# | ShrimpTech | Nanos | R.I.P |



## shrimpnmoss

Some original setup shots from March.


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## sampster5000

Very nice. I am interested to see how the africana aquasoil looks. I am wanting to try it out but have not seen any pictures of it yet. Good luck with breeding the high grade shrimps while doing high light plants! I'm sure you can do it.


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## shrimpnmoss

You won't be able to see my Africana. That is one of the reasons I redid my substrate a month ago. Switched out ASII for Stratum and also hid the Africana. Now my tank has an Africana core surrounded by Fluval Stratum shell.


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## sampster5000

Ahh ok! Very cool.


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## shrimpnmoss




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## Ben.

Where did you get that little glass orb bro? I want one

And do you like stratum better than aquasoil, disregarding the color(Stratum looks better).


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## shrimpnmoss

The glass orb was a gift from a friend. The moss wall is your moss Ben. roud: 

Stratum looks way better. We'll see how it grows plants. I doubt it has as much nutrients as AS, but I'm ferting the water column so hopefully it'll be OK. It is lighter in weight than AS and it doesn't cloud the water as much when I move stuff. I'm injecting CO2 and using RO so I am not relying on the substrate to buffer my Ph.


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## xJaypex

I like that orb as well, what does it say in the writing? Bush? Rush?


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## shrimpnmoss

The box says:

GUSH
aquaware

gadgets for the planted tanks


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## Erirku

shrimpnmoss said:


> The box the orb is from says:
> 
> GUSH
> aquaware
> 
> gadgets for the planted tank


ah, i want one but its only from the Europe!!!


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## swoof

Nice looking tank. I like the moss pads around the crypt, pretty neat idea. I agree the little gUSH pod is pretty neat, maybe one of the importers will see it and see if they can add it to thier imports. 

http://www.gush-aqua.com/product_v.php?g=5&c=0&p=17


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## idex

Where'd you get the UGF from? How's that fan working for you?


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## shrimpnmoss

idex said:


> Where'd you get the UGF from? How's that fan working for you?



I bought the UGF from a LFS. It is an Asian style UGF. They are called circulation tubes, originally intended to be ran with a powerhead.

Here is someone online that sells one.

http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/462/AZOO-Circulating-Pipes

The fan is from Mordalpus. It works great for a little tank. It keeps my tank 74ish on hot days. Plus it doesn't take up a lot of room over the tank.


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## idex

shrimpnmoss said:


> I bought the UGF from a LFS. It is an Asian style UGF. They are called circulation tubes, originally intended to be ran with a powerhead.
> 
> Here is someone online that sells one.
> 
> http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/462/AZOO-Circulating-Pipes
> 
> The fan is from Mordalpus. It works great for a little tank. It keeps my tank 74ish on hot days. Plus it doesn't take up a lot of room over the tank.


Thanks!


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## speedie408

Looks great bro. 

With your current setup/schedule, these plants should do very well in here. Can't wait to see all those plants explode. The mini microswords will be the slowest grower of the bunch. 

That crypt looks good in your tank .


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## Kazuya

I have to catch up now.
Another nice looking shrimp set up.

I will have to steal another one of your ideas and get that little glass orb. 
I've ordered from the Germany store before that carries these.

Where can I get those mesh squares you have?


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## shrimpnmoss

Thanks guys.  

Kazuya, I also got my square tiles from Mordalpus...he had some listed on the SnS a while back. Don't know if he has some more.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/swap-n-shop/123159-fs-ceramic-breeding-tubes-boxes-tiles.html

My plants are from the Speedie408 collection.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/swap-n-shop/143729-fs-crypt-nurii-pahang-mutated-price.html


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## Geniusdudekiran

Yeah, I NEED THAT GLASS ORB. Where did your friend get it? That's like the coolest thing EVER!!!

And what's it called? Is there a name for that?


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## idex

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Yeah, I NEED THAT GLASS ORB. Where did your friend get it? That's like the coolest thing EVER!!!
> 
> And what's it called? Is there a name for that?


Translated


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## orchidman

the orb, whats the purpose? other than looking cool


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## Booger

I like the modern theme. I hope you grow that nurii out nice and big.

Can I ask about fert dosing? Curious as how you came up with that routine.


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## shrimpnmoss

Booger said:


> I like the modern theme. I hope you grow that nurii out nice and big.
> 
> Can I ask about fert dosing? Curious as how you came up with that routine.


 
Lol...that is a very non-scientific dosing schedule. It is the liquid ferts I have on hand. I have some dry stuff that someone gave me but that's a bit more complicated and less precise trying to dry dose into a nano. 

What I usually do in a high-tech planted is to dose Flourish until I see GDA. Then I'll clean the glass and then dail back the Flourish until I do not get anymore GDA and my plants still pearl.

Then I usually have to find a new balance point when I do a hard trim of the carpet. Well...that was how I ran my last 2.5g nano....works well until I get lazy with the ferts then all Hell breaks loose..

I've learned with experience that I don't need or want maximum growth with my plants. I actually prefer slow to medium healthy growth. So I'm not aiming for maximum CO2 concentrations, max ferts...etc...


Got any recommendations Booger?


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## shrimpnmoss

What I really wanted to do with this tank was to get some of these and bury 1/2 of it in the substrate for different sections and keep all the different plants compartmentalized. Maybe when the plants establish a bit I'll redo the look to give it more vertical elements.

http://www.jamaligarden.com/productdetail/22436/16/ceramic/gloss-white-square-ceramic-containers.php


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## Booger

shrimpnmoss said:


> What I really wanted to do with this tank was to get some of these and bury 1/2 of it in the substrate for different sections and keep all the different plants compartmentalized. Maybe when the plants establish a bit I'll redo the look to give it more vertical elements.
> 
> http://www.jamaligarden.com/productdetail/22436/16/ceramic/gloss-white-square-ceramic-containers.php


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## shrimpnmoss

nice


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## tnt808

The tank is looking good. I just started a high tech 12*12 mr aqua today. My goal is also to keep some higher grade crs in my tank as well. BTW the orb is cool, if I got my hands on some I would stick them to my bathroom mirror so I could look at something nice besides my face every morning LOL. Good luck with the project.


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## 10galfornow

that orb is awesome. so freaking cool. I dig the tank too.


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## shrimpnmoss

Thanks for the comments guys.


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## Ben.

I will be setting up a shrimp stratum tank soon, I'll keep it simple and organized like your tanks I'm racking my brain to try to figure out if I have a slate of tawain or xmas moss haha, which are you using for the wall?

Thanks for the help bro!


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## shrimpnmoss

I"m using your X-Mas Moss. Put an Amazonia or Africana core inside your Stratum. Outer shell Stratum for looks, AS or AF core for increased PH buffering.

LOL I get my moss mixed up all the time after i tie them on something....humm...is that java, xmas, taiwan, willow?...


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## mordalphus

DUDE! That orb is awesome! 

j/k, the tank is looking great!

Oh, and the mini micro sword under the moss wall is: lilaeopsis brasiliensis


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## Ben.

mordalphus said:


> DUDE! That orb is awesome!
> 
> j/k, the tank is looking great!


hehehe sorry for that first orb comment


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## shrimpnmoss

Added Erios. Erio Parkeri in the back, Erio Cinereum in the front. The Parkeri looks a bit large for the tank. Will trade for more small leaf Erios. One more spot open for another Erio where the mineral rock is right now.

*Reverse Color Accent. You can actually see the individual species of plants better this way because of my poor camera skills.*









*In Real Color. The Crypt has perked up and sprouted a small new leaf. Yay!*


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## Geniusdudekiran

Hey what's the plant that's all around the tank, especially in the bottom left of the second pic in your last post. Really neat.

PS great Erios BTW


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## shrimpnmoss

I think you are looking at the Belem. According to TPT is is part of the Erios family but a stem vs a bush.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myplants/126-Tonina_sp_Belem_Tonina_sp_Belem.html



Ok, here are the plants starting from the CO2 diffuser going counterclockwise. Second pic.

Tonia Belem next to the diffuser ---> UG connecting the two corners ---> Tonia Sp. "Fluviatilis" in the lower right hand corner------> more UG------> Tonia Belem again under the orb.


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## shrimpnmoss

mordalphus said:


> DUDE! That orb is awesome!
> 
> j/k, the tank is looking great!
> 
> Oh, and the mini micro sword under the moss wall is: lilaeopsis brasiliensis



That orb is pretty cool lookingroud:. You should try and order some for your store. Looks like there is enough interest. Thanks for the lilaeopsis brasiliensis name.


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## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> I think you are looking at the Belem. According to TPT is is part of the Erios family but a stem vs a bush.
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myplants/126-Tonina_sp_Belem_Tonina_sp_Belem.html
> 
> 
> 
> Ok, here are the plants starting from the CO2 diffuser going counterclockwise. Second pic.
> 
> Tonia Belem next to the diffuser ---> UG connecting the two corners ---> Tonia Sp. "Fluviatilis" in the lower right hand corner------> more UG------> Tonia Belem again under the orb.


Ah, that's it. Great looking plant, does it grow upwards higher?


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## shrimpnmoss

It does, like a regular stem plant. I just planted it DEEP.


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## Geniusdudekiran

I really like that plant! Is it really really softwater? The place I just read on it said so... And what about co2 with it? Is it a must?


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## shrimpnmoss

Yup. CO2, high light, ferts or the leaves will start turning yellow and nasty.


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## Geniusdudekiran

Aww, doesn't sound like it'd work in a spec...


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## tnt808

I had some belem in a mini m. I used pfertz and co2, some of the stems were doing really well and some just died. I didn't try and use RO water though. I ended up yanking all of it out.


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## speedie408

You'd better have soft water if you want to grow S. Belem.


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## Geniusdudekiran

Yeah, I do, thankfully. But as far as lighting, ferts, and co2...

Here's my final question: do you think that I could grow it under the stock fluval spec light with pressurized co2 and dosing excel? As previously stated, I do have soft water.


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## shrimpnmoss

Maybe you can grow a patch right under the stock LED light. I've seen a spec in the store and the stock light is not that powerful IMO.


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## Geniusdudekiran

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Cool, thanks man.


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## CobraGuppy

I know i'm not the first, and probably won't be the last to say this, but i like your orb 
I like the concept of your tank though ! Looking forward to seeing the plants fill in, especially that amazing crypt.


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## ADA

shrimpnmoss said:


> That orb is pretty cool lookingroud:. You should try and order some for your store. Looks like there is enough interest. Thanks for the lilaeopsis brasiliensis name.


I want one of those orbs!! haha Where do I find such a thing?


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## speedie408

Time to bank on these orbs Howard!!


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## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> Time to bank on these orbs Howard!!


Naw, I'm not trying to get into the aquarium stuff business. All I'll ever sell is extra plants and whatever extra TTs I have....but my next batch of TT babies are all spoken for.:wink:


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## speedie408

I wonder who's the lucky dog that'll be receiving all those TT's?


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## shrimpnmoss

probably some lucky dog on my friend's list....


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## speedie408

Haha


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## Kazuya

Dibs on the following one...


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## shrimpnmoss

*Big Fat Fire Mom*









*
The Orb with Mystery Crypt*









*Cinereum and Belem*









*FTS*


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## planted goldfish

i love your tank, your shrimps, your moss, and the concept of this tank. keep up ALL the good work!


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## madness

Dangit.

I swear that I have seen similar glass planting orbs to the one that you have for sale on one of the sites that I visited recently but I have no clue which one and there have been far too many for me to revisit them all. 

I am pretty sure that it was a US based site though.


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## shrimpnmoss

After losing one SSS Crown for no apparent reason and the rest of my SSS CRS acting lethargic, I've decided to move the high grade shrimps out. They are now residing in my dedicated non-CO2 shrimp tank ShrimpTech I. They will be hanging out there for a month while I cycle a bare bones shrimp tank for them. I'm just waiting for my UGF tubes to arrive to start the new tank.

Now I can really crank up the CO2 and dial up the ferts. The remaining Fire Reds can kiss my A$$....They're like roaches anyways....


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## speedie408

The Belem fluffed up nicely for you man. Those SSS's are sensitive aren't they? haha weaksos shrimp that can't handle a little CO2.


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## shrimpnmoss

Dude, I up rooted some Belem while trying to catch shrimp. Both types of tonia had DEEP roots already. I'm going to pick up some Syngonanthus Uaupes locally next week to replace the UG that will be moving to my nano Iwagumi. 

My Ben Ba Wah are melting though...I'm going to up the photoperiod and the ferts hopefully they'll recover....I hope it was from being 3 days on the road.


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## kcirtappatrick

Your tank is pretty amazing. I really enjoy the whole concept of this tank. Keep up the great work!


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## shrimpnmoss

9/2/11 - *Major Changes to Tank*

1) Took out Sponge Filter
2) No longer using RO for this tank
3) Added Rotala Sp. "Sunset"
4) Added Rotala Sp. "Butterfly"
5) Moved out SSS Crowns
6) Removed Fan

Since there are only Fire Red shrimps left in this tank, I am no longer using RO. Tap is good enough for Neos. This tank is now really dedicated to plant wellness.

I completely melted my very nice Erio Ban Ba Wah that my friend hooked me up with...._sorry buddy for killing your babies_... Fluval Stratum does not have enough nutrients to sustain heavy root feeding Erios. The Cereniums are doing just fine, but the Ban Ba Wah melted in like 1 week. 

How do I know it is the Stratum? Well those Ban Ba Wah was grown in a Aquasoil tank that does not receive any ferts in the water column. Just high light and high CO2. My tank gets daily ferts in the water column and obviously the Ban Ba Wah was not absorbing through the leaves. I'm going to leave the stumps in there and maybe they will resurrect themselves.

I might have to redo this tank with Aquasoil, because I really want more Erios. There are more for me to collect. The redo will be a big pain. On the other hand the rest of the plants are doing really well. 

*
Check out the Butterfly pearling!*









*FTS*

















*Moss Wall Progress*









*RIP Erio Ban Ba Wah* :angryfire


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## 10galfornow

it looks like an aquatic tree nursery

edit: or a zen garden


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## shrimpnmoss

10galfornow said:


> it looks like an aquatic tree nursery
> 
> edit: or a zen garden


I agree, that's why when I redo with Aquasoil I will put in some ceramic planters to give it a bit more depth and height. I'm thinking a square planter in the middle for the crypt to elevate it a couple of inches.


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## Ben.

I like how organized it is bro, and my moss is doing great!


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## Ben.

600th post lol


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## mordalphus

Get some root tabs, homie! The stratum has a high CEC, so it'll suck up those root tabs like crazy, and since you don't have expensive shrimp in there anymore, it'll be fine!

No need to uproot everything and put aquasoil in


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## freph

That moss wall is awesome. Why paint the back when you can have a natural wall of win? I almost want to do that on my 20g long but I don't know how it would look...hmm. Also, I don't know if this question has been asked previously in the thread but is there any major benefit to injecting both air and CO2 into the system simultaneously?


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## shrimpnmoss

mordalphus said:


> Get some root tabs, homie! The stratum has a high CEC, so it'll suck up those root tabs like crazy, and since you don't have expensive shrimp in there anymore, it'll be fine!
> 
> No need to uproot everything and put aquasoil in



Great idea Liam. I will put some tabs in when I get some more Erios. Now I don't have to redo...cause I do love the BLACK look of Stratum.




freph said:


> That moss wall is awesome. Why paint the back when you can have a natural wall of win? I almost want to do that on my 20g long but I don't know how it would look...hmm. Also, I don't know if this question has been asked previously in the thread but is there any major benefit to injecting both air and CO2 into the system simultaneously?


Thanks. I love moss walls. Nice natural backdrop. Freph, if you ever want a background that's black or frosted don't paint your tank. That is too permanent and too much of a pain to remove. Go to TAPS plastics or somewhere that they sell window tinting. They have frosted glass tint and black tint. You can put the window tinting sticker on your tank and it'll look great. I personally frost my tanks that don't have moss walls.

The benefit of injecting O2 is that it increases shrimp breeding and baby survival. O2 injection is especially effective with the extra bio-filtration that a sponge filter provides. I'm injecting CO2 for the plants, however when Taiwan Bee (BKK,BB,WR) keepers use CO2 injection to lower the Ph of the tank. This is a planted tank/shrimp tank. In my dedicated shrimp tanks I don't inject any CO2....but I'm not keeping any BKKs either.

It is really easy to kill your shrimps with too much CO2, but not when you inject CO2 and O2 simultaneously since the CO2 is constantly being outgassed. It waste a lot of CO2 compared to using a solenoid but CO2 is cheap. If you are contemplating injecting CO2 in your shrimp tank keep it on 24/7 to minimize the Ph flux.



Ben. said:


> I like how organized it is bro, and my moss is doing great!


haha...thx Ben...your moss is doing well...the X Mas is the wall and the Taiwan is covering the Manzy in my other tank. roud:


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## Cynth

I covet this tank, those shrimp and that orb.


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## shrimpnmoss

Cynth said:


> I covet this tank, those shrimp and that orb.


Thanks Cynth. You can come over an borrow a cup of Fire Reds anytime neighbor.:icon_wink


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## Cynth

shrimpnmoss said:


> Thanks Cynth. You can come over an borrow a cup of Fire Reds anytime neighbor.:icon_wink



Nice! I just might take you up on that when I get my crystals into a 40 gallon breeder. " I have a dream..."


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## ADA

Really nice plants. I wish I could keep my butterfly that red.


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## shrimpnmoss

ADA said:


> Really nice plants. I wish I could keep my butterfly that red.



I think the key is to have really high light and a bit of iron in the plant's diet. I'm running 54w over a 7.5g for 7 hours. Booger hooked me up with a fert that is only available in Europe. It is called Tropica Plant Nutrition+. It apparently is one of the only ferts that combine Micros and Macros in one dosage. I also dose Iron once a week for the red.


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## shrimpnmoss

So after using Tap water for *ONE* week the Belem started to yellow. They were flourishing under RO but it only took one week for a couple of them to look really sad.  Did a 90% WC back to RO today. 

ADA Nano CO2 diffuser came in the mail from a SnS trade so I cleaned up the install containg the gear to one wall. Looks much cleaner now.

Also picked up a Syngonanthus Uaupes locally today to replace the Ben Ba Wah. Here's some new pics.

*Current FTS 9/8/2011*

















*CO2 Plumbing on the backside*







*
Sad Sad Looking Belem.* :icon_frow


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## shrimpnmoss

*Syngonanthus Uaupes*








*

Speedy, can you identify this mystery crypt now? It was buried in the UG you sent.*










Happy Rotala Butterfly. :biggrin:








*UG going CrAzY...I've already trimmed once.*









*Crypt nurii pahang 'mutated' growing up quickly*


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## speedie408

Bro, I think you got yourself a bonus nurii mutated. I'll be able to tell much better once it gets a bit bigger. It might be a hudorio as well if the leaves start to show bullation. One or the other, they're both AWESOME crypts.

BTW your plants are looking good man. You're doing a nice job!


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## speedie408

Just use less tap lol.


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## shrimpnmoss

please please let it be a hudorio...either way...sweeettt!!!...


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## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> Just use less tap lol.



no more tap..going back to full RO.....


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## plantscaper

What is that undergravel filter pipe that you are using?
Can you send me a link?
BTW both your tanks are great. Very inspirational.


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## Kazuya

Plantscaper the link is on the first page towards the bottom.
It is similar to the one he uses.

Tank is looking great.


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## LedxZep

This tank looks incredible! :drool:


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## shrimpnmoss

Did a little work tonight. My buddy Nick mentioned that I was starting to get a bit of collectoritis...and he was right. The tank was looking a bit messy and not at clean, sleek and organized as I originally intended. The UG carpet is a bit tall for this tank. The UG was blocking the weeping moss tiles from sight. Carpet forground is suppose to be the lowest point in a tank and it wasn't. I also wanted to open up the tank visually.
*
Mini Rescape*

1) I removed one side of UG and did a HARD trim on the other side.
2) Tied some SS mesh with mini X-Mas moss to replace the UG. This will give me a lower foreground.
3) Took out 90% of the Belem. I'm going back to Tap water and quite frankly Belem leaves are too complicated for this tank. I'm only going to keep the sleek clean looking stems in here.
4) Moved the larger Erio Cinereum to the back.
5) Started another row of Mini Micro Sword in front of the Cholla Log.
6) Trimmed the edges of Weeping Moss Tile.

*FTS*

























*Much Neater...you can see the "planter" part much better now.*


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## speedie408

I like the new look much better too brotha. Keep up the great work man!

That mutated nurii is perking up nicely for you too. Lovin how you got it centered smack dab in the middle like that. I am really starting to think you got yourself a free hudoroi. Take a new shot of it for me please. Are there any signs of bullation at all in that larger leaf? If so, it's def a hudoroi.

Diggin that moss wall as well.


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## globali

Hi shrimpnmoss,

Grate journey & lovely result.


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## bcoffey

Tank looks great!


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## shrimpnmoss

globali said:


> Hi shrimpnmoss,
> 
> Grate journey & lovely result.


Thanks Globali. Your tank was an inspiration. 



bcoffey said:


> Tank looks great!


Thanks for your comment.



speedie408 said:


> I like the new look much better too brotha. Keep up the great work man!
> 
> That mutated nurii is perking up nicely for you too. Lovin how you got it centered smack dab in the middle like that. I am really starting to think you got yourself a free hudoroi. Take a new shot of it for me please. Are there any signs of bullation at all in that larger leaf? If so, it's def a hudoroi.
> 
> Diggin that moss wall as well.


Naw, bro everyday the mystery crypt is looking more and more like a Nurii. No bullation and the leaves look just like the center plant. Since it is in such a small planter...maybe it'll turn out like a Bonsai Crypt...stunted growth.


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## Newman

you'd probably have to trim the roots in order to make it into a bonsai crypt lol.


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## shrimpnmoss

Newman said:


> you'd probably have to trim the roots in order to make it into a bonsai crypt lol.


haha...I do trim the roots.....there are three little drainage holes at the bottom of the orb. The roots keeps on growing out of those holes towards the bottom substrate. I keep on cutting them off. We'll see the long term effects of a medium sized plant living in a small container.


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## speedie408

shrimpnmoss said:


> Naw, bro everyday the mystery crypt is looking more and more like a Nurii. No bullation and the leaves look just like the center plant. Since it is in such a small planter...maybe it'll turn out like a Bonsai Crypt...stunted growth.


Either way, you win. Post up some update shots dude!!


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## shrimpnmoss

No update...but here is a teaser of what I was working on this weekend....this won't be a shrimp tank...but an 2.5 g Emmersed Iwagumi with the rest of the UG that I'm about to pull from this tank. I plan on growing out the UG and putting a Poison Dart Frog in there.


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## jkan0228

Don't kill yourself! Nice arrangement of rocks btw.


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## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> Don't kill yourself! Nice arrangement of rocks btw.


hahah...naw that's what I thought too at first...but they are only poisonous in the wild...it's from their diet...something in the wild insects that frogs eat that produces the poison...in captivity they are non poisonous


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## jrwestcoast

Do you know what kind your getting? I so want one but my better half said absolutely not! so I negotiated am getting a 60p instead!!


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## shrimpnmoss

Naw I don't know what I'm getting...whatever I can get a hold of locally....

Here is what I told my better half....
_
No honey I'm not starting another tank. There won't be any water in this one...think of it as a nice house plant....._ HAHAH


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## jrwestcoast

Well I had her convinced, have tank, misting system, and was actually staring to put everything together, but I mention that I had feed fruit flys and had to grow them, that was the killer. She would rather have one more tank than flys around the house.


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## speedie408

You sure you didn't fill it up with water already? That picture sure looks like you did lol. Dart frogs are cool man. Soon you're gonna have more tanks than your wife approves of. Better polish up that CC to take her shopping for herself soon.


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## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> You sure you didn't fill it up with water already? That picture sure looks like you did lol. Dart frogs are cool man. Soon you're gonna have more tanks than your wife approves of. Better polish up that CC to take her shopping for herself soon.


Well...I only plan on one last tank....I might even turn this new one into a real tank if SOMEONE breeds some Betta Macs....*tick tock*....


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## speedie408

I need more luck so keep on sending me those wishes and I may have a pair for you in a year lol.... Only if I'm lucky.


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## shrimpnmoss

Took out rest of the UG. More Weeping Moss tiles added. Split the Erios. Ten "*planter*" spots now.



*FTS*

























*Agent Orange* 









*Party on the Moss Wall*


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## shrimpnmoss

*Bonsai Crypt*


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## mordalphus

are those roots coming out the bottom?


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## shrimpnmoss

Yup. I keep on trimming them too. There are three little drainage holes on the bottom of the orb that the roots grow out of.


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## mordalphus

that's awesome, and if you can trim the roots all the time, I bet the crypt will stay small too, haha, although a waterfall of roots might look pretty dope


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## speedie408

Friggin SICK yo! Love what you've been doing to it dude. 

Can you take a close up shot of the crypt in the orb please


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## Kazuya

shrimpnmoss said:


> Here is what I told my better half....
> _
> No honey I'm not starting another tank. There won't be any water in this one...think of it as a nice house plant....._ HAHAH



This would not work for my better half. 
As she already sees that I want another shrimp tank.

I said I can take down the planted tank and make it a shrimp tank or get another one. I think it is a win win situation.:hihi:

Nice rock layout.

We have some nice dart frogs in our store over here.
Could send you one with some OLIVES...


----------



## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> Friggin SICK yo! Love what you've been doing to it dude.
> 
> Can you take a close up shot of the crypt in the orb please


LOL...that's as close as my camera will get a clear shot of the orb crypt......working with a point and shoot here buddy...THAT IS MY CLOSE UP...


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Kazuya said:


> This would not work for my better half.
> As she already sees that I want another shrimp tank.
> 
> I said I can take down the planted tank and make it a shrimp tank or get another one. I think it is a win win situation.:hihi:
> 
> Nice rock layout.
> 
> We have some nice dart frogs in our store over here.
> Could send you one with some OLIVES...


hahah...your wife will come around and once your shrimps start breeding and you start recouping cost through your shrimps.....the beauty of shrimps is that if you can breed them..you'll never lose money....


----------



## speedie408

How did you plumb your UGF?? Did you hook up your canister filter inlet straight to the UGF pipe?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

The tubes are way bigger than the canister inlet pipes. I stepped them down with computer heat shrink wrap. The black rubber stuff from Frys. The other option is to step down two pipe sizes with reducers, but those take up lots of room and doesn't look so nice.

Here is a pic, 4th picture down.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...8648-ada-60p-shrimptech-lost-temple-time.html


----------



## zachary908

Tank is looking good, dude!

Some Dendrobates Azureus or Dendrobates leucomellas would look sweet in the tank with UG! You should be able to get them pretty easily as well.

I really love Dendrobates Auratus 'Green and black' , but since they are green they wouldn't pop as much with the UG in there.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

zachary908 said:


> Tank is looking good, dude!
> 
> Some Dendrobates Azureus or Dendrobates leucomellas would look sweet in the tank with UG! You should be able to get them pretty easily as well.
> 
> I really love Dendrobates Auratus 'Green and black' , but since they are green they wouldn't pop as much with the UG in there.


I'm going to find the easiest to keep dart frog I can find. Do I really have to raise live fruit flys? Are there any other options? I was thinking of feeding the dart frog...baby fire red culls...lol......


----------



## zachary908

You've got PM, shrimpnmoss. Don't want to get your thread too off topic.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*|Frog Tank|Emmersed Iwagumi|*


----------



## mordalphus

Bonus frog!? Woo!


----------



## zachary908

Let me know what dendrobates you end up choosing! I think you will really like them.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*Here you go Nick, close up of Bonsai Crypt. Nurii?*










*Changed out the foreground stems. Going to keep it lower now to keep the focus of the tank on the centerpiece crypt.*


----------



## jrwestcoast

That's going to be a great home for a very lucky frog.


----------



## jkan0228

Looks like Ludwigia sp red is becoming VERY popular.


----------



## speedie408

shrimpnmoss said:


> *Here you go Nick, close up of Bonsai Crypt. Nurii?*


That is indeed a Nurii mutated.


----------



## ch3fb0yrdee

DUDE! You GOTTA let me know where you got that BADASS orb from! Its soooo SICK. I want one!


----------



## jkan0228

From the powerseller Mordalphus, aka Liam.


----------



## Baltimore Bryan

shrimpnmoss said:


> *|Frog Tank|Emmersed Iwagumi|*
> 
> View attachment 35833
> 
> 
> View attachment 35832


Hi, I'm new to this site but I wanted to make a quick comment on this. Is this the tank you want to put poison dart frogs in? It is a very cool looking tank, but it is not suitable for dart frogs right now. You need to make quite a few modifications to this tank for it to be ready for Dendrobates (i.e. putting a lid on it, getting better substrate, more plants, some hiding places, draining the water, etc.). Dart frogs are really neat (I've been keeping/ breeding them for years), but they are not water frogs at all really. If you have any more questions or comments, pm me or search google for more info... I don't want to side-track this thread anymore, I just didn't want you to have a bad experience with darts!
Really cool planted tanks by the way, I am looking forward to building my own.
Good luck with the rest of it!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Baltimore Bryan said:


> Hi, I'm new to this site but I wanted to make a quick comment on this. Is this the tank you want to put poison dart frogs in? It is a very cool looking tank, but it is not suitable for dart frogs right now. You need to make quite a few modifications to this tank for it to be ready for Dendrobates (i.e. putting a lid on it, getting better substrate, more plants, some hiding places, draining the water, etc.). Dart frogs are really neat (I've been keeping/ breeding them for years), but they are not water frogs at all really. If you have any more questions or comments, pm me or search google for more info... I don't want to side-track this thread anymore, I just didn't want you to have a bad experience with darts!
> Really cool planted tanks by the way, I am looking forward to building my own.
> Good luck with the rest of it!


Thanks Baltimore Bryan. I figure a PDF keeper would chime in. I will have a lid and don't plan on putting anything in until this is fully grown. There also won't be much water besides the daily misting. I'll keep the water level about 1/2 though the substrate. What do you think? I just wish there was ready dry food for PDF versus culturing flys/worms.


----------



## Baltimore Bryan

I'll PM you on the dart frogs to avoid getting too off topic on the thread.
Bryan


----------



## karatekid14

shrimpnmoss said:


> Thanks Baltimore Bryan. I figure a PDF keeper would chime in. I will have a lid and don't plan on putting anything in until this is fully grown. There also won't be much water besides the daily misting. I'll keep the water level about 1/2 though the substrate. What do you think? I just wish there was ready dry food for PDF versus culturing flys/worms.


Noooooo, do not put dart frogs in that! A pair of thumbnail frogs could live in a vertical 10gal tank, but Dendrobates are large frogs, and no way could they live in a 4 gal tank, and they like it moist but not soaking. This is not to say you can't have dart frogs, but just not in that tank. Check out Dendroboard for all your dart needs.


----------



## doncityz

May I know what's the purpose of that small vial with a plant in it?


----------



## polukoff

Java fern would look sweet in a frog tank!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

doncityz said:


> May I know what's the purpose of that small vial with a plant in it?


It's just a planter. Nothing more. 



polukoff said:


> Java fern would look sweet in a frog tank!


The tank is too small for Java Fern. Plus I don't have anything to tie the Java Fern to. I did plant some Rotala Butterfly and Tonia stems in the back for background.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*Speedy's Sweet Erio Ben Ba Wah*
















*
UG Filling In...and couple of sprigs of Glosso here and there*









*Left 2 Open Spots for Moss Mesh Carpet*


----------



## jkan0228

Awesome! Won't UG eventually ruin itself as a carpet plant?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Maybe..If it does I'll pull it and throw down a bunch of moss mesh. I have to keep the substrate on the dry side for PDF. I'm going to just mist it 2x a day and substrate wet only 1/2 up the substrate.


----------



## speedie408

Lookin mighty fine brotha! Keep it up! Once you fill it those erios will grow much faster and look nicer!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

dood...I'm not filling it...unless the frogs die...then I fill it...

getting these frogs....they are tiny...thumbnail frogs...Varaderos


not my pic*
*


----------



## speedie408

oh haha my bad. Missed parts of your thread.

Those are SICK! breed them bad boys so I can get some


----------



## jkan0228

Btw what are the other plants in the back?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Tonia Sp. "Fluviatilis"
Rotala Sp. "Butterfly"
Erio Sp. "Ben Ba Wah"
Erio Sp. "Cinereum"
and soon some Mini X-Mas moss carpet in back too....or if I can find some Venus Fly Trap or some other cool carnivorous plant.

The back of the tank is nice an high so it'll stay drier for the frogs.


----------



## jkan0228

That tonia is so green! Get more pics please?  
Is this tank gonna be emersed forever? Since you got the frogs in there...


----------



## shrimpnmoss

yup emmersed forever...or that's the current plan...frogs not in yet....i'm waiting for the UG to fill completely....


----------



## jkan0228

Won't they like mess up the plants? Maybe kick over a stem or two? Lol


----------



## zachary908

Baller choice on the frog, dude. Thumbnails are pretty awesome. We had a pair of ventromaculatus at work for awhile.

Can't wait till you get him in there.

Jkan, thumbnails stay small, they should be fine with the stems.


----------



## speedie408

You need to invest in a nice camera with a macro lens now Howard. Those frogs need to be PIMPED to the max!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

No dough right now brutha!

Trust me I want a nice Full Frame DSLR and Macro more than anything. I will one day when I can convert shrimp money to camera money. One hobby at a time. But I believe in buying things once. The best first time around so I figure I need a few thousand $$$ to get what I want. That's not even getting into the kungfu panda lights and I'm sure all the hidden cost with photography. So for now I'll leave the nice photos to you!

You like them frogs huh? You're thinking about all the real estate you have in your emmersed downoi/erio/UG farms....lol


----------



## speedie408

shrimpnmoss said:


> You like them frogs huh? You're thinking about all the real estate you have in your emmersed downoi/erio/UG farms....lol


Damn you're fast bro lol. :hihi:


----------



## 150EH

You shrimp tanks are very nice, I love the moss wall, is the mesh SS?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Yup SS mesh with moss tied on the backside so moss grows through the mesh nice and even. When I do carpet though, I tie the moss on the front side.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Hey sorry if you already said this, but what kind of tank is that? (the frog tank, not the shrimptech ) Finnex? It looks SOOOOOOOO sick! I want one!!! And where did you get it?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Hey sorry if you already said this, but what kind of tank is that? (the frog tank, not the shrimptech ) Finnex? It looks SOOOOOOOO sick! I want one!!! And where did you get it?


It is a 2.5g rimless that I purchased from one of the LFS. I don't know the brand. It is about 12 inches wide and 6 inches high.


----------



## mordalphus

It's been 3 weeks, I wanna see how that UG is filling in


----------



## speedie408

Yeah dude... where them updates at? Stop being lazy!


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Aww that's too bad. Was hoping I could get one. Maybe next time you go to the lfs you could ask them for the brand name?  And I third the update!


----------



## zachary908

Pics Pics Pics!!!! We need an update, bro!:biggrin:


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Here's an update. I have been super lazy with my tanks. Just letting them grow out. I got a bit of green hair algae in the Modern Planter that I'm dealing with. All the PFRs are out of this tank, I'm switching shrimps. I have some red rili babies in there and some blue rilis on the way.

*FTS*


















*Erio Cinereum Getting Big.*








*
Bonsai Crypt Getting Big*









*Moss Wall Needs a Trim*


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Frog Tank. The UG is almost grown in. Glosso also growing well. Added Moss to the back and some Red Ludwigas from the other tank. I'm keeping this tank on the dry side to accommodate the frogs. I'm about 2 weeks out from getting my frog. Started a fly culture this weekend preparing for Varadaros arrival.

Good news unlike my first Erio Ben Ba Wah, this one is thriving emmersed.


----------



## zchauvin

Looking good.


----------



## zachary908

Looks nice, man! I see the tonina is growing well. I may throw the stems of Tonina that I got from Nick into my emersed, since they seem to dislike my 75g.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

What kind of care is necessary for the frog? How much are they?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> What kind of care is necessary for the frog? How much are they?


The biggest care for frogs is culturing the wingless fruit flies and getting a suitable habitat. A real frog tank is a Vivarium, but this will do. The frogs range from $35 to well...a couple of hundred depending on the frog. I swung a trade with Alpha Pro Breeders one of the sponsors for some shrimps when he posted on the SnS. He's selling the Varadaros for $95.00 each.


----------



## Digsy

Wow, I can't believe I'm just now stumbling upon this journal of your tanks! Everything looks awesome! Your PFRs are doing just dandy in my tank, btw.  

How do you like that Fluval Stratum? I need to switch out my crumbling Aquasoil and since I've been waiting for months for ADA dealers to get the new and improved stuff in, I'm starting to look at something like the Fluval or that new Up Aqua soil, which looks pretty similar.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

That's really cool. I want a frog for chrismas . Where'd you get the rocks? And also, you still have at least 2 PFRs left. Last pic and third to lat pic, in the moss.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

zachary908 said:


> Looks nice, man! I see the tonina is growing well. I may throw the stems of Tonina that I got from Nick into my emersed, since they seem to dislike my 75g.


Are you using RO? The Tonias that Nick gave me started to melt when I switch to tap. They were thriving when I was using RO.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> That's really cool. I want a frog for chrismas . Where'd you get the rocks? And also, you still have at least 2 PFRs left. Last pic and third to lat pic, in the moss.


I collected the rocks this summer when I was camping. Those are baby red rilis. There is one male PFR left. The rest are in Digsy's tanks. LOL...


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Digsy said:


> Wow, I can't believe I'm just now stumbling upon this journal of your tanks! Everything looks awesome! Your PFRs are doing just dandy in my tank, btw.
> 
> How do you like that Fluval Stratum? I need to switch out my crumbling Aquasoil and since I've been waiting for months for ADA dealers to get the new and improved stuff in, I'm starting to look at something like the Fluval or that new Up Aqua soil, which looks pretty similar.


Hey Digsy, thanks for stopping by. The good thing about stratum is that is looks awesome. Really black and uniformed granules. The bad thing is that it won't buffer your water after a few months and there are no nutrients for plants. OK for Neos...not that great for Caridinas IMO, unless you put Aquasoil under the Stratum.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Yeah rilis are great. I just got my first rilis, 5 of them. Ordered 8, 1 doa, 2 dead the next day. Moved them from my CRS tank to my neos tank, and no deaths since. Ordered from Qshrimp, a new sponsor, and he actually sent adults! Might have some breeding soon!


----------



## jrwestcoast

That's going to be a sweet frog tank!


----------



## madness

shrimpnmoss said:


> Hey Digsy, thanks for stopping by. The good thing about stratum is that is looks awesome. Really black and uniformed granules. The bad thing is that it won't buffer your water after a few months and there are no nutrients for plants. OK for Neos...not that great for Caridinas IMO, unless you put Aquasoil under the Stratum.


Plus the Stratum blows around like crazy. Even with the stock Ebi filter (not pointed at the substrate) it seems to blow around.

AS does this as well but not quite to the same extent it doesn't seem.


----------



## zachary908

shrimpnmoss said:


> Are you using RO? The Tonias that Nick gave me started to melt when I switch to tap. They were thriving when I was using RO.


Well, I thought I had finished my switch to full RO, but now I'm guessing not. I;ll have to check my parameters tomorrow at work. What is a good range for Tonina?


----------



## zachary908

shrimpnmoss said:


> The bad thing about Fluval Stratum,is that it won't buffer your water after a few months.


Like my post quoting/ editing? :hihi:

I actually didn't know the shrimp stratum altered parameters until I bought it.. I actually got it purely for it's looks. I use 100% RO with Mosura Mineral Supplement on water chages.. so it works great so far.

Sorry for the derail.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

madness said:


> Plus the Stratum blows around like crazy. Even with the stock Ebi filter (not pointed at the substrate) it seems to blow around.
> 
> AS does this as well but not quite to the same extent it doesn't seem.


Agreed. It's SUPER light! Too light.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*Current Tank Shot. Using Spare Pink bulb for now.*









*Retaining wall to stop the UG from invading Erio Space.*








*
Kung Fu Master's house on the other side.*








*
Little Glosso Sprinkled in the carpet.*








*
Erio Ben Ba Wah. Old submerged leaves dying off, new smaller emergent leaves sprouting from the center.*


----------



## zachary908

Looking good, man!


----------



## jkan0228

Very nice. Just wait till te Erios take off!


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

When're you getting the frogs?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Alpha Pro Breeders a forum sponsor.


----------



## mallardman12

I love your modern style tank! I was wondering, what is meant by you nurii is mutated? Or are all crypt. nurri's 'mutated'?


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> Alpha Pro Breeders a forum sponsor.


No, when, not where.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> No, when, not where.


He's mailing it out on Tuesday. 




mallardman12 said:


> I love your modern style tank! I was wondering, what is meant by you nurii is mutated? Or are all crypt. nurri's 'mutated'?


Thanks! I don't think all nurii's are mutated. My version that I got from Speedy is. Here is a pic of the Nurii Bonsai.


----------



## speedie408

Damn straight it's 'MUTATED'! 

That sucker got BIG!


----------



## jkan0228

My mutated has similar like leaves to those. Green leaf with red veins.  very different from speedies even though it's the same plant.

Edit- any progress on the Ban ba wa?


----------



## Newman

shrimpnmoss said:


> He's mailing it out on Tuesday.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks! I don't think all nurii's are mutated. My version that I got from Speedy is. Here is a pic of the Nurii Bonsai.
> 
> View attachment 38065


bonsai = trimming roots and leaves to keep it growing compact and small. idk how well this can be done with crypts, but you could try.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

The frogs in yet? They had to ship FedEx, right?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Frogs got here today. They look AWESOME. Of course they instantly made a bee line to the stems in the back and are currently hiding. I'm going to let them settle and I'll post up some pics for you guys.

Ron, at Alpha Pro Breeders was great to work with on these frogs. Highly recommend this sponsor from my experience.


----------



## speedie408

Can't wait for the pics homie!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

OK, people. These pics are not DSLR quality....but I am a Canon Point-N-Shoot Pimp #1 SD 790IS. Check out this hotness. There are two frogs in there.

*FTS w/ Frog sitting on Stem.*










*Made a custom lid with window mesh and plexi glass this weekend. *









*MACRO BOI!*









*FTS w Frog in right rear corner to see how tiny these things are.*


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Sick!!! How many shrimp did you trade for these guys, I'm next in line 

I'm intrigued by the fact that this setup is so simple. Just don't like the hut


----------



## zachary908

Looking good, dude. Nice frogs!



Geniusdudekiran said:


> I'm intrigued by the fact that this setup is so simple. Just don't like the hut


But man, you can't take the frogs home away! :hihi:


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Sick!!! How many shrimp did you trade for these guys, I'm next in line
> 
> I'm intrigued by the fact that this setup is so simple. Just don't like the hut



haha...I'm not big on the ceramic hut either. It's really there on the left side to prevent the UG from growing into the Erio Ben Ba Wah space.

He sells these frogs for $95.00 each so I got two plus a fruit fly starter kit. So I sent him a couple hundred dollars worth of TTs...you do the math. There are cheaper PDFs that he offers also, but I have expensive taste....lolz...


----------



## ShortFin

You need a brom in there. They like to sleep and make a home out of it.
The window mesh holes are too big. Fruit flies will escape.

Nice vents.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

ShortFin said:


> You need a brom in there. They like to sleep and make a home out of it.
> The window mesh holes are too big. Fruit flies will escape.
> 
> Nice vents.



What's a Brom? They run away when I come in the room to the stems in the back and hide under them.

I'm thinking about putting a baby crypt smack in the front hoping they'll hide under there instead.

I was thinking about that window mesh...the holes do look about the same size as the flies.....


----------



## speedie408

Me Likey them frogs. Can you mix em with different colored frogs to create mutant variants like how we do shrimp?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> Me Likey them frogs. Can you mix em with different colored frogs to create mutant variants like how we do shrimp?


That's a touchy subject in the PDF community. All the experts are very anti-frog mixing to keep the lines pure. I'm sure you could but not recommended. Although, when I go to the zoo or children's museum I see multiple different PDFs in the same vivarium.


----------



## speedie408

I say mix em!! Maybe you'll get some BKK frogs lol


----------



## jkan0228

That's a sick frog!! Now all you need is nick to take a pic.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> That's a touchy subject in the PDF community. All the experts are very anti-frog mixing to keep the lines pure. I'm sure you could but not recommended. Although, when I go to the zoo or children's museum I see multiple different PDFs in the same vivarium.


Well of you breed them, can you cut me a trade/sale deal?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Well of you breed them, can you cut me a trade/sale deal?


Let's not get ahead of ourselves....I'm still at the stage where I hope they stay alive. If they breed, of course we can do a deal. I'm a complete noob at the frog thing.


----------



## Alpha Pro Breeders

ShortFin said:


> You need a brom in there. They like to sleep and make a home out of it.
> The window mesh holes are too big. Fruit flies will escape.
> 
> Nice vents.


Nice set up, but they would love a bromeliad (brom) and maybe some pothos plants in there to feel more secure. If they lay eggs they would inside of a bromeliad and the tadpoles would hatch right inside. The flies will get out of the screen, I use no seeum (I have no clue how to spell that) mesh in mine, and most of mine don't have any ventilation at all. There is plent of air exchange just by opening when feeding them. Heres a link so you can see what the broms look like.

http://www.alphaprobreeders.com/bromeliad-neoregelia-cheerio/


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Alpha Pro Breeders said:


> Nice set up, but they would love a bromeliad (brom) and maybe some pothos plants in there to feel more secure. If they lay eggs they would inside of a bromeliad and the tadpoles would hatch right inside. Heres a link so you can see what they look like.
> 
> http://www.alphaprobreeders.com/bromeliad-neoregelia-cheerio/



Nice. Sounds like you're going to be mailing me some viv plants soon. So should I take out the stems in the back and replace it with a brom?


----------



## Alpha Pro Breeders

shrimpnmoss said:


> That's a touchy subject in the PDF community. All the experts are very anti-frog mixing to keep the lines pure. I'm sure you could but not recommended. Although, when I go to the zoo or children's museum I see multiple different PDFs in the same vivarium.


You would get hate mail and a visit from the frog police lol. It is a very purist hobby, and there are so many beautiful frogs there really isn't need to cross breed them.
The zoos destroy the eggs in mix colony tanks, and there tanks are usually huge so aggression towards different species isn't so bad.


----------



## driftwoods

That is way cool.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> Let's not get ahead of ourselves....I'm still at the stage where I hope they stay alive. If they breed, of course we can do a deal. I'm a complete noob at the frog thing.


Hehe well good luck and keep us updated.


----------



## zachary908

speedie408 said:


> I say mix em!! Maybe you'll get some BKK frogs lol


lol I always thought it would be cool to mix them as well, but the frog community would flame you forever if you did it...

You outta get some frogs, Nick! I would, however I get my fix taking care of all the ones at work.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

zachary908 said:


> lol I always thought it would be cool to mix them as well, but the frog community would flame you forever if you did it...
> 
> You outta get some frogs, Nick! I would, however I get my fix taking care of all the ones at work.



