# Blyxa Island



## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

*Equipment*
20 Gallon Long Tank
50W Heater
AquaClear 30 Filter
20W LED Fixture
Amazonia Substrate

*Flora*
Blyxa japonica
Blyxa aubertii
Fissidens moss
Duckweed

*Fauna*
4 Chocolate Cherry Shrimp
6 Crystal Red Shrimp
4 Crystal Black Shrimp
1 Amano Shrimp

Thank you for any help and recommendations.

Current FTS


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## magnum (Jun 23, 2011)

1. 10,000K would be the absolute highest temperature bulbs I would use, lower temperature bulbs would be better. 
2. As for the filter, Aquaclear is a great brand in the HOB category. 
3. Seems to be a window on the right side of the tank I'd highly consider some sort of blind.
4. Great start on the moss, looks promising


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Progression:


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

An Aquaclear 30 or 50 would be perfect. 

As far as substrate, since you're keeping limited plants, just getting a bag of Amazonia would be a-okay for your purposes. It's great stuff.

On my 20Ls, I use two different fixtures (depending upon the tank and its location). The 30" Coralife T5NO fixture is awesome for low-medium plants and is about $40 at most. Marineland's Double Bright LED fixture is also a nice choice but is easily $70-$80. I'd go T5NO all the way for sure.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

P.S. I'd argue that my 6700K T5NO bulbs really make white shrimp pop:










About moss - do you plan to keep any in the tank? You definitely should if you plan to house shrimp. Moss is almost a necessity.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

maybe I'll save some moss and tie it to DW...thanks.

So i should go with the Coralife 30" T5NO fixture and a 6700K bulb?
EDIT:they arent bei9ng made anymore or something? maybe i should just go with any T5 light that fits and as long as its not HO?

I should only get the Amazonia NEW soil? the 9L bag?


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

They're definitely being made. Here's a link to Ken's Fish (just as an example) - which sells a couple different kinds of T5 fixtures in the 30" length. I don't think you'll be disappointed with any T5NO fixture on the market at that length.

Yeah, definitely get Amazonia New. 9L should be plenty for a 20L.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

ok I'll see what I can find....

ok i ordered the NEW amzonia soil 9L and the coralife strip light T5 30".
Now all i have to do is get me an Aquaclear30 filter from a local store and I should be ready to convert the tank.

Can someone help me with the conversion process, maybe walk me through it?
I am hoping i can sell most of my shrimp before i start to convert, but i want to leave roughly 5-6 of my PFRs to live in the new softwater tank that I will make. I realize i am going to be cycling the tank for a while, so i will need to move my PFR out somewhere for a few weeks... should i do that?
can they be put in a breeder net into my 40 gal community? or will my fish get at them through the net? i have a large angel that might damage them by trying to grab them through the net...possible?
advice?
thank you!


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Yes, you should definitely move your PFRs to another tank for the month it's going to take to cycle with Aquasoil. They should be fine in a breeder net, as long as it's covered and they can't escape. You'll just need to be sure to feed them and maybe put some moss in the net with them.

If you can't find a good price locally for the AC30, Foster & Smith has them for $20.99 right now. Once you factor in shipping, though, you may be able to get them cheaper locally.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

yes i noticed dr. foster's site's sale. likely cheaper locally with shipping this time though since i dont need anything else right now.

ok so i will place about 6 of my best PFR in a breeder net in my 40gal community and put some moss in there for them to hide. and an almond leaf or something. going to feed them of course lol.

I am excited to do this now. i have kept softwater shrimp before, but nothing more serious like this. I know i can do this correctly with patience.

The plan is to convert the tank, get it planted and cycled, then move the PFR back in to see how they do. after a few months, when its winter and temps are nice and manageable I'll sell off the cherries and get some variety of softwater shrimp


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Sounds like a plan! I have no doubt you can handle it. I mean, just look at that Pico Reef of yours. It's stunning and a motivator for me to downgrade my 300gal reef to a 3gal - and I am literally doing just that.

Maybe you could keep the PFRs in there with the other shrimp? They add a nice burst of color.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I'll keep them in there for a while, but eventually would like to give the whole tank space to softwater shrimps.

Tomorrow I am buying a few things: an Aquaclear 30, and GH and KH tests. I'll update with a picture once I have that filter installed!

Thanks, I really like the pico reef I made.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

now that i read more about it, is my coralife 30" fixture going to burn out very quickly?


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## demonr6 (Mar 14, 2011)

If it wasn't for you need to have the shrimp 'pop' under the lighting, a plain old shop light with 6500 T8's more than does the job in my 20L. It's a freaking jungle in there.


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## Caleb19 (Sep 27, 2010)

I believe the older fixtures (Coralife) branded do have problems which causing the fixture to fail. But the newer models branded (Aqueon) seem to have remedied the issue. At least that is my experience in the matter. Had my fixture burn out and contacted Coralife, who promptly replaced the fixture with a new one.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Both Coralife _and_ Aqueon-branded fixtures are still produced, according to customer service. Seems older models of the fixture are the ones with issues.

If you ordered online, you likely won't have a problem. If you do experience a problem, contacting customer service can resolve it.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

i bought the one from Ken's fish website. hopefully I'll get a newer model?
got my filter and KH GH test. installing soon.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Most likely got newer ones. He turns his stock over quickly.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

installed the new filter. forgot to buy the prefilter though. will do at some point. made a temporary prefilter thing. fluval edge prefilter should fit i am guessing.
I think the shrimp like it.

FTS updated


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## amygirl11 (May 20, 2012)

Amazon has the generic sponge prefilter for your Aquaclear for 3 for $4.95. Super fast shipping also. I usually get mine in aout 2 days.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

looks like the prefilters are out of stock, however i bet i can just make one myself out of some old aquaclear sponge media that i never used. i could cut it up into the prefilter shape i need. i bet it will work just as good.

Sold a bunch of cherries from this tank, and looks like all of them will be sold by the end of next week!

hopefully my supplies arrive soon so that i can start the conversion.

I decided to sell every shrimp, even the PFR.
once the softwater tank cycles, i'll try out some black or chocolate cherries for fun and to check if the tank is good. then i'll move on to some higher quality softwater shrimp.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I need to sell all of my Taiwan moss. is anyone interested in buying my moss? it will be all the moss from this tank. plus i have a little flame moss tied to a little DW piece in here too.
i'll make a deal - $12.00 for all the moss i have here shipped?

best part about this moss is that it will be 100% free from snails lol. and it has no algae growing on it.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

sold all shrimpn'moss
drained, put in the amazonia soil, filled up with DI water and put on the coralife striplight. looks nice but very cloudy for now.

pics when it settles down, or when i get my blyxa japonica. whichever comes first.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

threw in some moss. FTS updated.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Put in some Blyxa japonica. The blyxa arrived when i was not home, so it sat in my mailbox for a day, baking in the sun. luckily it all survived and will be growing back. Looks tattered now, but its growing back.

Updated the FTS!

Raised my TDS level to 100ppm, and now I'll wait for the plants to get going before i add any shrimp. There were two cherry shrimplets in there a while back (they somehow survived the tank breakdown and rebuild), but i don't see them now, so I assume they are gone.

I need some help deciding which shrimp to start this tank out with.
Something softwater. Maybe crystal shrimp? or should i stick with painted fire red cherries again for starters?

I am going on vacation for a month, so the tank will remain w/o livestock. will give it a while to stabilize, before i slowly start building the bioload.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Shrimp suggestions guys?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

decided on shrimp. Rili shrimp and the SSS red crystals. the rili should be doing great all year round in this tank, and the crystals will be on a winter basis venture because of temperature issues in summer.

For now the tank is still cycling after one month. Ammonia is at 2ppm, 0ppm nitrite, 10ppm nitrate. 6.3pH and 107TDS.
I upped the photoperiod from 4 hours to 6 hours today since the blyxa started to grow in nicely. all of it survived. Put in some floaters. 
I'll leave it to cycle, and the rili shrimp go in.
Pic updates later.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Temperature issues? You can just use a fan to cool things down and Crystals will be fine year round.

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

ack, still unsure about what Neo breed to go for....I would like something that can both sell for decent money ($4 or more), doesn't have to be culled much, and something that i can probably develop into a purer color or something....


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

That doesn't really exist, unfortunately. Even Chocolates have to be culled. Those still tend to go for at least $10 - but that price won't last long.

You should just pick a color that you really enjoy and go with that. PFRs and Oranges are always going to be pretty popular. And you can at least get $3-$5 per shrimp for really solid Orange.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Maybe i should just raise tangerine tigers in this tank, since they are more temperature tolerant than crystals.

Does anyone on this site sell top quality TT?

Tanks is still showing ammonia, so it will be a while before i get any shrimp  Patience is important


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Check with shrimpnmoss or mordalphus for more tt's ^^


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

thank you, I will.

Going to upgrade my T5 light into an LED light from Finnex. The shimmer effect will be welcome in my tank.

If anyone wants to buy my 30" Coralife T5 light, let me know, I will be selling it very soon.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I upgraded my fixture to a 20W LED one. very nice and bright. much better than the T5 visually. light is 7000K so plants should respond well. FTS has been updated. Duckweed is being used as the floater.

My 30" T5 is now on sale if anyone wants it.
Still waiting on this tank to finally cycle


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Going to go with Tangerine Tigers and either Orange/Chocolate/Green Babaulti shrimp. Not sure yet. Don't know if the other shrimp can handle softwater and low pH. The tigers should have no problem though...right?


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## Drift Monkey (Mar 26, 2012)

They should be able to handle it, but whether or not they'll breed as prolifically is probably up in the air. Nice start to this one Newman, ya know...I always wanted a 20L. I already have too many tanks going already though I think.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Glad you dropped by. Yes I am unsure about the neos, but the tigers should like this. 
my new parameters, since i am using tap water now are:

Temperature: 76F
pH: 6.6
TDS: 300

I will be starting with chocolate shrimp here first, wish me luck =)


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## Drift Monkey (Mar 26, 2012)

So the tap raised your PH up a bit eh? I'm sure the neos will be just fine @ 6.6ph. Maybe over time your substrate won't buffer quite as much allowing you to get back up to around 7 or so for the tigers?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

yes, hopefully they all like it in the end.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

Let us know if that light works out or if it is too bright. You are not running co2 correct? The blyxa looks good.


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## Drift Monkey (Mar 26, 2012)

Looks like a Finnex Ray II? Those look nice!


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

yes, it is a finnex ray II. the light is quite nice. it is very bright, but hopefully it will work fine. i'll keep you guys updated.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Ok I tested all parameters and here they are, up to date.
Also put in some fresh active carbon in the filter...

Temperature: 75F
pH: 6.5
TDS: 270ppm (tap water is normally 400TDS)
GH: 11 dGH (tap water is normally 25 dGH)
KH: 0 dKH? (tap water is normally 8 dKH)
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitirite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 15ppm

Obviously things have changed a bit. KH went back down to undetectable. probably the substrate's doing. pH went back down to 6.5...a bit low, but hopefully the cherry shrimp can deal. it looks like the substrate lowers the tap water's KH GH and even TDS...crazyness.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

FTS updated


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## Drift Monkey (Mar 26, 2012)

The blyxa looks to be growing well, I see growth! How close are you from cycling this bad boy?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

its supposed to be cycled already. 

I risked it a bit, and put shrimp in here >_< too impatient for my own good lol.

Most recent parameters were this:
Temperature: 75F
pH: 6.5
TDS: 286ppm
GH: 11 dGH
KH: 0 dKH
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitirite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 15-20ppm


With nitrates nearing the high end now, I am not sure if i should wait, or do a water change soon to reduce them.
I don't want to do a water change because it might stress out my new shrimp (who are getting used to the tank). I am waiting for my plants to use up the Nitrates...hopefully they can keep them down. Though if not, then I'll be forced to WC 
Most of the female shrimp arrived saddled. Hopefully they will berry and then i will get to raise many shrimplets successfully.

Blyxa is doing well, and is growing =)
So is the taiwan moss in the back. you can't see it in the FTS because its behind the blyxa, but if you go a few pages back, you can find an FTS when I added the two moss clumps. the taiwan moss is growing on DW pieces.

I plan to grow the moss out then sell it and replace with Phoenix moss.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)




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## Drift Monkey (Mar 26, 2012)

I'd give it a day or two...and if the nitrates don't drop to your liking, just do a small water (10% or less) change every few days until it drops. 

The shrimp should be fine...Prime (if you use it) should help cut the toxicity of nitrates too.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Yes, I always use Prime


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

aww man I can't wait to see berried shrimp =D I hope they all do very well!


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

shrimp have been in here about a week.
no losses yet, but also no breeding. too early to tell if these will be successful or not.

I also added a piece of cuttlefish bone, in case they need any extra calcium.
update FTS soon.


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Nice so far Newman! It's weird seeing you use so few plants and a filter after the Newman Bowl 

Hope it all works well for you! Just setup a 20L myself, except mine is a reef tank


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

thanks!
remember how the shrimp bowl started out? it was pretty barren at the start, just a dwarf sag plant, a chain sword plant, some DW and a little moss tied to it. a year and more later it is completely overgrown. i think this tank will be similar, it just takes time.

Reefs are very fun, I've had a few in the past. if you're new to reefing then check out nanoreef forums. they are very helpful! you might also find my 3 gallon pico reef and my 10 gallon nano reef on there (Newman's JBJ picotope, and Newmans 10 gallon nano. Piece of ocean or something like that...)


