10 Gallon Photo Log

[Purrbox]

Well after a bit more reading I've determined that I'll likely have shrimplets soon! In less than a week from their arrival I've counted 3-4 of the shrimps displaying saddles. Took quite a bit of reading to verify that this is what I was seeing and finally finds some good pics so I knew for sure what to look for.

Excellant Pics
Log of Cherry Shrimp Chat

So in about a week I should start seeing females carrying eggs. Then in another 3-4 weeks I should have shrimplets!! Yeah! I wasn't expecting these little guys to be ready to breed for a few months yet. I guess they're a bit more "mature" than I thought. Then again some have reported that these shrimp can be ready to breed in as little as 45 days from hatching.

I'm currently on the hunt for some accessories for my camera to make it easier to take pictures of these little wonders. Thought I had them ordered a couple days ago, but got an email stating that they no longer had any of the adapters available and did I want the rest of the order. Sigh. I have some more leads, so hopefully before long I'll have what I need.

[Purrbox]

I was at Petsmart yesterday looking for some food for my new shrimp (need to make sure they've got plenty of variety) when to my surprise I discovered that they had an Anubias Afzelii tucked in with the misc potted plants. It was hidden towards the back so I couldn't see it very well. It looked like it might be a crypt so I had the associate pull it out to find out what kind. When we discovered it was an Anubias, I had to take it home even though it'll probably get too large for my tank. The remaining plants that were actually crypts (Cryptocoryne Lutea) were in poor enough shape that I decided to skip on them.

I did happen to find some of the food that I was looking for and the rest is on order from DrsFosterSmith. These shrimp should be eating well, hope they enjoy.

[travis simonson]

Caution: Tanks in Joy's posts may appear larger than they actually are :P

How do you do it? I would have guessed that your tank was at least 30-40 gallons. I love the bowl that you've made with the driftwood. Simply beautiful work

A note: my friend Donna also keeps/raises cherry reds and sells them to That Fish Place (yes, they have a retail store in Pennsylvania where they ship everything from) for $2 a piece! She takes in a batch of 50-60 of them every few months and they give her $100+ in store credit every time. You should check with your LFS to see if they're willing to take some of those babies off of your hands for credit. Cherries seem to be as good as gold right now.

[An t-iasg]

I'm glad you found some good food for the new shrimp! I don't have any cherry shrimp, but I've seen them and they sure are cute - especially the tiny ones! Did the shrimp hatch yet or are they still at the egg-carrying stage?

Excellent find on the Anubias afzelli. I bought one last summer and the shop had two - I wish I had purchased that second one

[Purrbox]

Well the Omega One Veggie Rounds are a definate hit with the shrimp. I put a small piece in the tank a bit ago, and now there are at least 6 of the shrimp gathered around it. That's the first food I've tried so far that got any kind of response. I can see why they're one of the recommended foods for them.

No baby shrimp yet. Trust me I would have been shouting it from the rafters if there were. Right now we're still in the saddle stage. Should see some eggs in the next week.

I have no idea how I make the tanks seem so large. I just go with what looks good to me. There's nothing scientific to it all (except the water parms, lighting, ferts, etc...) I just pick plants that I think will look good in the tank and play with how they're arranged. I think that it really helps to pick more delicate looking plants with smaller leaves (which I happen to like anyway) with some smaller crypts and anubias for contrast. I would think that they probably act the same way that swords do in larger tanks visually.

I'll definately check to see if any of the stores are interested in them once I've got a healthy supply going. If I can get that kind of credit going, it would be well worth my while. Could even pay for that dream 40 gallon tank eventually. That would be really sweet. Initially I'll definately be sharing them with the members of my fish club. Hopefully some of them will enjoy the shrimp as much as I do.

Right now the new Anubias is just floating in the tank. I hooked the rhizome under one of pieces of driftwood to help keep it in place. I plan to tie it on to one of the pieces of driftwood during the water changes this week.

Edit

Well I think I've finally figured out why my Elatine Triandre has decided to grow up instead of forming a nice carpet. It's a combination of the positioning of the light more towards the back of the tank so that I can open the cover without removing the light, and the rampant growth of the Rotalas and Ludwigia arching over the driftwood to steal a good portion of the light.

I'm trying to decide whether or not it's worth fighting with the ET to get it to form a carpet or not. With the last couple of trims I've managed to encourage some lateral growth, unfortunately the greater part still wants to go up. I think I'll leave it for now and wait to see how it's doing once the Marsilea Minuta has finished filling in the foreground of my 5.5 gallon. If I'm still struggling with the ET, I'll probably snitch some of the clover to replace it with.

Edit

Eggs!!! I just saw the first female carrying eggs. This is so cool. I had to log back in just so I could share with everyone. There are at least three more females that have a saddle, so I'm sure this is just the first of many. There was also evidence that at least one shrimp if not two have recently molted which means they're continuing to grow well. Okay, time to go back and watch them some more.

[Purrbox]

Well I got a new toy in the mail today. An adapter tube that lets me use 52mm filters with my digital camera. Already had some close up filters on hand for use with my other camera, so of course I had to play. Please excuse the dirty glass, as I was too excited to remember to clean off the water spots before snapping the pics.

Best pic was of three of the males foraging for food on the Xmas Moss. I'll take some more pics tonight when the lightings better for it.

[Wood_Dog]

Very cool

[An t-iasg]

What a neat picture - of the shrimp and the moss!

[Purrbox]

More Pics. Between the new adapter and figuring a few more setting on my camera I'm starting to get some fabulous shots of the tanks. Here's two of the pregnant female.

[rich311k]

Nice pictures.