Seriously Nick...your emmersed farms is begging for some froggy action. You'll have to open up a new division. Shipping Dept will also be fly culture department too.:icon_mrgr


----------



## speedie408

Lol you guys are nuts 

I got my hands full as it is. I need me a hot young admin assistant. . Just gotta get that idea past the wifey first.


----------



## orchidman

cute frogs!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

I've also been working on another nano sized side project. We'll call this tank "Crowns" because....we'll let the pics do the talking.

For those that are wondering. This tank is as pure of a shrimp tank as I can make it. No aesthetics just shrimps and moss. It's my typical ShrimpTech Set up. UGF + Canister + AS. There are 5 different lines of crowns in this tank from various breeders. Total 25 shrimps to start.


----------



## mordalphus

Hot crown action!

Wait a second... is this the new toilet tank?! This thing needs to be in your LIVING ROOM MAN!!!


----------



## ShortFin

shrimpnmoss said:


> Nice. Sounds like you're going to be mailing me some viv plants soon. So should I take out the stems in the back and replace it with a brom?


Do not put the brom in the substrate. It is too wet and it will start to rot. You can tie/glue one to some wood. Just make sure the middle part of the plant contain water.

The no see um screen (aka mosquito screen) can be found at Home Depot. Or you can replace that window screen with SS mesh with smaller holes. I don't remember the size off the top of my head.


----------



## speedie408

I see now. Nice shrimp! Are any of those bad boys German bred k14s?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

mordalphus said:


> Hot crown action!
> 
> Wait a second... is this the new toilet tank?! This thing needs to be in your LIVING ROOM MAN!!!



Yup, new toilet/bathroom breeder...hahahah....naw when these small tanks runs it course...you know I'm going bigger and that one will be in the living room for sure.



speedie408 said:


> I see now. Nice shrimp! Are any of those bad boys German bred k14s?


You know it! One of the five lines are K14s. 



ShortFin said:


> Do not put the brom in the substrate. It is too wet and it will start to rot. You can tie/glue one to some wood. Just make sure the middle part of the plant contain water.
> 
> The no see um screen (aka mosquito screen) can be found at Home Depot. Or you can replace that window screen with SS mesh with smaller holes. I don't remember the size off the top of my head.


I need to find a small dwarf variety of Brom then. You have any recommendations? Can I glue it to the back of the rocks?


----------



## swoof

standard screen door mesh should be small enough. The Repashy fly media is really good for growing fruit flies. A friend who has a reptile store has changed to that and gets great results from it whith his fly cultures. http://www.store.repashy.com/superfly-16-oz-bag.html


----------



## jkan0228

Oh my god!! Those are BEAUTIFUL! Now sell some to nick for some pics that will be used as my wallpaper....


----------



## ShortFin

shrimpnmoss said:


> I need to find a small dwarf variety of Brom then. You have any recommendations? Can I glue it to the back of the rocks?


I've been out of it for a long time. I don't have a recommendation. I haven't seen anyone glue those to rocks before, but I don't see why not. They glue them to branches and foam.



swoof said:


> standard screen door mesh should be small enough.


I disagree that standard fiberglass window screen are small enough. I've seen melanogaster and hydei fruit flies squeeze their way through when I used it.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

swoof said:


> standard screen door mesh should be small enough. The Repashy fly media is really good for growing fruit flies. A friend who has a reptile store has changed to that and gets great results from it whith his fly cultures. http://www.store.repashy.com/superfly-16-oz-bag.html



I'm using mesh from my old patio screen door that my 3yr old son ran through last summer. I thought that was the same as window screen. 



jkan0228 said:


> Oh my god!! Those are BEAUTIFUL! Now sell some to nick for some pics that will be used as my wallpaper....


Haha...if these breed I'll sell off ALL babies that are not crowns. I'm anticipating a 80-90 percent cull rate for a while, hopefully with 5 different lines there will be a good mix of genes. What I'm working towards is a full size ShrimpTech tank with nothing but crowns.


----------



## Ben.

clean and simple as always, loving it.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Ben. said:


> clean and simple as always, loving it.


Where you been Ben? I'll have a ton of mini Xmas for you when this new wall on the right grows out....I'll send you some when it grows out and I trim...


----------



## jkan0228

How big do you mean by full size? ShrimpTech tank?


----------



## mordalphus

he means a real tank, not one of these little girly 5 gallon tanks


----------



## jkan0228

You mean not these 5 gallon bathroom tanks? Haha


----------



## shrimpnmoss

mordalphus said:


> he means a real tank, not one of these little girly 5 gallon tanks



BINGO. I collected these tanks b4 I got into shrimps. What do you think about this? After my two 30c runs their course, I join them and run one filter for both tanks. Two UGF, one in each tank ran by one big canister. Wouldn't that be like one big tank? Two 7.5 g would be like a 15g split. I'm making contingency plans now if I can't sell these locally later and I'm forced to keep them.




jkan0228 said:


> You mean not these 5 gallon bathroom tanks? Haha


For the record these cubes are about 7.5g. LOL not that big....but don't knock the tank in the bathroom until you've tried it. Easy clean up, no worries about water on the floor....good visuals while I'm on my throne....I even have cleaner teeth now...because when I brush...I'm staring in my tank...LOL...


----------



## jkan0228

If I was in your bathroom I'd brush my teeth for a good half hour.... Won't you be able to sell them here on the forum? For like a Benjamin or two a pop?


----------



## mordalphus

LOL, I try to find shapes in the patterns in my the orange peel texturing on my wall while on the throne, I suppose shrimp to stare at would be better 

As for linking tanks like that, I dunno man, would be hard to get both of them drawing at the same rate and having the return put an equal amount of water back in. Sounds like a mess waiting to happen


----------



## jkan0228

If you had something like the eheim disconnect valves then I suppose you could change your flow rates and adjust them.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

mordalphus said:


> LOL, I try to find shapes in the patterns in my the orange peel texturing on my wall while on the throne, I suppose shrimp to stare at would be better
> 
> As for linking tanks like that, I dunno man, would be hard to get both of them drawing at the same rate and having the return put an equal amount of water back in. Sounds like a mess waiting to happen



ohh...you are right about the flow rate....damn...maybe I put the tanks side by side and do an overflow system so both tanks equalize at the same water level when one fills faster....a water bridge of some sort...you can help me think of a solution when you're building me a purigen reactor for my next tank....hehe...


----------



## mordalphus

oh I've got an idea for you alright, lol.


----------



## Grimm

It’s a good looking little tank, but no place for a dart frog to live. Other than a full on aquarium or desert style setup, this is the worst choice of environment for a varadero. The tiny tank size does not help the cause also. The old rule of thumb was 5 gallons of usable space per frog, however the vast majority tend to agree 10 gallons is the bare minimum. These guys will benefit from more space, trust me. Not only will they be more active, but they will become less afraid of you with a well setup tank. Varaderos are one of the boldest species and are not typically afraid when someone walk in the room. When they feel secure, they stay out in the open all the time.

Varaderos are also a mainly arboreal species, meaning they typically hang out off the ground and in the mid-range tree level. When they do venture to the ground, they are amidst layers and layers of leaf litter, and tons of micro fauna to eat. A sopping wet substrate will not allow any sort of micro fauna to flourish (ie springtails and isopods), meaning 1/2 of the frog's diet is missing. Also, an excess amount of moisture has been known to cause nasty cases of foot rot and infection.

Neoregelia Bromeliads are the staple plant for any arboreal dart frog species, since they spend most of their time in and around them. They also provide cover, sleeping area, and it is where they raise their young. When varaderos breed, the tadpoles are transferred into the bromeliad pools, and then they are fed a diet of unfertilized eggs from the mother. This species of tadpole will also eat natural algea, waste, and microfauna that falls into the tiny pools or water. Without these plants, you will surely never see the entire life cycle of these little gems.

I hate to be a Debby downer, but it’s the truth. Since I’m a new member here you might think "who is this guy", but I hope you think about a change of habitat for the frog's sake. In the mean time while you setup something permanent, I would suggest a simple 10 gallon temporary tank with leaf litter and a couple plant cuttings.

If you want more info feel free to pm me. I know pretty much squat as far as aquariums go, however I should be able to answer any questions you have about well setup vivariums for these frogs. Its my passion.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

My substrate is very dry actually. To the point the plants are pretty much drying out a bit. There is only water when I mist the tank twice a day. 

Second day both frogs are out and about on the glass and hanging out on the rocks. I'm a bit more concerned about the temp compared to moisture. Lights off 68-69 lights on 70-71 degrees. 

I should build a real Viv, but I'm out of room and would mean one of my shrimp tanks would have to go. That probably won't happen because my shrimps funds my hobby.

I will be putting a brom in there soon though. I think they will be alright the rocks are always dry if they need a dry spot to chill. They hang out on the rocks all the time now.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Ron and I might have a deal going now, you have inspired me. I'll use a finnex 4 gallon though because I can't find that awesome tank you have online. Lemme know if you can find it!


----------



## Alpha Pro Breeders

shrimpnmoss said:


> My substrate is very dry actually. To the point the plants are pretty much drying out a bit. There is only water when I mist the tank twice a day.
> 
> Second day both frogs are out and about on the glass and hanging out on the rocks. I'm a bit more concerned about the temp compared to moisture. Lights off 68-69 lights on 70-71 degrees.
> 
> I should build a real Viv, but I'm out of room and would mean one of my shrimp tanks would have to go. That probably won't happen because my shrimps funds my hobby.
> 
> I will be putting a brom in there soon though. I think they will be alright the rocks are always dry if they need a dry spot to chill. They hang out on the rocks all the time now.


Your substrate should never feel dry, they need 80% or higher humidity. Add those pothos plants we talked about and give your tank a good spraying. If the humidity isn't staying high enough (should always feel moist and damp) then you can just cover up the screen mesh with tape to hold it in. Grimm is right 10 gallon or larger is a perfect set up, and the more plants the more secure they will feel.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

I'm getting mixed messages here. Grimm says my tank is too wet, but Ron is saying it's too dry. I'm going to keep it MOIST, but not to the point where there are any pools of water. Is that correct?

On another note: It looks like the frogs are settling in. Hunting down the fruit flies that I put in there. One of the frog is very bold and does not run at all. The other is still very shy and hides when I come in. I'm also getting better at feeding them live flies without getting the vitamin powder all over the place.


----------



## Newman

just like fish, they may take a few days or a week to get used to their surroundings...i usually judge the situation with animals after a couple of weeks.

With regards to tank size, the 10 gal idea is likely much better. this little tank might be ok in th short run until you get enough money and space to run a 10 gal.


----------



## ShortFin

The main point is to keep the humidity at 80% or higher. Your frogs are not ground dwelling species, so they won't spend much time on the ground.

You can use a feeding dish and drop the powdered flies in there. If you are having trouble with the mad existus of flies crawling up the culture container upon opening, you can slow them down by putting it in the fridge for a like 1 min. Just play around with timing.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Well, how're they doing?


----------



## lbacha

Grimm said:


> It’s a good looking little tank, but no place for a dart frog to live. Other than a full on aquarium or desert style setup, this is the worst choice of environment for a varadero. The tiny tank size does not help the cause also. The old rule of thumb was 5 gallons of usable space per frog, however the vast majority tend to agree 10 gallons is the bare minimum. These guys will benefit from more space, trust me. Not only will they be more active, but they will become less afraid of you with a well setup tank. Varaderos are one of the boldest species and are not typically afraid when someone walk in the room. When they feel secure, they stay out in the open all the time.
> 
> Varaderos are also a mainly arboreal species, meaning they typically hang out off the ground and in the mid-range tree level. When they do venture to the ground, they are amidst layers and layers of leaf litter, and tons of micro fauna to eat. A sopping wet substrate will not allow any sort of micro fauna to flourish (ie springtails and isopods), meaning 1/2 of the frog's diet is missing. Also, an excess amount of moisture has been known to cause nasty cases of foot rot and infection.
> 
> Neoregelia Bromeliads are the staple plant for any arboreal dart frog species, since they spend most of their time in and around them. They also provide cover, sleeping area, and it is where they raise their young. When varaderos breed, the tadpoles are transferred into the bromeliad pools, and then they are fed a diet of unfertilized eggs from the mother. This species of tadpole will also eat natural algea, waste, and microfauna that falls into the tiny pools or water. Without these plants, you will surely never see the entire life cycle of these little gems.
> 
> I hate to be a Debby downer, but it’s the truth. Since I’m a new member here you might think "who is this guy", but I hope you think about a change of habitat for the frog's sake. In the mean time while you setup something permanent, I would suggest a simple 10 gallon temporary tank with leaf litter and a couple plant cuttings.
> 
> If you want more info feel free to pm me. I know pretty much squat as far as aquariums go, however I should be able to answer any questions you have about well setup vivariums for these frogs. Its my passion.


Guys check out dendroboard if you want to see some of Grimms set-ups, search for peninsula and you will find one of the nices vivs I've seen in a long time. I used to keep PDF's a long time ago and bigger is better with them once they are established eaters, the only time you want to go small is while you are trying to get them to eat and that was really only with wild caught frogs recovering from the stress of transport, again this was almost twenty years ago in the mid ninties when I kept them and alot has changed since then but listening to people who keep them now is always a good idea. Good luck with your set-up and if they are eating that is great because that was half the battle in the old days. For a reference you can compare PDF's to shy fish in an aquarium, the more hiding places and natural the environment is the more you will actually see them, it might seem backwards but just like that fish that will hide behind the foam filter all day long if thats the only think in the tank PDFs will do a similar thing.

Len


----------



## bostoneric

went through all 16pages but didnt notice if you said where you got your mesh from?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*Kiran* - The frogs are doing fine. They are eating and pooping all over the glass lol. Honestly, I don't know know how long I can keep this up. Frogs are super cool looking and awesome. Dealing with tiny live insects that crawl....not so much....I don't know...culturing and feeding flies is already getting on my nerves. I wish they ate pellets or something.

I really want to build a REAL VIV....but I've already started planning my next shrimp tank. When I recoup cost from my next tank through the shrimps...it'll probably fund a big boy viv.

When I build my next shrimp tank, I will HAVE TO break down one of the current tanks. Maybe I'll breakdown the modern planter and turn it into a real Vivarium. 
*
Ibacha* - I searched and saw Grimm's sick a$$ viv. There are lots of sweet vivs on the dendro board. Totally different plants than what planted tankers use. I'll build a real one someday, if I decide to keep these frogs long term. Once again frogs = awesome...flies = PITA.

*bostoneric* - I bought my mesh from the SnS from several sources at different times. There are several people that sell them. Speedy408 and Nilocg both sell SS mesh.


----------



## jkan0228

Whats goin in the new tank?


----------



## mordalphus

An arm and a leg, he already agreed to pay that.


----------



## jkan0228

Looks like its gonna be one hell of a surprise! Btw how are my TT's doing?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> Whats goin in the new tank?


Leaning towards. The dark side. It'll be named after the world renown *ALL BLACKS*.

Panda/BKK, Blk Tig, Blk K14s....something along those lines...





mordalphus said:


> An arm and a leg, he already agreed to pay that.


dats funny :icon_cry:....I'm going to miss that arm...:icon_cry::icon_cry:


----------



## mordalphus

I already told you I want one of those nice lookin legs


----------



## jrwestcoast

shrimpnmoss said:


> Leaning towards. The dark side. It'll be named after the world renown *ALL BLACKS*.
> 
> Panda/BKK, Blk Tig, Blk K14s....something along those lines...


I would go for black k14s that way you have a black crown tank to go with the red one you have.


----------



## jkan0228

That will be epic....


----------



## jkan0228

mordalphus said:


> I already told you I want one of those nice lookin legs


I have nice looking legs!! Lol


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Yeah let's see some new crown pics


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*Modern Planter Maintenance:*

Hacked the moss wall way back. Looks like crap now. I'll probably restart the wall. General heavy pruning. Removed all the large Nurii leaves, they were blocking the light for some of the Erios. Split one of the large Erios into 3 smaller plants. Trimmed moss tiles and restarted some more weeping moss tiles.



















*Crown Tank:*

Removed sponge filter, the extra air was cavitating the filtration system. Too many micro-air bubbles getting sucked into the UGF forming large air bubbles in the canister. Moved Orb from Modern Planter over. One crown berried.


----------



## speedie408

It looks like s%*t now but it'll bounce right back in a jiffy. Poor Nurii tho haha. 

You need more crowns bro!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> It looks like s%*t now but it'll bounce right back in a jiffy. Poor Nurii tho haha.
> 
> You need more crowns bro!


It does look like crapola right now...but I'm a binge trimmer....when I trim I TRIM...haha...the big ol' Nurii leaves was stunting the middle erios though.......my damned planter is starting to look like one of your farms....I'm breaking this tank down next...make room for my next shrimp tank...

You are right....we all need more crowns....who doesn't?...hehe


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*Here are my new blue rilis.*








*

Frog with Frog Poop on glass.*


----------



## sayurasem

is that little white balls are "bio balls" do they really work?


----------



## jkan0228

Congrats on the berry! Haha my moss still looks like crap....


----------



## shrimpnmoss

sayurasem said:


> is that little white balls are "bio balls" do they really work?


 
No, those white balls are uprooted osmocote pellets that was in my substrate.


----------



## orchidman

shrimpnmoss said:


> No, those white balls are uprooted osmocote pellets that was in my substrate.


i get them too! i hate them!!


----------



## Alyssa

I love this tank! What kind of mesh did you use for the moss wall?


----------



## Cynth

The frog is pretty, poop and all 

Congrats on the rilis! Very nice.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Here's some Froggy pics of the Frog out and about hunting for fruit flies. You can see the tiny flies on the tips of the Tonias. He's about to pounce on them. The white powder on the rocks is vitamin powder that I have to coat the flies in before feeding. :icon_roll


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Nice! Do they eat wingless fruit flies?


----------



## jkan0228

Cool! Is that a tonia sp. in the back?


----------



## speedie408

Nice shots homie! I thought I told you not to be feeding your frogs that blow...


----------



## swoof

:icon_excl


Geniusdudekiran said:


> Nice! Do they eat wingless fruit flies?


 
There is a variety of flightless fruit flies available in the hobby that most people use.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

More pics, especially of the crowns


----------



## lbacha

He's teaching them to eat shrimplets


----------



## shrimpnmoss

I'll post some more crown pics later...I rearranged the tank a bit....

*ANYWAYS, I am now open to offers or trades for these frogs....I'm done with live insects....*

Going to build another shrimp tank.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> I'll post some more crown pics later...I rearranged the tank a bit....
> 
> *ANYWAYS, I am now open to offers or trades for these frogs....I'm done with live insects....*
> 
> Going to build another shrimp tank.


Eight hours and waiting... J/k I suck with updates too bro.


----------



## zachary908

Out of curiosity how much cash would you want for em? I know it's not a trade but...


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Eight hours and waiting... J/k I suck with updates too bro.


Alright you impatient punk! Here's some crown and crown tank action just for you.

*
Berried Flower. Who's the baby daddy?* :icon_lol:









*Tank Shots. Took out the Sponge filter, there is not enough surface area for the extra O2 to escape before the micro-bubbles got sucked into the UGF. So I was getting lots of air in the canister and UGF as a result. Don't laugh at the ridiculously large and ghetto pipe step down... @[email protected]*










*Feeding Shot.

*








*This is the my view when I brush my teeth. Right next to my sink.*


----------



## shrimpnmoss

I'm a couple of weeks away from breaking down Modern Planter. Struck a deal with my wife....if I broke this down I can do another bigger tank. So look out for my SnS thread soon for this tank breakdown. PM me if any items interest you in this tank. What's left of the moss wall is not for sale. I harvested the moss and will start over. Dang some of the Erios got big. Those could easily split to 3-5 little Erios.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Thank you  But I will still cry myself to sleep tonight because I know I will never have shrimp as nice as yours . What kind of erios are they and what kind of deal can you strike with a 15 year old that went partially broke buying his mom a nice present . I am stocking up on erios because I am starting my 2.5 gallon farm tank. So far I have a Parkeri and Cinereum on the way.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Thank you But I will still cry myself to sleep tonight because I know I will never have shrimp as nice as yours . What kind of erios are they and what kind of deal can you strike with a 15 year old that went partially broke buying his mom a nice present . I am stocking up on erios because I am starting my 2.5 gallon farm tank. So far I have a Parkeri and Cinereum on the way.


What are you talking about man? You're only 15! Eventually you'll have WAY nicer shrimps than me if you stay in this hobby.

The Erios in this tank are Cinereums. Cinereums look nice and are easy to grow, what melted a Ban Ba Wah didn't affect the Cinereum. If you have Cinereum, give it time and you'll have a lot soon. If you melt them PM me.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

I have a Japan too, it's an awesome looking plant. I have it in my spec. I got it from Nick for $18 shipped (he cut me an awesome deal because it's a baby plant) and it melted before I got my new light, but it is bouncing back now. They are my new subsection of the hobby. Do you have any suggestions for my new farm tank? I have: Erio Cinereum, Erio Parkeri, Erio Japan, UG, and Downoi. I'm trying to make this a tank to grow out rare (read expensive :hihi plants and sell them. 100% of earnings from that will go back into more rare plants and my German K14 CRS fund


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Yes, my recommendation is grow it in a bigger tank. LOL.. 2.5 might as well grow it in a 5.5 about same size....bigger = more plants..


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Yeah, but I already had the equipment. And something about smaller tanks just appeals to me. I like being able to look around my room and see 4 little aquatic jungles that are pretty much self sustaining, save for water changes, feeding, ferts, etc. I just can't imagine ever having a tank more than 10 gallons. I don't think I would know how to scape it!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Here is a 2012 update.
*
Modern Planter = R.I.P. * Struck a deal with Mrs. Shrimpnmoss. Break small tank down build new bigger tank. I was tired of maintaining a planted tank anyways. Weekly WC, Trimming, Ferts..... A properly built low light shrimp tank is 10x easier to deal with. There is no work or algae with my shrimp tanks.

*Frog Tank* - Sold the Varadaros to a frog enthusiast. Cleaned up the froggy poop, heavy trim, replant, changed bulb to 6500k bulb...no more pink yay!!:bounce:
*
Crown Tank aka The Crapper Tank* - It's starting to look like "Mini Me" of my Lost Temple tank.


----------



## Cynth

Sounds like you are on your way to the "easy life"~ no plants to trim, no algae to clean what will you do with all that free time.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Cynth said:


> Sounds like you are on your way to the "easy life"~ no plants to trim, no algae to clean what will you do with all that free time.


hehe...Are you a fly on the wall?...that was my exact "pitch" to the Mrs....

I told her to notice how little work there was on my 60p compared to my 30c planted high-tech.


----------



## jkan0228

What moss is that on the moss wall?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Back wall with the two small mesh is Weeping Moss....the side wall big wall is Mini X-Mas...


----------



## jkan0228

I wanna know what Taiwan moss will look like.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Looks good! But I would suggest that you trim the UG by the front of the tank slits not right up against the glass . That tank looks so empty now


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Also, why is there a random erio in a cup next to the (ex) frog tank? Lol


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Also, why is there a random erio in a cup next to the (ex) frog tank? Lol


That is a fine specimen of Erio Ban Ba Wah. I took it out of the Frog tank because I flooded the frog tank for a few days and I didn't want it to melt. Despite my best efforts damn Erio melted anyways. I'm sticking with shrimps and moss..


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

You flooded it?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> You flooded it?


Only for three days. I was moving livestock around and I needed space to isolate a betta. It's back as a terrarium now. I didn't want to melt it because there was no CO2....but it melted anyways....because of the move and lack of light next to the tank....take a $20 and a $10 and a $5 dollar bills and flush it down the toilet....that's what it feels like...:angryfire

I might have to flood it again to trim the UG....I don't know how I'm going to get the clippings out if I trim it dry....


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> Only for three days. I was moving livestock around and I needed space to isolate a betta. It's back as a terrarium now. I didn't want to melt it because there was no CO2....but it melted anyways....because of the move and lack of light next to the tank....take a $20 and a $10 and a $5 dollar bills and flush it down the toilet....that's what it feels like...:angryfire
> 
> I might have to flood it again to trim the UG....I don't know how I'm going to get the clippings out if I trim it dry....


That's true, maybe just 3-4 inches, if that, and then trim. For the front, at least. That sucks, the Erio was so nice. Is that Betta the dumb one that ate it's own tail? Lol


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Also, I have made my next step towards having shrimp as nice as you 

My SSS+ crowns (thought they were flowers, but I'm getting crowns, oh well) are coming in from nikki tomorrow. Finally lol.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> That's true, maybe just 3-4 inches, if that, and then trim. For the front, at least. That sucks, the Erio was so nice. Is that Betta the dumb one that ate it's own tail? Lol



yeah....he's about to get flushed too...


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> yeah....he's about to get flushed too...


Lmao


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Also, I have made my next step towards having shrimp as nice as you
> 
> My SSS+ crowns (thought they were flowers, but I'm getting crowns, oh well) are coming in from nikki tomorrow. Finally lol.


Bro, point and shoot pics hid a lot of imperfections. I'm not ashamed to say that not all of them are really nice. Patterns aside, one of my crappier shrimps is a crown, poor coverage. With a bunch of SSS+ shrimps side by side it's easy to tell which ones I"m keeping and which ones I'm trading off. Out of 20+ shrimps I really only want to keep about 5 that gets a top notch grade coverage. I'm hoping this will dramatically improve my stock over time.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> Bro, point and shoot pics hid a lot of imperfections. I'm not ashamed to say that not all of them are really nice. Patterns aside, one of my crappier shrimps is a crown, poor coverage. With a bunch of SSS+ shrimps side by side it's easy to tell which ones I"m keeping and which ones I'm trading off. Out of 20+ shrimps I really only want to keep about 5 that gets a top notch grade coverage. I'm hoping this will dramatically improve my stock over time.


Haha "trade them off" to me lol

I like the crappy ones :hihi: SSS are SSS (someone's going to freak out on me. I KNOW THAT THAT STATEMENT IS NOT TRUE)


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Haha "trade them off" to me lol
> 
> I like the crappy ones :hihi: SSS are SSS (someone's going to freak out on me. I KNOW THAT THAT STATEMENT IS NOT TRUE)


Find me a Marineland DoubleBright LED 24 to 36 inch size...and I'll trade you for sure....


----------



## ADA

Is that UG you have in there?? Niiiiice!!!!!



shrimpnmoss said:


> Here is a 2012 update.
> *
> Modern Planter = R.I.P. * Struck a deal with Mrs. Shrimpnmoss. Break small tank down build new bigger tank. I was tired of maintaining a planted tank anyways. Weekly WC, Trimming, Ferts..... A properly built low light shrimp tank is 10x easier to deal with. There is no work or algae with my shrimp tanks.
> 
> *Frog Tank* - Sold the Varadaros to a frog enthusiast. Cleaned up the froggy poop, heavy trim, replant, changed bulb to 6500k bulb...no more pink yay!!:bounce:
> *
> Crown Tank aka The Crapper Tank* - It's starting to look like "Mini Me" of my Lost Temple tank.
> 
> View attachment 39752
> 
> 
> View attachment 39753
> 
> 
> View attachment 39754


----------



## shrimpnmoss

I've been getting a small issue that has not occurred in my previous UGF builds. Air has been building up in the UGF tubes and sucked into the canister cavitating the canister making it very loud. I've been expunging the air on a daily basis.
*
How did the air get into the UGF?*

A: The micro air bubbles from the sponge filter is being sucked up into the UGF. The micro air bubble collect and gets sucked into the system. The 2213 that was powering this tank was not powerful enough to expunge the air by itself. I have two 2213 and one is significantly more powerful. 

*What is the proposed solution?*

A: Take the extra 2213 (the more powerful one) from the broken down Modern Planter and daisy chain the system. Run the tank with both filters on. Hoping that the increased flow rate can self expunge and collected air. 

Now this 7.5 gallon tank has about 2 gallons worth of canisters filtering the tank. Making it a almost 10g tank. There is also the sponge filter powered by air pump. Cheers to RIDICULOUS over filtering. I have some shadow bees coming from Nick the Farmer, this will be their temporary home until my Taiwan Bee tank is cycled and ready. I'll shut up now and here are some pics.


----------



## speedie408

Nick the Farmer? Who's that guy? lol 

Looks good homeboy! The Shadows are gonna love it in there for sure. Daisy chain eh? That's what the Asian breeders are doing right!? I read somewhere that they run even 3 or 4 canisters to clean the water even further?! I think I'm going to jump on that bandwagon now too since I've got an extra brand new Sun Sun filter just sitting pretty. Overkill biofiltration FTW!


----------



## jrwestcoast

I guess we all cool guys do over filtration. I have a fluval g3 and an 2217 with a canister pre-filter plus a large sponge filter in my future shadow tank. The only thing I need to figure out is how to not have a vortex in the tank.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jrwestcoast said:


> I guess we all cool guys do over filtration. I have a fluval g3 and an 2217 with a canister pre-filter plus a large sponge filter in my future shadow tank. The only thing I need to figure out is how to not have a vortex in the tank.


Totally Envious....I want one of those G3s...those things are sexy...you won't have a vortex if you run UGF and put a heavy load on that filter or if the tank is set up already you can put that 2217 infront of the G3 and only turn the G3 on.


----------



## jrwestcoast

I have an UGF with the G3 so I think I will try to put the other filter inline. And the G3 is nice I especially like not having to turn of the filter clean the mechanical and chemical filter, but I really got it for the electronics. It just looks cool


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Bro, you update the tank but no pics of the crowns? Lol

Crown pictures!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Bro, you update the tank but no pics of the crowns? Lol
> 
> Crown pictures!


Just for you bro, here's a quick video of some horny shrimps.:flick:* CRS CROWN FRENZY*

Someone is getting knocked up tonight.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Nice! What's the erio at the front left?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Nice! What's the erio at the front left?



I was given that Erio as an Cinereum, but that is under debate right now so it's probably not an Cinereum.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/plants/159935-new-erio-not.html


----------



## GDP

shrimpnmoss said:


> Just for you bro, here's a quick video of some horny shrimps.:flick:* CRS CROWN FRENZY*
> 
> Someone is getting knocked up tonight.


 
:drool: And LOL @ the betta getting flushed.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*Temporary Residents. Shadow Bees. Like a Boss!*
































*
These are the dumb ones that haven't figured out that there is food being served on the bottom of the tank.*


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*F1 Baby*









*
This MaMa is a trooper she preggers again 1 week after giving birth. She was the one getting the boys all worked up last night.*


----------



## HolyAngel

Did an SS sneak in there bro? 
The shrimp all look great! Especially that berried mama at the end there, she's pretty hott!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

HolyAngel said:


> Did an SS sneak in there bro?
> The shrimp all look great! Especially that berried mama at the end there, she's pretty hott!


Good eye. Indeed. She was given as an extra when I ordered my Crowns. I didn't have the heart to cull/flush/whatever a full grown female CRS that was ready to breed. So she stays. She's already given birth to one clutch. 1/2 SS and 1/2 SSS. I'll have to figure out what to do with these SS eventually.


----------



## jrwestcoast

Wow those shadows look fantastic are you putting them in the 20l


----------



## speedie408

Awesome dude! Now get those Shadows breeding...pronto! Hahaha


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jrwestcoast said:


> Wow those shadows look fantastic are you putting them in the 20l


Yup, in about a month when the 20L is cycled. It'll be shadow bee, bkk and bb only...reds need not apply.


