chibikaie

Malawas!

The 1 mm size/first post is more likely to be Wolffia and the next size/second post Lemna minor (lesser duckweed). I think Wolffia is called water meal.
Greater duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza) is larger still (5 mm and up I think) and has a very shiny upper surface. Its leaves tend to grow in groups of 3 or 4 before budding off, unlike Lemna which seems to max out at 2. The underside develops to a purplish red in good conditions (iron and other trace nutrients). It grows more slowly and gets big enough that it's easier to corral.
I like all duckweeds. They don't get tangled in my rooted plants, they don't flip over and die, they help keep fish from jumping, they are never carbon limited, they are undemanding about light, and they are great at exporting nitrogen. Even people who can't grow regular plants (ME) can grow duckweed (although I have been known to kill it). I know it's basically impossible to get rid of, but I like it.

Funny, just this morning I was trying to talk a friend of mine out of getting goldfish. I suggested shrimp instead since she said that cherry shrimp were fine in her tap water. I told her that they come in more colors now and they wouldn't mean setting up a four to six foot tank with several hundred dollar giant canister filters. I think I got her interested!

The 1 mm size/first post is more likely to be Wolffia and the next size/second post Lemna minor (lesser duckweed). I think Wolffia is called water meal.
Greater duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza) is larger still (5 mm and up I think) and has a very shiny upper surface. Its leaves tend to grow in groups of 3 or 4 before budding off, unlike Lemna which seems to max out at 2. The underside develops to a purplish red in good conditions (iron and other trace nutrients). It grows more slowly and gets big enough that it's easier to corral.
I like all duckweeds. They don't get tangled in my rooted plants, they don't flip over and die, they help keep fish from jumping, they are never carbon limited, they are undemanding about light, and they are great at exporting nitrogen. Even people who can't grow regular plants (ME) can grow duckweed (although I have been known to kill it). I know it's basically impossible to get rid of, but I like it.

The 1 mm size/first post is more likely to be Wolffia and the next size/second post Lemna minor (lesser duckweed). I think Wolffia is called water meal.
Greater duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza) is larger still (5 mm and up I think) and has a very shiny upper surface. Its leaves tend to grow in groups of 3 or 4 before budding off, unlike Lemna which seems to max out at 2. The underside develops to a purplish red in good conditions (iron and other trace nutrients). It grows more slowly and gets big enough that it's easier to corral.
I like all duckweeds. They don't get tangled in my rooted plants, they don't flip over and die, they help keep fish from jumping, they are never carbon limited, they are undemanding about light, and they are great at exporting nitrogen. Even people who can't grow regular plants (ME) can grow duckweed (although I have been known to kill it). I know it's basically impossible to get rid of, but I like it.

I just got a Sera nitrate kit - much harder to find than Salifert, it seems, but the individual kits are not quite as expensive.
I am one of those oddities who uses dip stick tests. I've been using Tetra brand and the ease of use means I check weekly even though nothing is wrong with my tanks. If I have any suspicions that the results are not good, I go get the liquid tests (I have API for the most part, as my problem is mainly with the pH and nitrate tests). They have not disagreed so far.
I also use the Seachem in-tank ammonia dot. It measures free ammonia and not total ammonia nitrogen, which is fine for me. Hey, it hangs there and I look at it when I feed and dose the tanks. It does not get any easier than that.

The high point of my weekend was seeing four shrimp in a single day. I was actually afraid that I had somehow murdered them all, and then they proved me wrong en masse. (I've been giving serious thought to giving up - had not seen any in nearly two weeks.)

Definitely find out GH and KH. Consider getting nitrates below 10. If you're on tap water and this is your only tank, consider RO water instead as there may be something that you can't detect on a test that is detrimental. Otherwise? No idea here.

The high point of my weekend was seeing four shrimp in a single day. I was actually afraid that I had somehow murdered them all, and then they proved me wrong en masse. (I've been giving serious thought to giving up - had not seen any in nearly two weeks.)

Do not use API nitrate kit.

http://news.yahoo.com/jaws-meets-kangaroo-rare-cute-pocket-shark-found-200026568.html

thank you!!! "Swiss cheese?" ha ha - that is awesome.
 
I think they are all gorgeous

I thought they were a different species (still neo though)? But I guess you're saying they share water preferences.
I'd love to see malawas on there. Cool little guys.

I thought they were a different species (still neo though)? But I guess you're saying they share water preferences.
I'd love to see malawas on there. Cool little guys.

What kind of LED? They have a wide range from too little to be useful at all to complete overkill for all but the fanciest setups.

Nice reference. Me and my 450 TDS are gonna go cry in a corner now.

Nice reference. Me and my 450 TDS are gonna go cry in a corner now.

Nice reference. Me and my 450 TDS are gonna go cry in a corner now.

I'm an aqua hoarder as well.

Definitely depends on what plants you're looking to keep - you can do a lot with the basic fluorescent hood lights if you aren't driving a high tech planted tank.

I'm with chibikaie on this one!
I haven't even started my first tank yet and I'm already planing all kinds of different projects!
Now I feel the need to try and start a selective breeding program on this crab to see what types of patterns and colors can be "popped"
 

so here it is... the mixed tank now - aka the lemonade stand. I'm exhausted but happy. It's amazing what us shrimp/fish folk have laying around. ha ha
 

Purigen will not instantly zap out all organics - it just decreases the amount. It also does become exhausted, so check periodically and change it out or recharge it when it turns brown. I agree that it should help in your situation but that it isn't a magic bullet (there is no such thing, although water changes come close).
 
As for the water changes, think of it like this. Your shrimp are (presumably) stressed from the high nitrate levels already, and will continue to be stressed from that factor the longer they remain in that water. By doing a 10% daily change, you are lowering the amount of stress they are under from that problem. I think the benefits will outweigh the concerns about changing too much of their water at once. And 10% is not that much. To be honest, if it were me, and the nitrates really were 160 ppm or above (definitely use a new kit to determine this), then I would even gradually step up the changes to get them down faster. I'd do 10% for 3 days, then go up to 20% for 3 days, all the way up to and beyond 50% if they do not appear stressed. Assuming you are matching temperature, GH, KH, pH, TDS (TDS likely to be less for incoming water since it will not be high in nitrates but obviously the less change at once the better), healthy shrimp should be able to handle it. One of my friends does a 50% water change on his planted shrimp tank once every 2 weeks.

OMG its so cute!

I love how they insist they're not suggesting that you set up a new tank expressly to test just using a sponge ... and how they are like "it's actually a drawback that they are so cheap to set up, you feel like you can set up too many tanks" - hilarious. Love it.
I'm a big fan of keeping it simple. The more stuff you have that can break, the more WILL break. I don't think I have ever seen a sponge filter break.