Crazyfishlady

Well I was a 'freaker-outer' when I had my first hitchhiker. Why - because so many things I read screamed to 'get those suckers out of there now!'. 
 
I have to be careful in my betta tanks, but that is because my bettas will eat a lot of snails. But each betta has a 'pet nerite' as I like to call it, and the nerite has a job to do and is also pretty darn cute.
 
As I started to get into the planted tanks more, I would get hitchhikers and... again OMG freak out. I'm on a FB page of very local folks that do planted tanks and I can still remember the pic one person posted of their shrimp tank with (what looked like) hundreds of snails and he was furious. That helped instill the fear of those 'pond snails'.
 
Then one person finally told me - you got a pond snail hitch hiker... lucky you! My jaw dropped. What? Lucky? Then I read about the 'too many snails means YOU are doing something off, not them'.
 
I will admit the knee jerk reaction of AHHHH get them out!!! Took time and I still closely watch, but I have tried to warm up to the 2 pond snails currently in the snowball tank and even thank them (yes... out loud, when no one is looking) when I see them cleaning the glass.
 
This is my betta "Bubba's" pet nerite. The snail's name is Sam - like the sidekick/bff in Lord of the Rings, ha ha They have been together for about 9 months now.

My thoughts are this...
 
I am extremely new to this 'hobby' and it's a very scary, confusing world to enter into with so much conflicting information. I've had a few hard lessons learned but this forum has kept me sane and kept me from throwing in the towel... more than once.
 
Have I bought from 'he who shall not be named'? Nope
 
Will I? Nope
 
That is my decision, based on 'reviews' from forums, FB pages... some with documented pics, some without. This is my RIGHT as a consumer to decide not to buy from him. I understand taking things with a grain of salt but the consistency of the posts, the pics and even pics taken of the seller's response have played a part in my decision.
 
Some people defend him (also their right) and claim you should judge for yourself. I did my research and decided not to chance it.
 
I will admit his prices on AB do draw you in and are tempting... 
 
Consumers have a right to the good reviews but also the bad ones. That isn't slander or defamation.
 
Ok - off my soap box now  

My thoughts are this...
 
I am extremely new to this 'hobby' and it's a very scary, confusing world to enter into with so much conflicting information. I've had a few hard lessons learned but this forum has kept me sane and kept me from throwing in the towel... more than once.
 
Have I bought from 'he who shall not be named'? Nope
 
Will I? Nope
 
That is my decision, based on 'reviews' from forums, FB pages... some with documented pics, some without. This is my RIGHT as a consumer to decide not to buy from him. I understand taking things with a grain of salt but the consistency of the posts, the pics and even pics taken of the seller's response have played a part in my decision.
 
Some people defend him (also their right) and claim you should judge for yourself. I did my research and decided not to chance it.
 
I will admit his prices on AB do draw you in and are tempting... 
 
Consumers have a right to the good reviews but also the bad ones. That isn't slander or defamation.
 
Ok - off my soap box now  

They are either really nice blue pearls or blue velvets

Congrats CFL ! Get us some pics soon

ok - all I can say is WOW!!!! I've never seen so much moss!! Life got a bit crazy so I haven't been able to post or post pics but I got a HUGE amount of moss, a lot of beautiful floaters, a few gorgeous plants, some food samples and totally fresh pollen!!! I was blown away :) 
 
A huge thank you to roborep for an amazing raok, the plants are doing great and I'm still working on finding places for the moss, but it is a fun project! I will get pics soon!

You know something to consider when dosing a tank is to determine the actual volume of water.  There is a site that gives very useful info on how to determine the actual volume of water.  For instance a 20 gallon long with a substrate only holds 13 gallons of water so it would be easy to overdose if you are adding chemicals for a full 20 gallons.  Sometimes I think that where people run into trouble when dosing with antibiotics, medicines and chemicals.  I'll post a link to that site when I get home this evening.

I have moss in all shrimp, tanks with purigen, no CO2, no added ferts, no excel, varied light timing and they grow like mad. I also have cheap lights on my tanks... lol
 
Is the moss new to the tank? It could be that the old/previous growth is dying off as it adjusts to your tank water. 
 
My tanks have been in black out mode the last few days (like only about 2 hours or less of lights) because of a heat wave and I've had no problems.
With all of that said, I have put new moss in tanks and had some of it turn brown because of the adjustment to new water, but the new parts grow out just fine.

Yeah, it was a bummer. However nothing that can't be returned from with time, and grudgingly, patience.
You will be fine rasta! Mine was an over site on my end, one that has been fixed so it can't and won't happen again.
On the Plus - it opened a mature tank up for some new arrivals, who I'm sure will love it. Gotta find that silver lining somewhere!

Thanks for all the advice everyone!
The moss has been in the tank for a couple months, at first it didn't grow at all, then it started dying, now it's growing some new shoots just slowly.
I have a vase with Java moss in my window that didn't grow at first but now it's taking over the vase. Does moss sometimes take months to start growing well?

Small update.
 
Found a great deal on some large Teddy Bear Cholla peices and they should be here and prepped for the tank by the end of the week.

From what I gather, indeed. It comes with damn near everything included-heater,sponge,water pump,bio media,Aquatan blackwater conditioner,bio kickstater,shrimp food, full spec lighting with cooling fan, care sheets. Extremely hard to find, but from the prices I've seen, I got the entire setup with custom stand, for about 1/2 the cost of JUST the stand. For once, luck was on my side.

