Amyers22

Crystal White Bees - aka Ghost Bees

The cleaning crew of my new planted tank.
 

I'm very child like. LOL  As they fall, they leave behind a trail and I tend to make meteor noises.

My shrimp go crazy over it.   I use Han's purple bee pollen.     I don't give it too often maybe once a month as a treat.  When I do they swarm 

I agree. Many of our pods are geared towards a South American fish aesthetic, although, ironically,  many of the botanicals we offer actually come from Asia! We received a lot of feedback from shrimp keepers about our offerings, and were encouraged to participate in this forum to get more exposure for aquatic botanicals within the shrimp keeping community, which is pretty cool!
 
That being said,caution is always warranted.  Most anything we place in the water can affect the environmental parameters (leaves, cones, etc), and it would be entirely irresponsible of me to say that everyone should just go nuts and add all of these things without caution to their prized shrimp systems! I can tell you that, based on our observations and experience, most of the "pods" seem to impart far less tannins and humic acids into the water than do most of the leaves more commonly utilized in our systems, so it's actually been the other way around in my experience and that of our customers. Of course, they still influence the water to some extent. You can experiment by placing some botanicals in a known quantity of aquarium water in a separate container and doing ga simple before/after  pH test, etc. You'll find that they definitely will influence water chemistry, and certainly influence the tint to the water. However, I've frequently been surprised to find that the Ph, for example, is not altered as much as I would have expected. A lot of it depends upon the parameters of the source water your astartying with, the size of the tank, filtration, etc. Because we are talking about natural materials of varying sizes, and many different situations for shrimp keepers, experimentation is the real way that hobbyists are going to know what works for them. We're still learning much about them, and encourage responsible experimentation by shrimp keepers.
 
I can tell you from personal experience, and from that of many of our customers who are shrimp keepers, that any of the botanicals we offer will work fine. The real key is to go SLOWLY when adding stuff to an established system. You can easily kill aquariums by overdoing anything. As someone who comes from an advanced reef keeping background (particularly coral propagation) I have seen first hand what happens when people go "hog wild" and overdo adding things into their tanks. The key with botanicals is to go slowly. Remember, these are terrestrial items and will decompose in water at varying rates, and, if added in huge quantities, can place a significant and potentially problematic bioload into the system, stressing the animals severely. This is no different than overloading a system with Catappa leaves, or any of the other leaves we use as foods (Amaranth, Mulberry, etc.).To take the time to observe the impact of anything added to the environment, be it leaves, driftwood, pods, even rocks...is basic aquaristic common sense, and we encourage everyone to proceed slowly. I have not had any reports of issues from the many customers we have who use the botanicals with shrimp- when they follow the simple premise of preparing the materials before use, going slowly and observing what happens.
 
Our "Camarao Bolsa" was assembled with items that, right off the bat, work perfectly with shrimps. It's the one pack we have specifically targeted at shrimp keepers and we receive great feedback about it. Again, I have tried many of the other botanicals we offer with a variety of shrimps; always slowly, always observing, and have experienced no losses, nor have my "beta testers" who have played with many of the botanicals we offer in their shrimp systems. We have not created a more "exotic" pack for shrimp just yet, simply because we're still actively gathering feedback from hobbyists about which ones they seem to feel work best! Feed back is essential for us to keep improving what we do, and we welcome it!
 
One of the things I noticed about using botanicals with shrimps is that they are drawn to the botanicals rather quickly! Most of the botanicals will recruit biofilms and even some algae over time, which are obviously utilized by shrimp as a food source. I have seen the shrimp feeding actively on the softer parts of many of the botanicals as well. Many of the commercially available shrimp feeds are comprised of botanical materials, leaves, or terrestrial grains, etc., so it goes without saying that botanicals such as we're offering will typically be accepted by shrimp with little hesitation.
 
Obviously, what works for me or another hobbyist may not work fr you, and vice versa, so everyone needs to work together and share results...that's what helps us all succeed!
 
