# My new shrimp tank...



## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

So I finally moved into a new house and set up my only shrimp tank. I have decided that messing around with RO/DI water is not for me so going strictly tap water with the small addition of Shirakura Ca+ to increase the GH. Three weeks ago I ordered OEBT, CRS, CBS and PFR all for this tank. Today I noticed that one of the CRS and a few of the PFR are berried which is obviously a great sign. Not sure if the babies will survive due to the tap water but we'll see over the next few weeks. I was actually going to use any shrimp born in my tank as live food for my tiger barbs in my large 3 foot by 3 foot cube sitting in the living room. When I had shrimp in my last place I did the whole RO routine with 25 different foods and tons of supplements. The shrimp were breeding a bit too fast for my taste so definitely taking the minimalist approach with this tank. No more supplements aside from the GH addition and no more tinkering with the parameters nonstop. I do not even age the water, it comes directly from the sink. It's much more enjoyable now without having to spend a decent amount of my time on maintenance. Can't wait for it to fill in with all the anubias; I'm actually contemplating whether I should add co2 in this tank (I have a spare setup sitting somewhere in the basement).

Tank water parameters:
TDS: 230
PH: 7.4
GH: 6
KH: 6

Equipment:
ADA 60-P
ecocomplete substrate
heater (not sure why I even installed it since house has central air and heat so stays at 72 degrees nonstop).
aquaclear 50
24 inch finnex planted+

Plants:
tons of anubias nana petitie (around 250 leaves last I counted).
anubias white
fissidens
christmas moss
hydrocotyle japan
tons of baby crypt nurii

Shrimp:
OEBT x2
PFR x11
CRS x5
CBS x5

Quick pic from today. I never fill the water all the way to the top since the hang on back filter generates a pretty strong current and has the ability to spill water out of the tank if it's overfilled.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Very nice man!


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

h4n said:


> Very nice man!


Thanks han. That's your fissidens and h. japan. roud:


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Oh wow that fissidens grew a lot or spreaded well? Lol


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

h4n said:


> Oh wow that fissidens grew a lot or spreaded well? Lol


I spread it really thin and it's also growing in pretty fast. I think that log should be covered in about 2 months.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

I see... I like it man. Is that your original white Anubis's?


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## DTDPlanted (Apr 2, 2012)

Nice scape, I like the shrimp varieties you chose as well!


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## becon776 (Jan 29, 2010)

Sweet

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## mosspearl (Jan 30, 2013)

Looks great!


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## JerSaint (Oct 22, 2012)

Looking really good!


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

you should have no problem with breeding crs in that tap. mine was tap and they did fine. i never used ro water and they would breed for me. might take them a bit but you will get there with them


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

Welcome back to the game. Nice tank.


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## AnionAndCation (Nov 6, 2013)

The temptation of beautiful shrimps ^^ Hope to see your fantastic shrimps once again


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## Rony11 (Jan 21, 2012)

Your tank looks great! 
I love the way your fissidens has spread.
Your aquascape is different compared to most shrimp tanks.
Looking forward to see how yr tank develops in future.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Thanks everyone for the kind words. The anubias is all attached to driftwood and will look pretty unique once it all fills in.



h4n said:


> I see... I like it man. Is that your original white Anubis's?


I had maybe 5x that amount but I gave it out some friends. I am left with 2 plants now each one having maybe 10 leaves. Just noticed today that a few new leaves are coming in so it should be no time before it takes off again.



wicca27 said:


> you should have no problem with breeding crs in that tap. mine was tap and they did fine. i never used ro water and they would breed for me. might take them a bit but you will get there with them


Good to know. My tap water is actually fairly soft so I am adding GH just for the Neos. I've noticed in the past that my neos would never do well in water with a GH of 4 (or below).

My water right out of the tap:
TDS: 130
GH: 4


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## ch3fb0yrdee (Oct 2, 2008)

Grats on coming back! Already an amazing tank. I can't wait to see the progress.


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## Ebichua (May 13, 2008)

Your anubias is superb! I love it a lot.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Added some Crypt Ideii and Crypt Bullosa that I took out of my large cube. They were getting overrun in that tank due to their slower growth. So now the shrimp tank has a ton of smaller crypts in the front. I started to add a little bit of Potassium to the tank since my tap water lacks it. I am also hoping that by adding a tad of fertilizers will slow down the shrimp breeding since they all seem to be walking around berried (especially the PFR). Tank is at a perfect balance right now so don't want it overrun with shrimp.





















