Coming up on 3 years, I think its safe to say the shrimp are liking it, starting to throw some crazy colour mutations!

 

Looking good and plenty of shrimps! Are you getting a lot of low grades/wild types?

Do you still have the ember tetras as well?

Well, I don't really have any knowledge here but I am going to say yes, there are clear, bright blue, red patches, green, purple and black and all kinds of stripes now

( pretty bad photo  sorry!)

Check skeletor here 

Original ember group doing well, I am going to increase the shoal in a couple of weeks if the tank keeps looking  nice

 

Edited June 16, 20232 yr by Subtlefly

How about this guy?

https://youtube.com/shorts/-BTPXivrZs4?feature=share

There is all kinds of variation, but still plenty of bright blue - how long until they all become uniform brown or is that not going to happen? Also blondie here

Edited June 16, 20232 yr by Subtlefly

I think the majority of the shrimp you bought were blue velvet, so they were dark blue. Blue dream are a mid brighter blue!

It does look like you are getting wild type (cull normally) shrimp and those will continue as time goes on and you will likely end up with no blue velvets. I'm not sure you can even stop this due to the setup/size of your aquarium. The way to slow the process would be to cull any non blue velvet/dream when you see them but you are unlikely to get them all. Probably you will have to just live with them as long as you are happy too, (it may not bother you) then have a try at clearing out as many of the shrimp as possible and restock with new ones every so often, but you are unlikely to manage to get them all out, so it will probably be a rolling problem unfortunately! The wilds will be a variety of clear to brown normally, some may be pretty in their own way. Skeletor and blondie are examples of the reversion to wild process well under way.

Good to see the ember tetras doing so well and a lovelly colour.

Hey, I went back and checked and in the beginning there were 7 high graded blue dream shrimp introduced to the tank.  There are still some very blue guys in there.

The shrimp were from https://www.aquarzon.com/

I got all the rare plants from them as well.

I guess there can be naming differences between countries and so on, you guys are the experts:)- there are some really electric light blue, dark blue, blue black to black plus all the other red and see through combos!

Incredible that 7 individuals can create such a thriving diverse population!

That is definitely a blue dream and a stunning one at that! I think blue velvet are usually darker and less bright, ie like blue velvet in fabric which is almost black usually.

 

Blue corp pushing the limit! #fishtank #shrimp #aquarium #shallow
https://youtube.com/shorts/fSFtnJ-KRbM?feature=share
 

https://youtube.com/shorts/5xpfmt7wFP4?feature=share

Edited July 6, 20232 yr by Subtlefly

 

Edited August 24, 20232 yr by Subtlefly

Feeding at the Hangover 15/8/23
https://youtu.be/6310gahsExo

Edited August 24, 20232 yr by Subtlefly

Check these guys out! Superman and spidey fighting crime at the Hangover 90

It all looks great and very natural. I especially like the moss growing on rock and wood! The shrimps are a beautiful blue colour.

You must be pleased, I would be if I had managed to create something that good.

Thank you so much! I have really enjoyed sharing the process with you guys! 

new stone layout at the Hangover 10/9/23
https://youtu.be/SOhOcnoGMSQ
 

Edited September 17, 20232 yr by Subtlefly

 

Interesting new look @Subtlefly.

It would be interesting to see what the tank looks like after a few weeks, when the rocks don't look so "clean" anymore.

With all the additional rocks, do you notice any change in water parameters? 

Well…. the water in this tank is rain water from the roof of our house- it goes into a concrete underground tank.  I know it’s safe for Neos but I don’t keep track of the numbers.  In the years it has run, despite the algae and lack of maintaining this tank the shrimp have always been breeding and healthy.  I guess it’s part of the rationale for the tank- the water is local and it just is what it is. 
As to your question I hope that the new stonework is covering a lot of bare aquasoil where plants had failed and will provide surface area for grazing so hopefully overall benefit to water parameters.  I will get numbers for you at next visit to lfs.

Edited September 19, 20232 yr by Subtlefly

Looks fantastic and those new plants look very healthy. The glue is the way to go with plants, it is so easy and avoids having to look at the elastic bands!

Yeh I am not 100% sold on using glue- it worked great for the mosses but I used untreated hemp cord for the plants- by the time it degrades the plants should be holding on themselves.  

A tip for using the glue is dry the wood/rock as much as possible then put a dollop/bead (or 2) of glue where you want to attach the plant on the wood/rock, then hold in situ for a few seconds, all done in a few seconds and no mess! The bead/dollop can be quite large as it dries clear so won't be visible!

This is much easier, and less messy than trying to put the glue on the plant.

Thanks for the tip!

https://youtu.be/MeOoWj71ir8

Edited November 16, 20232 yr by Subtlefly

Beautiful setup and good to see lots of shrimps running around and the ember tetras are looking good! Everything looks healthy and very settled in now, I especially like the large pebbles covered with something green (moss?) and the plant on the far right (think you also have same on far left?).

Thanks for the video update, always good to see how things are getting on!