder weather and my lack of experience with the dry start method.