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Personally I have never used ADA myself. I decided on CAL BEP because at that time there were a lot of feedback about ADA releasing a lot of ammonia whereas CAL BEP is clean, releases minimal ammonia and does not break down as easily as ADA. Do a search on Aquarium Life forum on ADA vs CAL BEP and you will see the feedback. Again, this was based on my research at that time i.e. around Oct-Dec 2014. So far CAL BEP has worked for me for years so I don't see a need to change to a different substrate. I had CAL BEP in one of my tanks since Dec 2014 and it is still holding up very well. I'll show you when you come around for a visit. I believe ADA has since released a 'light' version which apparently releases less ammonia. You would probably have to ask Mr Google or people who is currently using it. I wrote an article about chiller selection a while ago which I hope may be helpful.

The macrobrachium group of shrimp are characterised by the extreme enlargement of the second pair of pereiopods especially prominent in the males. They will tolerate a wide range of conditions as they are found in water from salty to full fresh but the variants I currently have seem to prefer a more neutral environment ph around 7, Gh 2-3, tds around 100 for fresh water variants temperature can vary greatly as well. Over summer they survived in tanks above 28 degrees for 2 weeks straight. The first Australinese were caught in water that was about 10 degrees, but they seem to prefer it from 20 to 28 degrees. Their natural environment should be considered, as the tropical guys will like warmer water than guys from the south. There are also brackish and salt water variants to be explored at a later date. They will eat most foods from peas, oats to commercial shrimp foods, algae wafers etc. Their natural diet varies depending on species from veg based to meatier diets, so keep this in mind when choosing foods for them. They are an intelligent and very inquisitive shrimp that is generally aggressive by nature, so housing them with other tank mates is risky at best. They will happily catch and eat snails, fish, other shrimp etc. They will regrow claws and limbs fairly quickly if they fight and lose a limb. I have the Australinese up to 5 generations tank bred without too many issues. Occasionally one will get in a bad mood and can easily wipe out everyone else in the tank in a few hours. This happened to me with a colony of Bullatum when a female went off and killed a big male and 2 other females overnight. Pay attention to how you setup the tank, and where possible a backup colony is helpful if you want to breed these guys. This guy was toppled as Alpha and lost his long arms; they are starting to regrow after a couple of days. The best setup will give them plenty of personal space with caves to hide in and plants to perch on. Try to break up the line of sight so they can keep away from each other to reduce fights and death, especially after moulting. They like to dig to look for food, so some sandy areas as well as finer gravel will keep them happy. Shrimp soil probably wouldn’t be great with them because of the digging. When selecting a tank keep in mind the size of the adults as they can vary from the very small, like Latidactylus where the adults reach about 5cm total length, to the Rosenbergi & Spinipes that can reach 45cm. They will become stressed if another shrimp comes within claw reach so a minimum of 2-3 body lengths separation per shrimp of floor space is essential to reduce aggression. Some variants are more nocturnal and only come out when the tank isn’t lit. The Bullatum are a good example of this, if they have plenty of cover they will only come out at night. Others, like the Australinese, are more outgoing and rarely hide. Each variant seems to have different sized and shaped claws depending on their preferred food source, from a smaller delicate claw in the Tolmerum: To the larger crushing claws of the Australinese: Or the ridiculously oversized claw of the Jardini: Or a long set of tweezers on the Bullatum: As long as you can keep the adults happy, breeding isn’t difficult. In the ones that have live young, mating occurs the same as other shrimp around the time of moulting. Gestation varies, but usually takes around 35-40 days. The live born young grow very fast if they have a good supply of food. The parents generally leave the bubs alone but can be removed if you want to ensure maximum survival. The young are generally clear with some patterning to allow them to hide from predators. The babies will eat a varied diet, the same as adults. They will require finer foods for a few weeks until they can tackle more normal foods. Australinese bub: Australinese bub: Berried Tolmerum (larval eggs): Berried Australinese (normal eggs): Berried Jardini (normal eggs): Jardini Bub: Jardini Bub: Baby Spinipes one of the more interesting bubs I have: A few of the variants, like the Spinipes, are larval breeders, so require more specialist care to raise the young through the stages from larvae to actual shrimp. This can be done similar to raising our other larval breeding natives like riffle shrimp (Australataya Striolata), if you want a challenge. Overall they are a very rewarding shrimp to keep if you have the space for them. They reward you with their antics, and being able to observe all the things you wish you could see the little guys doing is very educational. I have kept these guys now for nearly 3 years and gone from 1 variant to 5; and looking for more to study, as each type is similar in the way they look, but they all are very different in behaviour. Some hide, some are very outgoing, and others are constantly cranky while their mate is very laidback. They are almost human in the way that each has its own personality, but each is a closet serial killer just waiting for the right time to go off. Document Link: Keeping Macrobrachium in Aquariums.docx View full article

