sarah

I have a 20 long low-tech planted tank. I started with one current usa satellite plus strip, but I eventually added a second one. It just wasn't nearly bright enough with just one.
With these, you can change the color tone to exactly what you want. I also bought a ramp timer, so the lights gradually go on and off over 15 minutes so as not to startle my critters.
 
If I were to start from scratch, I would probably go with the finnex.

More power to you trying this.  If anyone can do it, YOU can! ;-)

With a small tank and only a few shrimp, you're probably dosing way too much. Ignore the instructions on the bottle. I would only give a tiny amount at most once a week. You can dissolve it in a bit of tank water or DI water in a paper cup or similar, and then just pour into the tank. I believe SoothingShrimp likes to dip the tip of a damp toothpick in it, then just swirl into the tank.

I use the Tantora mulberry leaves, and my shrimp start climbing all over them before they even sink in the tank. A leaf usually floats for up to a day before sinking, since I just throw it in dry without boiling or preparing it. It's usually down to just the veins within 2 days, and then those are gone within a few more (depending how much other food I feed during that time).

Right, it won't repair the holes since they're not at the growing edge of the shell. All 3 of my nerites came to me from the LFS with pits near the shell apex. All their new shell growth since I got them in January looks great. I'm going to check my parameters again just in case, but I think this one's pits developed into holes because of the other snails eating it. At least that's part of the problem.
 
I also wish I could get them to eat anything but algae. I'd love to feed them some calcium-rich veggies, but they ignore everything I've tried, including algae wafers.
 
I'm going to have to be very careful not to get any glue into the holes as I patch them. I don't want to harm the live tissue inside. I've been reading a lot this weekend, and some people use an egg shell membrane to line their repair patches. I hope my hands are steady enough to do this!
 
I'm planning to put my snail into my new quarantine tank for a day or two, just in case some chemicals leach from the patch. I don't want to harm my shrimp or fish in this process.

The best thing ever bought for my shrimp was a TDS meter. It helped my pinpoint my water issues. I was having many issues with my shrimp after I set up a couple new tanks for some new strains. All my neos stopped breeding and didn't even develop saddles, babies never made it to adulthood, and a few were lost to bacterial infections and molting issues. The TDS meter showed me that my tap water is very soft, and all of the shrimp tanks registered under 70. I retraced my steps to figure out why I previously had breeding success, and pinned it down to crushed coral and frozen brine shrimp, two things provided to my shrimp while they lived with my mystery snails. The addition of the crushed coral stabilized the pH and increased the TDS. All of my female shrimp developed saddles again almost instantly in response to the changes. I have since taken out the crushed coral, and I now use SL Aqua Wizard to raise the TDS of my tap water and GH. Since all of the females developed saddles at the same time, I'm now in the middle of a major baby boom. The breeding success with the neos of course gave me more reason to get my first caridinas. I also just started finding my first caridina babies from my snow white bees, and I have my first berried tibees, mischlings, and TBs. I use the TDS meter during every water change to monitor my tap water, and to help measure the right amount of reminerializer.
 
I also have an Alita pump, which really does a great job. I also recommend getting a wire rack. LED shop lights do a great job lighting multiple tanks.

Are you sure it's a "he"? Your Mr looks like a Mrs to me

With a small tank and only a few shrimp, you're probably dosing way too much. Ignore the instructions on the bottle. I would only give a tiny amount at most once a week. You can dissolve it in a bit of tank water or DI water in a paper cup or similar, and then just pour into the tank. I believe SoothingShrimp likes to dip the tip of a damp toothpick in it, then just swirl into the tank.

I ordered this putty https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Ocean-Epoxy-Aquariums-4-Ounces/dp/B001JSXBYO/ref=pd_sim_199_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MVWFJJ61Z2PME2KTXJFK and some cyanoacrylate gel https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FUGET5K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I read that the combo works well for adhering things underwater. I'm planning to glue small pieces of ramshorn shells to cover the holes, and then cover with a thin layer of glue followed by the putty. I'll let you all know how it works!

Snails are able to repair their own shells if they are not too seriously injured. I would suggest putting them away from the bladder snails and any other possible "diners"and keeping your Ph on the high side(7+) and possible addition of ground cuttle bone or other forms of calcium.I never tried deliberate medication of snails, but this may help a natural process along. BBF

With a small tank and only a few shrimp, you're probably dosing way too much. Ignore the instructions on the bottle. I would only give a tiny amount at most once a week. You can dissolve it in a bit of tank water or DI water in a paper cup or similar, and then just pour into the tank. I believe SoothingShrimp likes to dip the tip of a damp toothpick in it, then just swirl into the tank.

With a small tank and only a few shrimp, you're probably dosing way too much. Ignore the instructions on the bottle. I would only give a tiny amount at most once a week. You can dissolve it in a bit of tank water or DI water in a paper cup or similar, and then just pour into the tank. I believe SoothingShrimp likes to dip the tip of a damp toothpick in it, then just swirl into the tank.

