Vpier

I swear I write about my love of water changes at least every few months. I woke up and changed water in my home aquarium today...felt great.

I love them because there is something incredible, psychologically, when you know you're doing something that absolutely has a benefit for your fishes. It puts you in touch with you animals, provides a visceral, real experience that really lets you look, feel, smell, and experience exactly what's going on in your aquarium. A key "ingredient" for success, IMHO.
And of course, they give me an opportunity to reflect on stuff...(click to read more)

Many shrimps and fishes can adapt and thrive in different water parameters. The key is to keep everything consistent and stable.

I have a PRL and a BKK misch that crawled out into my RCS tank with a PH of 7.3 and TDS around 230 and have been in that tank for almost nine months now. Germans successfully keep/breed Cardina shrimps in Neo parameters.

I have a PRL and a BKK misch that crawled out into my RCS tank with a PH of 7.3 and TDS around 230 and have been in that tank for almost nine months now. Germans successfully keep/breed Cardina shrimps in Neo parameters.

Goldens can have a yellowish shell pigment, while snows have whitish.
 
Some people keep crs in 7+ successfully. Dazalea is one.

I would love to be on your list if you start selling in the future.

Have a ways to go until they are a strain, Vpier.  But I'll love the challenge getting there. ;-)

I would love to be on your list if you start selling in the future.

Because my upcoming move to California, and the reduction of my tank number to two (at least for the first year), I have to abandon a breeding project that I started two years ago.
My goal was to establish a blue Caridina sulawesi line, which I tentatively called Blue Crown Shrimp. In my original tank, there was good progress. But the line so far is not very stable. When I moved the bluest shrimp to a new tank (see the two pictures), they lost most of their color within a few days. It seems that the blue color is more intense with slightly acidic pH.
Please pm me if you are interested in seriously continuing this project. I have probably 100+ shrimps (with no, weak or intermediate blue coloration) that can be used for breeding. It would definitely take some effort but it might be worth it.
You would just have to cover the shipping costs.
 

 

 

Thanks, Steve. :-)
 
Greenteam and I will both be working with your blue Sulawesi to ensure your shrimp continue on. :-)

Item: You are bidding on (1) 6x6 Mini Pellia Mat
● Closing Date/Time:  September 11, 2016 at 12:00pm EST
● Gender: N/A
● Size: 6"x 6" Mat, 1-2" Thick
● Parameters: PH 6.55-6.67, TDS 151-159, Temp 74F
● Starting Bid: $20.00
● Minimum Bid Increment: $1.00
● Shipping: $12.00 USPS Priority or $40.00 USPS Express
● DOA Policy: DOA Claim will only be valid if the following conditions are met-
Must physically receive shrimp within two hours of delivery confirmation. Within the two hours of delivery confirmation send a clear digital picture of dead shrimp inside the untampered LongLife bag next to my shipping label. Must receive package on first delivery attempt. *Shipping price is non-refundable
**I only ship within the Continental US
***I am not responsible for USPS delays and/or mishandling
 
Mat may have algae, ramshorn snails, and/or moss intertwined.

Picture taken January 2016.

Been too embarrassed to post any pics cause I suck at it. These were taken with my Ipod. These babies are the results of Shrimpscales BKK, Joes BKK misch and Mayphly's taitibees that produce steel blues.

Some BBs

Just got my camera sensor cleaned and did some test shots! Have a lovely long weekend everybody!
 
Here's a tangerine tiger shrimplet enjoying an Ozako rock from jumpsmasher

 
And the rest!

I wanted to add some information on this, I am not sure if anyone has mentioned before.  I have been using this and my shrimp LOVE it... but there is one other that seems to love it EVEN MORE.  My Otocinclus Catfish will roll around in this and engorge themselves.   I am only adding this information being Otos seem to be one of the only fish people safely keep with shrimp, and being most are wild caught they do not always get over the issues with catching\shipping\selling and some actually starve off being they "Only eat algae".  SO long story short, if your adding Otos to your shrimp tank make sure you get some "Upstate Blizzard Shrimp\Oto Food" to keep their bellies FAT!!
 
