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I notice that many of my chameleons tend to be a solid dark brownie red with a light back stripe down the centre of their back. I also get the dark and light striped ones like a zebra but I usually only see around 4 like that. I think the others tend to take on the more solid colour because they usually seem to hide out in the large hollow log that dominates their tank. Even when the chameleons are out and about in the tank they are often still only to be found under the hollow log. The tank only houses one potential predator Spotted Blue Eyes so that might also have a bearing on the shrimps colouration, but the little Blackmore River shrimp don't seem bothered by the Spotted Blue Eyes and can always be seen getting about on the substrate. One of my usual solid coloured girls, it might also pay to take notice how the girls change colouration in relation to being berried with eggs and soon to hatch shrimplets And the zebra patterned ones Maybe with a breeding experiment in "setting" certain colourations in chameleons you will need to also play with the darkness of the water eg low light, tannin stained. The darkness of the substrate eg white sand vs black sand. Plantings heavily planted vs minimal plants. I suspect that eventually you will find a combo that forces the shrimp to adopt the pattern that you like best, but if they get moved to a different tank they would quickly change their markings and colours again to suit (in their opinion) the new surrounds.

Arf, very lucky with the heater on in the room!

Since previous post I have added Dark Hades

Was on a camping trip in SE Qld and exploring the creek and spotted this clever girl. Was pretty stoked to find my first wild Riffle! Am not able to post photos yet, but will as soon as am able!

Just chillin

The other thing I have been asked about is feeding. And this relates far more to water parameters than you might think. Firstly in tanks with inert substrate, food is going to be the major contributor to increases in TDS. More food equals greater increases in TDS. As we know, zebs like low TDS. I minimise any increases in TDS caused by food by: - Feeding only every two or three days, although 1 mulberry leaf is always available and replaced when it is completely consumed - feeding small amounts which are totally consumed overnight (excluding snow which tends to be consumed over several days) - feeding foods that are low in protein (Benibachi kale pellets, Boss Aquaria Snow). Proteins are high in nitrogen. If the food rots, the proteins decompose straight to ammonia. When the shrimp eat and use the proteins, they release the nitrogen stored in the proteins as wastes. This increases the TDS of the tank, but also exposes the shrimp to 'high' levels of nitrogenous wastes. Nitrogenous wastes are not detectable in the water of their natural habitats so any level where these are detected is really too high.

I've been asked by a member to provide some more information about how I keep my zebs with particular reference to water changes and parameters. The water parameters I provided above are accurate and I try to maintain these water parameters by doing water changes using RO. I change approximately 20% of the water in the tank every 1-2 weeks. To replace the water, I keep the RO in a 20L drum in the same room as my tank (the tank is unheated) so the water is exactly the same temperature as the water in the tank. I add the RO directly to the tank then I add tiny amounts of Benibachi directly to the tank to boost the TDS to 40-50ppm. The substrate I use is completely inert - granite and a bit of quartz. I do not use coral or any other pH boosting substrates, nor any pH decreasing substances such as peat. I believe a big part of how pH is maintained in my tank is that I have over-filtered the tank and ensure there is lots of water movement and agitation. I'm using an Eden 511 filter on the tank (60L) with a spraybar that faces back towards the pane of glass that the spraybar is mounted on. This stops the tank from turning into a whirlpool and agitates the surface. Why is this important? Well pH is related to two things - how much CO2 is dissolved in water as well as the dissolved minerals in water that buffer against acids. We know that water that is low in TDS is low in dissolved minerals. This means that there is little minerals that can buffer against acids. When CO2 dissolves in water, it forms a weak acid (carbonic acid). So in water with low TDS, it doesn't take too much CO2 for the pH to drop. Agitation is important because it tends to gas off CO2 out of water. That is agitation causes CO2 to move out of the water and back into a gas. Zebs like to have a fairly neutral pH (6.8-7.0). They also come from areas with lots of water falls and riffles (places where CO2 is gassed off). So its important to have plenty of agitation in a zeb tank. An air stone or sponge filter are a couple of options if you think you need to increase your agitation.