----------



## jrwestcoast

That's going to be an amazing tank.


----------



## Cynth

Those are so beautiful! I hope they are very productive for you


----------



## jkan0228

shrimpnmoss said:


> Good eye. Indeed. She was given as an extra when I ordered my Crowns. I didn't have the heart to cull/flush/whatever a full grown female CRS that was ready to breed. So she stays. She's already given birth to one clutch. 1/2 SS and 1/2 SSS. I'll have to figure out what to do with these SS eventually.


Send them my way....:hihi:


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> Send them my way....:hihi:


Jeff, you done moving yet? And where are you going to put the SS anyways? You want my SS...no problem....get your hands on a Kota Tingii and grow that out and trade me a runner...


----------



## jkan0228

shrimpnmoss said:


> Jeff, you done moving yet? And where are you going to put the SS anyways? You want my SS...no problem....get your hands on a Kota Tingii and grow that out and trade me a runner...


Haha I might just toss my rili's in my 95G once everything I stable. They'll do fine since the water is hella clean... Or just setup another tank.... :hihi: but that'll be some time... Lol 

Where is Nick?! I want my Kota Tingii!! Lol

And no I'm not done moving. But the house is open for us on 2/1.


----------



## atom

Those shadows are amazing!


----------



## manualfocus

You should cull out the dumb shadows, Howard. Survival of the fittest. roud:

Awesome tank!


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> Jeff, you done moving yet? And where are you going to put the SS anyways? You want my SS...no problem....get your hands on a Kota Tingii and grow that out and trade me a runner...


I'm not going anywhere :hihi: and I got a nice tank for 'em :biggrin:


----------



## HolyAngel

manualfocus said:


> You should cull out the dumb shadows, Howard. Survival of the fittest. roud:
> 
> Awesome tank!


lmao, no 

And bro, you know i'd take those SS off your hands too ^^


----------



## zergling

Sweet shrimps you have there!

Very nice over-filtration too! I thought I was bonkers putting a 2213 on my 12" cube.....compared to you, obviously NOT hahaha!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

You guys are right. Cull those damn shadows....why are they so black?....More white the better right? 

Zergling - By running two 2213 my 7.5 gallon tank is now a 10 gallon tank approximately. I over filter all my shrimp tanks so I never change my water. NO WC = Less Chance of High-Grade Shrimps Dying. However, putting two filters on did squat for my air bubble problem. I don't know why Air keeps on building up in my UGF. Eventually the build up becomes big air bubbles and I see it getting sucked into the canister. Now I'm expunging the air every two days instead of one.

I'm sure if I turn off the sponge filter the problem will go away, but I don't want to do that. I get 2-3 times the baby survival rate with a tank that pumps O2 all the time. 

I might have to do something different with my 20gL. Maybe UGF ran by air then sponge filter as a prefilter for my canister.


----------



## zergling

Quick question on your no-water-changes approach -- do you check your nitrate levels, and if so, how frequently? 

I ask because I had a neglected (no water changes, just top off's when I feel like it) RCS tank for a while where over 50% of the tank was one big giant java moss blob. That tank was registering over 80ppm of nitrates until I started doing weekly water changes. The RCS were still breeding even during the period of no water changes, but these are neo's LOL!

Anywho, I basically want to see how you approach parameters that may (or may not?) rise like nitrates, or others that may go down, such as calcium and magnesium, when there are no water changes involved.

Thanks!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

I measure ammonia and nitrates about once a month....it always registers zero...but I only feed once every two to three days....in a well cycled shrimp tank with tons of filtration it should always measure zero.

BTW...one 2213 is already plenty of filtration...I normally would only run one because the substrate is the bulk of the biological filtration in a system like this....I'm only doing two right now because of the air problem and I broke down a tank and I don't want to lose the cycle in the second filter....so I'll have a spare 2213 already cycled when I need it....

Technically I might do a 2-3% WC.....because I lose water when I expunge air...and I have to replace that water...but in my other tank with no problems...no WC

Disclaimer: This is how I run my tanks...if anyone tries this method without the proper set up and your shrimps die on you...don't blame me.


----------



## zergling

Thanks for the info sir! I'm still a big fan of weekly large water changes, but always willing to learn from other folks' methods, especially those keeping high end shrimps.

AFAIK, no amounts of freshwater filtration will reduce nitrates, except for plants, algae, and chemical media designed to absorb nitrates. So what I take from your setup is that the whatever nitrates you get from your bioload and small feeding is soaked up by your plants. This then allows you to keep your water as pristine as possible without needing to change a certain amount regularly.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

The crown tank has co2 or no?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> The crown tank has co2 or no?


No way, none of my shrimp tanks do. If you want lots of babies don't do CO2. (high grade shrimps)


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

That Erio is okay?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> That Erio is okay?


Yeah, it's not growing or dying...it stopped growing since I put them in this tank. It'll depend on the Erio. This is an Erio Cinereum that I had leftover from the modern planter..


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Little housekeeping. Moved out the SS Moss Walls to new tank as moss carpet and to help the new tank cycle. Disconnected the UGF system, running regular SS Prefilter. For some reason this tank kept on cavitating and air was getting in the UGF and being sucked into the canister. I've built many UGF systems tanks this is the only tank that I've had this air issue with. I had a leak somewhere I couldn't chase out.

Lost 2 shadow bees this week, one looked perfectly healthy the other had a red head and died. I hope it's not contagious. 50% WC dosed some BorneoWild Shield, Mosura Tonic Pro, Old Sea Mud Powder and some BT-9 after WC. 3 days later no additional deaths....*crosses fingers*...I hope they were already weak and it's not a bacterial outbreak.

Since I have twice as many Crowns/Flowers and they are making babies. I will move the CRS over to the new tank when ready. The TBs stays here.

FTS








Shadow Shot








Shadow Shot








Baby


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Dude that sucks man. You should have just sent them my way instead of that :hihi:

But in all seriousness, that's really too bad... Hopefully the ones you have will reproduce quickly! How many you got now?

Are you sure you don't want to send a couple my way to keep safe? Lmao


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Hey Howard what do you think of using this tank: http://www.adgshop.com/Cube_Glass_25_X_25_X_25_p/140-869.htm as a little version of your Shrimptech tanks? I was thinking, I could use this tank, some Akadama, moss, and shrimp (Duh... maybe OEBTs or TTs, or rilis, IDK). How would it work? Temperature flux is fine here as all my other tanks are fine too. It's maybe a +-4*F shift over 24 hrs any day.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Krian, for 2x2 more inches you can almost double your water by going Ebi or 30c cube. The link you posted is nice, but there's only going to be so many shrimps you can cram in there. The larger you go right now, the better they'll breed and more shrimps you'll have.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

That's true... I might. I just thought this size would do better on my desk (it's glass, I think 8 gallons of water would be too much...)


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Or maybe I'll meet in the middle and get the Mini M.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> That's true... I might. I just thought this size would do better on my desk (it's glass, I think 8 gallons of water would be too much...)



It's not really 8g once you put the substrate in. The Mini M is nice too. Easier to scape IMO.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

I torn down the ADA 30c yesterday. Moved the Taiwan Bees to my new modified breeder box and the Crowns over to the new 20g long. (*ShrimpTech I*)

Going to simplify my life for now, only two tanks running. Starting a No-Tech project. Black lava rocks cycling in an existing tank. Sea Fan ordered from that online auction site. Reading up on how to make brackish water.
*

Here is the start, 2g flour jar from Crate and Barrel:*


----------



## Speaker73

Awesome! Let me guess.. A opae ula jar? Got one in my office. 3 gallon with black sand and live rock. have about 40 of them in there but only see about 15 at a time.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Opae Jar is on hold for now. Going to reboot the ADA 30c. Here we go again, round 3 on this journal for this tank. I really don't know what I'm going to do with this tank yet. I do know that the New Amazonia takes a minimum of 2 months to stop leaching ammonia so better get the cycle started and I can worry about style later.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Took the rock from original ShrimpTech 60p tank to do a little single stone Iwagumi with Crypt Parva. This is emmersed Parva from a farm so it will all melt away and regrow nice and low.


----------



## jkan0228

Whats the moss in the wall?

Looks nice! Looks like we can't look forward to pretty FTS's with all the melting :hihi:


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> Whats the moss in the wall?
> 
> Looks nice! Looks like we can't look forward to pretty FTS's with all the melting :hihi:


Mini X-Mas.  There's no shrimps in here so I'm doing daily 100% WC hoping I can leach out the ammonia quicker.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Poll Added! I made an executive decision today. I will be breaking down my 60p "Lost Temple". I will restart my extra 30c and run two 30c side by side on the same stand. They will be twins. Fraternal Twins.

I'm leaning two ways for the new tank I'm about to build and I want your vote. You can help me decide if you want. You have until end of May to cast your vote. I want to start the tank in June before the July vacation and shrimps in at the end of July.


1) BTOE - Orange Eye Black Tiger Tank

*BTOE*

2) Sulawesi Caridnals Tank

*Cardinal*


----------



## AlisaR

Cardinals obviously!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

AlisaR said:


> Cardinals obviously!


Vote on the poll Susi Queen!


----------



## guppies

Once you saw in person the intense red color body and white claws moving, there is no turning back.


----------



## Bananariot

BTOE!!!

One you go black, you never go back ;D

Though BTOE on aquasoil would be hard to see for me personally.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Bananariot said:


> BTOE!!!
> 
> One you go black, you never go back ;D
> 
> Though BTOE on aquasoil would be hard to see for me personally.



If BTOE wins...I'd build it with natural gravel...I'll probably build it with natural gravel anyways...BTOE and Sulawesi both can handle harder water..


----------



## manualfocus

I voted Sulawesi Carindals because I honestly think they're one of the best looking shrimps which don't cost eleventy thousand dollars a piece. They're definitely challenging to keep happy, though. One day I'll get some. I'm sure everyone and their mothers will have BTOE one day, but not many will rise up to the challenge and be successful at keeping Sulawesi Cardinals.

The only thing that bugs me is all the tanks I've seen them raised in are, for lack of better terms, *fugly*. I may have not searched hard enough, but so far I've only seen tanks with crushed coral, some random leaves, and tons of algae (for good reason). It seems as though the owners are more concerned about keeping them alive and not about the aesthetics. Too much of a sacrifice IMO. I challenge you to scape it nicely!


----------



## guppies

Sometimes you can have the cake and eat it too, look what i found in my sulawesi tank, look carefully at the tree and tell me what you see.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

^^^new Sulawesi mutation?

Also for the most part I agree, Tuan. Howard, go for it!


----------



## guppies

It's an orange eye black tiger, I used to keep them in this tank  and this baby was hiding when I changed over to sulawesi and it survived and appears to do well. I think I have two in there.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Nice! BTOE are pretty sweet.


----------



## Max Kenji

Sulawesi ftw!
Nice setup Howard


----------



## speedie408

Tuan - why you gotta clown on a man's shrimp holding tank? lol Just say Nick's ugly tanks! It's ok bro.  Seriously though, I use to think the same way... this was when I wasn't into shrimp yet. I thought, how could these fools keep such nice shrimp in such "fugly" tanks? Little did I know, having high quality shrimp, the game changes. It's no longer about the scape, the scape now has to work around the shrimp. Try keeping expensive shrimp and see if you're gonna want to EI dose that tank daily... lol. 

Howard - you already know my pick lol. No offense to Sulawesi lovers, but I've never liked those sp due to the fact that they are SOOOOO shy and tiny! How do you love something that hides most of the time and need to hold a magnifying glass whenever you're looking to spot one lol.  To each their own I suppose.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

I had a good night of sleep and calmer heads prevailed! I might have to do both!!!...I mean what the heck am I going to put in the other 30c anyway? The BTOE 30c is already built...all I have to do is raise the GH a bit and I'm good to go. All that's in there are culls right now....ahahha..... #1 BTOE and#2 Sulawesi maybe!....I hate this hobby!

Tuan, I accept your challenge if I pull the Sulawesi trigger. I'm with you bro, I need a balance of looks and shrimp keeping...I've never been able to use Seyriu Stones because I've always kept soft water shrimps....I'm going to use some Seyriu on this next one. The only issue with the Sulawesi is that my timing has to be perfect so that I can pick them up in person in LA when I go down for the summer. Then make a bee line back to my home in Seattle to put them in.


----------



## Loachutus

Hey Howard, which one would you learn more from?

If you have a bit of conservationist in ya, Sulawesi. I'd love to see these guys farmed instead of wild caught one day.

Whatever you decide I'm looking forward to seeing the tanks!


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Howard, do an iwagumi seiryu stone rock pile type scape roud:


----------



## guppies

speedie408 said:


> No offense to Sulawesi lovers, but I've never liked those sp due to the fact that they are SOOOOO shy and tiny! How do you love something that hides most of the time and need to hold a magnifying glass whenever you're looking to spot one lol.  To each their own I suppose.


 Where this info coming from? 

Cardinals can grow up to an inch long and they are not shy at all. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A1ER10Oxck


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Howard, do an iwagumi seiryu stone rock pile type scape roud:


It won't be a Iwagumi. It'll be a rockscape for sure. I'm probably going with natural gravel with the second tank and no CO2. It'll be shrimp-scaped, not one of your nice nano Aquascapes...I'll leave the pure nano-scaping to you Kiran.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> It won't be a Iwagumi. It'll be a rockscape for sure. I'm probably going with natural gravel with the second tank and no CO2. It'll be shrimp-scaped, not one of your nice nano Aquascapes...I'll leave the pure nano-scaping to you Kiran.


Fair enough :hihi:

You've certainly got it all figured out -- quality shrimps bro!


----------



## speedie408

guppies said:


> Where this info coming from?
> 
> Cardinals can grow up to an inch long and they are not shy at all.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A1ER10Oxck


lol there goes my ignorance. My apologies if I offended you Lee. Your shrimp are most def not shy and seem bigger than the one's I've seen in real life. 

Do all sulawesi sp get this big, or just this type?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

guppies said:


> Sometimes you can have the cake and eat it too, look what i found in my sulawesi tank, look carefully at the tree and tell me what you see.


Wut the Pho!?!?! Am I looking at a black shrimp hanging upside down on that tree? What is that? Tell me you didn't put a BKK in a Susi tank!


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

tl;dr Howard, go back a page :hihi:

It's a BTOE roud:


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Ohh...OK...maybe I should take a remedial reading class before I do anymore tanks!


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

lol hahaha. Tanks are too exciting to read everything in sequential order


----------



## guppies

shrimpnmoss said:


> Wut the Pho!?!?! Am I looking at a black shrimp hanging upside down on that tree? What is that? Tell me you didn't put a BKK in a Susi tank!


It's an orange eye black tiger. So there you can have the best of both worlds.


----------



## guppies

speedie408 said:


> lol there goes my ignorance. My apologies if I offended you Lee. Your shrimp are most def not shy and seem bigger than the one's I've seen in real life.
> 
> Do all sulawesi sp get this big, or just this type?


Not sure, but there seem to be two different types one is smaller and bright red they usually don't grow bigger than 2cm, the other is more purple red sometimes almost black these can grow to 2.5-3cm. Probably came from different lakes. You are slowly creeping into the dark Sulawesi world Speedie and there is no turning back


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Now I'm thinking about getting nice stock to Royal Blue Tigers to stock my new tank. Argggg....so many nice shrimps so little tanks.


