Amyers22

Red Zebra Pinto grazing on some fissidens.

Red Zebra Pinto grazing on some fissidens.

Red Zebra Pinto grazing on some fissidens.

Blue Bolt Taiwan Bee- My favorite!
 
         

Sigh..
Went to petco couldn't help myself when I saw 50% tag on rotala

They also has 4 big bunches of anubia Nana for 8$!!

Did a 90% wc
Added in all the plants.
Picked up fissiden on cholla wood from a member here.

Think I want to make the other tank have floating pelia balls!




Digging for csf minerals! I need to buy some feeding dishes.


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Just some final pics from 2015!

Oh wow, holey rock looks really cool. Now I'm thinking about just taking a hike or checking out local gardening centers to see if I can find some good ones...

I am using limestone that I collected in Kansas in my Cardinal tank. Looks like Texas holey rock.
Works very well. Offers lots of hiding places for the shrimps and surface for biofilm to grow. Does not really affect TDS. Shrimps are breeding fine.

i run a double sponge in my mischling tank which probably has the most shrimp in it and they constantly breed. The only thing I did with the double sponge is open up the inlet a bit to allow for max airflow. I rinse them maybe once a month. The HMF definitely put out more flow and with that more o2. The big plus is I don't have to clean the HMF.[emoji4]

I know it's been a while. But I felt I had to post a pic of my rack since I just added the last 3 tanks tonight. It's finally complete.[emoji4]

This was a great sight to see today. It took this pinto 115 days from the time of birth to becoming berried today. She was from the first generation offspring from wine red x german red pinto.

https://www.flipaquatics.com/product/blue-dream/

Thanks Louie,
 
Time is a little on the scarce side and space, but will one day setup a planted tank again, I love the sizes of the ADA 90p and 120p but they are very expensive
 
 
Thanks Vpier, the hardscape was just dried out wood we get all over here on farms, plants were Bolbitis, Needle leave Java, various mosses, anubias nana petite, Java petite and dwarf hair grass.
 
Hardscape is very important in planted tanks, the more you have the better result in the end
Here is a pic of how the hardscape look
 

I definitely will

Blue bolt with green hues.

In my last order you sent me some samples. I'm excited to try them out and see how my shrimpies like them

I know several people that use it and don't have a problem. I don't think controsoil is an issue. Someone may have had a bad bag, but as for me I don't think controsoil was the problem in my tank.

Found these little guys creeping around the tank today. Funny thing is they came from my "yellow" taitibee tank. Confused yet? I am. lol!!!

Where to begin? Haha. Well I have been testing the Lowkeys product line for about a month. Unless you compare apples to apples in an experiment with two aquarium that are setup exactly the same we will never 100% know the truth. What I will tell you is from my own experience and what I have witnessed with my two eyes, please take it for what its worth.
 
If you have watched my previous YouTube video I have a regime I stick with currently, Monday- Ebi Supple(Pellet) or Ebi210!(Pad), Wednesday- Spiral or B18 Power Protein, Friday- Vitamin Kale(Pellet) or Ultra Supple(Pellet) and CSF Exclusive Series Mineral. Everyday I do feed, I have used small amounts of Double Speed within my Mini Pellia for all the babies in my aquariums. Every Sunday I have used the Amino Acid Vital Plus.
 
My shrimp seem to love the Ebi210!, Spiral, Double Speed, B18 Power Protein, Ultra Supple, and CSF Exclusive the most. The primary distinction I have noticed from feeding the Lowkeys food line is my adults density and shell thickness. It is a vast difference from the food line I was using, shells are shinier, thicker, and overall they seem much more active. My shrimplets take a couple minutes but when I leave the room and come back they seem to be all over the Mini Pellia, I usually feed the Double Speed a bit after the primary food for the adults, to allow the shrimplets to gather on their own.
 
Everyone is skeptical about change, I certainly was because I thought I found a food line prior to now that I was never changing from. I heard everything about Lowkeys and the quality behind their products, but every brand says this, regardless I tried and still am using the Lowkeys Product Line. Shrimp seem to love it, I visually see a difference in shell density and coloration, and I haven't had any problems with my shrimp such as failed molts, random deaths, etc.
 
Obviously there could be other contributing factors, but without a doubt I can say as I have said many times in this small excerpt my shrimp's shell is much healthier.
 
Thanks for reading. Ask me any questions you would like.
 
DETAquarium

I am considering ordering a few products for my TB tank and my Crystal tank. I don't know much about these products except for what you can read in the product description. So my questions are: Why are these products desirable or beneficial & which products would you recommend if any at all? 
 
My goal, as all of ours is, is to provide an optimum environment for my shrimp to grow and breed in. I like to use a variety of foods to provide a balanced diet and I only use minimal supplements (tiny amount of Mosura Old Sea Mud biweekly).
 
