eozen81

I just found this older thread which had some good info on pintos. It never hurts to go back and re-read. I'll be following this one since I'm also trying for pintos with some super tiger tibees and some low grade crs that were crossed with tt's. I'll be crossing these with selected tb.
 
http://www.shrimpspot.com/index.php?/topic/1018-lets-talk-pintos/

There's a few of the all blue ones running around in my tank. I think they run for cover whenever I get the camera out.

Updated photos of cycling tanks.

I posted this on The Planted Tank's forum a couple of years ago, and this thread was brought to my attention, so it seemed appropriate to share the information here as well.   Most of the information here is in regards to fresh leaves as opposed to dry, but it may be of interest to you.  
 
As far as dried leaves go, I use oak, maple, and fruit tree leaves.  They adore apple and pear leaves, but you've got to use a lot of caution with trees that are treated as frequently as fruit trees are and make sure you know the history of the leaves.  
 
Regarding green leaves, I feed my shrimp spinach and turnip greens fairly regularly, but I decided to see whether they liked common weeds and other plants that grow in my yard.  The reason was both one of convenience and nutrition.  It's very easy to pick some oxalis on my way into the house from my car and the nutritional content of these various plants may be able to more effectively feed shrimp than exclusively feeding spinach or turnip greens.  I stuck to plants that I knew were edible for humans and were fairly widespread geographically.
 
Note: I do not treat my lawn in any way, and haven't for years.  If you're using herbicides and insecticides and decide to feed the treated plants to your shrimp, it's on your head.
 
Method:
All plants were picked, rinsed, and promptly parboiled in the microwave for 1 minute.  The parboiled leaves were then frozen into ice cubes for storage until testing.  The leaves were offered to a small tank (3 gallons) of cherry shrimp after not feeding them for 1 day.  The shrimp's immediate reaction was noted and the condition of the leaves after 12 hours and 24 hours was recorded.  Leaves were removed after 24 hours.  No attempt was made to standardize portion size.
 
Only a single test was done for each leaf type.  It is entirely possible that repeated testing would reveal different results.  If you try these foods and find that your shrimp react differently, please post your results on this thread.  Additionally, some of the plants took much longer to be consumed than others simply because of the quantity available.  
 
Results:
Apple leaves:
These were very well received.  Juvenile shrimp were interested immediately, the leaf was partially consumed within a day.  **A caution: Fruit trees are often treated for insects.  If you do not know for certain that the tree has not been treated this season, do not use the leaves.**
Immediate: Juveniles before it hit the bottom  12h: Several shrimp  24h: Much interest, leaf partially consumed.  2 days: Gone
 
Clover - White: Surprisingly little interest.  
Immediate: Investigated but ignored  12h: Untouched  24h: Untouched
 
Dandelion - Young:  Dandelion leaves less than 2" in length were chosen.  These were very well received by the shrimp and were completely eaten within an hour.  Their response to young dandelion leaves was on par to their response to spinach or turnip greens.
Immediate: High interest  12h: Completely consumed  24h: -
 
Dandelion - Old: Sections of dandelion leaves with length greater than 5" were chosen.  Little interest.
Immediate: High initial interest  12h: Almost untouched  24h: Almost untouched
 
Grape:  Smaller leaves were chosen, less than 4" across.  These were very well received and were eaten much more like a tree leaf than a spinach leaf.  Aside from young dandelion leaves, these were by far the most popular of the plants I tried.
Immediate: High interest  12h: Numerous shrimp eating  24h: Almost consumed, many shrimp still eating (I let them finish it, as it seemed mean to take away the leaf while they were enjoying it so much.)
 
