10 Gallon Photo Log

[Purrbox]

It turns out that my source for Daphnia didn't work out. Since there would have been some other small critters in the culture that I couldn't confirm were shrimp safe, I didn't want to risk it. I was looking into get some Daphnia from another source, but then I noticed that the GW seemed to be clearing just a little. The last couple of weeks when it's been time for a water change I was actually still able to see about an inch into the tank. The prior couple of weeks the water change would get me about an inch of visibility into the tank which would drop to zero by the next water change.

After today's water change I was actually able to see almost to the back of the tank!! I'd say that getting my CO2 back in line and letting the plants do their thing was enough to knock it back. I'm hopeful that in a few more weeks it will be completely gone.

This will be the second time that I have beaten Green Water without a blackout or other extreme intervention. I've come to the conclusion that while these may help to remove GW more quickly they aren't ultimately necessary. Basically you just need to get your CO2 and nutrients in line, and then have some patients.

 

[GlitcH]

Spotted another female shrimp carrying eggs tonight. She only had three so far, but kept crunching herself into a tight C shape so she may still be in the process of laying the eggs. Watched for quite awhile, but didn't see any additional eggs appear. With the number of female shrimp displaying saddles, I'm likely to have a tankful of egg carrying females soon. This is definately the most facinating of my three tanks right now.

Hey I guess the "trick" to gettin good pics is having alot of shrimp huh PB.

Nice shots.......everythings lookin real nice.........shrimp look very happy.

That "tight C shape" you mentioned .......I believe that is a position they get themselves into in order to clean their swimerettes. I say this cuz I've seen even the tinyest of shrimp to this.

 

[Purrbox]

Those of you that were following my Making the Switch to Pressurized thread are aware that I had a bit of a disaster and lost most of my shrimp colony. The resulting ammonia spike caused the Green Water to kick back in full force. I think that it may be starting to clear again, so hopefully my tank will be picture worthy again before long.

About a month ago I saw one of the females berried and as of a couple days ago there are officially shrimplets in the tank again. Looked to be 2-3 weeks old. They're so cute!

The stem plants don't seem to be faring all that well long term in the Green Water. They have a high tendancy to loose all the leaves on the bottom part of the stem. The Christmas Moss, Crypts, and Java Ferns aren't the least bit put off and are growing like mad. I may have to pull some driftwood so that I can get pics of some of these while I wait for the Green Water to clear.

 

[GlitcH]

Wow Purrbox.........I caught that thread when it first started, but must have lost track of it somehow. I can't believe I missed all that good info for so long.
I have to say I'm sorry for all that loss and trouble......most would have been discouraged to the point of just putting it all up for sale.
But I'm glad to see you've made it through the rain.

Is that your term for pregnant females "berried" cuz I haven't heard that one before.
I like it though.

If the green water is causing the stem plants to loose bottom leaves.....maybe try and float them until you get the GW taken care of.

Lookin forward to hearing about good things happening for you Purrbox.

 

[Purrbox]

Actually it's my understanding that berried is the scientific term for a 'pregnant' shrimp. Shrimp don't actually get pregnant since the fertilized eggs are carried outside of their body on the swimmerettes and not internally. They also don't fit the term egg layer very well since they carry the eggs in their swimmerettes instead of depositing them on the plants, etc. They're probably most similar to fish like the mouth brooding cichlids, but of course they aren't mouth brooders either.

I suppose that there are some benefits to being stubborn! I started these tanks and I plan on seeing them gorgeous and algae free.

I must admit that I'm getting impatient to see the back of that tank again. I may end up buying some daphnia from an alternative source or buying a diatom filter. The daphnia would be my preferred method of elimination, but it's cold enough that I'd need to wait for several month before I could safely order them. Diatom filters are just plain expensive. Ah well, I'll try being patient for a while longer.

 

[Purrbox]

Well it looks like patience is paying off. Not only is the tank full of shrimplets again, but the water looks to be clearing up. It actually went all of last week with me able to see about halfway into the tank. After the water change today it only looks slightly hazy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will finish clearing up over the next couple of weeks.

Once it clears up, it'll be past time to do some major work on the aquascaping and get things back into shape. I'm currently toying with the idea of switching over to mostly Java Ferns, Crypts, and Mosses. Might also try adding some Hemianthus Micranthemoides 'Erect' or Didiplis Diandra from the other tanks, since the Ludwigia Brevipes was pretty much killed off by the green water and the Rotala is looking extremely ratty.