Thanks in advance
 

My pump finally showed up after 3-4 weeks after zero correspondence from Ken's.  
 
It's amazing how much air I have at my disposal......and so, so quiet.  It's built like a tank........I'm hoping it lasts like one.
 
Alita +1, Ken's - not so much

I think it is important to note that various shrimpkeeping "regions" have their own approach, philosophies , preferences when it comes to the varies aspect of shrimp keeping and the products come these regions reflect this.  
 
Really as far as shrimp are concern there are 3 main "hotbed"; Japan, Germany & Taiwan / SE Asia.
 
The Japanese of course are the birthplace of the CRS and been doing this much longer than anywhere else in the world and certainty before the influx of commercial products.  They are also are perfectionists & isolationists; they favour quality over quantities and many of the product they used are found locally and adapted from other industries or traditional methods.  That being said; japanese breeders use what I would call a supplement heavy approach; but one that is somewhat rooted in tradition; i.e. "secrets" & techniques are passed down from generation to generation; from master to apprentices etc;  I think it might also be that they have soft water as well so more supplements are needed.  They are not too concern about the exact make up of a product; as long as it works (or they believe it works).  For us outsiders there is a couple issues;
1) the vagueness / lost in translation of these products create a bit of "mystic" around them aka "magic bean" - especially once third parties (i.e foreigner distributors / retailers) start marketing them.
2) What is readily available in Japan and fairly inexpensive there cost quite a bit more state side.  Also it cost the breeder a fraction of what the retail price is to use; so price is less of an issue
3) The average hobbyists there only have room for a few smallish tanks so they spoil their shrimps; quality over quantities
4) They generally use strong lighting for their tanks so algae / biofilm occur naturally - no need for supplements for that.
 
Final word is; they are crazy when it comes to dosing supplements  - cheap for them / expensive for us, works for them but don't expect a detail explanation of exactly how it works. 
 
 
The Taiwanese on the other hand are very good are taking a product, reverse engineering it, maybe improve it and then mass producing it. Importing products from Japan would be quite costly so of course home-grown products would be much affordable and also a point of pride i.e.  (see sino - japanese relations).  I would say some of their product won't exactly the same as some ingredients would be more costly to get in taiwan but for the most part they do similar things. The industry is also very competitive in Taiwan; more so than Japan so everyone is always trying to come up with a new or different approach.  Breeding farms are of much larger scale in taiwan as well so we will see many techniques incorporate this ability to scale up or be more efficient.  I.e. in Japan they use lots of canister filters but in the new taiwan farms it is all about central air driven systems and instead of 5-6 different food they combine those down to 3-4 types.

I found with taiwanese products they product more specifics in terms of ingredients, research etc; I guess you can say they are a more modern & efficent take on the japanese way.
 
Last but not least, there is the Germans;  They always kinda made do with what they have already but at the same time to have a strong history in the the aquarium trade so they have lots of existing "tried-and-tested" / proven techniques and products they can draw from.  They are very good are selective breeding and crossings.  I would say their approach is more or less using what they already have for products there; although they also introduced many natural products like locally found leaves and fruits into their shrimp lines.
 
I guess we are lucky here in North America as we get to take the best from all 3.  I been using Benibachi / Mosura products since pretty much the beginning (5-6 years) and I am happy with them.  I tried a few lowkey products as well and they are good too.  For me I always to to group similar products together and just go with the one that works for me. i.e for food, i have a color food, a growth food, some natural supplement & treats type food, and a baby food.  For supplements; i have a weekly bacteria additive, something for shell developement (red & white), mineral powder, molting / growth / breeding aids.  
 
I am not too picky; if i run out of something i just grab something similar from another brand that i can get my hands on - of course now that I am a benibachi dealer is always have lots of their product but before that i just used many different brands.  
 
Can't comment specifically on Double speed but from my eyes it is not much different what i currently dose for the same purpose (Benibachi BeeMax + Bee Speed)
 
 Everyone is different and some people prefer the taiwanese approach while others like the japanese way of doing things.  I always tell people find a approach that works for you and that will help narrow down your choice of products 

I've been using Double Speed in a few tanks. I feed it 5 days a week once a day (tiny amounts) in my pinto hybrid tank and the pinto babies still seem like they take forever to grow. I also feed the same amount in my mischling tanks and they seem to be growing at a super fast rate. But then again maybe mischlings grow faster than pintos in general? I'm not sure. I know Lowkeys recommends feeding 3 times daily. I personally can't get myself to do that. IMO I think that any shrimp you feed 3 times a day will  grow faster.  Just my 2 cents...

Very interesting.  This is quickly graduating from the "want to have" category..................

These are also from second generation taitibees. I now have these in their own tank. The berried one was crossed back to bb. This is her second batch of eggs. There are alot of little babies running around in this tank. Most look like bb. More to come.......