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The 2016 shrimp championships will be in March 2016. More details to come. Any business or person wishing to get involved please email [email protected] Will update this post as details come to hand.

As a noob I've had more setbacks than wins over the last 12 months with my yellow cherries. BUT...after reading about mulberry leaves on here I was amazed by the coincidence of finding a tree on a remote, pristine farm we regularly visit west of Wauchope NSW. After 4 weeks of feeding one big leaf per week to my tank of about 100 shrimp (30/70 adults/babies) there is no doubt that they have greatly improved the condition of my shrimp. The most noticeable things are the nice clean moults when they often died from that, the stronger colors, huge increase in activity and for the first time a bunch of shrimplets surviving and growing out. I don't mean to gush, but it's good when you get something right and I'm hoping this will help other noobs like me. I'm using leaves the size of a small plate. I put them in a pyrex baking dish and poor hot water from the kettle over them, then let them sit till they are sinking. When I drop them in they charge over to it, but tend to not start eating till the second day. Once they start eating it every single shrimp in the tank seems to be on it and they smash a really big leaf in 24-36 hours, stripped right back to the white fibres/veins in the leaf. Quite amazing. I would suggest that this is one of the super foods for cherries at least, don't know about others, and well worth using.

Nice clean handy work you have done mate, well done. Looks good!

Awww!! At least their memory lives on!!

Hmmmn, technically you'd be after @neo-2FX I'm afraid @Disciple - but maybe if you help me fix my tank Ph problems and I'll see whether you get bumped up the order ;)

Just for reference here are some red base chocolates and blue based blacks. You can understand how you get red from chocolate and blue from black when you see the base colour like these old girls

I have choc's if you are interested pm.

OK, so I've been a bit busy with kids, work and whatnot, but I'm back on the job. At least I know my paint is fully cured. Can anyone recommend a good heater other than the Eheim one with the calibrating rings? I don't like them and want to try something else. I've got my mangrove root in the dishwasher (wife is delighted with that) and will try to get more done tomorrow. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't get the glass cleaner. It seems to have some etched in calcium stains or something.

It would be really great if someone from SKF could go along and cover it and then put up a nice thread on the entrants/winners etc and the process throughout the day.... ?. I'm sure there are alot of members who won't be able to attend the actual show but would love a run down of the proceedings.

I think the issue might be with the water going stagnant...I have been told though that as long as it's in an airtight sealed container then it will keep well for a few weeks. If it's not in an airtight container out of the sun and you want to keep it for a longer period than a couple of days, I've been advised it should be aerated. I keep mine in a 20ltr sealed water drum, out of the sun and it's still fine after a couple of weeks.....

But you have also given me so much invaluable advice too Disciple! I'm a very lucky lady to have a few people who are happy to help me figure things out. Technically, I have more than one mentor ? along with a whole bunch of fellow shrimp enthusiasts who are always happy to help. That's why I love being a part of the shrimp keeping community! ?

I used to feed a very wide range and variety of food both commercial and natural. Once I started feeding leafy greens and mulberry leaves my shrimp consistently left the commercial food which I had to siphon out each morning. My tanks are well established - 3 years plus- although they have had new substrate everything else remained the same - filters, mosses plants etc. I think now with the amount of biofilm in the tanks the shrimp show little interest in most foods except the mulberry leaves and shrimp snow - soya bean husks- my colonies are growing in large numbers and there are very few deaths so they must be getting reasonable nutrition from what is available. I have now stopped feeding vast varieties of commercial foods and cut back on a lot of other natural foods. i now have 3 staples in the tank all the time - I have an Indian Almond Leaf in each tank that is left there until only veins are visible, I have a mulberry leaf which again is left until only veins are visible - the leaf tends to get quite " mushy" after a few days and this is when the babies love it, and my final staple is a bit of snow which I end up siphoning out weekly and putting a fresh lot in - the shrimp like it best when it first goes in. I use a commercial food about 3 times a week . I just make sure it is a good brand shrimp specific food - generally I end up having to siphon it out the next day but I always offer it hoping the shrimp will get some benefit from it. i was feeding bloodworms once a week but I'm finding the shrimp don't seem to be interested in it like they used to so I feed it occasionally but not weekly. I used to feed cucumber, broccoli, spinach, lettuce but again the shrimp don't seem overly interested however I grow my own kale for them and offer that occassionly which they will graze on but not as much as the mulberry leaf which is their absolute favourite food. i use Boss Baby powder mixed with a variety of crushed foods including spirulina for any tank with shrimplets in it - I use this daily. i also use micronecton powder and BETA-G or Boss Mineral powder weekly after water change. I have high shrimplet survival rates now with this regime

I disagree with the premise that a shrimps diet is "consistent" in the wild. Firstly shrimp are opportunists in that they will eat anything they come across. Dead fish, dead insects, leaves, algae, detritus, pollen, fruits, ect. Secondly these foods will vary from season to season, and even over the space of days or weeks. For example, during times of floods/heavy rains, most of the leaves, moss, plants ect. are washed out of the system. I'd suggest the shrimp then rely on algae growth and detritus. Alternatively smaller rainfalls may wash lots of leaves into the system. Pollen and fruit are seasonal. Algae growth is somewhat seasonal too - higher growth in summer with warmer temperatures and longer day length. There are many more examples. It's probably likely that most people provide a greater variety of food than is absolutely necessary to provide all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals that are required by shrimp. This is not a bad thing, but it's important not to get hung up on it and ignore other important factors that determine the health of our shrimp - water quality being the obvious example.

Oh! Nearly missed out on Monday. Here's my Monday blues, inspired by @neo-2FX who was shrimp-spotting with me today :)

Mulberry leaves are a firm favourite of all my shrimp , they will leave everything for mulberry leaves. I always have a leaf in every tank, I replace them as soon as there are only veins left. I prepar them several ways- 1) fresh from the tree boiled for 2 minutes then cooled with cold water ( blanched) then fed straight away - this is the preferred method by the shrimp, 2) do the above then roll and fold the leaves and freeze them - they can then be taken out and put straight into the tank as needed - they defrost almost instantly- 3) put the fresh leaves in a pillow case and hang them on the clothes line for several days until perfectly dry - the clothes line is the perfect place to dry them as it gets sun and allows the breeze to fully dry the leaves so no mould grows on them, the dried leaves can be placed straight into the tank or refreshed in a bowl of water until they sink . I doubt you can over feed on mulberry leaves . I have been doing this for sometime and my shrimplet survival rate has improved impressively. A plate of mulberry leaves ready for the freezer! Did you know it's very easy to propagate a mulberry tree? Just cut a thin branch into small sticks , place into potting mix and keep well watered. I have about 6 small bushes that keep my 12 tanks supplied with leaves