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

I'm not new to it (was in the reef hobby before planted tanks), I'll have to check out your threads 
Can't wait for this thing to get overgrown :fish: :fish: :fish:


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

update FTS
still no berried shrimp. taking their time.


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Newman, I found a good way to make the protective sponge (with taking up less space). Just buy some of that white filter media they sell in big sheets at the LFS and then cut a piece off and stuff it in the intake tube (leaving enough out to stuff the intake guard when you put it on). Only thing is it reduces flow, but for me that was a good thing (5-15 HOB got too much power).

Hope you get some berried! Love the large open area.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

thats a good way to do it!
I'll try doing the intake guards that way next time i need to setup a filter 

I'll give these shrimp 2 months to get babies in my tank. after that i'm going to add some tangerine tigers and see how those do.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

no berries yet. defininetely saddled, but nothing going on. maybe i do not have any males? i thought i had at least one since he is clear with barely any brown on him. he has faint brown stripes and markings. but today i saw that he had a racing stripe on him, so now i'm confused...can males get racing stripes? i only saw those on females up until now.

all 7 shrimp are still alive and well.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

yes, really confused about the sex of my shrimp now. i think i have most females. maybe the one juvie shrimp will wind up a male


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

maybe instead of tangerine tigers i should go with crystals? I'll just have to buy a fan for the summer to keep them alive.

Also now that i think about it, would i have been better off with orange Neos rather than my chocolate neos? i hear orange ones breed better in acidic conditions.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Now there are a whole bunch of hydras in this tank .___.
so Fenbendazole it is.

will probably dose after i get the new shrimp in here, but will dose before anything breeds because i dont want babies getting born into a hydra environment.
there are a lot of green hydras o_o


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

placed my Taiwan moss for sale in the S&S


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

moss sold.

And the crystal shrimp are in. 5 of them. nice red crystal shrimp. hopefully they'll thrive.


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

I think you shoud have done Tangerine Tigers, but then again I just really hate Crystals :/

Updated Picture maybe?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

tangerine tigers dont look as nice as red crystal shrimp. why do you hate them lol?

pics soon. getting fissidens for this tank. once thats in, i will post up an update pic.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

the fissidens is in! shrimp approved. they wanted to clean it as soon as it hit the water:









also updated FTS:









I added an almond leaf, moved the cuttlefish bone to the back where it cant be seen. the moss is behind the blyxa. I need to clear off the prefilter from all the duckweed soon :|


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

power was out for 24 hours yesterday because of the hurricane. shrimp were very angry. low oxygen environment because of no circulation, and a bit lower temperature (went down to 69F) than normal. I hope my filter isnt messed up afte one day of not working. i did turkey baste it with water a few times yesterday to keep it moist...hopefully i wont get any cycling again, otherwise my shrimp are doomed x_x


Also i am beginning to suspect that i dont have any chocolate shrimp males in the tank. all my females are saddled and have remained so for the past few weeks (or has it been a month already). maybe i need to buy males now :[


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

yes definitely need some males now >_<

i tested the tank today and this is what i found:

pH:6.5
Temperature: 73F
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm (hey it went down!)
KH: 0dKH
GH: 5dGH (also went down D: )
TDS: 228ppm

All shrimp are still alive and well. though now the GH is suboptimal. i want to increase it w/o increasing the TDS too much but i guess its not possible. I'll have to dose a bit more of Mosura mineral+. unless i'm mistaken that should raise my GH.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

topped off with some tap water and my GH is back up to 6dGH. TDS is around 240ppm


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## Kratos (Apr 25, 2008)

Looks excellent and so tranquil!


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

haha, i hope the mono-blyxa scape isn't too boring 
I could eventually rename this tank "blyxa Island" when my plants grow out more, and especially if i find a blyxa aubertii plant to add to the scape.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Ok, so i removed my chemi-pure bag from my HOB filter (in case it will interfere with the medication) and i dosed my tank with 0.20 grams of fenbendazole.
hopefully after another dose tomorrow, this tank will be totally hydra and planaria free.

Greatest concern right now is losing my shrimp because of the medicine, but that shouldn't happen as far as i know...


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

the fendbendazole did not work very well...i still see hydra (these are showing signs of weakness), and i still see planaria.
I'll try a slightly larger dose tonight and see if that does it.
All shrimp are still ok.


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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

lookin good... fissidens is so cool


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

glad you like it.

Unfortunately, even after a second dose of fenbendazole, the hydras and planaria are still around. the hydras are closed but still hanging on and the planaria are just crawling around as usual. i only see a couple but that still means that it didnt work entirely.

I dont want to keep dosing at this point, so i'll replace my chemi pure into the HOB tonight and call it a day. my substrate is already speckled white with the powder lol. (I did crush it)


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## AwkwardShrimp (Jun 26, 2012)

:icon_cry:


Newman said:


> power was out for 24 hours yesterday because of the hurricane. shrimp were very angry. low oxygen environment because of no circulation, and a bit lower temperature (went down to 69F) than normal. I hope my filter isnt messed up afte one day of not working. i did turkey baste it with water a few times yesterday to keep it moist...hopefully i wont get any cycling again, otherwise my shrimp are doomed x_x
> 
> 
> Also i am beginning to suspect that i dont have any chocolate shrimp males in the tank. all my females are saddled and have remained so for the past few weeks (or has it been a month already). maybe i need to buy males now :[


Only 24 hours? lucky!
In my part of nj i was out of power for about 6 days :icon_cry:.


On another note very very nice tank! I love the simplicity of it!


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Yes i was extremely lucky. some people in my town were out for 6 or more days like you said  (I live right next to a walgreens, maybe that helps if i am part of their power grid)

Thanks! this tank will just be blyxa japonica (and maybe a blyxa aubertii plant if i can find one), with some moss in the back for the shrimp. i dont think the moss will be part of the scape...

The point of this tank is just to grow shrimp


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I got 3 more choco shrimp today in hopes of getting a male, but still NOPE.

Doesn't anyone have male chocolate shrimp??

will i be forced to get a fire red male and cross? I really don't want to do this...


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

There are a few folks in the For Sale section who have Chocolates.

Maybe post a thread in the WTB/RAOK section?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I'll try that. but i expect most people are going to sell just females


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

:hihi:


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## dougolasjr (Mar 3, 2010)

What size light is that?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

its 24"
its resting on my glass top.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

with a huge thanks to Soothing Shrimp on this site, i finally think i got the males i need for my chocolate shrimp colony to get underway!

unfortunately i think i lost one of my crystals because i disturbed the substrate too much. i tried to replant one of the blyxas (replanted into three separate plants) but the roots were so extensive that my replanting churned up too much of the deep substrate and probably caused some issues 
NEVER replanting blyxa like that again. next time I'm just going to cut the pieces off w/o dealing with the planted portion.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Update:

I still have the 4 crystal shrimp (though one doesnt look like its growing. its staying tiny)
And I still have 16 chocolates.
No improvement on the breeding situation. I'm guessing they are waiting until some of the females start to molt again. I know i have males now...

Parameters tested today:
pH - 6.5
GH - 6dGH
KH - 0dKH
TDS - 236ppm
Temperature - 73F
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Update pics:
FTS


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

maybe the fenbendazole did work a bit...

I have not seen any hydras in this tank for a while now. still see a little planaria around but those were fine during the treatment too. it was the hydras i was mostly worried about anyway.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

btw I realize what i was doing wrong with the fendbendazole. #1 i didn't bother crushing it enough and #2 i only spent one minute shacking the water bottle with the dose. it shoulda been more like 10mins to make sure it dissolved well enough.

At any rate i'm still happy with the results. aside from the ugly white lumps of fenbendazole on my substrate that are still there -___-

On a brighter note, I might finally be getting some BLYXA AUBERTII. you can tell i am very excited.

Then I can finally re-name this tank "Blyxa Island"


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I am going to do a little experiment. I selected two low grade choco females and one male and transplanted them into my 40 gallon community tank into a net breeder. the net breeder contains pleco fry that i was raising previously. this 40 gallon has very hard, alkaline water as opposed to this 20L's very soft acidic water. also the 40gal;s temperature is at a higher 79F compared to this tank's 73F.

I want to compare how the shrimp do in these different environments. the obvious guess is that the chocos should do better in my 40gal breeder because of the higher pH. pH there is roughly 7.6. 
I also want to see which group of shrimp breed first


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

One of the females in this tank started to act unusual today and i noticed that her abdomen is much wider and lower than before. also all the males are going nuts today, so maybe she will get berried in the next few days.

I will definitely post a pic when she finally gets berried. been waiting for this for a long time now haha.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Hopefully getting some blyxa aubertii tomorrow!


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

:O
one of my chocolate shrimp females is finally berried. however it looks like she is missing half of her eggs already...DOH
too early to call judgements. it did happen after all after only a week+ in with the males. I have confidence that these Neos will breed despite pH being so low...

I'll keep you guys updated.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

No blyxa today 

BUT, I did find a second berried female choco this morning. it is one of the lower grades but she has a full set of eggs!


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Finally!


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

YES!
I'm looking forward to seeing if i can raise Neo babies in low pH. most people have told me that I am going to have trouble, but I am going to give it my best.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Finally the blyxa aubertii arrived this morning. I had such a tough time planting it though, that i upset a lot of substrate  I would not be surprised if I found most of my shrimp dead in the next few days. I added some Prime to help, but it probably wouldn't make too much of a difference.

In order to keep it in the soil, I had to pin it down with B.japonica and my fissidens DW piece:

















I just hope it survived shipping and attaches to the substrate in the next month or so.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Also i found that the original berried female has dropped all of her eggs. @#@#%!
the other one is still holding on though. she looks like a good parent.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Do you guys thing it would be good to add an Amano shrimp to this tank? Can the amano live in 6.5pH and soft water? I might need something to clean my blyxa...


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Those plants look really well together Newman! roud:

Hope your shrimp survive.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

I keep Amano Shrimp with my Crystals all the time. 

On an un-related note: I've been thinking about this as I've read through your journals... have you noticed any major tricks from your reef tank days being useful with smaller planted tanks like this one?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

FisheriesOmen said:


> Those plants look really well together Newman! roud:
> 
> Hope your shrimp survive.


No losses yet, I hope so too!

These plants will look amazing once they grow in like i want them to. They just need a lot of time. I've learned to be patient with things like this


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

somewhatshocked said:


> I keep Amano Shrimp with my Crystals all the time.
> 
> On an un-related note: I've been thinking about this as I've read through your journals... have you noticed any major tricks from your reef tank days being useful with smaller planted tanks like this one?


Thanks! I think I'll try to get an amano shrimp soon to help keep my plants clean.

Hmmm, I haven't really implemented any methods from my reef tank experience yet. This tank runs on a different method than my reef did. My reef got large weekly water changes, but in this tank I want to avoid changing the water too much. I have not really changed the water since i started this, and i keep topping off each week. there really haven't been many similarities between the two systems yet...
If I think of something, I'll post it here.


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Newman said:


> Thanks! I think I'll try to get an amano shrimp soon to help keep my plants clean.
> 
> Hmmm, I haven't really implemented any methods from my reef tank experience yet. This tank runs on a different method than my reef did. My reef got large weekly water changes, but in this tank I want to avoid changing the water too much. I have not really changed the water since i started this, and i keep topping off each week. there really haven't been many similarities between the two systems yet...
> If I think of something, I'll post it here.


Has sort of a refugium mentality to it.


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## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

You will really enjoy the Blyxa Aubertii, I had it for years till I killed it doing an excel dip....was so ticked at myself. May I ask where you got yours?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

i got it from a member of this forum, Bartohog


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I bought one amano shrimp today for this tank. hopefully will help keep my plants cleaner!


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

The aubertii floated up yesterday so i had to pin it down again.

lost one of my larger crystal shrimp today. most likely because of the substrate disturbance mentioned earlier 

After this aubertii finally roots, i am not getting any more plants for this tank so hopefully i will never have to disturb the substrate again and cause tragic shrimp deaths.


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Newman said:


> The aubertii floated up yesterday so i had to pin it down again.
> 
> lost one of my larger crystal shrimp today. most likely because of the substrate disturbance mentioned earlier
> 
> After this aubertii finally roots, i am not getting any more plants for this tank so hopefully i will never have to disturb the substrate again and cause tragic shrimp deaths.


I know how you feel. . . that's why I tore down the shrimp bowl.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

was the bowl prone to substrate disturbances?

My stupid blyxa aubertii has been floating up for the past few days and it really started to frustrate me so I tied it down to my fissidens DW. hopefully over the course of the next month it will grow enough roots into the substrate to attach itself (assuming it wont float up again  )
What i did find was that it had already grown some very nice roots in a short period of time, so i am confident that it survived shipping and will be able to take to my tank. it even grew a few new leaves.

As far as shrimp go i think i finally have a berried high grade chocolate, but it's very difficult to tell because of all the black color. i can't see the eggs at all.

Since this tank is designed by me to house crystal shrimp, I am not abandoning the idea yet and will try to buy a few mischling shrimp in the near future (when they become available). who knows, maybe I'll be able to see a taiwan bee shrimp in the next year or so. i have never seen one in real life before  I bet they are amazing though.


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Ya. . . pulled out a massive plant of StarGrass and it brought the rest of the substrate with it.

