Hi SKF Members

We are going to start a brand new competition for you all :triumphant:

So this competition is based on furthering our already huge amount of Information on SKF forum and in the library.

Competition

Simply write an "Article" or "profile" or "how to" on anything shrimp, aquarium or plant/moss related for our library. You can submit as many Articles or profiles as you like.

Once all articles are submitted we will hold a poll to decide the winners.

Winners will be top 3 Articles or profiles selected by the members.

All well written and factual content will be placed into SKF library for everyone to read and reference as needed for the many many years ahead of this great forum. Some content may be edited slightly.

Start and finish Dates.

*The start date of this competition will be 10th Feb 2013.

*The finish/ close date of entries will be 28th Feb 2013.

*Voting for winners (best written and informative Article or profile) will commence via poll from the 1st March 2013 and close for voting 10th March 2013.

Rules.

*Articles or profiles must contain factual information

*Articles or profiles must contain photos or pictures showing/explaining content.

*Articles or profiles MUST NOT be copied from elsewhere. must be original and written by yourself.

You can write as many articles or profiles as you like.

Suggestions.

*Do a bit of research.

*Write about things you have a knowledge and understanding of.

*Have a look through the stickies and library content for format and layout ideas.

*Think about what you would like to see in the library, and try and write about that.

Prizes. (Donated already)

1st prize. $100 store credit (BossAquaria.Com.Au)

2nd prize. $75 store credit (BossAquaria.Com.Au)

3rd prize. $50 store credit (BossAquaria.Com.Au)

Sounds awesome! Is this the kind of thing your looking for?

http://www.shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/showthread.php/2057-My-Air-System

Greta idea and comp.....everyone wins at the end !

i think that could be edited and made to fit the requirements for the library. have a look for stickies at the top of each forum and you will see how they are more of a step by step guide

to help every one else understand how to do that thing. :)

HMM one must get ones finger out and finish some articles, that I have started.

Slacko

i think that could be edited and made to fit the requirements for the library. have a look for stickies at the top of each forum and you will see how they are more of a step by step guide

to help every one else understand how to do that thing. :)

Thanks Dean, I should probably split that up into light & air system too

The decision has been made also that there will be a "BONUS" point given for

articles, profiles written about natives for the library :)

These points will be added to total votes at end of the poll..

HYDRA Some facts!!!

Hydra are a fresh water animal that belongs to the same group as jellyfish, corals and anemones, The name Hydra stems from Greek mythology. It was the name given to a many headed sea serpent. The hydra that we know resembles this mythological monster by its many tentacles.

Hydra are found in nearly all clean fresh water systems in Australia and around the world . They have a range of colours from brown, green white, and many other variations .
Many people have Hydra in their aquariums, but are unaware of their presence. They are very small approx. 2 - 3 mm in length ( but can extend to around 10 mm when hunting) when hanging from the underneath of leaves of water plants are hard to distinguish

A Hydra infestation does not just mysteriously appear in your aquarium and is not caused by poor tank maintenance or anything like that. The animal has to be introduced from some external source.
It is usually introduced to aquariums from plants ,wood, rocks etc collected from wild creeks, rivers lakes and billabongs.

Hydra have a sack shaped body that consists of a mouth /anus combination on the top surrounded by a crown of tentacles that carry an array of stinging cells.
on the bottom of the tube body there is a "foot" ( basal Disk)a device the animal uses to anchor itself to plants ,rocks aquarium walls and the like.

Hydra live attached to vegetation, rocks and walls by this "foot" with all its tentacles suspended into the water waiting for it's pray to blunder into them. Small animals that happen to blunder into the tentacles are stung and paralysed.
within a short time all of the tentacles are wrapped around the victim conflicting many more stings. the victim is then drawn to the mouth and swallowed. Digestion is done over a period of several hours .Any un digested material remaining after this period is then expelled back through the mouth.
The hydra is then ready to hunt again .

It takes several hours for their weapons to recharge which it does while digesting it's food. Small aquatic animals like Rotifers, insect larvae, and ( especially) small crustaceans such as daphnia, seed shrimp and water flee, are their main pray.

