nicpapa

YES,
I have a couple of berried Cardinals in the tank. I took the videos 2 weeks ago. Hope to find babies soon.
The shrimps are getting more comfortable now and are less shy.
 

 

 

 

Nessies.
 

Here are some of my German red pinto mischling. These are GRP x WR. Percentage of pintos to WR offspring is almost 50:50. The mother is on her third batch of babies.

blue swarm

For the substrate, the key factor to the design is to be able to trap waste material and decompose properly. I put the thickness there is for easy reference and follow. No doubt thinner substrate may work, but it will have to be designed and maintained properly. Good feedback. Maybe I will modify the verbiage.
Regarding CO2, that is very tricky. I know both you and I are injecting CO2 into our shrimp tank. But due to bubble counter is not a standard, it is very hard to say how many BPS will kill shrimp baby. Hmm... Maybe I can put something like over-dosing CO2. I don't wish people have a false impression of CO2 is 100% shrimp-safe. End up their shrimp dies, and I will be flamed again. ^_^"

Regarding moulting, many people feels that high GH will cause thick shell to grow and shrimp can't moult. This believe is due to people think that shrimp will moult the entire shell. However, shrimp only moult a thin outer layer. If you want to know in scientific term, please read this article: http://www.aquaculture.ugent.be/Education/coursematerial/online%20courses/shrimp-cd/bio/moultb.htm
 
Therefore, the saying of thick shell is harder to moult is incorrect. They are moulting and not peeling away the entire shell like we are eating the shrimp.
 
The process of moulting involves re-absorb the exoskeleton, releasing of moulting hormones to dislocate the old exoskeleton, produce a new exoskeleton and soften the outer layer. By looking at this, it is a complex process that requires very healthy body, and sufficient stored nutrients and energy. Here are the common causes of moulting problem:
Die because of the body does not produce enough hormones to induce the moult - The shrimp is unhealthy or malnutrition; Shell is sticked to the body during the moult - The shrimp is unhealthy or malnutrition to produce enough moulting hormones and/ or produce the new exoskeleton below the old one; Shrimp dies after moulting - The shrimp does not have the new exoskeleton produced properly under the old one before moulting. End up, the shrimp does not have a functional exoskeleton. Imagine a human suffer an 100% osteoporosis, definitely he/ she can't live for more than an hour. Looking at above, it is all voice down the shrimp has not been healthy (or having enough nutrients) and causing moulting to have problem. This problem will extrapolated when they are changing environment, such as when you buy new shrimp, the shrimp changes tank or you perform a water restart.
 
There is also another interesting fact about how people look at moulting problem. Most people will only look at why shrimp die during moult but never look at why their other shrimps are moulting well, especially those shrimps that moult well has even thicker and nicer shell. If we change our angle to analyse why those shrimps are doing well instead of looking at those shrimps are doing bad, you will fully understand the important of shrimp health and not thinking of "thick" shell.

Forgot to mention this.
Although Prime is a very good dechlorination product, it's active ingredient has to be handled with care.
Any dechlorinator that smells like rotten egg uses sulphur dioxide as an active ingredient. Sulphur dioxide is very effective in reducing chlorine and chloramine to become chloride.
Sulphur dioxide is a very effective anti-fungi and anti-mould agent. Hence at high level, it will kill shrimp and microbial too.
As such, I will strongly discourage to dose Prime directly into the shrimp tank. If you are using tap water and is treating with Prime or any dechlorinator that uses same active ingredient, it is better to prepare the water over night and gas off the sulphur dioxide first.

Please take this as a compliment.  I hate you.  Grrrr.   I have only been keeping shrimp since the beginning of this year.  So I am still a rookie.  Then it does not help I have a hard time learning or remembering things because of the meds I am on for my bum back.  I am so jealous of your tanks and your crystal shrimp.  WoW they look so beautiful and healthy.  I am so jealous.  I have been having some success with my orange, cherries and yellow's.   Oh and now ghost/cherry shrimps.  They are turning out to be awesome.  They are cherries but with a hunched back/tail like ghosts have and turning out to be a beautiful red color.  
Well to sum things up.  Awesome aquariums.  A++++ 

And the 180lt planted...
 

 
dimensions: 100cm*40cm*45cm
Liters: 180

fish: ~20 hemigrammus bleheri , 5 bushy nose pleco
Others: red cherry

Substrate : quartz gravel and litle seachem flourite

light: 2x39 t5 osram και 2 x21w t5 osram
light period:10 hours
Filters :2 ecco pro 2036
water parameters
pH:5,8-6,0 to 6,8-7,00
Gh: 5
ΚΗ: 3
ΝΗ3: 0
ΝΟ2: 0
ΝΟ3: 10-20
Po4 5ppm
fe 0.5 ppm

ferts: Ει
3grK2so4
2 gr Kno3
2 ml fleet enema
1 gr tnc trace

CO2: 11 hours , with external diffuser,when the light closed , a external filter start to remove the co2.
food: flakes, and others shrimp food for the catfish

Thanks.
Yes from an aquascaping perspective, these vertical tanks are quite challenging.
I just received 24 (20 ordered) Cardinal shrimps from thegardenofeder (good packaging, sent by USPS Priority Mail 3-Day, shipment took actually 3 days). Very excited about the shrimps.
The shrimps are doing surprisingly well (see pic).
I am slowly acclimating them right now.
I put five (male) Caridina sulawesi culls into the tank seven days ago and they are alive and doing surprisingly well given the drastic pH change from 6.6 to 8.4 that they underwent.
 
