# Shrimp wabi kusa



## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Not a traditional wabi kusa, but I had a this sweet ~12" tall jar thing with a nice diameter of ~6". I made a wabi ball using a media bag filled with ADA AS then wrapped it with a thin layer of soaked sphagnum moss, then some Xmas moss. 

Flora:
Vesicularia montagnei or Dubyana (Xmas moss, maybe Java)
Bacopa caroliniana 
Rotala macandra "mini pink"
Eleocharis parvula (Dwarf hairgrass)
Mayaca fluviatilis 
Micranthemum "Monte Carlo"
Myriophyllum heterophyllum (Red Myrio)
Fissidens fontanus
Bucephelandra "Lamandau Purple Mini"
Ludwigia perennis


Fauna:
4 Cherry culls

There's pleanty more room for more plants on the ball, so maybe some suggestions for red emersed plants would be appreciated and look nice and I'll update as I add! Also any micro fauna that would survive in about a liter of water (besides snails).

Here it is after 3 days:


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

I found 3 pretty well rooted rhizomes of Buce sp. Lamandau purple mini loose in my carbon rili tank, so I added them to the ball. Also found some tips of some red myrio (green right now, due to the previous lighting) and a few fronds of fissidens fontanus from my fancy tiger tank. Added the lucky bamboo a few days ago.








I also added 4 cherry culls a couple days ago, as an experiment. They seem active and are constantly grazing. Gave them a little treat, but only two could be tempted.








Today:


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Update:
The shrimp, munchin'.
























Mayaca making a break for the surface with teeny shoots.








The bacopa is sending shoots vertically from horizontal portions of the stems. Woo!








And although the Buce is starting to melt a little...








...the MC is going crazy!


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

This is pretty sweet. Deserves to have a bit more visibility on the forum!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Opare said:


> This is pretty sweet. Deserves to have a bit more visibility on the forum!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




Thank you.


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

I've been doing 50% changes once a week, but it seems the water is continually getting more green every week.. Probably because I forget to turn the light off once or twice a week... Lol.
Anyway, here are some pictures from tonight.


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## IntotheWRX (May 13, 2016)

cool idea


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## toothfairymeena (Sep 30, 2016)

That looks awesome! What a great idea  Just wondering how you do water changes or is there no need to?


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

I do 50% water changes once a week with RODI remineralized to KH1, GH 5, TDS around 120 ppm plus a drop of prime and flourish. The tank stays around 250-300 ppm cuz no filter, but the shrimp don't mind. I also spray the wabi ball once a day with RODI remineralized with a bit of equilibrium and flourish. 
There's no filtration so it's kinda necessary to do heavy water changes, but I'm convinced the airstone shoved under a rock and moss is adding a bit of biofiltration!


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## Frosty Fisher (May 27, 2016)

Love it! Love the idea and beautiful tank!


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Frosty Fisher said:


> Love it! Love the idea and beautiful tank!




Thanks a ton!  I'll post an updated photo once I'm home from vacation tomorrow or Monday!


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## Frosty Fisher (May 27, 2016)

mrfiock said:


> Thank a ton!  I'll post an updated photo once I'm home from vacation tomorrow or Monday!


You're welcome  
Subscribed ;p


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Added some Potentilla I was given by a friend who runs a nursery. Not sure the species, but he says hit has a yellow flower. It has really cool roots too.
















Over head shot. The cat has got his paw into it a couple times, so the luds got squashed. :/








Some great moss growth.








Of course a shrimp shot. :]


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

Nice! I love wabi kusa xD! Looks great! Bamboo is interesting


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Too much water... Oh well! XD


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

any more updates??


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Not much happening! All 4 shrimp are still alive, so that's good. The cat keeps getting into it no matter what I do to stop him, so I've been having trouble with my potentilla dying and the bamboo on the verge (I'm assuming it's because they dangle over the edge)... Anyway, the mc has totally covered the top of the wabi ball and the bottom is skirted by a thick rim of dense Xmas moss, Rotala and Bacopa sticking up here and there. It's definitely matured and the shrimp do well, tho no berries yet. I'm assuming it has to do with the temperature fluctuations since there's no heater.


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## Butterfly Bettas (Aug 19, 2016)

Sweet!