Oxalis:  Also known as wood sorrel.  These were eaten, but there was not the initial rush to devour them that was seen with dandelions and grapes.  A small quantity was used, so it is hard to compare the response to something like a grape leaf.
Immediate: Little interest  12h: Almost consumed 24h: Consumed
 
Broadleaf Plantain - Young and Old:  Two separate tests were done with broadleaf plantains (which are not closely related to the tropical bananas of the same name.)  Both were underwhelming.
Immediate: Swarmed by juvenile shrimp  12h: Almost untouched  24h: Almost untouched
 
Raspberry leaves:  Ignored initially, devoured later.  I left this in the tank for a few days and it wound up being thoroughly enjoyed.  The shrimp treated it much more like a tree leaf than a spinach leaf.
Immediate: Some interest  12h: Untouched  24h: Untouched  4 days: Gone
 
Rose leaves:
Rose leaves are fairly thick, so I expected them to be treated as a tree leaf.  There was a surprising amount of interest in the leaf as soon as it was in the water, however, and the shrimp were still nibbling at it 24 hours later.  Four days out, it was consumed completely.  **A caution: Roses are some of the most heavily treated plants people keep in their gardens.  If you are uncertain about whether a rose bush has been treated, do not use the leaves.**
Immediate: Moderate interest  12h: Appearance unchanged, shrimp still interested  24h: Some holes, shrimp still interested  4 days: Gone
 
Rose Petal: Very difficult to sink, devoured once it hit bottom.  My shrimp rarely swim up to floating food, so there was no surprise when this didn't attract a lot of interest while bumping around at the top of the tank.  Gone in a couple of hours once it hit bottom.  Times are from when it finally sank.  Next spring I hope to test apple, pear, and multiflora rose petals, all closely related plants.  **A caution: Roses are some of the most heavily treated plants people keep in their gardens.  If you are uncertain about whether a rose bush has been treated, do not use the petals.  I personally would avoid any and all commercially purchased flower petals as well.**
Immediate: Frenzy  12h: Gone  24h: Still Gone
 
Wild Strawberry: Very surprising, but these were completely ignored.
Immediate: No interest  12h: Untouched  24h: Untouched
 
Analysis:  By far the best received plants from my backyard were grape leaves, rose petals, and young dandelion leaves.  Oxalis leaves were also consumed completely.  The introduction of these leaves, especially grape leaves, which can easily be dried and stored through the winter, should provide some additional variety to my shrimp's diet.
 
Plants I would like to try but was unable to find in my yard:
Chickweed
Lamb's Quarters (I'd probably eat this one myself rather than giving it to the shrimp...)

Keep in mind some towns/cities spray insecticides from trucks onto trees as they drive through the neighborhoods.

I just went through a large jar of SS gh/kh for my neos this year and figured I would write up what my feelings are.  Keep in mind, this is only my opinion and should be taken as such. heh
 
SS gh/kh actually uses more product to remineralize.  1 scoop to 2g as opposed to 1 scoop to 3g with SS gh+
 
SS gh/kh is harder to dissolve, whereas SS gh+ dissolves very fast.
 
SS gh/kh didn't always give me the same TDS per scoop.  I'm guessing this is because it incorporates 2 different powders to create 2 different things: gh and kh.  These ratios can be "off" as the powder is used up.
 
I saw less breeding with SS gh/kh.  Now, having said that, it could be lots of other things involved too.  Extra long winter, TDS change, etc.  So this may or may not have played a role in it.
 
In short, I'm going back to SS gh+.  One jar for all my species of shrimp.  Jar lasts longer, almost instant dissolving, TDS is roughly the same per scoop, and already since I've been using it I've noticed berries again- although as noted, this may be due to other reasons as well.
 
Other opinions welcomed. These are just my very unscientific observations.

Hi guys,
 
Pictures are here and we will be posting new pictures routinely so look forward to them. Hope you guys like it, also if any other member have some awesome shrimps they like to share please post some pictures as well.
 
Thank you,
 
Blue Crown
 
 

I personally do male TB's with female mischlings though (?)

Really glad you found a suitable staple for yourself. Again, it's more important to find a food you like, affordable, and something your shrimp will eat. Everyone has different experiences and opinion. [emoji1]
Picture of what I feed.

