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I feel obliged to post the below for fellow shrimpers that might be interested on how to humanely put down shrimp, without needing to resort to ethically questionable methods: Because invertebrates do not have the same metabolisms than humans or other mammals, rapid cooling is a very kind way of drifting off your shrimp gently into oblivion with the addition of ethanol as anaesthetic. There is the right way and a wrong way of doing it. Ethanol is a veterinary acceptable anaesthetic. Crush some ice in a bowl. Put vodka in a 1ml syringe. Put the shrimp in a breather bag with a relatively small amount of tank water and a small sprig of moss. Once the affected shrimp is in the breather bag, slowly add the vodka from the syringe to the bag with the shrimp in. By adding the vodka first, the shrimp is not shocked with temperature change. Add the crushed ice to the bag with a spoon until it forms a slurry- that means enough liquid water should be present so that the shrimp does not get distressed. It works quickly without causing distress. I put the breather bag in the freezer afterwards to ensure that I have euthanised the shrimp effectively. There are a few articles available when you Google search. If you want a link, please see below veterinary guide: https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf

So, a bit of an update! These shrimp never congregated before for a meal prior to introducing this special food! Which they have had twice now. I decided to try a different food today, soy hulls, which they have turned their nose up to previously many times. I placed it in same corner and after twenty minutes, they were out having a feast. Amazing how habits can change in such a short space of time. Lol

Hey guys, If you ever have an idea that you think would be worthwhile exploring here at SKF, log it in the SKF Improvements Register. It's what I use to track improvements to the forum. Once a suggestion is approved, it creates a forum post where others can also provide input. cheers, Nogi

Oooh I had forgotten about that. I'm going to chase them.

Thought i would use this thread to see if i can upload any photo's. It can get complicated some times. First up a few of the berried females looked to have unloaded their eggs. I thought this was because of the stress of moving and new environment but this morning i got a milli second flash of what i thought was a baby. After staring into the tank for ages i managed to spot one on the heater. Next is the only other clear shot i got. Both shots are heavily cropped and the baby is a bit blurry.

Well you are at the right place. Plenty of cherry keepers here so ask away.

Welcome @Plumbum :)

Those DSLR pics are looking great. Focus on the eyes and the rest of the shrimp should look more in focus but doing well mate.

@zn30 great idea. Just unsure on whether it would be as clear as the glass but a great suggestion. The main idea of the hole in top is also Once shrimp are caught you put your finger over it to stop water flowing back out when moving, so they don't realise they're moving. Not so much as a suction option. The mechanics of it takes a bit of getting used to I must admit, but need to catch some shrimp this morning, so I will get some more practice! ? I do like the sound of the adaptor.

thank you very much!!!!!!!?

Yeah. I have cross many cherries and all have resulted in culls. I just haven't had the opportunity to play with Snowballs yet. They don't seem to be that popular?

Good stuff. Good time to use our feedback system @ineke if you haven't already.

Yep, I have to choose between buying shrimp stuff or a fancy camera and the shrimp always win- please excuse the photo quality. This tank is now 2.5 months old: It's not pretty at all as I cannot cover bits with plants and am too worried about upsetting these guys to scape it. The ramshorns will be removed at some stage, but I am messing with the tank as little as possible. I was very nervous about starting a Sulawesi tank as I read that they need stability. I wanted overfiltration, and as much of it that I could stuff in a small tank as I could. So I took a 29 litre Animates desktop tank and altered the filtration: I cut a 2cm x 1cm window where the filter intake slot was and covered it with nylon mesh and coral glue to increase water circulation (the solution does not look as classy as it is efficient). I also wanted something better than a sponge filter as my second filter: I bought an Acrylic corner filter: upon receiving it I noticed that the factory didn't even put intake slots in the filter, so it was just blowing bubbles and not circulating any water at all. I cut my own holes, rearranged the sponges so that shrimplets can't get sucked in. Then I stuffed that puppy with Eheim substratPro and a few other bits (yup, all I need now is a fake Nemo, suspended from fishing line to complete the plastic look :(, but it works like a charm and that water is crystal clear. Pisces black inert quarts in the bottom. MarinePure filter media in the built-in filter. I have to thank very patient Chelsea @The Tech Den: I emailed her explaining that I wanted a reef shelf/base rock that I could prop up and grow algae on and have the shrimp hang upside down at the bottom- she emailed me photos and measurements and we found perfect rocks for cheap as chips! Next I harvested every algae type from 4 other tanks and stirred it into the water. 6 weeks later, I had lovely algae cover over the large rock. The corals in the photo are genuine coral skeletons. I use Sulawesi 8.5 due to improved formulation, and now I am a sucker for boiling the salt solution mix on the stove for an hour when mixing my water, but the shrimp are looking very happy. If you have not used SaltyShrimp Sula 8.5 before: that stuff does not dissolve, no matter how much air you pump into a bucket it will be as white and cloudy as skim milk! I boil it on the stove, use 3 times the recommended amount, let it stabilize for a week with a heater and ensure that GH is 8 before it goes near the tank. The water is then crystal clear and the sediment has sunk to the bottom of the bucket. The shrimp photo below are of Bonnie and Clyde. They went hiding when I took the insulating towels off the tank ( it's freezing in Canberra). The breeder of these beauties is @JPN07- how gorgeous are those blue dots on the body? They get fed every 3 days with Shrimpy Daddy Sinewy cereal. Micro amounts of trace minerals/nutrients and probiotic solution is added every day as well as weekly minerals ( ShrimpyDaddy) and Vivace (ShrimpyDaddy). I will be getting more Cardinals soon so that I can have an actual little colony.