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Hi folks. I've been on Planted Tank, Monster Fish, and several marine and reef forums by the name "Blue Ridge Reef," which was the name of my former LFS. I'm 50 years old and have been in the hobby since I was a kid. Most of my last 20 years were more on the reef side of things, but over time I realized that 2 planted 125 gallon tanks built into my shop's wall were less work and more enjoyment, and slowly have been switching everything over to planted tanks with shrimp. I've kept cherry variants for about 10 years now, have messed with Caridina for only a couple of years but they are proving to be addictive. I currently have 11 shrimp tanks ranging from 125 to 5.5 gallons. I look forward to meeting you folks!

Hi everyone, It has been a while since i posted here. Just like to share the happy news that i have 2 berried crystals in my main 16litre tank. It has been almost a year into crystal shrimps and this is my first time having some pregnant mummies. Thank you jayc, simon and all who have posted threads on here regarding this hobby, i have learnt a great deal and have come a long way since i first started! Phew! I feel like i have achieved something haha. I am happy to report that no shrimps are dying and we are growing. Regards, Jo Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

Yeah, there was an issue with SKFA forums or the servers its on for many hours. That would have been why no one was around to respond. That rock was buffering the pH. Now that it's gone, the water is returning to it's normal pH range. Well normal but for the substrate buffering it lower. You can try adding a small piece of the rock back in - that's one quick option.

Update for anyone interested.Rock was removed, Ph and TDS is down, over the last few days it’s crept down to around 190TDs after small water changes. Something that want happening with even larger changes before. PH seems to be down around 6.5. I hope it stays at that level, all inhabitants look to be doing well.

Hiya guys, thank you very much. Really appreciate it. Today I have used aquatic safe silicone sealer and and 5cm pvc, kinda A4 size to plug my holes (no pun intended). Need to let that rest for a few days, got two massive weights on it to hold it down. We have bought an 11 litre tank to put Mum in now as she seems to be hiding loads. I'd rather she felt comfortable. We are going to set up a 2 litre brackish rig for the babies when they pop out and are going to use a pipette type system to pop them in there. I think we have it sorted. Fingers crossed! x

IME, the healthiest and highest quality has always buying directly from hobbyist, usually a small setup in their garage or fish room. Next was specialty store/importer, last is the local TFS, both often having stock that has been imported, transported and kept in less than ideal conditions... Buying directly from hobbyist has always produced the best results for me...

Did boil a few times, the water wasn’t completely clear when I stopped cleaning it. So they should be getting some tannins. I was able to remove all but one rock, I have one more piece to put in in its plAce today. Right on. I’m originally from Ohio, and I’ve been scoping out Flip’s videos and website for a few weeks now. Looks like I’ll be ordering from either Flip or AquaHuna after I get this tank works out completely. TDS is already down slightly after removing the rock and doing a small water change. I also took the opportunity to remove some plants I wasn’t a fan of and replace them. Indian Almond Leaves came in today too, but my BacterAE is delayed. Thanks Amazon.??

Its about 1 cm its definitely of breeding age.. i would be happy if its male, but my eyes is untrained when it comes to fully colored males.

Turned into a ghost town in here, lol. PH is down to 5.9-6.0 for some reason. All I’ve changed is the Rock was removed and a few small almond leaves added. I know those can bring the PH down a hair. Any idea what might be causing the issue? I was planning on keeping Some Jade Neos, I don’t know that they would like 5.9-6.0 very well. Thoughts? I’m struggling here and I don’t know wtf to do. I’d love is someone could help me out here.