Hydra do not always stay in the one spot in the aquarium. they are able to move about in a couple of ways. They are able to secrete a sticky mass under the basal disk and they use this fluid to kind of slide themselves along to a new position. Another way is they detach the basal disk, bend over placing their tentacles on the substrate and then somersaulting re attaching the "foot" further along, they will continue to do this action until they reach their preferred position.

The third manoeuvre noted is that they are able to produce an air bubble in the basal disk this raises them to the top of the water where they hang suspended waiting for pray.

 

Hydra do most of their reproduction in the summer months. Most reproduction is "A" Sexual and involves a process called "Budding" in which a new Hydra develops as a bud on the parent central column . When conditions are right the bud breaks loose and continues life as an individual. These offspring are genetically identical to the parent ( true clones) .

Under very good conditions hydra may possess several buds at various stages of development. Sexual reproduction is usually confined to the cooler months. Ovaries develop as an oval swelling near the column base. testis form as conical protrusions further up the column the sperm is free floating and can fertilize itself and other hydra. the young develop directly without a larval stage. HYDRA are beautiful but a bit annoying creatures.
Given their reproductive abilities, their capability for moving around when they choose and the ability to eat pray several times their size. it's clear why hydra are not welcome in freshwater aquariums .

They are believed to be able to cause harm or kill newly hatched shrimp, and in laboratory conditions they have been proven to eat baby brine shrimp. Adult shrimp are not effected by hydra stings except possibly as an annoyance. The larger Hydra have also been shown to eat small fish fry as large as newly borne guppies . Once hydra are introduced into an aquarium they can be difficult to get rid of them. ( but it's not impossible) If you are lucky to only have a small infestation you should be able to physically remove them, I removed the infestation that I had by wiping the tank sides down with a clean cloth, removed all rocks ,wood, from the tank and scrubbed them, plants I soaked in a light bleach solution for around 10 minutes before rinsing in fresh water and replacing. Another non intrusive way is to add some fish to eat them Gouramis or mollies will do the trick. ( not a good idea if you keep shrimp).
Heat is another method. ( you have to remove all your livestock to do this) heat your aquarium water to around 40C for about 2 hours. this should kill them, Perform a minimum 50% water change and make sure that the water temp is back to normal before returning your live stock .

Chemicals that can be used are potassium permanganate, or many of the fish anti fluke medications especially if they contain formalin. WARNING THESE CHEMICALS MAY BE HARMFUL TO SHRIMP, SNAILS, PLANTS and sometimes FISH. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!! Some preventative measures are to inspect all live plants carefully( look for small jelly like substances) soak all plants in an approved solution before adding them to your aquarium. Avoid live foods from local rivers creeks etc. Boil all substrate wood rocks collected from the wild before adding to your tank .

References used :- Bugguide Version Jan 2009 Information sources Wikipedia. org/wiki/imdra Williams 1980 Pennak 1989 Gooderham & Syrlin 2002 Offwell Woodland & wildlife Trust UK Researcher Wayne Summerhayes Febuary 2013

This post has been promoted to an article

Edited May 9, 201412 yr by NoGi

only 10 days left to get in your entries for this comp !!!!

dont miss out.

Can i do DIY articles .. im Pretty handy when it comes to making stuff ?

any article you like and think will be helpful to other members :)

Hi Wayne, great article. When I initially discovered hydra in my tank, I thought they were quite pretty and were a good sign that everything was right in my tank. After a few weeks I seemed to have have at least 50 of the suckers, and even though I liked the look of them I was concerned as I'd had a couple of berried CRS drop and within a week or so, and after initially counting 15 shrimp lets, I had maybe only 3 or 4 left. I watched a few of them suddenly dart away when they came in contact with a hydra and was convinced that this may have been the cause of the shrimplets disappearance/death.

After doing a bit of research here, and also on google, I found many "cures" including fenbendazole, an anti-worming treatment used in animals. I am a pharmacist by trade, and wondered whether Mebendazole, which is found in Vermox, Combantrin would work as well. I had a ready supply of that at work, and made up a very dilute solution in some distilled water. The tabs are 100mg and the solution I made up and added to my tank (a imacquarium - about 10L) contained about 5mg of mebendazole. It worked a treat, and no hydra have been seen in the last few months. The shrimp survived and I've had 2 broods since then, and have 3 berried at the moment.

