# 40 gallon breeder - CRS tank



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow that's a very nice tank with a lot of CRS!

Could you provide us with a plant list?


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

Plant list is funny... I use this as my dump tank - gets a bit of everything. 

As far as clumps of plants in there

from left
Ludwigia arcuata
Hygrophila guinnea
S. porto vehlo
Few eriocaulon species (mostly e. goias, aquaticum, and a shadded old matto grosso - needs some love) 
Ludwigia brevipes
mosses - have flame, willow, peacock (sp?), java, christmas
diplidis diandra
ludwigia inclinata verticillata - cuba and araguaia
polygonum sao paulo, porto vehlo, ruby, kawagoeanum
rotala macrandra green
rotala macrandra

Know there are more, just not off the top of my head.


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

WOW!!! I am sooooo jealous....i wonder how many CRS you have in there $$$$


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## leo1234 (Dec 2, 2009)

that is alot of crs in there how many u think is in there


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## adrianng1996 (Dec 1, 2009)

wow,thats alot of CRS...that must have cost you a fortune


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

LOL, originally I went through a few batches... then they found their happy place. Close to 300-400 in there w/ more on the way (like 10-15 pregnant again).


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## jczz1232 (May 8, 2008)

Nice tank in shrimp. Do you add ferts to this tank?


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

LOL - you won't believe me...

shrimp food, shrimp pooh, 5 WPG PC lighting (6700/10k), slow co2 w/ reactor - 1 bps 24/7, 2 bulbblers in back, occasional dose of mosura calcium supplement (gh to 5-7), xp3 filter, r/o only, occasional iron when plants show signs of red loss, and only occasional K when i'm seeing leaf changes. India almond leaves for the babies. Inline heater (hardly used), inline UV sterilizer (24/7 but old bulb by now), and a chiller that pegs the temp at about 72.

I'm guessing my phos is off the charts (shirakura shrimp powder which I overfeed on purpose for the plants and shirakura shrimp pellets). My nitrates are low but when I push the food or hack out the plants I'm sure it spikes some (see some of my older shrimp pass on )
Plant load and bio load seem to handle it.

OH, and no water changes (last one I did was like march I think - I'm lazy like that) I do them when I hit a bump with the CRS - until that I just top off daily losses when I can hear my water running. As far as shrimp the most important 2 things I have noted would be the addition of higher O2 sat (lower temp and bubblers) does seem to keep them happy and the breeding rates were much higher w/ the mosura calcium and the almond leaves.


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## jczz1232 (May 8, 2008)

Great work


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

So just wondering if anyone else stays away from water changes with their CRS. I haven't even washed the filter for a long time but have noted a big decrease in flow so it is coming soon. Always bad mojo for me on that one...


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## DreamProductions (Jan 14, 2010)

Very nice CRS tank. I was wondering what mosura calcium and the almond leaves provide for the shrimps, and where do you get the mosre calcium? Thanks!


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

calcium helps with their molting/shell
almond leaves provide food for the babies and sometimes adults. 

can find the mosura locally here in phoenix but can get through shrimptank online store (local member of plant club runs that one)


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

wow..... very nice tank! and very nice crs there too!!!


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

thanks, 
this tank still survives despite neglect ---- I must have some hardy CRS cuz I didn't touch this tank for like 3 mo - had stems growing about 6 inches out of the top. Just started to rework the tank 2 wks ago. Still have about 200 CRS in there.


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## snausage (Mar 8, 2010)

Bravo! That's easily the best CRS tank I've ever seen.

What's the ph? It must be pretty low since you're using straight ro.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

would you mind sharing what are your water parameters?


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

75 degrees F
kh 0
gh 3-5
ph - depends on meter - 6.5 average

up gh w/ mosura calcium - use R/O water


Only dosing tank w/ shirakura powder (for shrimp - just overfed) and seachem iron (until i gets my reds to my liking)

read a thread recently that I may not be adding as much Iron as i think w/ the running of my UV at night (oxidizes my iron? - so not sure what that means about my color othern than the plants really like high light) 

Tank looks a bit different now than in pic - but not near as bad as it did 3 wks ago w/ 6" of plants out of water and no light to bottom - killed off about $500 in erios... sucks when life gets in the way of a hobby.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

I don't know if GH is very super important nowadays, maybe it is, but I don't follow it, I use conductivity instead and my tank is usually about 980 - 1000 us/cm, when I test GH, it is 9!! My crs breed a lot though! Here's a video of my shrimps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhckqwbTzdI

not as cool as your skewlboy!


