wot_fan

That is great news!!!  Schaumburg is only 15 minutes from me .

I like that setup a lot. Any way of telling if the foam is open celled? Here I can't find them but I can buy foam from a foam factory close to my house. I just need to know how I will know if the foam will work? Would like to devide my tank up like that as well...

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Thank you .

I believe that "open celled" means that water can flow through it.  If you can get a sample of the foam from the factory, you can test it to see if it will work.  If the foam from local factory is open celled, you want to get foam that has 30-45 PPI (pores per inch).  I also recommend rinsing it thoroughly before using it in your tank to make sure that there is nothing left in the foam from the manufacturing process.

Great looking pictures! I should have a new camera very soon! Crazy that I will be spending almost as much on the macro lens.

Thank you .

Congrats on the new camera.  You won't be sorry for spending $ on good glass.  What are you getting?  I am looking forward to seeing more pics of your beautiful shrimp.

Fantastic pictures, Wade! The flash really makes the OEBTs show off their color.

Thank you Andy .  

I am really looking forward to taking some pics of the red tigers you sent me.  I know you said their coloration will improve as they grow, but I think they already look pretty cool.  Their new home is the right section of this tank with some golden shrimp that arrived yesterday from Blue Crown Aquatic Trade. 

When I saw your pictures I was going to buy Canon  EF 100mm before I saw the price, that's quite big investment, my shrimps not good enough for this yet, I think i'm going to be ok for now with cheap add-on micro lenses set

Unfortunately camera equipment can be very expensive.  My advice to you would be to get a macro lens that you can afford and then work on your technique.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the results you can get even with inexpensive hardware.  

BTW, an off the camera flash will make a world of difference in the amount of detail you can capture. Below are unscaled crops of pictures I posted earlier (post #35 and #44).  As you can see there is a lot more noise and a lot less detail in the picture taken without a flash.  

Good luck .

 Wow - incredible photo.  What a great macro lens you have!!!  Jealous - what camera and lens are you using?

Thank you .  I have a Canon 5D Mark II with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro IS USM lens.

I have them on some of my teddy bear cholla too.  It is only certain parts of the cholla.

I tend to put my mosses closer to the glass as well as cholla logs or IAL. Those are always good spots for the shrimp to graze and I'll have better chances of them getting close enough to the glass to get good shots. Also, these things make for great looking and varying backgrounds.

That is a great tip.  Placing layout material the correct distance from the glass so it is in your lens' sweet spot makes getting good shots a lot easier.  

PM sent.  Thanks.

I am looking to get 12-15 red tiger shrimp.  Anyone know where I can get some quality shrimp?  Thanks .

sorry if you've answered this question but what kind of camera and lens are you using??

I have a Canon 5D Mark II with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro IS USM lens.  I also used two Canon speedlites to take the last batch of pictures I posted.

OEBTs and PFRs are amazing.  Your pictures have had me thinking about my tanks all weekend, trying to figure out where I can put OEBTs.

Thank you .  I am really happy with all the shrimp I received but I think the OEBTs (from buypetshrimp.com) and the PFRs (from Blue Crown Aquatic Trade) are especially nice. 

I hope you can find a place for OEBTs.  They are quickly becoming one of my favorite shrimp.

Stunning photography!

Thank you .  I am lucky to be able to combine 2 of my hobbies.

Snowballs

Super Tigers

PFRs

I took some more pics that I would like to share.  I used a flash this time so there more detail in these.  Here are the OEBT's. 

Thank you for sharing this, I already ordered few rods on ebay

You're welcome.  I have learned so much from this forum.  It feels good to be able to help someone else a little for a change

How creative. Those really are cool. I've seen people float them from the surface, but not attach them to glass.

Thanks.  I really like having moss in my shrimp tanks but trimming can be a challenge when the moss is attached to layout material.  This is the best solution I have come up with so far.  I am looking forward to seeing how they look after the moss has had some time to grow out.

That's a great setup and beautiful pictures! Good job!

Can I ask you how did you make that moss balls on the glass sticks? I like the look of them and would love to have them in my tank too.

Thank you

Thank you .

The moss balls are easy to make.  I cut some spare filter sponge into 1" cubes and then used fishing line to attach some moss.  I then stuck the result onto a glass stirring rod.  That's all there is to it.

I bought the glass rods from Zoro Tools on eBay.  They sell different size rods.  I ordered some 6", 8" & 10" rods and the combined shipping was $5.

Qty 12 of 6" rods $1.89

Qty 12 of 8" rods $2.46

Qty 12 of 10" rods $6.07

What are you using to get such fantastic photos? 

Thank you for the complement .  I used a Canon 5D Mark II with a 100mm macro lens.

I took some pics of my new shrimp this evening.  I didn't want to stress them out too much so I didn't use a flash.  The picture quality therefore isn't the best.  I will take more pictures (with a flash) in a few days after the shrimp have become more comfortable in their new home.

Can't wait for more epic wot_fan pics

I don't think these pictures qualify as "epic".  I"ll try harder next time

Received my order of Painted Fire Reds, Snowballs, Goldens and Super Tigers yesterday.  Unfortunately the bag of Goldens broke open during transit .  The other shrimp all arrived safely though.

Below are some pics I took of them tonight.  I didn't want to stress them so I didn't use a flash.  Therefore the picture quality isn't the best.  I'll take more pictures (with flash) in a few days after they are more comfortable in their new home.  I'll post the pics in my tank's journal thread.

I just realized that I didn't take any pictures of the snowballs.  You will have to take my word that they are very nice .  Also, I will post pics of the replacement Goldens after I receive them.

Received my order of OEBTs yesterday.  They were well packed and Erik went the extra mile getting them shipped so they would arrive when I needed them to.  

The OEBTs look great. Below are a some pictures I took of them tonight.  Since they are still getting used to their new home I didn't use a flash.  Therefore the picture quality isn't the best.  I will take more pictures (with flash) in a few days and post them to my journal thread.

I received 2 packages containing shrimp in the mail today .  The first contained OEBT's that came from Dukendabears at buypetshrimp.com.  The shrimp were well packed and all survived their two day journey safely.  I added them to the middle section of the tank.

The second package contained Painted Fire Reds, Snowballs, Yellows, and Super Tigers that came from Blue Crown Aquatic Trade.  Even though the package looked to be packed well, the bag containing the yellows broke in transit .  The other bags arrived safely .  The PFR's went into the middle section and the Snowballs and Super Tigers went into the left section.

In a few days, after the shrimp have become comfortable in their new home, I will take some pictures of them.  In the meantime, below are some new shots of the tank.  I added a little more moss to each section since the last pics.

The reason why I am asking is because I can't find that specific sponge. They only sell phosphate, carbon, nitrate, ammonia and the poly filters. So I want to know which one to buy.

Poret foam is what most people use for HMFs.  It is inert so my guess would be that the poly filters would be the closest.  That is only a guess though.  Since you are going to be using this in a shrimp tank make sure the PPI (pores per inch) is at least 30 (45 is best though) or shrimplets will be able to get through it.

Based on the research I have done, I would highly recommend using Poret foam.  It was engineered specifically for the purpose.  It is high quality stuff that should last 10+ years.

Is there some reason you can't order from Swiss Tropicals?  

Does the hamburg matten filter remove nitrate, phosphate, ammonia or is it a carbon filter??? Or a polyfiber filter?

An HMF works like a giant sponge filter.  It provides a great place for bacteria and biofilm to grow.  The bacteria will convert the ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrate.

There is a lot of good info on Swiss Tropicals site if you want more info.