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Weirdly enough I was watching videos on culling the other day and they warned that shrimps that have molted recently will have less colour after a molt and then colour up more. The video obviously was saying that as you can easily cull a shrimp recently molted because it looks like the colour isn't good, but it may be a really colourful shrimp given a few extra days. I have been using the 5 in 1 mix (smashed up and mixed together) for over a year with 100+ shrimps and still have about 75% of it left, though I only use it tuesday and thursday, very sparingly, as I use many different foods to give them variety, and weekends I use, saturday spinach and sunday shrimp lolly! The bacter ae I use the same as the feeding, dip an old shrimp lolly stick (or toothpick or other similar) about 1-2 mm in water then in bacter ae quickly, tap excess off then put it in the tank - I do this twice each time I use it (30L tank) and twice a week. Probably a lot less than they recommend on the packaging. It may seem to be a bit extravagant to use so many food and other packages but I actually think it is silly not to use the right things as most of the products will probably last for years and aren't very expensive anyway......... ie if you alternate 2 foods the food will last twice as long obviously. Hope it all continues to work well with these beautiful blue blue shrimp. Simon

Thanks to Simon and Jo, and some research, I ordered the following foods: Dennerle 5 in 1 - hoping to find some go to foods in the samples and I suspect, with 11 shrimp, the sampler will last quite a while. GlasGarten Bacter AE - because it seems to be a requirement to successfully keep shrimp based on pretty much everything I read I already have a jar of Sera Shrimps Natural I acquired from my LFS, and the shrimp definitely congregate every time I put a few granules out, though never more than 8 at once. As for the tank, first water change was today. I followed Simon's advice and dripped in the replacement water. The experiment continues. I have only one more question: do shrimp go through a weak color period when they molt? I have seen, so there have probably been more, three successful molts. I notice that one of the larger shrimp is, at the moment, not as fully colored as the rest. Result of a molt? I am curious, although obviously I will be keeping my eye on that shrimp's color.

Thinking about it, I recall the story of someone who bought some plants out of a shrimp tank and they were shipped in a moist paper towel. Once the plants arrived at their new home, the person inspected the plants and found a live shrimp in them! Not a bad idea on the water idea though! ? *IF* there's any paperwork saying what is safe to bring with you on the plane in regards to aquatic life, I would recommend printing out those papers to have on hand when you do go through security. Shouldn't technically need them, but it's always a good idea to have on hand! :)

Make sure you go prepared, if you are going to attempt to bring them back on a flight. Bring these along with you before leaving. You need a styrofoam box. Some Kordon breather bags (or equivalent) And a small bottle of 3% Hydrogen peroxide. The styrofoam box is to protect the shrimps from the extreme temperature changes. If you check the box in, the cargo hold can get really cold. You'll need tape to seal the box up as well. If the bag breaks or leaks, the water is not lost and the shrimp can still survive. The breather bags are good for keeping the CO2 out of the water. Especially useful on long trips. The H2O2 adds oxygen into the water, prolonging the lifespan of the shrimps in a bag. 3 drops should be enough for 10 shrimps. You can line the box with cotton wool as well to stop the bag trashing around.