So, with all of those considerations in mind, the opportunity to experiment is wide open. Aquatic botanicals are not a cure all for every situation, nor a "miracle product" that will create awaeomenly successful outcomes for everyone. They are, however, fascinating, natural, and potentially very beneficial items that can yield great results when used responsibly and carefully.
 
I look forward to feedback!
 
Thanks!
 
Scott

Thanks; looking forward to getting to know a lot of you!
 
-Scott

Oh good, I thought it was just me.
 
Hopefully you are quarantining these, for a good long time? I think most of the issues were with the neos, IIRC.

I have 20 + juvenile culls from Red bolt / No-Entry Wine red tank  for sale.
They will produce probably 50% regular Wine reds, 30-40% Red Bolts and 10-20% Hino WRs.
Price is $125 shipped to lower 48 states.

Bob tropics
https://www.bobstropicalplants.com/shop/en/snails/508-tylomelania-towetensis-white-spotted.html

Super blue tupfel!

Well here she is... Waiting for the the tank to sit for awhile before adding plants. Enjoy. Also Please read at the end for my issue. I dont understand this whole RO system. So far its a waste. 
 
Light installed (will update in the future) Its a SunPro 12" LED

 
Borneo Wild Minerax

 
Next Laid down Borneo Wild Enlive, and Borneo Wild Bebi.

 
Fluval Shrimp Substrate and Manzanita Wood installed. 

 
Added Food Dish. (Brand off ebay)

 
Aqueon Pro 50w heater.

 
Borneo Wild Mineral Rocks and Almond Leave installed. 

 
Cholo Wood with Anubias Nana.

 
Borneo Wild Bee Ball

 
 
Ok here is my issue with the RO unit. Ok so when testing my water that came out of the RO unit into my jug this is the reading I got which is great!
008ppm I even got 001ppm after awhile.

 
After adding to the aquarium this is the reading I got. 

 
This was about 4 days ago. Now I just ran another test and I am at 75ppm??? I am so lost but I am basically worse than what comes out of my tap...

It's been a couple months and the same shrimp as pictured above is now juvie sized. The color is becoming more solid the older he gets.

I've been having fun moving forward to create my own super red line from low grade crs instead of high grade.
I need to sell these to raise money for another project now. Those who know me know I have too many projects going already! LOL Need to make some room.
Ph was in the low 6's last checked.
Two cameras were used taking these pics to give an accurate representation. Color wasn't edited- only thing adjusted was sharpness.





All 16 red shrimp (My entire Red project) $120 + $10 insulated priority shipping in the continental US.
That's only 7.50 per shrimp for a project that has some work behind it already.
Can't be more fair than that.
PS- CBS not sent

Got mine from both Lexinverts and Flip Aquatics. I believe Flip Aquatics got his from Lexinverts first, too. Can't go wrong with either

Yeah, I buy from Rob all the time.  He's out of most of his tigers now.  Thanks for responding though, Amanda!

Good news tonight, after being in my aquarium for about 8 weeks and 4 weeks in this new aquarium. I found some Sulawesi cardina dennerli babies. Not the best photo as they’re around 3mm big, but very nice colours and white gloves as I remembered when I  had them 9 years ago. Just a snapshot but here’s a quick photo. I’m super excited. Just put in a small scoop of glas gracen shrimp baby
 
cardina dennerli baby day 0 by Raymond Wong, on Flickr
 
thanks for looking
 
Ray
 

If you can't find anyone on our forums or sponsor section, check out FLIP Aquatics. 

One of my older female tibee. I just crossed her with my TB. I love her head pattern.

Grazing on ial

I'm currently in the process of cycling two tanks for Caridina shrimp. I have a 20 gallon long that has been through hell and back that still holds my remaining shrimp. I will be transferring these shrimp to the new tank as well as adding some new additions. A few months ago I purchased a macro lens for my iPhone. I've been able to get some great shots. This journal will be devoted to awesome pictures of my shrimp and the new tanks.
Here's a few of my favorites: