Louie

"You do get interesting colors and rili's if you put a few CRS/CBS together..."

 

Huh?  LOL  My brain must not be working today.  I don't get it.  How can you get rilis from crs/cbs?

 Seemed to me that I got shrimp from my mixture of CRS/CBS which looked like Rili's .

They had that saddle color but not full cbs nor crs.

wow!  They look like amel kingsnakes.  Beautiful!

Lol you know they do look like Amel Kings . I never thought of that .

I've had Procambarus clarkii (Neon Red Lobsters/Crayfish, max around 4") for years and they've reproduced a ton. Even had 6 adults in a 20 gallon tall a long time ago and they made a bunch on babies (don't recall the sexes, but there were at least 3 males).

 

The do males do challenge each other and yes, sometimes dismembering each others antenna, leg or one or both claws, but they extremely rarely ever kill each other. Only time they've killed each other is if they were attacked just after molting while they were still vulnerable, and maybe a rare event of one male that accidentally fell off a decoration and landed on it's back and another male attacked the underside of the upside down cray. But they are just being crays, they aren't that aggressive, they usually know to back out of a fight, and it's not like they are terrified of each other. Sure the smaller guys will more likely be more submissive, but will still venture near the larger ones if they want to get around them.

 

Believe it or not, they fought less often and reproduced more when "packed" into the small 20 gallon versus the ones I had in a 55 gallon. Less space to claim territories I guess and I assume they pretty much had no choice, but to live more peacefully with each other in the cramped 20. The 20 didn't even have many caves. Never had a male kill a female though. The young were fine with the adult crays, until they got around the 2" or so mark, then the adults would start raising their claws at them.

 

Kept them with fish (guppies, swordtails, corydoras, tetras) as well and they very rarely caught and killed a fish. Was even rare for them to even harm a fish (cut fins). They would occasionally raise their claws up, hoping for a fish to swim within their grasp, but they are slow. They can raise their claws at you too. I've never been pinched by one.

 

I am no expert though. Simply kept a group of these a long time ago and this was my experience with them. I didn't do anything special to get them to breed or anything.

Pretty sure these are almost exactly the same as Procambarus alleni, and so I am suspecting the male killing the female was just a rare occurrence and might be very unlikely to happen again if you got more (assuming the tank is set up appropriately).

 

Oh, and one note, these guys can crawl out of the tank, but will dry up and die if not found soon enough, so keep a tight lid on!

This was interesting reading I would have never thought you could keep more than a pair of Procambarus clarkii in anything smaller than more or less 30 inches/20 gallon long and any more than 2 would be war  .

From what I hear the Alleni's killing each other is common .

I am going to keep the male by himself but I do want to breed him with an orange female so will try that come Spring but after they mate I'll separate them. 

He wont mate now as it has been high 50s at night and only low 70s during day but come warmer temps the crays outside breed like crazy .

I would have never thought that after mating , producing young and getting alone with her over a year ,he would kill the female .

I must say the Procambarus Clarkii ghost might be the prettiest of North American crays  .   I saw one on ebay some time ago , pricey .

http://wordpress.crustahunter.com/wp-content/gallery/procambarus-clarkii-ghost/p-clarkii-ghost-1.jpg

What temps did you keep your Procambarus clarkii?

The main thing I would get concerned about in any off-the-path place is crime.

That is true .

Chris is a huge name in the shrimp and cray research field.

What I find hard to fathom is going to  Indonesia and than leaving , lol.

I have not been there but have a friend who retired few years ago and he and his wife moved there .  The pictures look beautiful .

yeah, I had 5 but one got egg bound and couldn't get the eggs out and died, ill see if I have any pics.

I dont like Craigslist, I already had a tank leak and now my bedroom has carpet so I can't take that chancw.

You can get good things on Craigslist but I would not risk a tank .

It is only after filling the tank up and putting the lights on will you see scratches that you wont notice buying the tank empty .

kuhlis are fantastic  very underrated and thrive in a planted tank .

The albinos which I saw couple years ago are neat looking .

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/photos/p/Pangio_myersi_09.jpg/image_medium

Thanks Louie

Thay all doing great, should get some photos up again

I am busy setting up another tank that will be the same size ecs for CBS

I have learned my lesson with Caridina and tap water

So using RO/DI with SS GH + to get tds 125 and GH to 4.5

I use this also for my Neos to get tds 180 and GH to 7.5

CBS are my favorite as like the contrast between white/black .

You do get interesting colors and rili's if you put a few CRS/CBS together so maybe a third tank might also be an idea .

Right now all I have is a frag tank in terms of keeping corals but over the years I've had almost every type of coral available. My next project in terms of coral is going to be a new non-photosynthetic reef. It will only have moon lights on unless someone wants to look at it. 

 

I am currently restricted to nano tanks but here's my best reefer friend's 150g. If you guys want to know anything about it I can tell you more. It's gone through many changes over the years. It's at least 10 years old but I can't remember the exact number.

 

  Your friends tank is stunning . Its like a public aquarium display .

I would be interested in learning more on soft coral's & kelp-type plants that can handle sub-tropical brackish water environment?

This little 5.5 G. I just set-up is for breeding Caridina Serratirostris  (Ninja shrimp) 

  From what I understand the Ninja Shrimps pattern/colors are all over the place and they can be kept as warm water freshwater shrimp but only breed in brackish ?

there is probably around 20-30 different types of indonesian / papua cherax crayfish out there - Cherax pulcher is also known as Hoa Creek and i seen them traded as Pink Coral as well.  But there are many nice ones out there and new ones being discovered / named all the time.  Chris Lukhaup is in Papua right now on another expedition to document and classify more crayfish.  

 

I am really liking the colours of the Cherax communis that i just got in.   Chris Lukhaup posted some photos of similar looking ones but with slightly different colours so they have some newly names cousins soon.

 

Also a big fan of Orange hand / tip and tiger / zebra crayfish

 

I had no idea who Chris Lukhaup was till after you mentioned him because as I was looking up crays you mentioned I saw his name on several pics .

I could be mistaken but think when CPO's first came out he also gave a lecture on them in a fish club which I saw in passing on youtube .

Nooooooooo! Cannot find another Endler! Everyone seemed to be fine but I've just popped an algae wafer in and 4 of them are going mad around it and the 5th one nowhere to be seen!!!! X

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Endlers have a pecking order which sounds strange but having had just males in a 20 gallon tank I noticed that however good plants are the key .

By far I find pure endlers or endler/ guppy crosses much more aggressive than just pure male guppies .

They are small nano tanks specifically for shrimps but look quite smart I'm in UK xxx

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oh I see like a square ''bowl'' but bigger .

A little patience goes a long way.

Knowing how to reseal an aquarium goes even further.

If you just cruise craigslist for aquariums you can see some really nice deals. If you can reseal then you can even find nice stuff that is free or close to free.

 

As for real patience, Petsmart has a 50% off sale every black Friday. I had to pass on a 270(?)g with stand for 250$ this year as my house would not fit it without some work. A 270g shrimp tank would be.. interesting.

 

What kind of plants are you looking to get?

 

 

Vpier. A cooling fan? So things will go wrong in a tank in the MN summer without one?

Craiglist for tanks is a gamble which IMO is not worth taking . Better off just buying a new tank with guarantee .

I say this not based on leaking tanks but on scratches on glass which you only see when tank is full of water .

this is my current stock

 

1x upside down catfish

4x black kuhli loaches

2x Bolivian ram

4x red minor tetras

and some snails.

I love Kuhli loaches . Those are interesting little fish which I have never heard of anyone breeding .

As they get fat they remind me of swimming crayons .

Ooooo very pertty! [emoji7]

Decided against getting a replacement today, the 5 of them seem very happy as they are so don't want to potentially stress them or the replacement out.

Saw some lovely shrimp cubes today though ;)

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  What are shrimp cubes ?

Lots are against taking animals from the wild and I see their point but taking some from the wild is the only way that endangered animals will be saved .

I was recently watching Anthony Bourdain in Madagascar and much of the wildlife is running out of wild areas so either captive breeding or they will be gone .

Louie, would it look like any of these? http://www.wildguppys.com/page3/page79/page76/page76.html

Yes that's them.  I saw a couple at a place I go to but they were sold on hold .

They had shiny blue bodies and great pattern .

I emailed Adrian to see if he had them but no reply .