I haven't but maybe I will have to, I could possibly hurt at this point

woohoo!  thanks andy!
 
and everyone else!

Time is running out!!

My process is pretty simple. I use green bean baby food, in the plastic boxes, because it has the highest percentage of calcium. All of the remaining ingredients are powdered. Using a small rubber spatula, mix to a consistency of frosting adding distilled or r/o water as needed. Then I use a cake frosting bag and tip (leaf) to create strips of food on no-stick aluminum foil. Into the dehydrator they go overnight. I save the green bean plastic boxes to store the food and add a silica gel pack to each box to keep it tasty. I keep the calcium to about 10 percent. It is important to use calcium that does not contain vit D.

Shrimpinista can you detail your process for making the food. I would love to try making my own as well.

Information of website also Adds tanning to the tank
Spot for microorganisms to grow and shrimps can eat it.
A good shelter/hideout spots for shrimps.
And a cool decorative for your tank

All information on my website But you can add to you tank and shrimps pick at it. A spot for biolfim to grow and there's nutrients in it. Like moringa leaves.
Or you can grow your own plant. Add the seeds to some soil and done.

My thoughts are this...
 
I am extremely new to this 'hobby' and it's a very scary, confusing world to enter into with so much conflicting information. I've had a few hard lessons learned but this forum has kept me sane and kept me from throwing in the towel... more than once.
 
Have I bought from 'he who shall not be named'? Nope
 
Will I? Nope
 
That is my decision, based on 'reviews' from forums, FB pages... some with documented pics, some without. This is my RIGHT as a consumer to decide not to buy from him. I understand taking things with a grain of salt but the consistency of the posts, the pics and even pics taken of the seller's response have played a part in my decision.
 
Some people defend him (also their right) and claim you should judge for yourself. I did my research and decided not to chance it.
 
I will admit his prices on AB do draw you in and are tempting... 
 
Consumers have a right to the good reviews but also the bad ones. That isn't slander or defamation.
 
Ok - off my soap box now  

I have 3 children, all boys. Only 2 are still with us. 
 
I have seen video games evolve from pong (wow.. that was so awesome at the time) to the RPGWX...whatever... the games are now. ha ha I have sat and watched my boys play these visually amazing games. 
 
I even play computer games myself, a bit. My interests are more minecraft but I even play an online strategy game. It's a war game. lol
 
My boys are 27 and 16. They have run me through the gambit on the newest games and some disturbed me, at first (ok a few still do).
 
I rarely ever tell my boys "No... no discussion... no!" I allow them to sit and talk to me about it. I think it's a very important skill and helps them learn to communicate, compromise, understand other perspectives... the list goes on.
 
My 16 yo gets good grades, has been in a sport since he was 4, does his homework, etc. 
 
So, when he came to me about a game I did not want him to play, he knew how to come at me. He asked if we could have a discussion about it.
 
Yes... I encourage this. They have to be respectful, my ultimate decision is law, but I wanted to teach my boys how to organize their thoughts, not speak out in anger or storm off. The answer might be no, but I make sure they learn to communicate.
 
With all of that said, maybe you can ask them if it is something you can talk about. Be prepared for the answer to be no (and respect that) but maybe if you calmly ask if you could sit and discuss it they will see that as a positive. Then, be prepared (write it down before if needed) with reasons, thoughts and even extra chores you are willing to do or time limits you are willing to set. That shows a thought process and level of maturity right there.
 
Every parent parents different
 
And yes - my boys knows... for zombies... go for the brain  You have to have humor too

My 'mixed' tank is turning out to be a wonder all by itself. There is a bit of this and that in there. Here is what I know is in there (all neos):
 
- A few wilds
- 2 or three reds of various grades
- a yellow
- a snowball
- a clearish one but not snowball
- non nondescript ones that look like wilds and can't honestly say more than that
 
The lighting in the tank is not that great, but I have been having fun just letting 'whatever happens happen'. I expected/expect a lot of wilds, but I am ok with that.
 
Well, someone had babies. Not sure who because, again, this is a no stress tank.
 
This morning I found babies on the glass. Most are shades of red (very light). Then I noticed several very dark, stunning blue babies the same size as the red babies.
 
I have no idea who the parents are but I know for certain that there are NO blue adults in that tank.
 
Any thoughts about this? Also, if I pulled the blues out and put with my other blues would that be good or a bad thing? I had no plans to pull anyone out of this tank but with this striking color I just might.

 

Deta hit the nail on the head. 
 
Many shrimp can be graded.  Put the grade, add pics of your general colony and you'll be good. 
 
You can also add a pic of your best breeder, however be sure to have the customer realize that shrimp is exceptional.  IMO too many shady sellers put up a pic of exceptional for selling and the customer gets upset when it is not what they received.

From my experience the number one most important rule is to be honest. The best way I find to achieve this is to add pictures, but also describe the shrimp(s) as best as possible. I always let the buyer know what size, if the shrimp is a certain pattern or if it varies, if their culls or not, etc. Another rule of thumb for me is first impression is everything, What do I mean by that? Alot of times I sold Fire Red Shrimp, when really I could of sold them as Painted Fire Red, a higher grade, but everyone's perception is different. I could of lost $0.25-$0.50 a shrimp because of this, but more importantly I am making my customers even more happy because they are receiving what they ordered or better!

BB x BKK make shadow panda. 
 
I find the best way to buy/sell shrimp without miss representation is to post a picture of the actual shrimp for sale. This avoids any confusion as to what you might be offering.