Hi Hamish, Thanks mate, I like your the idea that you were able to make up the treatment. Do you think you could make some up for some of our members ? I don't think anyone one would mind paying for it knowing that it works. I now have a small unused tank set up with some hydra in it, I am interested to see how well I can farm them . I spend a lot of time looking at them and find them fascinating,. When they get bigger I will try and get a picture or so. I have put a lot of seed shrimp in with them as a food source so I will wait and see what happens.Wayne

Hi Wayne. The solution is pretty easy to make up.

The info I found on-line suggested 40mg of mebendazole in a 80L tank. In the pharmacy we sold "Pharmacy Choice" Worming Tablets - Mebendazole 100mg. As I mentioned my tank is tiny - 10L so I figured I needed about 5mg of the drug.

I crushed and dissolved 1/4 of a tablet (25mg) in 50ml of distilled water. It took a little while to dissolve, and then added 10ml of that solution (using a 10ml syringe) to the tank. I kept the remaining solution in the fridge thinking I might need to do a second dose after a few days. Within 24 hours the hydra had shrivelled up and 48 hours later none could be seen. So i only used one dose. I then did a 30% water change, and repeated that a few days later, just to reduce the amount of mebendazole that may have still been in the tank.

I will say though my CRS and CBS are lower grade and seem to be pretty hardy. They need to be, being kept in such a small tank. I do check my water parameters weekly, and do a 10-15% water change using distilled water, which I also buy from work.

I'm not sure I would've experimented on high quality shrimp, if I had them....actually I probably would've but given a smaller dose.

Everything has been going well the last few months after a few disasters originally when I thought I could just wing it with the shrimp. Now I follow the rules and they're an absolute joy to watch swimming around the tank.

Plan on getting a big tank soon - just have to convince my other half.

Shield Shrimp/Tadpole Shrimp

I kept some of these crustaceans about 15 years ago! I am talking about the oldest surviving crustacean in the word with fossils found dating over 350 "million" years ago, 150 million years before the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

ANY IDEA YET?

Ok more clues, They belong to the class called "Branchiopods" Order " Notostraca" Family "Triopsidae" No I am not swearing at you!

More clue's There are two genera, of these strange little shrimp world wide, Triops and lepidurus both genra are considered living fossils, having not changed significantly in outward form since before the Triassic period.
Both genera are represented in Australia by a single species each, T. Australiensis and L.Apus Virdis Common names :- "Tadpole Shrimp /or Shield Shrimp".!!

 

The most prominent and easily recognizable feature is the dorsal carapace or shield which covers the majority of the animal.There are a pair of fixed eyes at the front of the shield and two small antennae . The body of the shrimp is long and segmented and carries up to 70 sets of small flattened legs. The last segment on the abdomen has two tails The size of both species in Australia range between 2 to 9 cm. With their broad carapace and long slender abdomen gives them an overall shape of a tadpole ,from which the name Tadpole Shrimp derives.

Triop Australiensis is only found in the north of Australia, both species can be found on the South east parts of the country with an overlap into north Victoria and L. apus virdis is found in the southern parts of the country. The two species can be easily distinguished with T. Australiensis having a smaller rounder carapace and a longer abdomen with L. Apus Virdus has a longer narrower carapace and a shorter thicker abdomen and an anal plate between the tails not found in the triops. However both species share the common names of tadpole shrimp or shield shrimp.

 

These little animals have a very short life span in the wild, it is estimated that they will live for about 10 to 14 days, or until their water source has dried up. In captivity they can live from 30 to 90 days depending on water conditions and temperature. In the Northern parts of Australia these strange little crustaceans literally explode out of the ground after heavy rains which create temporary pools and ponds for the shrimp to live in.

 

These little shrimp require male and female shrimp to mate. The female carries her eggs in a modified sack under her body the eggs are retained for a short period only after fertilization before being "laid" some larvae will develop directly without passing through metamorphosis while others will go into a period of suspended animation and will remain in this state berried under the mud on the bottom of a dried up pool until the next heavy rains, when they will hatch directly into fully formed tadpole shrimp.