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.

7.30.14 sam the nerite snail.jpg

I wasn't a snail person till I got nerites . I love the zebra's and horned .

''The snail's name is Sam - like the sidekick/bff in Lord of the Rings''

Plenty of room also for a Frodo .

Ah ok thanks for the advice. If I got two then my stock would be 7 altogether. With inevitable babies as well my little tank may be too small

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The males would harass the female non stop but 7 males isn't a bad number as they chase each other around instead of just one .

It just so happens that that one particular male may have had 1 or 2 nip him all the time but thick plants help a lot .

I have found Cobra strain and the tiny Tiger endlers which are my favorite the most aggressive .

The new Blue tiger peacock endlers are stunning .   I have only seen them but don't have them but trying.

Hey! That's AdrianHD's place!

He developed some awesome vars!

Adrian had amazing endlers . His yard was tanks, tubs, etc . I have a few of his strain and than he simply disappeared as far as he no longer sells endlers .

I and couple others tried contacting him looking for a certain strain but no reply .

Man this sucks.

 

The rates are pretty much robbery considering the bad service they give...

 

Small Flat Rate box is now $6.80

 

It use to cost $5.05 to ship a package in the same zone. Now it cost $6.45

 

Express Mail was usually $15 to ship to same zone. Now it's $23.

 

http://www.stamps.com/usps/postage-rate-increase/

 

They better improve their service with this high rate increase.

''They better improve their service with this high rate increase.''

Lol that was good .

I have seen several increases in the USPS over the years and never have I seen improvement .

I understand that rate increases can be frustrating, but I had a friend kn the UK who said it took weeks for even a letter to make it anyplace. I ordered some Christmas gifts and they took 2 MONTHS to reach me. Perhaps we've gotten spoiled having packages shipped across the coutry faster than you could drive it for undrr $10.00. Of course there is always UPS or Fedex.

Interestingly enough Fed-ex and UPS also just went up .

• ''On Dec. 28, for example, UPS Ground Services saw a 4.9 percent hike while UPS Air and International Service went up 5.2 percent
• Also, on Jan. 4 FedEx implemented a 4.9 percent increase and its new “dimensional weight” pricing model which will in many cases also translate to higher costs.
• Meanwhile, FedEx also raised its Home Delivery service from $2.85 to $3.00 and Ground Home Delivery from $2.90 to $3.10.''

http://smallbiztrends.com/2016/01/usps-shipping-rates-increasing-2016.html

Yes cherax destructor are terrible for killing each other - super aggressive even amongst juvies.   

 

Red claws are somewhat in the middle, they will fight very often and they will lose a claw or two but i have yet to see one get killed.  I have around a dozen or so them in a 30" x 14" tank ranging in size from 2" to 4".

 

All of the Indonesian ones I had so far are very peaceful.   If you have them in large group like I had, the first little while they will spend some time to figure out their territories and a bit of a pecking order.  there might be a few fights here and there during this time but nothing serious.  Once they all settle in to their own caves and tunnels, you rarely see any fights; they walk right over each other all the time.. lol

 

Indian shrimps are readily available in the aquatic trade but they are not very popular but you don't see too many of them be brought in.  They are more rarer amongst shrimp farms and dealers though as those guys don't always deal with the aquatic wholesalers.

This was very informative .  Thank you

The  Indonesian Cherax with color is the Coral cray , I believe that is the most colorful readily available type ?

To quote a line from the movie 'The Postman' with Kevin Costner .

"RIDE POSTMAN RIDE .YOU HEAR ME ?!! I SAID RIDE''

Found him Soothing Shrimp! Was watching one of my assasin snails and then up he popped!

He's now just settled down on a moss ball and I don't know if it's just wishful thinking but his tail looks like it's grown back a bit! Bit hard to tell really but it doesn't look like it's getting any shorter.

I'm now thinking maybe get some grass and some meds, it can't hurt right?

I'm really rooting for the little guy!

Louie, really interesting that your smallest Endler is king! I'd love it if 'no tail' grew his tail back and became the leader of the pack! [emoji6]

Will keep you posted.

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If you like endlers and hybrids-

http://www.swampriveraquatics.com/

I saw his place years ago but he stopped selling them .  I don't know why .