# CRS Tank Adventure! ->BEWARE-> (Updated 5.21.08)



## Finch_man (Mar 21, 2006)

Good luck with your CRS!!!! I wish I had some of my own!:icon_frow


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## Color Me Blue (Nov 10, 2005)

Congrad on your 2K post Andrew!  Looking forward to seeing this CRS tank.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Thanks guys!

Today wasn't too eventful. Planned the scape out a little bit. What I'm going to try and do right now (could change..) Is make a "root" and then have some rocks in the back. The "Root" will hide the filter intake and heater and will be covered in moss either fissidens fonatus or willow, or a mix of the two. Then the backround will have some larger rocks I collected with fissidens on them probably maybe some pelia. Behind the rocks will be some italian vals. the back left will be some crypts easing the way from the hardscape (root/rocks) to the foreground which will be a nano moss lawn. The front right corner will probably be left open and I might put a clam or two in that part.

Oh, And I'll have Giant DW and some water lettuce on top and random stems in the tank in the beginning to suck up the nutrients!

My plans and plants might change some but thats it for now. 

Hopefully this week I will take the last of the remaining things out of the 10g and then start the tank friday probably maybe tomorrow depending on how busy I am.

Then I'll play with the plants and scape for a month or two, then add the CRS I already have and eventually get some others, and Diamonds...

-Andrew


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Sunday afternoon I tore the rest of the 10g down. All it had was some DW and rocks and radom pieces of moss. Then I took out the flourite (most of it) and added the Florabase. I kinda "dry scaped" but didn't really scape since I just filled it in with some fast growers that I had on hand. Then I added a dozen or so MTS and a Asian FW Clam (which is awesome!) Now its slowly getting to normal tank status. I think it should be cycled by today or tomorrow, because I left all the mulm in the bottom and then I also squeezed the filter stuff and lots of the other mulm from the flourite was dumped in. 

I'll have LOTS of pictures later today.

-Andrew


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Sounds like great progress! WOW pictures??? It's about time you post pictures on here!!:icon_surp


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## sandiegoryu (Feb 15, 2006)

I have a big feeling your clam would eat your baby CRS if you're planning to keep them in your CRS tank. After all clams are filter feeders and a baby shrimp is like big plankton :-D. Just a thought.

And you probably won't have your tank 100% cycled in a day lol. But plants would help with the water. I wish you great luck with your CRS!


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

RESGuy said:


> Sounds like great progress! WOW pictures??? It's about time you post pictures on here!!:icon_surp


LOL yeah I know I know... I'm so picture lazy... But no one would want to see my other tanks lol...



sandiegoryu said:


> I have a big feeling your clam would eat your baby CRS if you're planning to keep them in your CRS tank. After all clams are filter feeders and a baby shrimp is like big plankton :-D. Just a thought.
> 
> And you probably won't have your tank 100% cycled in a day lol. But plants would help with the water. I wish you great luck with your CRS!


I'm pretty sure the clam is Shrimp safe:hihi: . They filter a LOT! but I don't think it could take in the smallest baby CRS. And yea my tank is cycled already:tongue: . Just double checked today and nitrates and ammonia both tested at 0 or too small of an amount to pick up:icon_wink 

So Yeah, rules on cycle where thrown out the window:biggrin: But I wont be adding shrimp for about a month, maybe two.


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Sure we want to see pictures of all your tanks!


So much for cycling rules:icon_roll


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

RESGuy said:


> Sure we want to see pictures of all your tanks!
> 
> 
> So much for cycling rules:icon_roll


Well they're going on my photobucket acct now, then they will be posted...

Whats a Cycle???

-Andrew


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Alright so here are the pictures from me tearing down the tank and refilling it.

Before tank demolished!

















Just substrate









In bucket









Mulm and a little bit of substrate left


























FLORA BASE!

















They FLORA BASE Pyramid!

















My hand didn't think the FLORA BASE Pyramid scape would be liked by anyone... 

















Plants on plate includes: italian val, Jungle Val, Java fern, some other random things...









Plants in tank, no water.









Stringy moss









Jungle Val









Italian Val









Java fern
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m208/Fish_Newb/CRS tank adventure/CRStankAdventure2-20-07019.jpg

Crypt









There are a few more pictures but I have to go, so I'll upload them tomorrow. They're the w/water pictures. But I'll also get pictures of it tonight to give a nice comparison.

Thanks for wasting your time looking at these crazy pictures:hihi: :help: 

-Andrew


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## sandiegoryu (Feb 15, 2006)

We Need W/H2O Pictures!!!! GAAAH!!

Also, how long does Florabase work. Is it better than Aquasoil? JW.

Soo wait a second. Where are your CRS at the moment?


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Sweet! Thanks for the "nice" pictures lol Can't wait to see the pictures of the tank with water in it lol:hihi:


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## weaselnoze (Dec 22, 2006)

whats the full name of the jungle val?


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## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

weaselnoze said:


> whats the full name of the jungle val?


Vallisneria gigantea, perhaps V. americana. That's why common names generally suck. I'm pretty sure Italian Val and Jungle Val are synonyms.


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## NeonShrimp (Mar 9, 2006)

Nice thread, hope everything goes well for you. Be sure to have a good filtration/water change system so you can provide the cleanest water for your shrimp especially baby CRS when they hatch


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

mrbelvedere said:


> Vallisneria gigantea, perhaps V. americana. That's why common names generally suck. I'm pretty sure Italian Val and Jungle Val are synonyms.


No Italian Val. and Jungle Val. is different. Italian vals are much thiner leaves and jungle vals are much larger leaves. From waht I know. Common names do suck:hihi: , its ever Worse with moss :help: 



NeonShrimp said:


> Nice thread, hope everything goes well for you. Be sure to have a good filtration/water change system so you can provide the cleanest water for your shrimp especially baby CRS when they hatch


Thanks, I might get RO filter in a few months but I'm not sure if I would be able to hook it up in the house:icon_lol: . So I'll see, if not the LFS near me sells RO water.

Filled tank shots from day 1 will be uploaded and posted today, Sorry about that guys I had to go. Just got those shots hosted and posted!

-Andrew


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

sandiegoryu said:


> We Need W/H2O Pictures!!!! GAAAH!!
> 
> Also, how long does Florabase work. Is it better than Aquasoil? JW.
> 
> Soo wait a second. Where are your CRS at the moment?


Its pretty much the same thing. I've had mine in the 55g for a year now. Its still working great. I'm not sure which is "better" since I haven't tried AS yet, just because its easy to go grab a few bags of this stuff from my lfs since no one else buys it :hihi: .

CRS are in the 55g.



RESGuy said:


> Sweet! Thanks for the "nice" pictures lol Can't wait to see the pictures of the tank with water in it lol:hihi:


Thanks, it seems my photos are getting better each time. I'll post the pictures now...

Thanks,
-Andrew

sorry about the DP I didn't realize that I missed some others, If I missed you Sorry...:icon_frow


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

And here are the H2O pictures!!

Put a paper towel over the plants to keep disturbance to a minimum!


























Still cloudy!


















The clam pictures...

























I really like the clams:hihi: Will probably try breeding them in the spring:biggrin: 

Updated pictures of the tank will be taken tonight probably!

-Andrew


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## gabeszone247 (Jul 8, 2006)

The 10 gal are good for breeding CRS, but you might want to look into a bigger tank if you plan on breeding a lot. I have 15gal tank, and its good but the more shrimp I got in it the more I had to clean it. 45-55gal are great! I only have to have a 30% water change once a month, or just to top it off. Cant wait to see the finished tank. I want to see some picture of your Shrimp when you get them in your tank.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

gabeszone247 said:


> The 10 gal are good for breeding CRS, but you might want to look into a bigger tank if you plan on breeding a lot. I have 15gal tank, and its good but the more shrimp I got in it the more I had to clean it. 45-55gal are great! I only have to have a 30% water change once a month, or just to top it off. Cant wait to see the finished tank. I want to see some picture of your Shrimp when you get them in your tank.


Yes I have a 55g on the wall to the left of the tank... If I get really serious I'll switch it and make that the CRS.. Probably next year:hihi: Right now it has some Cherries and the CRS waiting for their new home to be completed.

I'll get pictures once they go into the tank, its hard to get decent pictures when they're in the 55g. 

My goal for this tank is going to be much different than most peoples CRS/Diamond goals. I'm going to attempt to breed a Fully black diamond!:help: 

-Andrew


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Cool pics (They ARE getting better ) sounds like all is going good so far. I would like to see a full black diamond  It will be cool if you accomplish that, but won't you need a seperate tank for selective breeding of the diamonds?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

RESGuy said:


> Cool pics (They ARE getting better ) sounds like all is going good so far. I would like to see a full black diamond  It will be cool if you accomplish that, but won't you need a seperate tank for selective breeding of the diamonds?


The photos are better than they have been in the past.. I'm not sure that you've seen much of my photos.

This will be my specific breeding tank:hihi: . I only have low grades atm, and am going to get some A-S Diamonds. So then they should cross for some promising results. 

I won't be adding the shrimp to the tank for a month or two though...

I'll need to get more pictures...

-Andrew


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Fish Newb said:


> The photos are better than they have been in the past.. I'm not sure that you've seen much of my photos.
> 
> This will be my specific breeding tank:hihi: . I only have low grades atm, and am going to get some A-S Diamonds. So then they should cross for some promising results.
> 
> ...


Oh, so only diamonds with the most black are going in this tank? And the others are staying in the 55 gallon?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

RESGuy said:


> Oh, so only diamonds with the most black are going in this tank? And the others are staying in the 55 gallon?


Nope I'm going to cross Good diamonds (A-S) with LOW grade CRS. 

I'll explain later.. I need to go ..

-Andrew


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## sfcallen (Dec 13, 2006)

Fish Newb said:


> Jungle Val


I think the plant is a narrow leaf sword of some type, maybe "ruben". It will get large.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

sfcallen said:


> I think the plant is a narrow leaf sword of some type, maybe "ruben". It will get large.


I'm pretty sure it's a jungle val that wasn't liking my 55g. I'm going to take it out sooner or later, but Its just there for now to see how it does. The Italian vals look great!

Got some new pictures... need to post them later

Cya,
-Andrew


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Okay no more questions on the shrimp stuff lol Can't wait for pictures


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

RESGuy said:


> Okay no more questions on the shrimp stuff lol Can't wait for pictures


I'll elaborate more on the shrimp part... While I'm waiting for the pictures to upload.

On shrimpnow.com someone posted a link to a site in germany selling full black bee shrimp for $20 or $30 USD per! Lots of price for such an interestingly colored shrimp! So I want to try and breed a full black Diamond strain. I wouldn't charge that much for it but enough to hopefully make it worth trying to produce. I know lots of people like shrimp and would love Full black shrimp, So Why not try to get some?

What I'm going to do to try and achieve that is easier said than done. 

I have some LOW grade CRS, some are almost full red. I'm going to attempt to Cross them with decent grade Diamonds (A probably) To try and get full black w/out any white. It will be much harder probably to actually do since it takes sooooo long to have CRS/Diamonds give birth and the young to reach maturity . But hopefully I will start to get some full black ones. Then at the time I have enough to separate them I will and just breed them together, taking out the striped ones and keeping the full black ones. So EVENTUALLY Hopefully I'll get a true breeding strain of BLACK Diamonds (full black:hihi: ) Now can you imagine a tank of full white CRS and Full Black Diamonds? It would look awesome!

Pictures finished loading while I was typing.

Full tank shot









FTS w/flash









Side shots:

















And a random Pic of some moss in the 55g, probably a leafy liverwort of some sort...










-Andrew


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Oh I understand now. And yes this will take very long! Especially because you will probably get more CRS then diamonds at the beginning. But I hope to see some black shrimp soon, the shrimp of the next generation! lol 


Very nice tank man  I am liking that stringy moss dude:biggrin: :icon_wink


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

RESGuy said:


> Oh I understand now. And yes this will take very long! Especially because you will probably get more CRS then diamonds at the beginning. But I hope to see some black shrimp soon, the shrimp of the next generation! lol
> 
> 
> Very nice tank man  I am liking that stringy moss dude:biggrin: :icon_wink


Ohh no, I'll have many more diamonds than CRS because In the beginning I'll have more Diamonds, So the recessive trait (red) will be much less resulting in many more diamonds...

Stringy moss = ownage.

-Andrew


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Just a random update...

Everything is going well And I've been getting great growth. I added some DIY CO2 since I had that old crappy RED SEA Natural CO2 thing sitting around and like 4 of my premade DIY mixes. So I just cut off the little adapter that goes to it's powerhead and stuck the tubing into the HOB filter's intake pipe... So every 3-7 seconds you here pop SQUISH! Of the CO2 Bubbles...

-Andrew


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Fish Newb said:


> Ohh no, I'll have many more diamonds than CRS because In the beginning I'll have more Diamonds, So the recessive trait (red) will be much less resulting in many more diamonds...
> 
> Stringy moss = ownage.
> 
> -Andrew


Yeah sorry I was a bit sleepy when I wrote that because I already knew that:help: lol Yeah real cool moss, if I ever get a 10 gallon tank for my RCS then I will have to purchase some from you :biggrin: 



Fish Newb said:


> Just a random update...
> 
> Everything is going well And I've been getting great growth. I added some DIY CO2 since I had that old crappy RED SEA Natural CO2 thing sitting around and like 4 of my premade DIY mixes. So I just cut off the little adapter that goes to it's powerhead and stuck the tubing into the HOB filter's intake pipe... So every 3-7 seconds you here pop SQUISH! Of the CO2 Bubbles...
> 
> -Andrew


lol Cool glad things are going well, thanks for the updateroud:


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Things are all going well... Tomorrow will be one week since it's been set up.

Sooner or later I'll have to decide how I'm going to scape this tank... LOTS of ideas going in and out of my head. I might use a new idea... Not sure...

-Andrew

2222 posts:hihi:


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Fish Newb said:


> Things are all going well... Tomorrow will be one week since it's been set up.
> 
> Sooner or later I'll have to decide how I'm going to scape this tank... LOTS of ideas going in and out of my head. I might use a new idea... Not sure...
> 
> ...


Cool Cool. And congrats quadriple 2 post count


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Alright time for a little update...

Not too much has changed. Everything has grown quite a bit though, besides that damn near impossible jungle val! I need to get a heater for the tank since the old one isn't stable whatsoever so tonight I'll be placing an order at Drs. Foster and Smith for that and a few more things. 

I also rigged up a device to keep my babies out of the filter, and to make a nice spot for the shrimp to eat from. I got a aqua clear sponge and a filter media bag, Since everyone says either one works better, I decided to use both:hihi: The sponge looks a bit porous but the bag doesn't look like babies could get in. So Hopefully the combination will be good. And it was really easy to make!

Pictures coming later tonight, not dark out yet*. 

-Andrew

(2400 posts:hihi: I need a life)


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Wow this needs some updates :icon_wink .

I've taken pictures but never gotten around to posting them so...

First and update on the tank. Its going great! One night a while back now I added some slate to the tank to give it a bit more definition in the substrate. There are around 20 Grade A-S some a bit lower maybe one or two a bit higher, My really nice one died I think, can't find him anymore...

At the moment two females are berried paitently waiting for babies!

This week I need to call the Tom's company and try and get a replacement for their mini rapids canistar filter. The flow is a trickle now...:angryfire 

The Order from Dr's Foster & Smith #1.


























































Ordered some clips to hold home made goodies, Visitherm stealth heater, and a coralife digital thermometer! Also 2L of Flourish excel!

More pictures are being uploaded of the tank a while back, then next comes fast forward pictures and I'll have to take some more this week of the tank now.

-Andrew

(3,000th post:help: , do they have rehab for this hobby?)


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Some more pictures of tanks before it was really 'scaped'

























Flame moss is on the little mesh, susswassestang (spelling? lol) on others.










FTS









Here is the only picture I have of how the sponge was on the filter...









Next is the more current pictures, and me trying to take some decent shots with a magnifying glass..

-Andrew


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## eon17 (Aug 30, 2007)

another thing to think about- you may end up getting full red shrimp, but as dark as an s grade right? CRS that would be soo cool!


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

eon17 said:


> another thing to think about- you may end up getting full red shrimp, but as dark as an s grade right? CRS that would be soo cool!


Yes that would also happen 

Right now I'm just keeping and breeding some diamonds in here A-S grade. I may or may not try the original plan.

-Andrew

PS. Pictures will be added in a min.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Full tank shots some are better than others...


































Now here are some of the better ones of my shrimp.


































































































One of my favorites...


















Nothing compared to say Ryan's, but heck its better than before...

-Andrew


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## bigstick120 (May 23, 2005)

Where did you get your shrimp?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

bigstick120 said:


> Where did you get your shrimp?


Got them from kangshiang, I've had one or two die probably my fault as non where DOA, great shrimp and a great price too!

-Andrew

PS. The only problem I have is they're addicted to junk food


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

I've got babies!

Last night I saw my first ones, I think I have around a dozen or so for sure! They look good! I won't be able to get pictures of them for a while, I can barely see them they're like 2-3mm! My eyes are bothering me as is, trying to find them in there isn't helping:icon_roll 

On another note I think the clithons are breeding for me in the 55g so it seems to be a good start to the new year!

-Andrew


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

congrats!!!

dont you think the baby crs look so nice, i wish they looked that bright when they were adult.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

bsmith782 said:


> congrats!!!
> 
> dont you think the baby crs look so nice, i wish they looked that bright when they were adult.


I agree! I was like WOW:icon_eek: 

-Andrew


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## SearunSimpson (Jun 5, 2007)

I'm guessing this is the Journal you were talking about in my post on Black Diamonds eh? What temp and what is your feeding and w/c regimines? I am really wanting to breed my bees/black diamonds. There is not a place near me that sells ADA or anything like that, so for substrate the bottom is covered in oak leaf litter with a couple peices of moss covered wood and frogbit floating in it. Do you think this is legit enough for them? Your shrimp look so good btw and I hope mine will look like that. Oh, the filter is an air driven sponge (Hydor).


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

SearunSimpson said:


> I'm guessing this is the Journal you were talking about in my post on Black Diamonds eh? What temp and what is your feeding and w/c regimines? I am really wanting to breed my bees/black diamonds. There is not a place near me that sells ADA or anything like that, so for substrate the bottom is covered in oak leaf litter with a couple peices of moss covered wood and frogbit floating in it. Do you think this is legit enough for them? Your shrimp look so good btw and I hope mine will look like that. Oh, the filter is an air driven sponge (Hydor).


Yup that it is.

Temperature is 73.6F it fluxuates a good degree depending on the days and time of season and stuff.

Feeding is speratic (spelling?) but when they where berried I did it more often Just some food every day, sometimes every couple days since I have some snail problems in the tank. A good range of food is great. 

The substrate is Red Sea Flora Base. Its very similar to ADA AS but I as well can not get it locally so have been using this with great results. 

The filter is that rapids mini canister filter but the flow died, so its next to nothing. I plan on getting a sponge soon.

As for Water changes:icon_roll I'll get scolded for this I know but its just top offs with prime, usually only when its low enough to look terrible, so at least a gallon or two:redface: . The shrimp don't seem to care either way. 

I think your setup will be fine, just give them time. I got these guys (only 2 females out of all 20 or so that I bought ) to get comfortable and actually produce babies, the first eggs where dropped. The best advice I can give is DO NOT mess with your tank. Set it up simpler the better and leave it be.

I am positive I have a good half dozen.

-Andrew


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

*Took out the camera...*

Well I took some pictures while doing tons of work on the 55g slowly taking it all apart .

Some are a bit blurry, but they're the best pictures I've probably ever taken with this "sony Cyber-Shot" 6.0 mega pixels. Also used a small magnifying glass to help as well.

Fist off I managed to get some decent pictures of the baby shrimp. They're around 3-5mm now I think. I didn't measure them, they're small though.










































Following Pop









Uploading more as I type.

-Andrew


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Here is almost all the rest, 10 need to still be uploaded.


















































Here is one of the moms, this girl is the higher grade of the two.


























One of the Clithions.









-Andrew


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## szentgyo (Dec 23, 2007)

Nice little shrimps! I haven't seen bee shrimp with black "nose" (like on the photo 7,8)


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

szentgyo said:


> Nice little shrimps! I haven't seen bee shrimp with black "nose" (like on the photo 7,8)


Thanks! Its more a trick of the light, it really isn't black but the normal brown. Black would be awesome though! (see the third picture of those three and its a bit out of focus and it shows it more brown and true to life. 

-Andrew


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Well today started with school for two hours.

Then cleaning my room some...

Then cleaning the tank of the floaters and pruning off some of the vals. 

Then that lead to cleaning the filter and fixing the majority of my flow problem...

After all this I ended up Doing a RESCAPE! Looks very different now, and much better. Added some DW and took out 90% of the moss I was growing out.

The camera is in FL with the mother, so when it comes back I'll be getting some shots!

There are TONS of babies I got them all out of the plants during the rescape because I thinned out the vals some places and there are like 40-50 or so it seems :biggrin: 

Leaf litter will probably be boiled and added Sunday.

-Andrew


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## fish-aholic (Dec 23, 2007)

Did you change the light? Whats the wattage?


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## fishscale (May 29, 2007)

How many shrimp did you start with, and how much did that cost?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

fish-aholic said:


> Did you change the light? Whats the wattage?


Nope, the light is the normal 10g's hood light. One sigle T8 bulb. Its 6700k temp.



fishscale said:


> How many shrimp did you start with, and how much did that cost?


I started with approximately ~ 20. They where around $100, maybe a bit more. I have at least 20-30 babies in the tank now, around 7-8mm now! They're looking good.

I'm thinking I'm going to keep a lot of the first batch because I only have two females at the moment, and then maybe the third generation I'll sell more off. Not too sure though.

Man do I want to get the camera to take some pictures, it looks GREAT there is a little bit of tannins in the water but only the slightest bit, not bad for untreated, not soaked wood. 

-Andrew


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## chizamp (Apr 12, 2008)

update?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

chizamp said:


> update?


This week should have a better update than this but.

The babies are berried :hihi:

They're great looking and I'll have to get some new pictures this week.



-Andrew


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

oooh I like, me need some of those!


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

I'll most likely be culling some of the ones with the worst color within the next month or two:icon_roll 

I've got all the supplies to ship as well. Just can't decide on the price.

A real update is to be expected in the coming week.

-Andrew


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Drop me a PM when you do. If I haven't heard from woods on what I am going to get from him I may be interested. 

Craig


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Alright,

Right now I'm thinking about $4 per they range from S to B and throw a mix still... Color is nice though either way. I had an A grade female produce a few nice S shrimp last clutch but its looking like the tank is getting too full. They're all sexually mature it seems since I've got another 4 new shrimp berried:eek5: 

I can probably cull 5-10 

-Andrew
Real update coming soon (tonight or tomorrow)


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## phanizzle (Jun 28, 2007)

love the tank. Do you have both cherries and crs? or just CRS


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Isn't it a little early in the year for a 12/20/08 update?  

(Which really means- I'm so glad there's occasionally someone who's as confused about what day it is as I am all the time!!! :thumbsup: )


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

phanizzle said:


> love the tank. Do you have both cherries and crs? or just CRS


I have both in different tanks. I'm not sure if I love the tank, but spotted two more of the babies berried so thats always good! 

Got some more pictures sitting on the camera next to the tank, they're all probably crap though.

Made 28 sweet salmon rolls today, should help bring out reds in shrimp. They're dehydrating next to me at the moment. 

So the TANK update will come on later in the week.

Laura Lee, no idea what you're saying I think sometimes you just need to slow down and think before you hit that post button

-Andrew


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

12-20-08 update?

What do you feed your CRS/RCS?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> 12-20-08 update?
> 
> What do you feed your CRS/RCS?


I'm lost at the 12-20-08 update comment, granted I'm about to fall asleep...  

I feed them a LOT! Really especially since there are too many in my 10g to be sustained decently from the other stuff in the tank. 

In the last week...

Spinach flakes (a few different ones)
Rain-'s biscuits
Some random algae/weedy pellets I got one day
Some food from another member who made some
Bloodworms
cyclops eze

probably a few more things. The cyclops eze is kinda tricky with CRS and Diamonds because it'll mess with the white since its soooo high in beta carotene.

-Andrew


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Approximately how many RCS do you have? Because I heard somewhere that CRS are more agressive when it comes to feeding, and won't let the RCS get a chance to eat...


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## dienson (Apr 15, 2008)

I hope to have 10 RCS,, can you give me price included shipping to CA,90304
All RCS you have do cute,,,I love them
thank you
leave me a message if you want to


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## phanizzle (Jun 28, 2007)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Approximately how many RCS do you have? Because I heard somewhere that CRS are more agressive when it comes to feeding, and won't let the RCS get a chance to eat...


I find this not true, in my tank the RCS are more aggressive and I see maybe 1 CRS of mine at feeding time. This is because the RCS are breeding like mad compared to the CRS I guess it depends on what you have more of. I have way more RCS then CRS and I wished it was the other way around.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

A Hill said:


> I'm lost at the 12-20-08 update comment, granted I'm about to fall asleep...
> 
> -Andrew


Then why make a rude comment at larualee? 12-20-08 is not coming for a long time...


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

fishsandwitch said:


> Then why make a rude comment at larualee? 12-20-08 is not coming for a long time...


I don't think he was trying to be rude. I didn't perceive it that way.

Ahill -

The title of your thread is:

CRS Tank Adventure!(Updated 12-20-08) 

Hence the confusion since 12/20/08 hasn't happened yet.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Approximately how many RCS do you have? Because I heard somewhere that CRS are more agressive when it comes to feeding, and won't let the RCS get a chance to eat...


Last night I counted at least 40:eek5: And have 4-6 berried females at the moment!



dienson said:


> I hope to have 10 RCS,, can you give me price included shipping to CA,90304
> All RCS you have do cute,,,I love them
> thank you
> leave me a message if you want to


Via PM is best. Two others are in line before you. They're $5 each. Shipping express is preferred and thats a bit more pricey. But any interest in buying them please keep to PMs mostly. (keep this thread on topic:thumbsup: )



phanizzle said:


> I find this not true, in my tank the RCS are more aggressive and I see maybe 1 CRS of mine at feeding time. This is because the RCS are breeding like mad compared to the CRS I guess it depends on what you have more of. I have way more RCS then CRS and I wished it was the other way around.


I have the same view, its whatever there is more of. I had gotten 10 or so yellows from another member in january, these days they've vanished In my experience, mixing in small tanks doesn't work.



fishsandwitch said:


> Then why make a rude comment at larualee? 12-20-08 is not coming for a long time...


It was somewhat rude. I feel that she does post a tad bit and many times it adds nothing important. Especially when no explanation is given. 



BiscuitSlayer said:


> I don't think he was trying to be rude. I didn't perceive it that way.
> 
> Ahill -
> 
> ...


Now I understand, and did laugh a good deal when I realized what this all was about. :hihi: I really had no clue:icon_roll 

Here is the mess up. It was updated on


> Last edited by A Hill : 01-20-2008 at 05:30 PM.


When I typed the updated on 12-20-2008 I must have had my finger slip and hit the TWO as well as the one. 

I do think it does capture my lack of updates well and will probably keep it that way since it is funny:thumbsup: 

------------

I've got about 100+ pictures I need to sort through and post some of the decent ones. 

Yesterday I cleaned a lot of the duck crap off the top and took the fissidens and some of the willow moss and put it into the 55g. So it looks much better and more open.

Thanks for the comments, soon I'll be culling regularly:icon_roll 
-Andrew


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## dienson (Apr 15, 2008)

Yes A HILL,
I want on your list to wait them,,let me know shipping price, and I pay by Paypal to you, or Money Order if you don't want Paypal,
thank you


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

dienson said:


> Yes A HILL,
> I want on your list to wait them,,let me know shipping price, and I pay by Paypal to you, or Money Order if you don't want Paypal,
> thank you


I believer I got your PM, I can't remember if I sent one back:icon_roll One crazy day for me.:icon_roll 

I should have some within the next month or two.

If you want ADULTS like some of the ones pictured I could sell you some of them... but its probably best to wait for juvies.

Pictures on the camera... I need to upload them eventually...

-Andrew


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Can we get some pics of the colony??

Im getting excited about my shrip again. I have 6 new one's on the way (CRS), and found a berried one in the tank!!!

It really amazes me how old the CRS have to be to reproduce compared to RCS.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

I'll try to get some of the decent shots uploaded tonight. 

I think my photography is getting better, but I'll let you guys decide...

-Andrew


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Well you know how I kept saying a bit later a bit later a bit later?

I am starting to upload all 268 pictures.

I figure I'll post ten or so a day:thumbsup: 


































































































































































Photobucket has a new option to make it easy for me as well.. Some pictures are better than others. The later pictures (not of this group, are much better, but to keep my photography honest)

-Andrew

Here is the link to the new account if you wish to view them faster than I post them.

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll76/CRS_TANK/10 gallon/52008268picturesmostlyofBDtank016.jpg


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Is there a reason the water level is down?

Nice tank! So many Vals....


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Is there a reason the water level is down?
> 
> Nice tank! So many Vals....


Not really, I just always forget to do it, get busy when I go to do it...

It really isn't important. 

Thanks, and yeah there are a lot, they all are from two or three originals! They're all clones:icon_mrgr 

-Andrew


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Well there are more new tiny babies popping up every day:icon_bigg 

This week I hope to get the rest of the pictures uploaded, they're on the other computer or I would be uploading them now..

-Andrew


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Is this tank even still _alive_?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Is this tank even still _alive_?


That it is, Thursday night I cleaned out the canister and figured out that you can take this discreet plastic piece off the top to get to the impeller and clean that. Now it works like new... Stupid Andrew

Over the summer I had a population decrease that is starting to rebound, I have around 20 or so at the moment, and a few were just berried and there are a number of little ones running crazily around the tank.

I want to get them into another tank which is bigger but its tough to get more tank space these days... 

Those other pictures I talk about above where lost with a virus, I'm still mad about that...

Over the summer It was full of stems, now it is just moss, java ferns trident and narrow, and the most common brown/red crypt (willisi bronze or however it is spelled.) Not sure what direction I'm going to go with this tank, I'm debating taking out the crypts (they're now as large as the vallis was) and replacing it all with the susswassestang I've got which has grown a ton in such low light. 

I've got some pictures I'll have to get uploaded, some of the tank, some of other stuff...

-Andrew


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## ZID ZULANDER (Apr 15, 2008)

So you got your Rapids pro mini to work again?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

ZID ZULANDER said:


> So you got your Rapids pro mini to work again?


Yes it is working like a champ now.

What you have to do is pull the top off as normal when cleaning the canister. Then flip the top part upside down. Where the inlet strainer thing is for the return flow pull out as normal. You can also pull out the plastic piece it goes into. It took me over a year to figure this out.. 

Once you get that piece out you can remove the impeller and also clear the spot where the water travels to get back to the hoses.

Maybe I'm the only idiot who never figured this out but maybe not...

Its silent and perfect like it used to be.

-Andrew


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## ZID ZULANDER (Apr 15, 2008)

I was just checking to make sure that it was working right. If not than I was going to see about getting you a replacement unit.




A Hill said:


> Yes it is working like a champ now.
> 
> What you have to do is pull the top off as normal when cleaning the canister. Then flip the top part upside down. Where the inlet strainer thing is for the return flow pull out as normal. You can also pull out the plastic piece it goes into. It took me over a year to figure this out..
> 
> ...


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## fishboy87 (Feb 19, 2008)

pictures? I'm gonna start a crs colony and want to see an established one


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

ZID ZULANDER said:


> I was just checking to make sure that it was working right. If not than I was going to see about getting you a replacement unit.


Yes it is working correctly now, it was my error more or less. To give you an idea of how long it takes for it to get to where it was last weekend. I hadn't actually cleaned the inside impeller part in over a year. It was caked with dirt more or less and it could not move. 

Do you work for the company or have some connections or some such?



fishboy87 said:


> pictures? I'm gonna start a crs colony and want to see an established one


There are lots of pictures above... Yet I'll have some more uploaded over the weekend probably, since I get really busy in school and never end up uploading them...

Thanks,
-Andrew


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## ZID ZULANDER (Apr 15, 2008)

I do... We represent the company on the west coast. 




A Hill said:


> Yes it is working correctly now, it was my error more or less. To give you an idea of how long it takes for it to get to where it was last weekend. I hadn't actually cleaned the inside impeller part in over a year. It was caked with dirt more or less and it could not move.
> 
> Do you work for the company or have some connections or some such?
> 
> ...


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Cool cool. If you ever need items tested:icon_roll lol

I know some others had posted of motor failings and whatnot and bought second ones... 

do you know of any reason that the weird tube is used?

-Andrew


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## ZID ZULANDER (Apr 15, 2008)

If you are talking about the black ribbed tubing its used to help with kinking in the tube. Its suppose to be non kink tubing. My unit that I got the other day seems to be working fine. I am planning on taking off my liberty eheim HOB filter some time this week.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

ZID ZULANDER said:


> If you are talking about the black ribbed tubing its used to help with kinking in the tube. Its suppose to be non kink tubing. My unit that I got the other day seems to be working fine. I am planning on taking off my liberty eheim HOB filter some time this week.


I guess that makes sense. I kinda wish the tubing was longer or something... its kinda a pain.

Although the filter and whatnot is great.

-Andrew


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## ZID ZULANDER (Apr 15, 2008)

I will let them know that people would like to have longer tubing to seperate the intake and the outlet.


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## NyteBlade (Aug 19, 2006)

What pH do you keep these guys at with the Florabase and all? (Or do you know? :smile

I'm thinking about converting my 10 gallon to a full-force CRS farm too and just wondering.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

ZID ZULANDER said:


> I will let them know that people would like to have longer tubing to seperate the intake and the outlet.


Thanks, Besides that it is really a great unit and I would buy more in the future if I was looking for a small canister.



NyteBlade said:


> What pH do you keep these guys at with the Florabase and all? (Or do you know? :smile
> 
> I'm thinking about converting my 10 gallon to a full-force CRS farm too and just wondering.


Its less than 7. Its usually around 6.5 or less when I check yet I haven't checked in months...:eek5: lol

But yeah, one bag of florabase is the way to go IMO, just make sure you understand what florabase is. 

I've gotta get pictures uploaded from my camera in the coming weeks so hopefully I'll have some new updates.

I'm thinking or scrapping this tank in the future and starting over fresh and much more simple in the scaping respect. 

-Andrew


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Andrew update this :icon_evil


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Well the planaria basically killed out 99% of the population. There are four males left.

Strange things happen in my tanks strange things. 

I also added some cherry shrimp from my 55g and they disapeared. 

The Sulwesi rabbit snails are doing great and there are around a half dozen baby snails cruising around. 

The tank itself looks nice though...

CRS are funny things..

-Andrew


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