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CRS setup. Is there anything I have forgotten?

Thanks Michael.

However, freshwater shrimp out of grade A CRS at the moment. :meh:

Also:
10 x CRS at freshwater = £35 + £9 delivery.
10 x CRS from ebay seller = £30 + free delivery.

Tempted to save the the money and get from ebay. He has good reviews.

Also: Do I need to think about genetics? should I maybe be supplementing the original 10 with some others to improve the gene pool?

Cheers,

Jim
 
Hi jim.
I have sourced my CRS and Taiwan bees from our two sponsors , Sharnbrook and Freshwater.
Both first class, and great for help and support.
What you suggest seems fine, at the end of the day. Its a personal choice, usually based on what you want out the hobby, and taking into account, cost/quality/choice of retailer.

I very quickly took to shrimp keeping, ( after longer than i care to remember, on tropicals and marines) and after testing the water quickly moved onto higher grade.
 
I got my first crs from an ebay seller and i have also sold my own shrimp on ebay. I don’t see a problem with it.
 
OK, So I decided to go with the eBay seller.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/sirmarkiz...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Ordered late Wednesday. Seller sent them out the next day to be delivered Friday before 1pm. They arrived at 10:30 am. Double bagged in a cardboard box. Well sealed with bits of chopped up sponge for them to cling on to:

54624592-32C3-476D-8356-B91A7F0B0BC9.jpg

Got them out carefully and started the drip process:

4981008D-59D8-47C4-832B-922817668B46.jpg

Although their colour was faded on arrival they coloured up as soon as they were out of the bag and being acclimated. Best thing is that there was one more than expected (11 rather than 10)!! Got to love a freebie!!

5F5CC9C4-008F-4DAF-9CB1-C41C9948EC94.jpg

Acclimated them over 3 hours before adding them into the aquarium. Can you spot them:

C8C4CD67-89E2-4B96-A2E0-A6E192F28DE6.jpg

Very happy with the shrimp. Colour seems good and although I imagine they are fairly low grade there is some nice variation amongst the group.

129D1077-761F-4132-89DE-8ED00BC6546D.jpg

Only negative I can come up form the eBay seller is that the water was quite cold upon arrival. This seems to have had no negative effects but might think twice before doing this if it was very cold out. Very happy overall.

I've had one molt so far. I think this is a good sign.

The almond leaf just doesn't seem to be decomposing though!! Anybody give me indication of how long this usually takes?
 
Hi, nice shrimps! I can't answer how long it takes for the leaves to decompose but fear not, there will be micro-organisms for the shrimps to eat so long as the leaves have been in there for a while. I see you have some moss or cladophora, that will provide the shrimps with food too.
 
Thanks Michael.

Leaf has been in there for a week with no change apart from sinking. Oh well, as you say there will be plenty of micro-organism about I suppose. I'm going to get some frozen spinach for them as well and feed them this once or twice a week along with some commercial shrimp pellets.
 
Easystreet said:
The almond leaf just doesn't seem to be decomposing though!! Anybody give me indication of how long this usually takes?
Click to expand...

Forever and a day!

I have a fern leaf shaped pattern card stamp that I use to whittle the big leaf into smaller portions that scale better with the shrimp (ripping the leaf into small portions does the same job but not as neat), they then get scattered around the tank by the shrimp as they can turn the smaller pieces over. Catappa bark is another thing they like to graze upon, also fresh baby spinach leaf that has been blanched for a few secs and weighted down in the tank (I use a small fishermans fly tying clamp attached to the stem and dropped into the tank to keep it in one place as shrimp like moving stuff), it gets devoured without fail.

Getting an extra one in the bag is great, getting a berried one is at least 20x better!

:)
 
Looking good, exciting times ahead..:thumbup:
The leaves take a few weeks to really soften, however the shrimps still crawl over them, picking off things we cannot see.
I use them all the time, but increase quantity before holidays, and when breeding activity starts.
Generally, but not always i soak them in boiling water for a few mins before adding.
 