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

mrfiock said:


> Not much happening! All 4 shrimp are still alive, so that's good. The cat keeps getting into it no matter what I do to stop him, so I've been having trouble with my potentilla dying and the bamboo on the verge (I'm assuming it's because they dangle over the edge)... Anyway, the mc has totally covered the top of the wabi ball and the bottom is skirted by a thick rim of dense Xmas moss, Rotala and Bacopa sticking up here and there. It's definitely matured and the shrimp do well, tho no berries yet. I'm assuming it has to do with the temperature fluctuations since there's no heater.


Wow nice! The moss is filling in nicely, looks cool growing into the water like that! And I know what you mean..I have 3 cats that are completely intrigued with my planted tank hobby! Lol


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

love this thread! so creative! goes to the "extremes" of aquascaping lol, my cat always drinks out of my aquariums, I never stop him though since he used to paw at it, got him to quit that so now he just drinks... better than pawing?


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> love this thread! so creative! goes to the "extremes" of aquascaping lol, my cat always drinks out of my aquariums, I never stop him though since he used to paw at it, got him to quit that so now he just drinks... better than pawing?


Wow, thank you so much! I'm glad people are looking and can be inspired or maybe just entertained by what I make. This one really just started 'cause I found a cool candle holder (I think that's what it is) and made it into an aquarium! Haha!
Oh and the cat! He does the exact same thing, drinks and paws at it. It's pretty annoying, but he's so adorable I can't really be mad.
How did you get him to stop pawing?!


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

mrfiock said:


> Wow, thank you so much! I'm glad people are looking and can be inspired or maybe just entertained by what I make. This one really just started 'cause I found a cool candle holder (I think that's what it is) and made it into an aquarium! Haha!
> Oh and the cat! He does the exact same thing, drinks and paws at it. It's pretty annoying, but he's so adorable I can't really be mad.
> How did you get him to stop pawing?!


whenever he would go to the tank to paw at it, I would yell his name (not like scream it but yell so he can hear lol), then he would hop down. but when I first started trying to get him down it was me just shoving him off the fish tank counter 0


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> whenever he would go to the tank to paw at it, I would yell his name (not like scream it but yell so he can hear lol), then he would hop down. but when I first started trying to get him down it was me just shoving him off the fish tank counter 0




Lol, that's what I do! He's just a little punk..


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

jumpzakjump said:


> Wow nice! The moss is filling in nicely, looks cool growing into the water like that! And I know what you mean..I have 3 cats that are completely intrigued with my planted tank hobby! Lol


Thanks! I think the moss is my favorite part. Now to figure out how to get the cat to stop...


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

mrfiock said:


> Thanks! I think the moss is my favorite part. Now to figure out how to get the cat to stop...


I agree, gives everything a nice sense of age and establishment!


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## travellife (Sep 11, 2013)

This is lovely. The smooth rocks on a bed of what appears to be fine sand? I bet the shrimp enjoy exploring the crevices created by the stacked stones. Great choice of fauna. Very Zen.


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## Bananableps (Nov 6, 2013)

Is the misting a must? I'm interested doing this, but not if misting is involved.


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

travellife said:


> This is lovely. The smooth rocks on a bed of what appears to be fine sand? I bet the shrimp enjoy exploring the crevices created by the stacked stones. Great choice of fauna. Very Zen.



Thank you! 
Indeed it is sand. Had to pile up even more rocks underneath to make sure it didn't get to gnarly down there. They love it down there! They're always grazing.



Bananableps said:


> Is the misting a must? I'm interested doing this, but not if misting is involved.



Meh. I suppose you could put a top on it!


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## Bananableps (Nov 6, 2013)

But a top is ugly! I want to have my rimless glass cake and eat it too!


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## jumpzakjump (Jun 15, 2015)

Bananableps said:


> But a top is ugly! I want to have my rimless glass cake and eat it too!


I think these are worth the 10 or so seconds it takes to mist  They're so beautiful!


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

jumpzakjump said:


> I think these are worth the 10 or so seconds it takes to mist  They're so beautiful!




I agree, it's really worth the very little effort it takes.


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

It's been a while but here's a shot of the tank currently. There are some baby shrimp, will update with better photos soon.


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## travellife (Sep 11, 2013)

Please do, looking forward to additional pics. Great to see this is still an active environment.

travellife


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## danbayne (May 21, 2013)

Looks great, thanks for sharing....


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