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

nice shrimp - 

I've never had great luck w/ number of shrimp and any fish (even just neons/cardinals) Call me picky but I would just rather have a shrimp only tank or just a few Otos in there for help with initial algae.


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

quick video update after the replant/hack job.... yes, i need a better camera - anyone got a HD camera they wanna trade for shrimp? 

click the image for the video


http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m281/bowerdvm/shrimptank/?action=view&current=DSCF2336.mp4


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## snausage (Mar 8, 2010)

All the plants and shrimp in that tank must be worth a ton of money.

It's such an awesome planted crs tank. I don't think I've seen such a hardcore planted tank that's used for breeding crs.


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

I just like having all possible colors in that tank - used to use it to breed yellow shrimp as well, but they were competing for food withthe CRS so I removed them. Still have one lone amano in there that I can't catch. Counted them once - was upwards of 300+ at one point...


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## Cardinal Tetra (Feb 26, 2006)

Wow your tank is packed. I might have to get some crs from you one day if I can remove all my tigers.
BTW your plants are packed and ready to go in the morning.


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

sweet - as you can tell I'll have to make some room - I see a plant pack in my future (the downoi is goin nuts w/ sideshoots) - maybe some shrimp will have to find a new home here too...


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## Cardinal Tetra (Feb 26, 2006)

I can't believe you're growing all those plants on just shrimp food. Perhaps it's time for you to set up more tanks haha. I'll have way more UG for you in a month or so. I always rip up my UG carpet every other month and send over half of it away since it gets too thick and then uproots.

My 10 gallon tank that I was working with for 3 years is now full of random debris, wood, mulm, snails, and livebearers. I need to start using it to raise cherry shrimp to trade with the LFS or something.


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

LOL - every time I send CRS to LFS they end up "not doing well" - its piped to their other fertilized tanks. I was tempted to offer to setup a tank and sell shrimp on consignment in their shop.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Always jealous of the reds you coax out of your plants. Btw I'll have some pics for you on Monday. Work has been nuts.


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

thanks again - I took a few today -


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## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

Lol thanks for making me want to nuke my tank and start over again!  

Beautiful tank and I'm in the process of thinking about how to create a 75g shrimp only tank... well maybe some nano fish too... I'm kind of on the fence with that especially since my Celestial Pearl Danios keep breeding but I'd rather just have tons of amazing looking shrimp! 

Can you please tell me more about your substrate?


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## xJaypex (Jul 4, 2009)

WOW!

Nice shrimp skewlboy, whats that erio i see?


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

that one is cinerum - Used to be a time you could get 3 for $15 on here. Plan was to get back into these guys - but need to clear room for ground space... damn this collectoritis. What vars do you currently have again?


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

substrate is aged AS w/ shrimp pooh - Had to add some AS about 6-8 mo ago since the old stuff started to break down, there is a significant sediment line where the old old AS has become true powder. Shrimp go nuts when i stir it up so it must have old food in it as well..


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

Tank is busting with new little critters (feeding more these days does help) so I'm looking into rehoming some - if you are looking for some of these just PM me - I do 12 of the shrimp shown (I'll call them A/S grade even though they are probably S+) for 50 shipped priority in a styro lined box, sorry no heat packs.


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## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

skewlboy said:


> Tank is busting with new little critters (feeding more these days does help) so I'm looking into rehoming some - if you are looking for some of these just PM me - I do 12 of the shrimp shown (I'll call them A/S grade even though they are probably S+) for 50 shipped priority in a styro lined box, sorry no heat packs.


Why must you temp me?! and why must it be winter?!


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

Just imagine them as little candy canes - perfect for the holiday.


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## justin182 (Aug 19, 2009)

Your tank is just great. So colorful


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

thanks. Wanted to do more rows and columns of plants but I'm having a hard time finding the time to trim. Started my first crypt/discus tank in my new 120p (moving on up from the 20L) 

pics will follow when the ground cover kicks in


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

skewlboy said:


> Had this up and running for about 2 yrs now, there is a hardscape in there somewhere, just really hard to see.
> 
> 40 gallon breeder
> current 2 x 96 watt PC (dual daylight)
> ...


what is the red plant in the middle....the one thats coming out to the front?


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

looks like purple bamboo...


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

problemman said:


> what is the red plant in the middle....the one thats coming out to the front?


Do you mean the polygonum sp. 'ruby'?
I don't see any purple bamboo in there.


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## Cardinal Tetra (Feb 26, 2006)

Looks more like Polygonum sp. 'Porto Velho'. Sp. 'Ruby' has thinner leaves.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

so it is ruby! ha k thanks guys


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Nevermind.