Here is some the key information that I received via email directly from cal aqua lab - Hi Will, Sorry for the late reply. We just got back from company retreat. BEP is made from natural fertile soil, as a result, there can be variations in certain properties depending on the batch of raw materials. Some batches are more fertile (ie more organic content and rich with nitrogen and minerals such as calcium and magnesium than the others). The batch you have is one such batch. The TDS increase you see are likely due to higher dissolved calcium and magnesium in the soil, and the presence of higher ammonia reflects the higher organic nutrients. Plants seem to love the more fertile batches. However, we have not tested the effect on shrimp And further - Hi Will, In that case please do not use those bags for shrimps. We get these high-fertility batches once in a while. This variation is one of the reasons we only recommend our substrates for aquatic plants. Their product description at that time is in the attached image. I was not impressed with my experience to say the least and threatened to report them to The ACA over this false advertising. The distributor should have since made sure that all Aus suppliers have removed that description. Nb I had purchased my substrate at the end of last year so perhaps there has been a good batch imported since I don't know how you'll find this out. My experience was with the normal granule size. [emoji173][emoji111][emoji445] will

On the subject of substrate I also was a huge fan of BEP and the bags i purchased in 2015 worked great for me. A more recent batch I purchased at the end of last year released a lot of ammonia and I mean a LOT. As a result of an exchange I had with them and the Australian distributor I believe their blurb no longer states that it does not release ammonia. Using 1/4 - 1/3 of the prescribed volume of substrate my pH still persisted at around 5.1. I was told by knowledgeable breeders that bees can do well at this low pH and so I tested it out with Crystal shrimps and bluebolts. The Crystal shrimp survived and bred but not well. The bluebolts refused to mate in that environment for me so I'm now looking at alternatives.. it is a shame as I had great success with BEP for my first ever softwater shrimps and I loved that it did not leach any measurablr ammonia into tanks with just a simple pre-seeded air-driven sponge filter popped in there. [emoji173][emoji111][emoji445] will

Another quick update, turns out my phone camera is better than i thought. Images still aren't great but here are the juvenile blues from choc parents.

I think there was a bit of trouble with seeing the photo for some people so it has been extended. You are all wasting your time as i'm feeling the shrimp goodness is heading my way. Yeaaahhh.

I have added another macro to my collection Dave from Aquagreen managed to get some of the Spinipes for me. These are one of the bigger members of the family and can grow to an overall length of 45cm, they are a larval breeder so will be difficult to breed in the aquarium if I can even manage to keep a pair alive long enough to breed, they by account are very aggressive to all other tank inhabitants. it will be interesting to watch them grow they are currently around 2cm so very small they appear to have almost doubled in size in the week I have had them.

I use this algae scraper (magnet) that I got from TechDen http://www.thetechden.com.au/Tunze_Pico_Care_Magnet_0220_006_Up_to_6mm_Glass_Al_p/0220.006.htm There are a few different sizes. It works tons better than the magnet cleaners with velcro like material on one side. These scrapers work very much like the one JayC posted but with a magnet. I use these both with the magnet and sometimes just hold the scraper part in my hand and go elbow deep into a tank Lol