 

These shrimp can be kept in captivity and a fairly easy to care for. All you need is a small aquarium or plastic viewing tank that will hold a minimum of three litres of pure water. They need a steady water temperature between 22-29 deg c they don't need a filter or an air pump. They do need " pure" Water, that is water that has been purified for human consumption ( not tap water) or RO water They will eat almost anything smaller than themselves but they are mainly filter feeders feeding on small microscopic animals in the sediment , they sometimes catch small water animals and can be seen grazing on some water plants Even cannibalism of recently molted fellows has been noted.


information sources :- Queensland Museum ,billabongbugs, Notostraca- Wikipedia .

Edited May 9, 201412 yr by NoGi

Cherry Shrimp Profile

Cherry Shrimp Profile

By: Masta - James

Scientific name: “Neocaridina heteropoda “

Origin: Taiwan

Max size: 2.5 cm

Lifespan: 1-2 years

PH: 6.5 - 8.0

Temperature: 18 - 28°C, Recommended 23°C

Description

Cherry Shrimps are peaceful shrimp which are easy to care for if they have clean and stable water conditions. They are good tank cleaners and will eat algae off your tanks which make them very useful! Cherry Shrimps should be kept alone or with small fishes that are non-predatorial as big fishes would eat them, For Example Neons. They also should not be kept with other variants of cherry shrimp or else they will interbreed, and their offsprings will not be of good quality. However, they can live with other species of shrimp, like the Crystal Red Shrimp, as they are of different species, and there will not breed together.

Food and Diet

Cherry Shrimps will need a balanced diet containing of protein and minerals. They should be fed vegetables, either raw or blanched in boiling water for a few seconds, high-protein and calcium foods, and special shrimp foods which are designed for shrimps. They will also eat algae as a source of food. Cherry shrimps, like all other shrimps should not be fed foods which contain high in copper, as copper can kill shrimps.

Hikari Shrimp Cuisine:

Shrimps eating banana:

Sexing

Sexing of the cherry shrimp may not be determined until they are nearly old enough to breed. Females are bigger, will have a darker colour, a wider abdomen and will grow a saddle behind her head when she is ready to breed. Males are mainly smaller and less colourful and of course will not grow a saddle.

Female:

Male:

Breeding

Breeding cherry shrimp is very easy. As long as the water parameters are stable, and there are both males and females which are ready to breed in the tank. Once the female grows a saddle, the female will release hormones into the tank which will attract males. A male will eventually mate with her and she will have eggs to carry, (also known as being berried). After 3+ weeks, baby shrimp, also known as shrimplets, will appear in the tank as tiny replicas of their parents. A sponge will be needed to cover the intake of the filter so that baby shrimp will not get sucked in, this also provides a good source of bacteria for shrimps to eat.

Berried Shrimp:

Sponge over filter:

Dangers and Extra Notes

• Can be killed by copper, like any other shrimp.
  
• Juveniles may/will be killed by Pest and Parasites if not treated (A thread can be found in the SKF Library by Dean)
  
• Can be killed by overdose, such as an overdose of “no-planaria†Which is used to kill Planaria.
  
• Juveniles can be killed by the filter suction.
  
• It is important to acclimatise shrimps properly, when shrimps are moving from one tank to another
  
• You should always have some moss for your shrimps, as it provides food
  
• You should change/top up about 10-20% of the water fortnightly.
  
• Filter maintenance should be done around twice a year
  
• Shrimp love live plants, also they will look nice in your tank
  
• If keeping two species in the same tank, make sure BOTH species satisfy the conditions.
  
• Have a few places for the shrimps to hide
  
  
  
  Variants
  There are many colourations of the cherry shrimp which are kept in Australia.
  (For Pictures please refer to the SKF library Cherry Shrimp ID by Nogi)
  
  
  
  • Var. Red
    
  • Var. Sunkist
    
  • Var. Pumpkin
    
  • Var. Chocolate(Delight)
    
  • Var. Black
    
  • Var. Yellow
    
  • Var. Blue
    

Growing Kale for your shrimp

Growing Kale for Your Shrimp

Kale is a great snack for you shrimp, plus it contains approximately 135mg of calcium per 100g. Kale can be dried, blanched or fed fresh to you shrimp.
If you plan to grow it yourself simply purchase a packet of seeds or seedlings at your local hardware store or nursery and follow these steps to ensure you grow large, healthy kale.


Growing Kale
Kale can be planted anytime of the year but is best planted in soil temperatures of 10c to 30c.