Berried PFR:


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Tank has a ton of these little ones all over the place. Looks like shrimp do not mind tap water after all.....and all these years I was messing around with RO and various additives. 

taken with iphone with one of those little lens attachments.


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## just5398 (Nov 12, 2013)

Shrimplet perfection! Congratulations!


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## aznrice247 (Feb 1, 2012)

I think you just have the magic touch for shrimps.


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## thechibi (Jan 20, 2012)

That looks really cool.  Good luck with your tank!


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Added another piece of driftwood with some Anubias White and Bucephalandra Shine Blue. The new driftwood also received some more of the Anubias Nana Petitie since they were multiplying pretty quickly down near the substrate. Oh yeah, there is also a larger Echinodorus opacus and a new (to me) natural hybrid between C Cordata and C Nurii. 

For now I am done adding plants and will just wait for it all to fill in. The Cryptocoryne Ideii and Nurii are really starting to fill in. 

The scape is pretty much fluid and will develop as the plants keep growing. Eventually I will probably take out the crypts in the front and keep adding various pieces of driftwood that I picked up from Tom...have a whole box of small curvy branches just for this purpose.


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

looks good


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## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

You've done a great job on it! Can't wait to see what the C. cordata and nurii looks like as it grows, those are 2 of my favorite crypts for sure from pictures, what girl doesn't love pink flowers . The white anubias looks really good moved up, jealous of it doe sure!


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## Black Adam (Oct 30, 2007)

Looks great. Please update semi - regularly.


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## alipper (Nov 6, 2012)

Sweet tank man. 

I'm actually trying to dial in on my parameters in my shrimp tank, how do you like Shirakura for raising the gh? I've lost about a quarter of my shrimp since moving into new house and I'm pretty sure it's because there are no minerals in the water. The gh and kh according to the inspection company are 0 out of my well after the softner.

PS, don't feed too many babies to your barbs, I want some!


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

alipper said:


> Sweet tank man.
> 
> I'm actually trying to dial in on my parameters in my shrimp tank, how do you like Shirakura for raising the gh? I've lost about a quarter of my shrimp since moving into new house and I'm pretty sure it's because there are no minerals in the water. The gh and kh according to the inspection company are 0 out of my well after the softner.
> 
> PS, don't feed too many babies to your barbs, I want some!


I love the Shirakura gh additive. The fact that it's a liquid makes it easier for me even though it's probably not economical on a larger scale; I'd rather spend more money if it makes my life easy. I am adding half a ml to a gallon of water during water change....so I generally measure out 2.5 mls to a 5 gallon bucket. I do use straight tap water which already has some calcium which is why I am dosing at half the recommended dosage.

I had about 100 babies a few days ago but decided to drop in two barbs to see what would happen. All babies were gone by the following morning. I might actually start saving them since people keep asking for some shrimp. When I purchased my PFR about 95% were females and they all keep getting berried at the same exact time.

I have more driftwood soaking as we speak in order to fill the left side of the tank. Leaning towards fissidens moss to balance the tank out a bit....might create the same type of covered branch as you see to the right. My other option is to buy more anubias white but no one seems to have a large quantity (20 plants at least).


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

looks really good. keep up the great work


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## alipper (Nov 6, 2012)

hedge_fund said:


> I love the Shirakura gh additive. The fact that it's a liquid makes it easier for me even though it's probably not economical on a larger scale; I'd rather spend more money if it makes my life easy. I am adding half a ml to a gallon of water during water change....so I generally measure out 2.5 mls to a 5 gallon bucket. I do use straight tap water which already has some calcium which is why I am dosing at half the recommended dosage.
> 
> I had about 100 babies a few days ago but decided to drop in two barbs to see what would happen. All babies were gone by the following morning. I might actually start saving them since people keep asking for some shrimp. When I purchased my PFR about 95% were females and they all keep getting berried at the same exact time.
> 
> I have more driftwood soaking as we speak in order to fill the left side of the tank. Leaning towards fissidens moss to balance the tank out a bit....might create the same type of covered branch as you see to the right. My other option is to buy more anubias white but no one seems to have a large quantity (20 plants at least).


Good to know. Thanks man.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Looks good!


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Two crypt comparisons from this tank. I definitely have the collectoritis syndrome...

1. Crypt Nurii
2. Crypt sp Bukit Ibam (natural Nurii and Cordata hybrid).


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Added some more driftwood to the left side of the tank with fissidens tied to it. This should be it for now. Tank just needs some serious growing out to do...it's already my all time favorite scape. Added some Reineckii Mini to the foreground in order to test its growth potential in eco-complete. It looks 100x better in real life rather than seeing it through these iphone pics.

All the shrimp are doing well and breeding non-stop. I change about 5-7 gallons of water each week and replace it with straight tap water. Sometimes I add prime and other times it's just plain old tap. This is by far the most enjoyable shrimp tank I've ever had. Barely any maintenance, no algae, no 100s of additives; just pure enjoyment.

It only took me 10 years to get to this level where the tank just runs itself.


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## mayphly (Jul 20, 2010)

Your tank looks great!


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## Master503 (Feb 8, 2012)

How could your crystals can live in that high KH/Tds? Amazing


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

I like it! When people refer to their GH/KH is that the number of drops it takes to turn color? I'm sure it is but just want to clarify. Tank has progressed beautifully, thanks for sharing!


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

Hedge, that tank is ADA porn for me. I love it so much. Kudos.


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## shrimpcrazy00 (Jan 15, 2014)

Looks awesome


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## Lia (Aug 2, 2007)

Fantastic looking tank and shrimp .


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Some updates from today as I enjoy my morning coffee. Once again, there are babies everywhere but this time around I'll let them grow out instead of dropping Tiger Barbs to depopulate. This is by far my all time favorite tank just the way it runs itself (no co2, no fertilizers etc).










Little ones all over the place:


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## xavinovic (May 30, 2012)

Nice set up! !


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

xavinovic said:


> Nice set up! !


Thanks!

Took another one of the little ones grazing on some Fissidens. You should see 10+ juveniles...


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

What are all the crypts you are keeping in it


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

sbarbee54 said:


> What are all the crypts you are keeping in it
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad 3 using Tapatalk HD


1. Crypt Nurii
2. Crypt sp Bukit Ibam (natural Nurii and Cordata hybrid).
3. Crypt Ideii
4. Crypt bullosa


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## Mathman (Apr 5, 2009)

Could you please take closer shots I your crypts? Thanks!


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Mathman said:


> Could you please take closer shots I your crypts? Thanks!


Take a look at the earlier pages, I took a ton of closeups comparing the crypts.


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## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

Looks great! Is that Christmas Moss on the driftwood?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

kman said:


> Looks great! Is that Christmas Moss on the driftwood?


Fissidens Fontanus. I decided against using Christmas since it grows too fast in my tanks and I wanted this setup to be very low maintenance. Fissidens grows much much slower....especially when it comes to covering a piece of driftwood.

Here is a shot showing the whole tank...


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Another early morning Sunday update. I am tearing down my large cube in the living room so added a few more stems of the reineckii mini to the mix. Also, there is some crazy glue visible on one of the branches since yesterday I also covered another piece with Fissidens Fontanus.


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## ch3fb0yrdee (Oct 2, 2008)

I love it!!!! You're making good use of the anubias petite.


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## Unikorn (Jun 14, 2012)

Looks awesome! The anubias petite looks great, you've inspired me 

Sincerely, Unikorn


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

great looking tank


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

I low all the a. Petite you have on that wood it looks great


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Tons of little ones all over the place. I must have some prolific line of PFR.


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## hunter1134 (Jan 9, 2014)

This is such a magnificent tank. Where do you buy your additive for raises the gh a bit in the water? Is it on Amazon? I am dying to get into shrimp but really discouraged. 

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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

hunter1134 said:


> This is such a magnificent tank. Where do you buy your additive for raises the gh a bit in the water? Is it on Amazon? I am dying to get into shrimp but really discouraged.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk


Mordalphus from here sells the Shirakura Ca+. Just contact him via PM and he should be able to help you out.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Quick update from today....tank is really starting to take some shape with everything filling out. Not sure if I like the various plants in the front since they are beginning to block the anubias, but for now I'll just let them be and see what happens over the next few weeks. About two months ago I received a 1x1 inch screen covered in some new "mini" weeping moss. It was a bit pricey for such a tiny piece but with how slow it grows it's really understandable. Anyway, I am contemplating adding another branch to this tank and attaching some of the mini weeping moss. My other idea is to just attach it right next to the anubias white that is occupying the main branch. There is still tons of work that needs to be done to this scape. At the moment I am extremely pleased with the right side but the left looks a bit empty. Over the weekend I planted some Nuriis there along with some unknown crypt; hopefully that does the trick. If not then I'll be ordering another random box of driftwood from Tom.