----------



## jkan0228

Make ms. Shrimpnmoss happy and she'll gladly let you have more tanks. :hihi:


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Refinance your house. Downgrade your car. Invest in AAPL. "Slip and fall" in Walmart. Burn your hand on hot cofee. Subsequently sue. Sell your kidney. Sell your kid(s). Eat fast food every day. Cut your left hand off and collect insurance. Same with your house. And cars. And children. Tada! :hihi: Lol

Or... Compromise... hate that word :hihi:


----------



## ren

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Refinance your house. Downgrade your car. Invest in AAPL. "Slip and fall" in Walmart. Burn your hand on hot cofee. Subsequently sue. Sell your kidney. Sell your kid(s). Eat fast food every day. Cut your left hand off and collect insurance. Same with your house. And cars. And children. Tada! :hihi: Lol
> 
> Or... Compromise... hate that word :hihi:


lol that's rediculous 

but on another note go with BTOEs they would look awesome in one of your shrimp tech tanks. they'll look like a colony of black ants running around in your tank.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Refinance your house. Downgrade your car. Invest in AAPL. "Slip and fall" in Walmart. Burn your hand on hot cofee. Subsequently sue. Sell your kidney. Sell your kid(s). Eat fast food every day. Cut your left hand off and collect insurance. Same with your house. And cars. And children. Tada! :hihi: Lol
> 
> Or... Compromise... hate that word :hihi:



You're tying to go to med school right? GOOD! I don't think you would make a good financial advisor.:flick:



ren said:


> lol that's rediculous
> 
> but on another note go with BTOEs they would look awesome in one of your shrimp tech tanks. they'll look like a colony of black ants running around in your tank.


Yeah, I'm leaning towards the Tigers myself. I've kept BTOE before. I'm thinking more Royal Blue Tigers this time. They are so dang sexy.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> You're tying to go to med school right? GOOD! I don't think you would make a good financial advisor.:flick:


yeah... I've been told :icon_roll


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Netted 99% of all TT from 60p to 30c today. The 60p will be down by next weekend.

*ADA 30c #1*

































Mr. Stowaway aka Mr. I hid in the moss and didn't get sold off with my brothers and sisters.


----------



## jkan0228

Those TT clutches seem a bit small, any idea why? Or is it just me? 

That crown is so cute! Such nice coloring at such a young age...


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> Those TT clutches seem a bit small, any idea why? Or is it just me?
> 
> That crown is so cute! Such nice coloring at such a young age...


Some carry smaller clutches. Usually the first time mothers carry smaller clutches. There is a monster clutch hiding in there somewhere. I've also ran into an unknown Nitrate issue in the 60p, that's why I'm accelerating the breakdown. That could also contribute to the smaller clutch. Lately, I've not been getting the baby survival rate that I'm used to. I figured it's about time to give them a new tank.

I'm going with 3X30c on the 60p stand for a while and store the 60p away until the 20L runs its course and start the process all over again.


----------



## jkan0228

shrimpnmoss said:


> Some carry smaller clutches. Usually the first time mothers carry smaller clutches. There is a monster clutch hiding in there somewhere. I've also ran into an unknown Nitrate issue in the 60p, that's why I'm accelerating the breakdown. That could also contribute to the smaller clutch. Lately, I've not been getting the baby survival rate that I'm used to. I figured it's about time to give them a new tank.
> 
> I'm going with 3X30c on the 60p stand for a while and store the 60p away until the 20L runs its course and start the process all over again.


I've been seeing lots of clutchs and lots of new borns(3mm) from my TT's but never any babies that get bigger. I see tons of rili babies but no TT's, any idea why? 

What's in your 20L?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

No idea man. Could be anything. Temp, water, food? You can't compare Caridinas to Neos. Neos grow like weeds and the reason they're so cheap. I have babies and juvies, but not the TT 90% survival rate that I'm used to. It's more like 50% the last couple of rounds. I'm hoping the new tank will kick it up a notch.

The Benibachis are in the 20L. All by themselves and it'll remain that way.


----------



## jkan0228

shrimpnmoss said:


> No idea man. Could be anything. Temp, water, food? You can't compare Caridinas to Neos. Neos grow like weeds and the reason they're so cheap. I have babies and juvies, but not the TT 90% survival rate that I'm used to. It's more like 50% the last couple of rounds. I'm hoping the new tank will kick it up a notch.
> 
> The Benibachis are in the 20L. All by themselves and it'll remain that way.


Well it's constantly at 74-76F. Food consists of bebi, diatoms and whatever other BW food I throw in there. 160ppm for TDS. Maybe I should test GH and KH again?

Atleast you have a survival rate.

Oh yea, sorry man. Totally forgot


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Test your Nitrate. When I found my Nitrate creeping even after several massive WC on the 60p, that was when my baby rate started dropping.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Hey we need pics of those Beni's!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Hey we need pics of those Beni's!


Beni Pics in last two pages of other journal.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals/138648-shrimptech-lost-temple-r-i-p-25.html


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Wow... now I want some A grade mixed bands, did you get any of those? It's incredible that anything can be THAT solid.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Put water in the #2 today. Experimenting with reverse UGF, where the UGF is the "spraybar" with a regular intake in the tank.

*Plumbing*








*Outflow for filter under the substrate*







*
Saved a spot for his brother this weekend*







*
Spongfilter from 60p with Narrow Leaf Java Fern attached*








*Twin Brother*


----------



## jkan0228

I'm guessing you'll still need stuff like matrix with the UGF being the outflow? 

Why don't you look up both sponges on the filter?


----------



## maxsunny

Hi , where did you get the light on tank in last pic ?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> I'm guessing you'll still need stuff like matrix with the UGF being the outflow?
> Why don't you look up both sponges on the filter?


Yes, this time I used the ADA Powersand from my 60p that I broke down. Washed and reused. I took out one of the sponges to make more room in the tank. One sponge is plenty and it's a small air pump running it.



maxsunny said:


> Hi , where did you get the light on tank in last pic ?


The UGF tubes and lights came from Taiwan.


----------



## speedie408

Reverse flow? I'd like to see how this turns out. Wouldn't this just kick up shrimp poo all over the place? Unless the point is to get it kicked up so it can get sucked up into the canister in the first place?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> Reverse flow? I'd like to see how this turns out. Wouldn't this just kick up shrimp poo all over the place? Unless the point is to get it kicked up so it can get sucked up into the canister in the first place?


Yup, that's the point to get the poop sucked out. It is suppose to make the substrate last longer....we'll see in due time. It doesn't clear the cloudiness nearly as fast, I'll tell you that right now.


----------



## maxsunny

From Taiwan by online ? If yes can you tell me where . I want to get it . Thank


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Pardon my slight stupidity here, but does the substrate get constantly kicked up? As in, always moving slightly? Or am I looking at this the wrong way? :redface:


----------



## shrimpnmoss

maxsunny said:


> From Taiwan by online ? If yes can you tell me where . I want to get it . Thank


Not online. Taiwan LFS. :flick:



Geniusdudekiran said:


> Pardon my slight stupidity here, but does the substrate get constantly kicked up? As in, always moving slightly? Or am I looking at this the wrong way? :redface:


You would think, but everything is OK so far. The Powersand diffuses the flow and look at how many holes there are in the UGF tube that I'm using. It's a nice gentle current moving from the bottom of the tank upwards.


----------



## jkan0228

How much did you get the UGF and sponge filter for? In NTD that is  

Is this still the 2213 hooked up to this?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> How much did you get the UGF and sponge filter for? In NTD that is
> 
> Is this still the 2213 hooked up to this?


Yes, both cubes are being run by 2213. Since, you're going this summer (lucky bastard) you should be able to find some. My Mom got me a lot last summer but she bought it one piece by piece. It was like 10 NTD per section and the connectors were less. I've used a lot of UGF now and if you can Jeff get the smaller diameter one (like the ones in this tank, see Post #1 for the different size). You won't have to step down, you can connect your canister J - Tube to UGF with one section of hose.


----------



## jkan0228

Are the pipes in the first pic thicker than the fourth pic? Gimme the diameter in mm and I'll try to find some when I visit in July. 

Do you mean basically to have the open side of the sponge filter connected to the UGF?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> Are the pipes in the first pic thicker than the fourth pic? Gimme the diameter in mm and I'll try to find some when I visit in July.
> 
> Do you mean basically to have the open side of the sponge filter connected to the UGF?


Yes, the first pic is thicker than the forth pic. The tube in the first pic is closer to 3/4 inch. The fourth pic is about 1/2 inch. I can't measure anymore because it's in the tank. It is SLIGHTLY bigger than the Eheim intake J Tube. 

What are you talking about the open side of sponge filter? My sponge filter is powered by an air pump. It is a complete separate filter system from the UGF. I removed one of the sponges and plugged that hole so it is drawing water from the sponge as designed.


----------



## jkan0228

Whats the eheim Intake J Tube? 

Oh shoot. My bad. Yea I couldn't tell it was plugged cuz your water is so cloudy!! Haha I didn't get what you meant in the last sentence of the previous post. 393


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> Whats the eheim Intake J Tube?
> 
> Oh shoot. My bad. Yea I couldn't tell it was plugged cuz your water is so cloudy!! Haha I didn't get what you meant in the last sentence of the previous post. 393


Eheim J Tube = Standard green intake tube that comes with every Eheim Filter. 

Cloudy water? Wut? Fine. How you like it now?....darn it's still cloudy....give it a couple of weeks...now you really can't see my sponge.:hihi:


----------



## jkan0228

Thats NLJF right? How did you attach it? 

A couple weeks? Why so long?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> Thats NLJF right? How did you attach it?
> 
> A couple weeks? Why so long?


Yup, NLJF. I tied it directly on the sponge filter over a year ago when I started the 60p with fishing line. It has completely attached to the filter tube in the course of a year.

It usually takes Aquasoil a couple of weeks to get semi-clear....it won't be crystal clear until I switch to RO in a couple of months.


----------



## jkan0228

Nice! Giving my some ideas for my next project.  

How does the NLJF do without any fertilization?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> Nice! Giving my some ideas for my next project.
> How does the NLJF do without any fertilization?


What's the next project? NLJF is one of the best plants for a shrimp tank. No ferts needed.


----------



## jkan0228

Nice. And it seems pretty cheap too.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Evening WC, tied a landing strip and small moss wall.


----------



## Max Kenji

Looking great Howie!


----------



## jkan0228

Haha Howie, nice nickname. 

What mosses do you have in there?

With the moss with SS mesh in the foreground, I'm guessing the moss never physically attaches itself to the mesh? Which is probably why you have so much thread tying it down I'm guessing?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Jeff, the moss is Mini X-Mas for wall and carpet. Weeping on wood and shelter.

Whew...I'm beat! Moving a tank is a lot of work. Done for now with the latest "Twins" project. Now I can concentrate on getting my Opae Jars going.

Here's the results, you can see the difference between 6500K vs 8000K lighting in the two tanks. The 6500K really brings out the *Orange *in the TTs. One day I'll find some matching LED lights for this pair of 30c.


----------



## Lludu

I Love the twin setup you have going here. I am curious though, I know you said you got your UGFs from across the big blue sea... do you know of a similar one that would fit the 30c that is purchasable inside the states or can be shipped here? I was looking around for one but alas cant find anything other than trying to make one out of PVC piping... but that would be too large for the 30c, at least the piping I can find.

Also, is using the UGF method decent for stemmed plants? or does that cause issues in the tank?


----------



## jkan0228

The stems roots would get caught in the piping and if you uproot your plants, I might pull up the UGF


----------



## madness

What about the Finnex 12" FugeRay LED lights?

Only $36 and the 12" seems perfect for a low tech 30-C.

http://www.finnex.net/index.php?opt...4&product_id=337&Itemid=61&vmcchk=1&Itemid=61


----------



## madness

I use a home made AquarLiam style UGF pipe system in my Ebi (basically the same size as a 30-C). The footprint is workable though I have to admit that you end up with a pretty deep substrate layer by the time that you cover everything the way that you want it.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> The stems roots would get caught in the piping and if you uproot your plants, I might pull up the UGF


Naw, the great thing about the pipe UGF is that you can plant in the substrate. There will be room for the roots to grow versus the plate type. There's no way you'll pull the UGF out when moving plants around, because there will be so much lava rock and Aquasoil weighing it down. I've moved some deep rooting crypts with no problems besides the expected ammonia spikes. If I move something then the tank is getting a 80-90 percent WC with a good shot of Prime.



madness said:


> What about the Finnex 12" FugeRay LED lights?
> 
> Only $36 and the 12" seems perfect for a low tech 30-C.


I considered that light but I'm looking for a light that clips to the back. That light doesn't have swivel legs and you have to remove to work on the tank. I'm looking at the Innovative Marine LEDs...but they are like $100 a pop for the 6 bulb and $60 for the 3 bulb. I'm birddogging the SnS right now for another matching Archea 12 inch CF for the time being



madness said:


> I use a home made AquarLiam style UGF pipe system in my Ebi (basically the same size as a 30-C). The footprint is workable though I have to admit that you end up with a pretty deep substrate layer by the time that you cover everything the way that you want it.


Yup, look at the left tank. It has Lava Rock, Africana and Amazonia layer. That sucker is like 4 inches thick. The right tank only has Powersand and Amazonia and its still 3 inches.


----------



## wicca27

nice set up you got going there


----------



## Lludu

So, If i am looking at this picture right... You have the intake for your UGF running to the Eheim Green J Bar, where is the outtake from the cannister? 

Whats going on with the stainless steel prefilter? another intake?

if so that means you would have 3 filters on this tank? I'm confused lol


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Lludu said:


> So, If i am looking at this picture right... You have the intake for your UGF running to the Eheim Green J Bar, where is the outtake from the cannister?
> Whats going on with the stainless steel prefilter? another intake?
> if so that means you would have 3 filters on this tank? I'm confused lol



The tank on the right is a REVERSE UGF. The J-Bar is connected to the UFG that is the outtake. (pushing the poop up from the bottom) The clean water from the canister goes into the UGF tubes. The SS Prefilter is the intake for the canister. The sponge filter is run by air, so there is two filters in this tank...and in all my tanks.

The one on the left is a REGULAR UGF. 


Regular UGF = UGF is the Intake (Post #1 for Plumbing Picture)
Reverse UFG = UGF is the Outtake (Post #383 & #1 for Plumbing Picture)


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*After a week of daily WC, the water is starting to clear.
*








*The TTs are loving the new tank. The new tank kicked their Orange up a notch. [STRIKE]Flushed[/STRIKE] Culled 8 shrimps this week that were not that orange. That SS is a temporary resident leftover from Crown sale. I've set up a cull tank at my co-worker's house that I'll move the SS to.*









*
Two Berries Hanging Out*


----------



## jkan0228

So was the light the factor that made them orange? Have you decided what's going on the right 30C? BTOE?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> So was the light the factor that made them orange? Have you decided what's going on the right 30C? BTOE?


Both 6500K vs 10,000K light and better tank conditions. The 60p parameters was getting a little whacky towards the end. They are definitely more orange regardless of the light though. I'm thinking Royal Blues on the right.


----------



## Lludu

shrimpnmoss said:


> The tank on the right is a REVERSE UGF. The J-Bar is connected to the UFG that is the outtake. (pushing the poop up from the bottom) The clean water from the canister goes into the UGF tubes. The SS Prefilter is the intake for the canister. The sponge filter is run by air, so there is two filters in this tank...and in all my tanks.
> 
> The one on the left is a REGULAR UGF.
> 
> 
> Regular UGF = UGF is the Intake (Post #1 for Plumbing Picture)
> Reverse UFG = UGF is the Outtake (Post #383 & #1 for Plumbing Picture)



I dont know much about UGFs, but was there a reason behind you reversing it? Is it more beneficial ?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Lludu said:


> I dont know much about UGFs, but was there a reason behind you reversing it? Is it more beneficial ?


Just trying something different to see if the substrate last longer than regular UGF.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

I hope you didn't really _flush _them :hihi:

J/k, I know you are more resourceful than that. People will pay even for crappy TT's


----------



## speedie408

WTF you feeding those TT's bro? Orange food coloring laced algae sticks  ? HELLA ORANGE!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> WTF you feeding those TT's bro? Orange food coloring laced algae sticks  ? HELLA ORANGE!