If you chose to purchase seeds chose a large pot or garden bed to plant them in, making sure it is in partial sun in summer and full sun in winter. The pot or garden bed should be at least 20 square centimetres for a few plants but for more, larger is better, I prefer a 50cm, circular pot. Kale will grow in commercial potting mix but the addition of fertilizers is always a good addition to kick start you kale.

Sow the seeds one centimetre deep, planting the seeds a few centimetres apart and keeping the rows fifty centimetres apart. If you need to you can later transplant seedlings to allow more room.

Keep the soil moist and within five to fourteen days your kale should germinate and within eight to ten weeks it should be ready to harvest but may be harvested before if needed/wanted.



Some Red Russian Kale, approximately three weeks old

Pests and Diseases
Kale is fairly resistant to pests and diseases but are susceptible to white cabbage caterpillars. Picking them and dried and withered leaves is your best defence as using pesticides will more than likely harm you shrimp.


Feeding
You can feed to kale to your shrimp fresh, blanched or dried depending on your preference. If blanching, you should boil for approximately one and a half minutes. When feeding, keep the kale down with a wooden/bamboo skewer or tie it to a rock.



Your shrimp will love kale and jump on it as soon as it goes into the tank.

Happy Shrimping!!

Edited May 14, 201412 yr by NoGi

Sorry about the massive image!! Didn`t think it`d be that humongous.

no problem, we can change the size easy :) nice write up everybody so far

can i submit an old article i wrote?

http://www.shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/showthread.php/1438-Basic-Water-Chemistry-in-the-Planted-Tank

as long as it follows the rules for the comp there should be no problems with that.

But please read the rules again just to be sure :)

DIY Air system

This is a step by step guide to building an air system for anywhere from 10 tanks to 500 tanks or more, the only difference will be the supply pump. This system that I have runs 20 tanks with ease & there is plenty of air to spare for more tanks.

First of all you will need a few things:

1. Air supply pump, I'm using a Resun LP40

2. Heavy duty 13mm irrigation hose, I used 10m for this job

3. 13mm T pieces

4. 13mm L or corner pieces

5. 4mm silicone airline, I used about 15m

6. 4mm threaded taps

7. 4mm irrigation tool

 

I used heavy duty irrigation hose because it has a thicker wall & it will hold the pressure better & it has a tighter fit on the fittings

Now I'm going to run the hose under the shelf above the tanks that it will be supplying, this way if there is a power failure then there's no chance of any water siphoning back down into the pump.

First step is to measure the length & width of the shelves so you can cut the hose to the right length, then join the pieces together using the L pieces to form a loop. Make a loop for every shelf you have to supply air to. The reason I'm making loops is it balances the air pressure throughout the whole system.

Once the loops are made, you have to decide where the supply is going to join the loop. When you know where the join will be you have cut out a small section so you can put a T piece in, I have chosen to put it down one end, the same end the pump will be.

Next I secured the loop to the under side of the shelf with a multi purpose retaining device, aka Gaffa tape.

Then I started at the other end of the system, I placed the pump where it will stay & started to cut lengths of hose to join it to the rest of the system, first I ran it to the upright of the tank stand then used an L piece & started to run it up to the loops.

I then run a piece of hose up to the first shelf & used a T piece, I also secured the hose to the upright with Gaffa tape. The top shelf was the end of the system so I used a L piece there

Once the whole system is joined together I started to punch holes in the hose with the 4mm irrigation tool & screwed in the 4mm taps, then from the taps I ran 4mm silicone airline to the air stones, sponge filters & the water aging drums, then I adjusted all the taps to have the correct airflow to each item. I also have two lines running full open all the time, this is to relieve back pressure on the pump. Another way to do this would be to have a small reservior made from 100mm PVC pipe, about 300mm long, between the system & the pump.

When you have finished the system & you want to add another tank or air stone, all you have to do is punch another hole, screw in a tap, run the airline & adjust the tap to the correct flow.

Hope everyone enjoys this & has just as much fun as I did building it.

Edited May 14, 201412 yr by NoGi

Some good articles, fingered crossed!

dam, theres no edit, now everyone will see i fail.

fingers*

Some good articles' date=' fingered crossed![/quote']

Soooooo, what were you thinking/doing whilst you were typing your reply ? Actually, I don't want to know. Lol