Male Caridina sulawesi in tank

 
 
Caridina dennerli after opening breather bag

 

And the 180lt planted...
 

 
dimensions: 100cm*40cm*45cm
Liters: 180

fish: ~20 hemigrammus bleheri , 5 bushy nose pleco
Others: red cherry

Substrate : quartz gravel and litle seachem flourite

light: 2x39 t5 osram και 2 x21w t5 osram
light period:10 hours
Filters :2 ecco pro 2036
water parameters
pH:5,8-6,0 to 6,8-7,00
Gh: 5
ΚΗ: 3
ΝΗ3: 0
ΝΟ2: 0
ΝΟ3: 10-20
Po4 5ppm
fe 0.5 ppm

ferts: Ει
3grK2so4
2 gr Kno3
2 ml fleet enema
1 gr tnc trace

CO2: 11 hours , with external diffuser,when the light closed , a external filter start to remove the co2.
food: flakes, and others shrimp food for the catfish

And the 180lt planted...
 

 
dimensions: 100cm*40cm*45cm
Liters: 180

fish: ~20 hemigrammus bleheri , 5 bushy nose pleco
Others: red cherry

Substrate : quartz gravel and litle seachem flourite

light: 2x39 t5 osram και 2 x21w t5 osram
light period:10 hours
Filters :2 ecco pro 2036
water parameters
pH:5,8-6,0 to 6,8-7,00
Gh: 5
ΚΗ: 3
ΝΗ3: 0
ΝΟ2: 0
ΝΟ3: 10-20
Po4 5ppm
fe 0.5 ppm

ferts: Ει
3grK2so4
2 gr Kno3
2 ml fleet enema
1 gr tnc trace

CO2: 11 hours , with external diffuser,when the light closed , a external filter start to remove the co2.
food: flakes, and others shrimp food for the catfish

Here is a couple pics of my new blue jellies munching on some Han snowflake. The lighting over this tank is awful and way to yellow so the blue color isnt showing like it did under a whiter light. Oh well still great shrimp.
2nd pic Im thinking it is a female. Agree? Im just hoping i have a mix of sexes here. Pretty sure i do.

I won't recommend pocket type.
 
as when the life of probe ends, you have to toss the whole thing away.
 
Buy standard pH meter with BNC connector type probe.
you can find lots of good probe at very affordable price.
 
probe is only good for a year. no matter how you maintain it.

There is a reason for filter to be designed as multi-stage. Usually, you will only need to clean the mechanical stage or pre-filter but you don't clean the biological stage.
 
Traditionally, fine filtration comes after biological stage. This design was started off by Ehiem. I think the rational was that a some dirty should stick to biological filter to feed the microbial. However, this will create a problem. When thick biofilm build up on the biological filter media, they will stick gunk and it becomes dirty and may not be efficient to clean the water column anymore.
 
As times go by, pre-filter was introduced and all sorts of new designs are created to counter this problem. Depending on the design and material of the pre-filter, you may need to clean it once every 2 weeks to 2 months. If you have effective pre-filter, you may only need to clean the mechanical filter once every 6 months or never even need to clean it. If your biological filter did not build up gunk, then you will not need to clean it at all.
 
Dirty filter and/ or dirty substrate will usually create three problems:
High NO3 High organics and cause algae and bacteria bloom pH plunge due to too much humus

Freshly moult JRB, his shell is just inches away (pardon the low quality. I'm too lazy to setup my lighting gear again (^_^")y ):
 

 
This poor little guy is my tester on a series of resetting water tests and zero acclimation test. I switch him between 2 tanks for 3 times (scoop and throw straight into another tank without acclimation) within 2 weeks. And he has performed the second moult within 2 weeks. Surprisingly, he is moulting, colouring up and surviving well. This is giving me very good test result.
 
When all my tests are done, I will reward him by giving him a few pretty ladies to start a new colony. ^^
 
 

Don't lower your TDS. The saying of shrimp lives better in lower TDS is a myth. Some of my tanks, which contain highly sensitive shrimps, are at 400 TDS (they are high fertiliser dosing tanks) and the shrimps are happily living and breeding inside.
 
If you try to adjust the TDS, you will end up killing your shrimp.

No, KK (Taiwan Bee = TB) is mutation from Golden x CRS/CBS
 
TiBee = Tiger x Bee

Just to share this..
 
The fish
 

 
Tank for breed...
 

 
Tank that fry grow in.
 

 
And here some fry...
 

 

 

Some photos of older rummys.

 

 

 

 
 
And some new fry, there is about 30 .
 
 

 

Some photos of older rummys.

 

 

 

 
 
And some new fry, there is about 30 .
 
 

 

Not the greatest picture quality. Berried Blue Bolt!