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## Eric Suen (Dec 10, 2010)

You've got a great looking colony! Nice work! I use Mosura bio-plus whenever I get berried shrimp.


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

phillip it is actually the other way around. Bigger leaves are the porto vehlo.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

skewlboy said:


> thanks again - I took a few today -


 This tank looks as if somebody peppered your tank in candy canes!


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I can't imagine what p.Sao paulo would look like in this tank. My favorite gonum' by far. If you ever what to try it Lmk.


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

there is poly k in the back - never have been able to grow a difference between poly k and poly SP. I know the poly sp supposed to get a finer leaf but I have had both before and then could not tell difference between stems. I think I have had all the locally trade poly's in my tank - got rid of most of my porto vehlo as it really grew too big..


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

The Sao Paulo id my favorite not only because of its brick red almost radiant color but also because it grows completely vertical. It doesn't grow diagonally like the other gonums'. If you had real Sao Paulo you have seen a big difference.


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Hehe, I tried to make a try at Identfying, looks like I still have lots to learn. I really like purple bambo, so it must have been on my mind


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

skewlboy said:


> phillip it is actually the other way around. Bigger leaves are the porto vehlo.



Really? Guess i was wrong too, LOL.

I'll remove the picture so no one gets confused. Thanks for the correction.


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

poly's are super easy to grow and since they hit the top of your tank quick they get great color w/ good lighting.


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## Moe (Jan 22, 2004)

very nice setup! best of both worlds, plants and CRS!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

did you buy a lot of crs at once when starting this tank or is this a result of breeding a colony over time?


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

started the hard way - bought about 20-40, nuked 20 w/ co2 (ahhh milwaukee regulators..) then got another 20-40. Tanks been up for almost 3 yrs now I think. I add some high grades now and then. Started with S+ batches each time. LOL - my last water change was probably new years? Life's good when the tank is happy. I still think it is funny when people (including me) say they try to vary their genepool - considering the C "R" S all come from a single mutated colony from japan.


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## tangdaddy (Dec 10, 2010)

Very nice assortment of plants and shrimp!

My crs were probally too hungry and ate all my downoi, maybe your downoi grows fast and with the other plants in there there is alot of food... what size filter do you run on the 40g?

I just set up a 30g breeder a few months back and trying to breed out tons of crs so the tank floor is covered like yours....thanks for the inspiring pics!


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

what are the dimensions on a 30 g breeder? 

as far as downoi they would munch on dead leaves
They absolutely love to eat tonina - it is by far their favorite - shame really as I would love to keep tonina/erio/styro only species in here.


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## tangdaddy (Dec 10, 2010)

Hi thanks for the response my 30g breeder is 30x16x16, I run an ehiem 2250 rated at 300 plus gallons on a reverse undergravel system....

I wish I could grow downoi like you!

And soon I will have 500 plus crs in the tank, hopefully by summer... the tank is still new at 2 months old and I have 70 odd crs in there now....

just saw a few babies aswell so things should come along....

What filter were you running?


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

page 1 has all the setup


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Got any advice on how to keep ludwigia inclinata from shedding it's leaves near the bottom of the stem? Does it require really high light?


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## Cardinal Tetra (Feb 26, 2006)

I can send you more after the new year if mine survive my winter break... I have an erio they won't touch! Nothing eats it because it smells bad 



skewlboy said:


> what are the dimensions on a 30 g breeder?
> 
> as far as downoi they would munch on dead leaves
> They absolutely love to eat tonina - it is by far their favorite - shame really as I would love to keep tonina/erio/styro only species in here.


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

Inclinata is a sensitive one - the lower leaves need to get light. Seems to be fairly sensitive to micros and K - loses leaves really easy if these aren't happy.


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

now I'm curious - what type is your stinky erio?


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## Cardinal Tetra (Feb 26, 2006)

setaceum 'thailand and setaceum 'australia' aka type III


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

Hey skewlboy! What is the temperature of the tank??? you listed both 72 deg in an earlier post and 75 degs a few posts after that...or does the temperature fluctuate between 72-75?


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## skewlboy (Jul 23, 2006)

heater kicks on at 72, chiller kicks on at 75 - (winter summer thing)


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Any updates?


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## Lloyd (Jan 9, 2012)

problemman said:


> so it is ruby! ha k thanks guys


 *HYGROPHILA SP. 'ARAGUAIA'*
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/details.php?id=254

AMAZING tank....


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## "Got light?" (Dec 16, 2012)

BUMP... for the sweetest' CRS tank ever !!


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