I like to keep small portions in cute glass jars for easy access. Rest is stored away inside original packaging inside fridge.

1. CSF ( Cologne Shrimp Food)

2. 10g, 25g, 50g, 100g, 500g, and 1000g 

3. Organic, 100% Natural, Outside the box ingredients that shrimp seem to really love. Check out my product review on the CSF Food.


4. I think this brand is actually comparable if not cheaper than most but my shrimp seem to enjoy it more.

I use Snowflake food from Ch3fb0yrdee.  My TBs were refusing to eat the Mosura pellets I gave them, which was odd since my CRS in the past would take mosura with gusto.  But when I added snowflake, they started going to town with it quite fast.  
Best part is, it's ridiculously cheap for something that will last me at LEAST 6 months.  And my tank is packed with TBs of all sizes.  I also really dig the fact that I can leave it in the tank without fear of it rotting.  It slowly goes away on its own.  
 
I think they're only like... 7 and free shipping...?  
In my experience, the snowflake pellets need to be broken down smaller than what it comes in originally.  So keep that in mind when using it.  
 
Here's a video I shot in June with snowflake in there.  
http://youtu.be/eyn19kzSt7Q?list=UUU75HSe231Qk4i6PhTwAx5A

Wow, too much flow over there, you should really decrease the flow rate, that poor CRS 

Added 1 CRS today. Things looks to be slippery on the bare side
 

2 Berried MK-Breed PRL CRS- Picture taken with iPhone 5S
 

 
Hope everyone doesn't mind the abundance of pictures I am taking of my MK-Breed PRL CRS but its exciting.

We read many things on the internet, and some seems so true and some ridiculous. I always just put them in my mental note and hope to figure out my version of the truth .... or myth.
 
Have you read that if you mix CRS and CBS and eventually the colour will go toward brownish and red won't be so red and black won't be so black?
 
I just used this picture from my 7.9G Fluval Flora tank in the other thread, but you can see for yourself. This line has been bred together (red and black) for at least 2 years by someone else, then by me for another 3.5 years. I don't see any trend of colour fading or changing so far.
 
And although I have so many different lines of PRLs, this line of regular CRS is not something I would give up, they are the most toughest and prolific CRS/CBS I have seen. This tank is in the living room, it can get to 28-29 degree C (~80F) in the summer, and 17-18 degree C (low 60F) in the winter, no issue at all. So far this year, I've only done ONE 15% water change, and top off as needed. Substrate is 2 years old ADA, and breeding simply never stops.
 

One trick that most sellers try not to tell you is blue shrimps get bluer when under stress. When you just receive BB or OEBT, their colour will be much more intense. As they get used to your tank they will become lighter.
 
My experience on BB is they should get to their best colour (without stress factor) when they go into breeding size. See this big mama.... she wasn't like that until she got close to breeding size.
 

 
 
She was no more than like this at juvi size.

link:
https://flic.kr/p/oXhyDH
 
 
link: 
https://flic.kr/p/pTR63Z

Time for more crs ball!

Just realized I haven't taken many pics for a while...let me post an older one.
 
 

my standard quality CRS about 5 months ago

CRS shrimpball

Post your shrimp ball pics here!

Found these shrimp themes for firefox and thought I'd share.
 
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/shrimp/
 
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/my-little-shrimp-tank/
 
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/red-bee-shrimp2011/
 
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/a-shrimp-and-wave-kamon-/

Not saying this is what happened to you, however some people will feed foods to increase color without telling the buyer.  What happens then is that the shrimp lose color later when fed different foods.
 
As long as the buyer knows a food is used to increase color when buying, I have no problem with it.  It is only when a seller sells to an unsuspecting buyer that I have my problem.

Wow 75+ PRL, Jesus Christ
 
They look stunning and fantastic. Hope they will relax in this palace