20 long full of you know what

[armthehomeless]

Updates?

[Sea-agg09]

Things are going alot better. I had a crazy brown algae problem for a while, but it is getting under control. I was using a really good dechlorinator, and running the water through carbon over night before I did a water change, and I was still growing a ton of algae. 48 and 72 hour dark cycles didn't put a dent into it. I think it has something to do with using a planting substrate without adding plants yet. I say that because the algae grows like mad on the substrate, but even still hasn't really touched the glass. I finally decided to add an algae eater to the tank.

Finding a shrimp-safe algae eater was a bit of a trip. I didn't just want a standard o-cat. Fun fact... most "algae eaters", aren't algae eaters in the wild. Pleco's, Stiphodons, Sicydiums (gobies), panda garra, anything but an o-cat, will eat shrimp. In the wild, they will eat "micro-invertebrates", and just supplement with algae. I really wanted a cool looking stiphodon, but turns out they are actually a major predator of these ornamental Sulawesi shrimp in the wild. I tracked down some orange-head zebra o-cats. I've only had them for a few days, but things look alot better. I can pull algae out, and it hasn't grown back by the next morning.




With all that said, the shrimp and snails are doing well. The snails are growing like crazy. I compared an original picture the other day, and I didn't realize the growth. I would go as far to say the smaller ones have doubled in size in the last month. They like the algae, but just can't deal with its mass lol. They have a ton of food which helps to speed the growth.

Shrimp are doing as well as can be expected. I'm not feeding them but maybe once a week. I have seen one berried shrimp, and just last night I saw a really small guy that I doubt is from the original clutch. Even with all the cleaning I'm doing, I'm not seeing any bodies, which makes me think none, or very few, are dying. I got about 12-15 shrimp from Ram, but some were small and I doubt were sexually mature. I always see 5-6 out and about, with a few in the caves that I can see. I think in the next month or so I'll have a pretty good number of mature adults who can really start breeding.

Plants are going to go in probably the start of next month. I might try to track down a "booster" to my population to get the breeding going. All in all, going very well. Once the algae is under control I'll say it's nice enough to actually take some pictures.

[Sea-agg09]

Got some fish today. I was in a long hunt for some fish that won't eat my baby shrimp, and I think I found some. This is Boraras micros. This might look like just the fry, but this is actually fully grown!!! They only get 1cm long, so less than half an inch.



This pic was when I just put them in the tank, so they will get better color, especially the males.

Just wanted to share! I didn't get my shrimp like Tim, but this is almost as good....

[R_sustaita]

Any more updates?