On a side note, the iphone pics really do not show how awesome this tank looks in person. You can easily get lost in it for hours just looking at all the different aspects. One day I'll take out all the equipment and do a nice photo shoot with a DSLR camera.

To keep it on topic, there are some shrimp in there breeding like crazy.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Updated pics....nothing was really changed except that the plants are starting to fill out a little bit. What's nice is that there is zero plant maintenance in this tank. Eventually I'll have to start trimming the fissidens over the next few weeks.






























I am debating whether I want to add this bonsai tree to the left side of the tank and maybe cover it with some mini weeping moss that I have going in another tank (sorry not for sale).


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## Mamabear (Jan 17, 2014)

Color me jealous

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## Big O (Jun 28, 2011)

Where did you get the tree?


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

Big O said:


> Where did you get the tree?


yeah what he said lol. where can we find these things . 

i personally think it would be a bit much with the other drift wood. maybe plant it and let it grow out in another tank and see what you like best?


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## swoof (Jun 30, 2010)

An LFS here used to have trees like that with little platforms glued to the tips of the branches for attaching moss or anubias.


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## Featherstone (Mar 9, 2014)

Ditto on the tree! Where on earth did you find that?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Click on my feedback and check out one of the last ones that was left for me to see the seller carrying these bonsai trees. He sold out anyway and I am sure he has a long line of buyers on the waiting list. I did tell him that I would purchase another one if he ever brought some more from Asia.

I might just set up a 12 inch cube with the tree and moss but not quite sure that I want to take this path. One aquarium in my bedroom is enough for now.


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

maybe just a tank with water for moss to grow on the tree? or is there room in the tank the moss is already growing in maybe?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Now I am just hoarding 

Picked up a second one. Eventually I might change things up in this tank and utilize both of these or do a whole forest scene but I would probably need a third one because two would look too symmetrical.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Still looks the same except that it's getting overrun with shrimp and there is less foreground plants. I now dose a decent amount of fertilizers since I did have a few leaves on the AR which developed green spot. Still no co2 and no major maintenance. Tank is doing great and pretty much requires no work as the ferts are dosed once a week with the water change. I cannot remember the last time the glass was cleaned so the sole otto must be doing all the scraping. I was also hoping that fertilizing would slow down the shrimp breeding but they just keep going at it. Water does look a bit yellowish due to the Ebiken Sosei that is added at water change -- the plants seem to like it.


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## mayphly (Jul 20, 2010)

Your tank looks amazing! Are your crystals breeding as fast as your pfr?


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

mayphly said:


> Your tank looks amazing! Are your crystals breeding as fast as your pfr?


Thanks!

The CRS and CBS stopped breeding all together a few months ago. In the beginning they were breeding no problem in the tap water but once I started to add a ton of root tabs for the crypts they totally stopped. I have 4 different types of root tabs in there and I am sure they are slightly leaching into the water column. I do not foresee the CRS breeding any time soon since I now started to fertilize the water column. PFR are going strong but that just means more food for my cichlids. :hihi:


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

You are back doing shrimp now? How did I miss this, looks like I got some reading to do.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

What's up all. I just re-did the tank today since the old scape felt stale and old. Just finished a few minutes ago so the water is very cloudy. I literally tore down the tank and and pulled everything out including the gravel etc. The little bonsai tree has all Anubias nana petite and Anubias white. 

Here are some quick pics. I'll post new ones in a few days once the water clears up. 
















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## jimmytruong87 (Oct 16, 2012)

I can see that most people buy bonsai tree ,now. No more manzanita driftwood
@hedge_fund. I think your bonsai driftwood should be on left side


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## Forumsnow (Feb 22, 2012)

turok said:


> I bought 2 of those bonsai trees from this forum. Mine started growing white fungus, did yours? if yes, how did you get rid of it?
> I tried brushing it off, then poured Hydrogen Peroxide, but it came back.


All wood does that when first added to a tank, think it is some kind of fungus. Totally harmless though, i've seen my shrimp eat it with no ill effects.
Tank looks great by the way! If my wife would let me get another tank I would definitly use one of those trees.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Those trees are great, good to see you back hedge


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Thanks guys.

Here is a quick update pic. It's going to take forever to see any progress since majority of the plants in this tank are very slow growing.


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