I'm telling you...the TTs went up two levels of orange since the move to the new tank. I haven't changed their diet. I still feed a large variety of fancy shrimp food from Mosura, Shirakura, BorneoWild...all the usual suspects you can buy on TPT.




Geniusdudekiran said:


> I hope you didn't really _flush _them :hihi:
> 
> J/k, I know you are more resourceful than that. People will pay even for crappy TT's


I did flush 8 uglies. This keeps my colony nice. Last time I let a ugly breed it took a few months to get the new uglies out. That won't happen again. 

It's also not worth it for me to sell ugly culls. Sure I can earn a couple of extra dollars but netting, packing and driving to the USPS take the same amount of time for culls or nice shrimps. It all takes about an hour for me to properly pack shrimps and ship them...if I'm doing the work it's not going to be for 10-15 bucks....time vs money....I could be playing with my kids for that hour versus earning 15 dollars....


----------



## ren

indeed very nice TT i should try them soon...anyways any updates on the tank with the RUGF? im interested in trying it out.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

ren said:


> indeed very nice TT i should try them soon...anyways any updates on the tank with the RUGF? im interested in trying it out.



Let me know when you want to try some. The reverse UGF is doing great. I cycled at a much higher temp this time and it went by quicker....my ammonia seem to be zero right now...going to to a massive WC and test again in 48 hours..


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Ordered some black lava rocks from *www.substratesource.com*. The lava rocks came in super clean. A couple of quick rinses like washing rice and you're good to go. If you never ordered from them, do yourself a favor and order just to see the sick packaging. Double Impact Sealed Bags, Space Age Thermal Bubble Package for plants...Santa Clause could learn a thing or two about shipping from those guys....


Jars are ready. Opaes won't be here until July.


----------



## sharonluvd

VOLCAN*O*PAE! FTW!:bounce::tongue:


----------



## jkan0228

Very create Howard, anything going in there(you probably already mentioned it somewhere)?


----------



## swoof

jkan0228 said:


> Very create Howard, anything going in there(you probably already mentioned it somewhere)?


 _Opae ula shrims _


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Beni Baby and TT Baby Playdate!


----------



## shrimpnmoss




----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Nice shot. Nicer shrimp. 

What is that beige tablet like thing in the tank on the right?


----------



## swoof

that is the Beni "stone" comes with Benibachi .


----------



## J.mccollum

Great looking tanks


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Berried Beni








New Black Impact Female


----------



## h4n

Is your cholla wood suction up on the tank?


----------



## speedie408

Hope to see her berried soon brotha!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> Hope to see her berried soon brotha!


Me too!



h4n said:


> Is your cholla wood suction up on the tank?



Yup, I put one in each tank to use up some of the vertical space. I just jammed a suction cup into one of the holes in the cholla wood. I saw GDP do this in his shrimp tank and it seem like a good idea. The shrimps love hanging under it.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

*Water Changes Modified*

My wife has been hogging the TV lately watching K-Soaps on Netflix so I was really really bored and did a full battery of test on all my tanks. The results made me modify my water change protocols a little. 

*Water Hardness Test Results:*

Benibachi Tank
TDS 135ppm
GH 5

TT/Baby grow out tank
TDS 135ppm
GH 6

Pure RO Remineralized with GH+ Shrimp Mineral to TDS 130ppm
(This was what I was adding before)
*GH 7!!!!!*

Pure RO Remineralized with GH+ Shrimp Mineral to TDS 95-100ppm
*GH 5 BINGO*

If you think about it the numbers make sense. The tank water 135ppm comprises of different amounts of waste from food and poop that is affecting the TDS value while giving different GH values. After reading about GH to TDS to Microsiemens conversions on the internet it's more complicated than straight TDS ppm. The TT/Baby tank is older than the Beni tank so by continually giving it small GH 7 water changes, the GH of that tank has built up to 6 over time. It probably started at 4 ish a few months ago.

The good thing is that now I have a baseline for remineralized RO. GH 5 is a good number for most of the shrimps I keep. Now my new WC protocol will be adding 100ppm, GH 5 water when I change my Bee tanks regardless of what the TDS ppm readings are in the tank. Keep the GH the same while lowering the waste products in the water. 

Depending on what remineralizing product you use, your baseline RO TDS ppm to GH value might be different. Measure your RO to GH 5 and remember that TDS number and use that TDS value instead of matching the RO TDS ppm to tank TDS ppm. The real goal is to maintain the same GH value.
*
Tank Test Results after WC:

TDS 124ppm
GH 5*


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Photo Update. Credit for idea goes to my friend Naturalwonders.

You know those clips that comes with ADA tanks that no one ever uses? Buy an old picture frame from Goodwill for $1.99 to $.99 cents. Measure the top of your tank openings minus plumbing. Take the glass from old frame to Aaron Brothers and they will cut it for you. Sand down the edges with fine sand paper. Install and enjoy less evaporation and more stable water parameters.
*
Total cost for two tank lids: $4.00*


----------



## h4n

Nice update! I use my old Fluval ebi glass for my Mr Aqua cube. Works good!

What's with the cholla attached to the wall mid tank?

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


----------



## shrimpnmoss

h4n said:


> Nice update! I use my old Fluval ebi glass for my Mr Aqua cube. Works good!
> 
> What's with the cholla attached to the wall mid tank?
> 
> -Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


hahah...I jammed a couple of suction cups into the cholla wood so I can use up some vertical space in the tank...I was out of floor space....just more area for the shrimps to hang out.


----------



## h4n

shrimpnmoss said:


> hahah...I jammed a couple of suction cups into the cholla wood so I can use up some vertical space in the tank...I was out of floor space....just more area for the shrimps to hang out.


I see! Nice idea!! I have a bunch of cholla Im.not using because i have no more floor space either Haha you got the greatest idea!!!

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Beni Baby Mixed Growing Up!


----------



## h4n

So that one that gave birth to red ones was just that once? Assuming since you got all black babies now?

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

So cute!

Also, 444th post, make a wish lol.


----------



## @[email protected]

i really like how your tanks have two totally different layouts AND different color bulbs. that way one looks foresty, and the other more like a grassland.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

h4n said:


> So that one that gave birth to red ones was just that once? Assuming since you got all black babies now?
> 
> -Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


Naw, those babies are from that first batch. I sent the mom back to Max. They are a mix of CRS and CBS. 1/4 CRS, 3/4 CBS. So now most of them are going in with my Black Tigers and I'm going to try and root out the remaining red genes from this batch.

The berries that I bred have not given birth yet. Those are CBS x CBS for sure...so we'll see what comes out.



Geniusdudekiran said:


> So cute!
> 
> Also, 444th post, make a wish lol.


Not in the Chinese culture Krian...4 = Death......



@[email protected] said:


> i really like how your tanks have two totally different layouts AND different color bulbs. that way one looks foresty, and the other more like a grassland.


Thanks! Which side do you think looks better?


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

shrimpnmoss said:


> Not in the Chinese culture Krian...4 = Death......


 Hopefully my wishes have not cursed death upon your Beni tank... please don't blame me if something happens, I'd feel really bad. lol. :iamwithst


----------



## @[email protected]

shrimpnmoss said:


> Thanks! Which side do you think looks better?


currently the right. but once that moss wall is done growing, i think ill have to switch.


----------



## h4n

I see!!


-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

How old are the Beni babies?


----------



## Michiba54

shrimpnmoss said:


> Beni Baby Mixed Growing Up!
> 
> 
> View attachment 48897


Sorry if this was already stated, but what substrate is that?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Geniusdudekiran said:


> How old are the Beni babies?


They are one month old.



Michiba54 said:


> Sorry if this was already stated, but what substrate is that?


New Aquasoil Amazonia


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Friday Night WC. Double Drip.









New Berry. Black Impact Female X Benibachi CBS Male


----------



## jkan0228

30% water changes? 

What are those blue things at the end of the tubings?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jkan0228 said:


> 30% water changes?
> 
> What are those blue things at the end of the tubings?


Yeah, I'm doing bigger WC right now because the soil is still relatively new and still leaching a bit. There's enough BB to convert the ammonia but the leach is still driving my Nitrates up. That's why you're sending me some floaters.:biggrin:

The blue things are air line control valves for air pumps. I close them almost all the way so the water drips like 3-4 drops per second. Nice and slow while I watch TV.


----------



## jncme

Where did you get those lamps/light?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

jncme said:


> Where did you get those lamps/light?


The one on the right is from Aqua Forest the Archea brand 27w. The one on the right is from Taiwan that was brought over.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Update STATEMENT RETRACTED!


----------



## speedie408

Segregate the pair of Black Impacts from those Benis bro!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> Segregate the pair of Black Impacts from those Benis bro!


I will bro...after the Black Impact Female release her current batch of berry. Then Black Impacts will get their own tank.:wink:


----------



## jkan0228

How is it that she's berried two days after release?... They breed like rabbits...


----------



## h4n

uh... oh.... thats bad news.."WTF"


----------



## shrimpnmoss

I am going to have to retract my previous update for now. I took all the wood and plants out of the tank today to do a close inspection and take a head count. All the babies now appear to be CBS. YAY. They've grown a bit bigger so it is easier for me to see. It could have been the lighting that made me see a CRS....plus it was far away in the back of the tank when i thought I saw a CRS.

I'll know a full head count for sure when I get back from my vacation. They'll be about a month old when I get back in 3 weeks and then there will be no doubt if they are Red for Black. All the babies inspected were black today and I could not find that CRS that I thought I saw.


----------



## Bananariot

Do you run CO2 on the tanks? I'm questioning whether or not to run CO2 to try and carpet my tanks while I'm trying to get shrimps to breed.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Bananariot said:


> Do you run CO2 on the tanks? I'm questioning whether or not to run CO2 to try and carpet my tanks while I'm trying to get shrimps to breed.


NO WAY! Neos OK..nice shirmps never.

Carpet with moss, crypt parva or MM.


----------



## h4n

That's good news then Howard.

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


----------



## shrimpnmoss

I've been pretty much neglecting my tanks this summer. Just letting the shrimps and plants go wild. The good news is that all the shrimps are doing well and there are babies and berries everywhere. I've eradicated all the CRS from the left Iwagumi side and that'll be my black cull tank. The right side tank will remain pure blacks. Over time I'll breed out the red gene from the left side too. 

The moss has grown out so it's pretty hard to see all the shrimps. The right side could use a hard trim on the moss. Here's some updated pics.


























*This guy is from one of the first batches, he/she is now a teenager...almost ready....*


----------



## jkan0228

Is that a mini Xmas moss wall?


----------



## speedie408

Don't look neglected to me. 

I'll hit you up later when those teenage girls are ready .


----------



## shrimpnmoss

F1 Berried.


----------



## speedie408

Damn she's ripe!


----------



## BenderBendingRodriguez

Where did you get the stainless steel mesh for the moss wall?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

BenderBendingRodriguez said:


> Where did you get the stainless steel mesh for the moss wall?


Contact H4N or put up a WTB on the SnS. A few people have them for sale.


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Lookin' good bro!


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Trimmed finally.


----------



## globali

Hi shrimpnmoss,

Your work is very neat & clean and therefore
the results are very very nice to view & enjoy.


----------



## bostoneric

that F1 is a good looking CBS


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Benibachi PBL X Black Impact PBL F1 & F2










So my 30c Cull tank with the rock went south on me for some reason unknown. I suspect toxic Purigen that had been sitting in a mesh bag on my kitchen counter sucking up God knows what? Instead of recharging the bag, I just tossed it straight into the tank and a week later shrimps started dying on me.:doh At least it wasn't the PBL tank.

So I had to fire up a quickie cull tank for the remaining survivors. Here's some pics of my new cull tank. This tank is simple. Some Akadama because it doesn't leach, some pre cycled AS in a planter. Sponge Filter that's it. No fancy filtration. Just a 3.5 gallons with a lid I had sitting in the garage for emergencies like this.

The only shrimps I put in here are the CRS from the cull tanks I'm hoping the reds will breed true. I gave away all my yellows and adopted some Fire Reds from someone local breaking down their tank. After keeping Rili, Blue Rili, Yellow, Green, Chocolate, Snowballs. Fire Reds are still my favorite Neos. They are classic


----------



## Kinection

What kind of moss is that? Xmas?


----------



## shrimpnmoss

AquaticStory said:


> What kind of moss is that? Xmas?


Mini Xmas


----------



## Kinection

Looks sick.


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## shrimpnmoss

UPS dropped off a Special Package Today.:bounce:

I'm a sucker for ADA stuff already...you throw in the words "special package"...you might as well take my money....ADG was more than happy to oblige.:help:

*Mini M Premier Set Link*

Here's some tank Porn for now.


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## jkan0228

Damn. What's going in there?


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## shrimpnmoss

Playing around with a Nex-6 and Macro Lens. Not up to Speedies' Macros...but better than before.


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## shrimpnmoss




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## speedie408

Pimpin bro! You're getting a little better already with that Sony. Shrimp aren't so shabby either . 

On that last shot, you need to close up that aperture some more so more of the subject comes into focus.


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## shrimpnmoss

speedie408 said:


> Pimpin bro! You're getting a little better already with that Sony. Shrimp aren't so shabby either .
> 
> On that last shot, you need to close up that aperture some more so more of the subject comes into focus.


Yeah, I messed up on the last one...I only posted cause she's loaded...hahah..

I can't get any closer...the macro doesn't zoom....I dunno....I might have to crop and blow it up to get the super duper close ones....even that I can't see all the hairs on my shrimps like your shots...


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## shrimpnmoss

*Sunday Tank Maintenance Nano*


20% Water Change
Massive Moss Trim so I can see the babies better

Starting to wind down this tank. Only inhabitants left are about 20 PBL babies that are too small to catch and move to the 60p. They'll be big enough to move in about 2-3 weeks. This tank still has plenty of life left so I don't know what I'm going to do. Revers UGF works pretty well.

1) Break it down and turn it into a Cardinal tank. (got some coming in May)
2) Put some Pure Red lines in here until I get my Mini M cycled then move them again to Mini M

*This tank at it's moss peak. Looks good but hard to see the shrimps. ~6 months ago.*










*The tank as it is now. Not as scaped but a better shrimp tank.*


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## Kinection

*Drools on the moss in the first pic*
Is that moss? It looks AMAZING.


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## shrimpnmoss

Kinection said:


> *Drools on the moss in the first pic*
> Is that moss? It looks AMAZING.



All you need is some Mini X Mas Moss, Weeping moss for the wood and stainless steel mesh and fishing line....and lots of patience.

Here's how it started and it grew to that jungle.


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## gnod

as usual, nice clean looking tanks! i don't even want to venture a guess how you moved all the shrimps outta that moss forest you had there. love it tho haha


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## gnod

i dont' knkow why.. but i just reread every single page just now. lol.. 

how in the world did you get the moss to grow that..lush without any excel, liquid ferts, or co2? it's a bloody bush! 

and when are you selling your cbs!?


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## shrimpnmoss

gnod said:


> i dont' knkow why.. but i just reread every single page just now. lol..
> 
> how in the world did you get the moss to grow that..lush without any excel, liquid ferts, or co2? it's a bloody bush!
> 
> and when are you selling your cbs!?


Time. Medium light with short photoperiod to prevent algae. Once you get algae on your moss you're done. 6 hours max. It takes a while tho, the moss grows faster in the beginning when the soil is still leaching ammonia.


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## Kinection

shrimpnmoss said:


> Time. Medium light with short photoperiod to prevent algae. Once you get algae on your moss you're done. 6 hours max. It takes a while tho, the moss grows faster in the beginning when the soil is still leaching ammonia.


 Question, does it mean I shouldn't grow weeping moss with some hair algae on it? I'll put transferring it into my new tank, just not sure if I should do it. It has very quick grow though. (moss)


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