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Years ago we had some riffle shrimp in a display tank at a shop I worked at - this was long before crystal reds or cherry shrimp had hit the scene. We used locally collected Paratya as algae grazers and Takashi Amano was using Caridina the same way. The riffles were amazing shrimp back then, something different to the glass clear Paratya we could collect. So much has changed since then, there was no "shrimp hobby" yet and no beautiful coloured shrimp to keep. I just got some Riffle Shrimp down from Fishmosy and they are just as beautiful and amazing as ever. All the competition from exotics has not diluted their charm one bit. Thanks for the lovely shrimp mate... They were a bit timid at first and especially shy when the lights were on. Now I've placed some driftwood right in the high current zone and they're very happy to sit there all day, every day - doing the "jazz hands" as they eat. There's some great photos of this species here on SKF and I'm afraid mine cannot compete. However if I can clean the glass sufficiently to get some better shots I will post them.

Below is a photo of a JRB shrimp tank I revamped a few weeks back. It was using only Anubias Petite and various types of Bucephalandra.

Use this site to search for plants that suits your criteria. http://tropica.com/en/plants/

Oh just noticed the little male sitting below the big females. Makes me laugh when I think how the little males mate with those big females....

There are babies from these shrimp in the tank. They seem to grow pretty much as fast as CRS and more females are carrying eggs again. This little one was grazing biofilm on the front glass.

Week 16 Fast-forward just a little! Overview My wife and I just returned from a 5 week holiday; we left for Europe just when the tank was springing to life; every single female was berried and some where even starting to drop. I was a little unsure of what we would return to as the tank will not be maintained at all during this time. So we did the best we could and just glad-wrapped the top to reduce evaporation as much as possible. Lights were left on the timer and the shrimp were given a double feed of snowflake. During the last few days of our voyage, the anxiety of seeing what will be waiting for us got real bad! My dreams alternated between the worst and best case scenario... surely my wife could pick up on this but I played it cool and reassured her they'd be fine! You must always have patience and optimism :) So what was waiting for us at home... Hahahaha Ugly tuffs of BBA had spread it's self so generously across 50% of our driftwood. That's the only damage! Filter hoses were dirty and clogged but there was still flow... unsure of to what is getting in there as there is a sponge cover on the lily pipe inlet. More importantly, we could see the tank full of life. Not 1, but 2 generations of mischlings/taiwans crawling around in there (females must have dropped, re-berried and dropped a second time). The females were also all currently berried as well for the 3rd time! Fauna ∞ Juvie Mischlings, Taiwans (KK + RR and Panda variants) We have a few KK's that are completely black... even the tail which is usually white is not visible! 9 x Female Mischlings 1 x Female Panda 1 x Male KK (Single stripe) Hardscape Introduced more lava rock to not only fill out the scape, but also increase beneficial bacteria. Plants Mini Pellia Becoming very branchy and pulling away from the driftwood in some areas too. Will have to consider tying it down eventually. Crypt Parva (Tissue Culture) Settled in and is now looking very healthy! Will have to introduce more in the empty gaps. Buce Beautiful beautiful plant... We've been able to split most of the clumps into two now and replant them. Next? At this stage we are wondering if we have too many females? We are moving all the 0.5 - 1.0 cm mischlings to a breeder box and selling them; this means the main tank doesn't feel overcrowded. We are letting the Taiwans grow to a sexable size and thinking to move all the males on. Should we keep all the females and replace all the mischlings with them so we are left with Taiwans and TBM's? We also have a stunning Spotted Mosura coming :)

This is why i think the Garden of Eden, is here on earth, and so many are trying to destroy it!!!!!

I am often amazed at the panic that people exhibit when they discover that they have a colony of seed shrimp in their aquariums. Is it because of lack of knowledge about this little animal ?or is it just a case of I have some sort of BUG in my tank so I must get rid of it before it kills my shrimp? I know people with planted tanks may not like the sight of them but to my eye they are very interesting. In this short article I will attempt to dispel these fears by a little knowledge about these wonderful creatures. Ostracoda Podocopida (Seed Shrimp) belong to the major group Crustacea minor group Ostracoda order Podocopida this order comprises terrestrial, marine and fresh water seed shrimp. they can be described as small crustaceans typically round or egg shaped, varying in size from 0.2 to 1mm . The body of a seed shrimp is encased in a calcified shell consisting of two parts, superficially resembling the shell of a clam The body consists of a head and thorax. unlike many other crustaceans the body is not clearly divided into segments. The head is the largest part of the body and bears most of the animals appendages, two pairs of well developed antennae, used for swimming and feeding, a pair of mandibles and two pairs of maxillae ( mouth parts) Seed Shrimp have no gills instead they take in oxygen through plates on the surface of their shells. Seed Shrimp can be found world wide but mainly in Africa and Australia. Australian Seed Shrimp occur in fresh to hyper saline waters from permanent to temporary waterways. They are mostly free living and are often found in or just below the substrate. Seed Shrimp are "Filter Feeders" using their antennae to filter and search for their food. They live on organic detritus and algae. Seed Shrimp form part of the food chain for other invertebrates and juvenile fish. In actual fact Seed Shrimp are a benefit to your aquarium , because of their small size and eating habits they are one of natures best clean up crews for shrimp keepers aquariums. Many people encourage them to thrive in their tanks in the true belief that they are an indicator that their tank and water parameters are healthy. My personal experience with these fascinating little creatures is that they seem to be self regulating and will disappear from my tank by them selves only to re appear at a later date. I always look forward to their return. I hope that this short article will help those who fear them to relax a little and enjoy their company Wayne [attach]3398[/attach] REF Wikipedia - Ostracod www.mdfre.org.au identification and ecology of Australian Freshwater Invertebrates. Click here to view the article