But I'm starting a new 10g Thread and I'm excited to do a tank right  and will be my first time using actual substrate which means no more of that PITA soil.

Might have to get some Chocolate Shrimp from you once your colony gets established :hihi:


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I'd gladly sell you some chocolates then 

And that's too bad about the bowl. looks like i lucked out because i never touched my rooted plants. i guess substrate disturbance is extremely serious.
has you new thread been made yet?


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Newman said:


> I'd gladly sell you some chocolates then
> 
> And that's too bad about the bowl. looks like i lucked out because i never touched my rooted plants. i guess substrate disturbance is extremely serious.
> has you new thread been made yet?


Ya. 

My problem was I didn't have the plants I wanted. I will probably use it still since I use it for plants too.

Probably a a good couple of months till I'll be wanting chocolates. Wanna get my Blue Velvet colony going first and then I can either put them in a different tank or just sell them off to afford the chocolates.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

chocolates are normally very expensive for Neos, but if you want, I could sell you some of my lower grade stock for very cheap. it will probably take those few months for mine to get going too.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)




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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

So I like to keep track of my tank's parameters each week. Here are this week's results:

pH - 6.5
Temperature - 72-73F
GH - 6dGH
KH - 0dKH
TDS - 257ppm
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 5-10ppm


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

It has come to my attention that i do not want my shrimp to be in that high a TDS. 
So over the course of the next two days i will be doing water changes with distilled water and remineralizing the tank to get somewhere around 150TDS and 6dGH.
whether that is possible, i will let you know.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

did two 5 gal water changes then remineralized until 160TDS. TDS now is 171 and keeps going up on its own.... hopefully I made it to 5dGH at least and the TDS starts going down soon.

another benefit of the WC is that it likely cut my low nitrates even lower.

In shrimp news - another low grade female chocolate is berried now. and the high grade choco is no longer berried. probably dropped.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

the shrimp look really cool, especially those high grade CRS, but they are just so much trouble. measuring TDS, constant WCs, need to keep nitrates low, i wouldnt have the motivation. my hats off to you and all the other shrimpers out there.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Yes, but lets hope they wont be too much trouble in the future haha. i am getting some mischling shrimp next week. those should be easier to keep/breed.
The only time i have encountered issues with my SSS so far is when i plant the aquarium. it absolutely cannot be done because upsetting the substrate messes up the fragile shrimp.
luckily i dont have to plant anything new, so i shouldn't lose any more shrimp.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

TDS is 169ppm and GH is 5dGH. good enough!


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

The other high grade chocolate female is now berried. lets see how long it takes for her to drop the eggs lol >_<
funny that the previously berried females that dropped their eggs each have one egg stuck to their underside right now. they are carrying one egg each - very odd.

I have been trying to sex the 3 crystal shrimp i have in here. one is a definite female - very white shell, large and has thick abdominal scales. one is probably a male - also large but has thinner scales that do not cover the pleopods well, he swims around a lot, and has a more clear white coloration. The third one is hard to tell because it so much smaller than the other two; I thought he was a male but he doesnt swim around, has a thick white shell, and a prominent bump on the dorsal of the abdomen. odd shrimp.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

More crystal shrimp arrived today! They're really awesome looking, though they are lower grades. 5 of them are crystal blacks and 3 are crystal reds. what's so special about them is that they might be mischling shrimp. I'll be keeping an eye out for any interesting babies that come up when these guys breed.

I have 11 crystals in the tank now.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Shrimp pictures.

New CBS:









New CRS:









Higher grade chocolate:









What is this, a PFR??:








Probably not supposed to be in this tank, even if it has chocolate genes right?(it was sold along with the high grades as choco shrimp).


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## GreenBliss (Mar 7, 2012)

The chocolate is nice! Very dark.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Yes, I really like the high grade ones. I just wish they would actually hold their eggs like the low grades do...

New FTS:


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Lost a CBS!

The only thing i did differently was feed a fish food with garlic in it...maybe its not shrimp safe? from what i've observed, shrimp either bolt from the pellets when they get a taste, or they carry it around and eat it...maybe garlic killed my shrimp?

Another bet is that the CBS died from shipping stress, but these are low grades, they should be hardier? not even my SSS died from shipping stress and they were in the mail longer!

Not cool.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Remember the shrimp i moved to my 40gal community? they are in the breeder net with some pleco fry. well one of those females is now berried! there is a male in there with them. 3 females.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

one of the high grade chocos is berried again. guess what she's going to do to the eggs in a few days? =D
lol i just wish they'd keep them like the low grades do. the lower grades still drop a few, but carry the majority of them.

Havent seen any female release their shrimplets yet. i have been feeding my shirakura powder once a week in preparation for babies. hopefully soon.


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## aznrice247 (Feb 1, 2012)

Wait you can keep crystals even though your nitrates are at 5-10?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

...nitrates can be close to 20ppm and crystals will still survive fine. its optimal to have them low for the highest grades of crystals and other fragile shrimp like TBs because you might not get good breeding if the nitrates are higher.

Where did you hear that crystals will die from nitrates? 10ppm is pretty low. and since my tank is planted, they can likely go lower over time.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

my blyxa is starting to grow algae on its old leaves, and the amano isnt helping much. while its good to have lots of algae because it takes nitrates to 0ppm, I would rather not have my plants get smothered, so i reduced the photoperiod to 5 hours a day.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Algae still there.

Saw one tiny new born shrimp today. looks like the birthing has begun. hopefully more made it.
What do chocolate shrimp babies look like in terms of color? do they start out dark-tan or are the clearish-blue/white with dots?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

only up to 3 shrimplets. looks like alot didnt hatch or are hiding. acidic water isn't doing any favors to the chocolates for sure. maybe orange shrimp like acidic water better? shoulda went with those.

All shrimp are growing, molting, no losses recently. the mischlings might be getting ready to breed soon as are the SSS CRS. hopefully within the next month they'll grow to maturity.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Newman said:


> Remember the shrimp i moved to my 40gal community? they are in the breeder net with some pleco fry. well one of those females is now berried! there is a male in there with them. 3 females.


Follow up on this:

The berried female held on to all of her eggs and gave birth recently. plenty of babies in the breeder net now. I just hope they don't get trampled by the pleco horde and that my angelfish doesn't get them through the mesh.
However i have lost one random female in the breeder net. i think the pleco fry hurt her or something. happens rarely i bet.
I also moved out all of my low grade chocolates into this breeder net to see if they have better luck here. There are about 9-10 adult chocolate shrimp in there right now. few berried, some saddled and a few males too. I still have that red PFR in here.



In the 20L tank there are signs of babies, but the other day i saw one having issues with molting. i hope he makes it. none of the crystals are at breeding age yet.


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Pics. . .


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

lol pics of what? there are pics of everything on this thread already. except for that breeder net with a horde of BN pleco fry...and shrimp.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

FTS has been updated to









The blyxa aubertii grew enough roots to keep planted so i moved the moss DW and planted a few japonica plants in its spot.

I still see chocolate shrimp babies - not many - but they are there. crystals still not breeding. I added more cuttle bone since the older one is almost all gone now.
Tank will now be renamed as "Blyxa Island" haha.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I added two sponge filters for added filtration and circulation. new FTS:









Also had my first tank related shrimp death today. lost one of the male chocolate shrimp.  two males left. as long as there is at least one male left, my shrimp should be ok. chocolate shrimplets are growing. the deceased male had trouble molting - likely because of living in sub-optimal water conditions. the soft acidic water may have something to do with it. I'm recording pHs of close to 6pH.

The crystals are really nice and white. I can't wait until they start breeding. i wonder what i will get. I have SSS crystal reds and mischling CBS and CRS. I could get anything.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Maybe if I add shrimp photos this thread would be more active? All taken today:


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

Lost another chocolate shrimp today. this time a berried high grade female 
salvaged the eggs. hopefully they'll hatch in a brine shrimp net.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

i like the shrimp, and the blyxa. but the tank has no actual scape. which is fine, of course, some of my tanks are scapeless, they were designed with other functions in mind. but that could be the reason your thread is not very active.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

This is a shrimp breeding tank, not a show tank as I've mentioned before. You'll be able to see more of a scape once the blyxa aubertii grows in more. right now the old leaves are really apparent and are ruining the look. once it looses all of those chopped old leaves, its going to look a lot better.

The scape may also not be apparent because the tank hasn't matured yet, and I havent planted blyxa everywhere I want it to go. The end result is literally an island of blyxa japonica with one large blyxa plant giving it contrast. The whole tank should be filled with blyxa basically. We don't see it right now, but eventually we will


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## FisheriesOmen (Jan 14, 2012)

Updates? In a few weeks I might be interested in some Chocolate Culls if you have'em, I'm reviving my old Shrimp Bowl now.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

chocolate shrimp are continuing to breed. no culls yet. once the chocolates grow up I'll start selling them.


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## Drift Monkey (Mar 26, 2012)

Tank has progressed nicely Newman...glad to see it's up and running still. Good thinking with the TDS reduction.


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