Sorry if off topic, I have not seen any mention of them eating this and hey could be just MINE that eat it but mine LOVE this stuff.  It's really funny watching the shrimp kick the otos out of the bowl, funniest part is the SMALLEST of my shrimp is the only one not afraid of the OTOs, the bigger shrimp wait for the little one to kick them out.

The only reason I did water changes is due to your mishap you told me about a year ago.

This was a year ago and was prob my fault. Perhaps I overdosed? I know I didn't do water changes because my bottle info said recommended, but not necessary. I only tried it on one tank though, and I know coincidences sometimes happen.
 
I trust Vpier too, so if it worked for him it must be okay.  I'm just gunshy now of it.

Could have been.  My tank had pretty heavy hair algae.

sorry you had some issues with your algae killer regimen  I haven't had any issues at the concentration of the product that I sell, but when you start to overdose (at like double the recommended amount) I did get deaths.  The dosing amount is right at the sweetspot for both yielding algae performance yet being shrimp safe accounting for minor measuring errors (overdosing) and the chemical accumulating over time (the math: it decays, but how quickly--so what is the concentration after 3 doses with no water changes).   That being said I've used my product without water changes but I've found that this actually helps the algae survive so the recommended water changes are more for the algae killing part rather than the shrimp-safe-ness.  It could very well be that there was a lot of algae in that tank and the water was getting hit hard with rotting organics bumping up the ammonia faster than your soil can turn it into ammonium if acidic tank or crashing your biofilter. 

No need to be gunshy

Feeding day today, and I'm trying the new product B-Leaves by Tantora.  100% organic, which I like.  Most of the ingredients are leaves-  moringa leaves, papaya leaves, amaranth leaves, ivy gourd leaves, vitamins, mulberry leaves, noni leaves, ginkgo leaves, catappa leaves, guava leaves, gotu kola leaves, miracle grass, and so on. It comes in stick form.
 
I tried feeding it to my crays, neos, Malawas, TaiTibs, TB, etc. today to see how they would react to it.  It is a new food for everyone, so I figured it may be so-so until they get used to the idea. I admit, sometimes my animals just don't like a new food.  Par for the course.
 
I was pleasantly surprised though.  Results were really good.  ALL animals accepted it readily.  In fact, in a couple tanks there were fights to get to it. LOL  It will go on my regular rotation now. :-)
 
The food sticks are a little long for my liking, but they are easily broken by hand to the proper size needed.  If everyone liked it, and that's my only complaint.  I'll take it.
 
If you are having problems locating it, the only sponsor from here I was able to find it so far was Han (H4N). 
 
I've attached some pics of some food mobs...well...just because I like pics. LOL

Extreme Blue Bolts x any TB would yield just more TBs. So if you want something out of the ordinary, maybe it is time to use the beauty and cross with a Tiger species. Maybe EBB x Aura Blue? or EBB x Royal Blue?

only 1 way to find out!

agreed!  the instructions are crazy, i'd only ever use that much on a large heavily stocked tank with really good biofiltration.
 
 

Depending on the amount you added to your tank, it could cause a spike in nitrates. Adding too much AE is no different than overfeeding a tank. While its a good product there is a misconception about Bacter AE in that you can add it without affecting the water quality. The instructions says to use one full spoon daily, that is way beyond too much.  I only use it for starting new tanks and maybe a couple times a month if I see a lot new babies I will add a very tiny amount.
 
As for the nitrates it could have been high and you didnt know it. You will be amazed how tough neo's can be and high nitrates will not kill immediately.

Depending on the amount you added to your tank, it could cause a spike in nitrates. Adding too much AE is no different than overfeeding a tank. While its a good product there is a misconception about Bacter AE in that you can add it without affecting the water quality. The instructions says to use one full spoon daily, that is way beyond too much.  I only use it for starting new tanks and maybe a couple times a month if I see a lot new babies I will add a very tiny amount.
 
As for the nitrates it could have been high and you didnt know it. You will be amazed how tough neo's can be and high nitrates will not kill immediately.