 

[Glenc]

Glad to hear your tank is clearing up, you are more patient than I. Last bought of green water I had I got so frustrated I siphoned off 90% of the water and did a massive water change. Water was clear, but in in doing so the ph change was so drastic that I almost lost all of my fish. My ph is 6.6 after C02 injection, 8 before. What a bonehead move. Sometimes you learn hard lessons in this hobby, that one for me.

 

[Purrbox]

The tank has cleared up enough that I thought I'd try to take some pictures.

 

[travis simonson]

The Needle Leaf Java fern is looking healthy. Fortunately I haven't seen them get much bigger than that so it shouldn't crowd up too much of your tank. I'll bet the shrimp love it. My mbuna fry just love hiding in mine

 

[Purrbox]

Well it looks like the Didiplis diandra that I moved into this tank from the 2.5 gallon is much happier in it's new tank. Not only is it showing better color, but it's actually blooming!

I really wish that I had my camera back from being repaired so that I could take some pictures. Hopefully it will still be in bloom by the time that I do get my camera back.

 

[Jchillin]

Darn, a pic would have been sweet! Time to get that standby "just in case cam".

 

[Glenc]

Great as always, nice, healthy growth even with green water! Glad to see it is going away

 

[travis simonson]

Blooming D. diandra?!! You have to post some pics!! I've never seen it bloom before. Please

 

[Purrbox]

I performed my waterchange tonight and it's official. I've beaten green water for the second time without using anything beyond good CO2 levels, balanced nutrients, regular water changes, and lots of patients. No blackout, no UV Filter, no Diatom Filter, and no Daphnia. Just regular matenance and care combined with lots of stubborness.

One of the huge benefits to getting rid of the GW is that I'm finally get to see how well the Cherry Red Shrimp population has rebounded. The older shrimp are such beautiful shade of red, and there are tons of adolescents and babies in the tank. I'm definately going to have to thin the population some more soon. I'll probably add a few more to each of my other tanks, and then take a bunch into one of the LFS's near me. I'm also planning to put an ad in my fish club's next newsletter letting the members know that I have them available for sale.

There's still some hair algae in the tank, which is actually quite pretty except that it's in the Christmas Moss. I can see why some people would want to culture this algae as long as you can control where it grows and avoid it taking over a plant like the moss.

The Didiplis Diandra is still blooming. I even spotted some of the blooms that had opened. Quite pretty, though you need a magnifying glass to be able to appreciate it. I'll defiantely take some pictures to share if I get my camera back while it's still blooming.

I think that next week I'll see about taking some time during my water change to start rescaping the tank. I plan on spreading the changes over at least 2-3 weeks to help ensure that I don't accidently upset the balance in the tank by uprooting too much mulm or removing too much plant mass at once. My current plans include moving the Java Fern driftwood piece to the back left of the tank, cleaning the algae off the Christmas Moss driftwood and moving to the front right, and removing a fair amount of the Rotala rotundifolia which has become ratty during the GW problems and replacing it with Didiplis diandra cuttings. I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks after I've got everything moved around.

 

[rkilling1]

I really enjoy looking at your tanks Joy, but I was just wondering, with your whole setup (CO2, ferts, experience, and the like), why not move up to a bigger tank? I would love to see what you could do with a 75 or 125 gallon tank.

 

[Purrbox]

The problem is that we're currently renting and don't have a lot of space. Even if the landlord were to approve a larger tank and I could find the space to set it up, I wouldn't want to have to deal with moving it in about a year when we plan to buy a house. Once we're in our own house I plan on setting up a 40 gallon breeder. I saw one of these in a LFS about a year ago and fell in love with the dimensions. It's large enough to give me lots of options, but also small enough that it should still be fairly easy to maintain. I also hope to have enough room to set up a fish rack with a bunch of 5-10 gallon tanks so that I can try my hand at breeding more varieties of shrimp.

The extra difficulting in finding the balance with these smaller tanks is a challenge that I enjoy. I sometimes wonder if the greater ease of keeping a larger tank would end up boring me too quickly. The main reason for setting up a larger tank is to allow me to keep some larger plants that would be much too big for my nanos. I have no interest in larger fish, so the plants are the only reason to set up a larger tank.

 

[Purrbox]

I finally got my camera back today, and of course I had to immediately test it out by getting some pictures of my aquariums. I managed to get one great shot of the Didiplis diandra which is thankfully still in bloom. So enjoy!

 

[roka64]

Wow, that's a beautiful pic and plant!

 

[WaterPond]

wow, thats is beautiful. Great job. Wish my plants would flower for me

 

[An t-iasg]

Gorgeous! The little reddish-purple things are flowers? Wow! I have always liked Didiplis diandra, but my lighting isn't bright enough for me to have it.