10 & 13, Addicted2Shrimp & Hersheyb - Congrats! PM me!

I did in a large marina box with ramshorns for my puffers. Endless supply of ramshorns. [emoji1303]

I catch the plants and drop them in some clean aquarium water and let them sit for a couple of hours. Then I rinse the plants and sell/ship them.

I do what svetilda said, but I use a 5 gallon bucked 1/3 or 1/2 full of water and put the plants in, dunk them a few times, then swirl the bucket. The babies usually bail out by then, but just incase i give them another dunk and shake in a separate bucket similar to the first. If it's duckweed, then I try and net it out after the swirling step repeat with the second bucket. I'm sure I lose a few once in a while, but I never see any shrimp in the second bucket so it works well enough.

This is a great idea. I have recently toyed with the idea of setting up some sort of breeder box freshwater refugium for my 20L fish tank, stocked with daphnia, copepods, etc. Have you ever attempted this?
 

Having set up more than aquarium systems in my time, I never seem to be surprised at my true hobbyist impatience! Let’s face it—once we get the plumbing done, the lighting tweaked, leaks sealed, and aquascaping set, we’re absolutely hell-bent on getting some fishes in there! I mean—we’ve waited so long for “first water” in the tank that it’s time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We need to get the fishes in there right away…even just a few.
Right?

Well, stop and think about this for a minute. Would you like to move into a house, which didn’t have a refrigerator or pantry stocked with at least some food?  I wouldn’t, for sure. Unlike humans, fishes seem to have not lost their genetic programming for grazing and hunting for food (although some days I wonder about this myself...). Let’s face it—most of the waking hours of aquatic animals are devoted to acquiring food and reproducing (hmm…not a bad lifestyle, actually, huh?). Even our captive animals, spoiled by frozen and freeze-dried foods, could benefit from having some natural food sources to hunt and graze for. (click to read more)

As I mentioned in the DIY section on growing Amaranth an easy way to dehydrate is in a cardboard box and a 60w -100w light bulb depending on the size of the box.  Veggie/fish grilling racks are on sale now (end of season) and set on dowell rods pushed thru the box at several levels.  You will need some holes at the bottom and top of the box for natural air flow so the moisture can escape.  The leaves should be dry overnight.  After removing the leaves IMMEDIATELY put in a sealed jar or bag so they don't pick up moisture and get moldy.
 
Google "card board box dehydrator" if you need some pictures and lists of materials.  Pinterest, Y-tube, Mother Earth News, all have designs from small to large scale.  I made my first dehydrator and fish smoker as a kid back in the 70s.  (Yeah I'm that old)

1. ahboram
2. Dluxeshrimps 
3. Qawsican
4. Slycat929
5. Ohmiko 
6. Adrand
7. Sarah
 
Happy birthday!! Thanks for the amazing RAOK.

Hey Morty, is your centipede still alive?

Wow!

So my birthday is on Monday, 8/15, and every year I like to give a "reverse" birthday gift to a random friend because I appreciate all of my friends who are so influential in my life and have made an impact on who I was, am, and strive to be. This extends from academics and research to personal life and forums, and every possible combination. 
 
Continuing my tradition, I'd like to extend to all of you my "Birthday RAOK" for being a big part of my life for almost a year now and expanding my shrimping knowledge with the forums collective experience. I've also enjoyed helping out using my extensive biological/chemical background and where I can with my limited shrimping experience... relative to some of you - you know who you are . But I truly feel like a part of a community where we can share such a unique common interest and be there for each other when something amazing, groundbreaking, or - god forbid - tragic happens.

So I'll be choosing 2 winners sometime on my birthday WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT CUZ IT'S MAH BDAY, so get your names in cuz this is a good one.

TWO LUCKY WINNERS EACH RECEIVE A PRIME SHRIMP TANK PACKAGE:
One 5x5 cm portion of Salvinia cucullata (rare cup-like floater, aka. Chinese Watermoss) 5+ nodes micro-mini pennywort (Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides) - much like H. tripartita "Japan" in care and compact growth, but more appealing leaf shape, IMHO. 2"x2" mini pellia on ss mesh (freshly tied) Your choice of 5 pink ramshorn snails OR 6+ stems of H. zosterfolia (stargrass) BONUS: mystery node plant, stem plant, or moss. BONUS pt. 2: I'll also throw in a food sample and a botanical from Scott at TanninAquatics to try, great stuff.
  winners pay $7 shipping each. shipping 8/22.

S. cucullata:


Hydrocotyle:


Mini Pellia:
trimmed from here-

Affixed as shown (but on ss)-


Ramshorns:


Stargrass:


Provides a nice hiding places for smaller species-

 

I love the tiny flowers!

Congrats to lanhamm winning the plants

I'll pm you in a bit!
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