X3Nith: haha, no berried females unfortunately!! That would have been nice!
 
thank you for good review :)
temp at arrival is same or simmilar at my tanks - i bred shrimps in lower temp (remember wild shrimps live at highland springs with temp about 8) , due to this i dont have DOA because thers no difference of temperatures on a way to customer.
I would rise TDS, about leaves - soaking deepend from moisture-from one supllier will sink after 3 days, from another even 2 weeks.
If you want to get good bacteria best is to crush leaves under soil when setting up tank - also activated carbon under soil will give you better results.
Apologies at spelling - im foreginer :)
 
Anyone with a Caridina shrimp tank (crystals and tigers sp.) I would highly reccomend you get yourself this product: http://www.sharnbrookshrimp.co.uk/Salty_Shrimp_Bee_Shrimp_Mineral_GH_90g_p/saltyshrimp-bee-90g.htm

It basically just a mix of minerals and supplements developed especially for the keeping of Caridina shrimp - you add it to the new water you put into your aqaurium during every water change. Check it out, its only avaliable from a small number of distributors - the link will take you to Sharnbrook Shrimp's site.

Ive been using this to re-mineralise RO water, and to say my shrimp are happy is an understatement! Getting some nice pure red line shrimplets now too :)

Thanks!
- Jason :)
 
Piotr: Hi. No problem. Thanks for the delivery.

Jason: I'm already using it. But thanks for the advice. I'm using RO and salty bee to re-min to a TDS of 150, GH of 5-6 and KH of <1. These are the parameters that seem to be advised online. Although the tank TDS is a bit higher at the moment (around 163).

Piotr: Why do you advise a higher TDS? What is your TDS? Do you re-mineralize with products like salty bee shrimp or do you cut RO water with tap water?

I'm reluctant to change TDS straight away. If I have not got berried shrimp in 2 weeks I might slowly try and raise it. Will see how things go.

Appreciate the advice though.

P.S. my pH reagent test kits (two different brands) are giving me different readings!! One always reads 7 (aquarium lab) and the other reads the lowest possible reading (out of date API master) of 6.4. In terms of livestock I'm not too concerned as long as it's 7 or lower and stable I think I'm fine. Would be good to know exactly what it is though! So I think I need to invest in a pH meter that can be calibrated. Anybody got any recommendations. I will be constrained by cost again unfortunately so if anybody knows of a good probe for a bargain price I'd be interested?

Cheers,

Jim
 
  • Jason its good advice-perfect mesure is one spoon (included in BeeShrimp gh+) - 3g for 20L of RO water and no need to make any tests - promise.
  • Jim i use only RO water - you never know how much copper is in tap water and its most dangerous metal for shrimps. And with RO water you have full control over parameters. Why higher TDS??matter of practise and observations. If you use additives from Mosura and BWS its imposible to keep TDS lower than 200 - because of level dissolved minerals.
 
Easystreet said:
Piotr: Hi. No problem. Thanks for the delivery.

Jason: I'm already using it. But thanks for the advice. I'm using RO and salty bee to re-min to a TDS of 150, GH of 5-6 and KH of <1. These are the parameters that seem to be advised online. Although the tank TDS is a bit higher at the moment (around 163).]
Click to expand...
 
Yeah no thats fine my friend, the best thing really with keeping Crystal/Bee shrimp is (of course get your parameters right first using things like the minerals) to just keep the parameters stable - for example its likely better just to keep dosing what you are and keep your TDS around 163 than to try to get it to 150 :)
Anyway, 163 is absolutely fine, mine is even a little higher because I add EI dosing :)

- If anyone wants to ask by the way about how I dose estimative index (plant ferts) and keep my high grade shrimp feel free, its quite a hot topic with fishkeepers!

Thanks :)
 
Piotr Markiewicz said:
  • Jason its good advice-perfect mesure is one spoon (included in BeeShrimp gh+) - 3g for 20L of RO water and no need to make any tests - promise.
  • Jim i use only RO water - you never know how much copper is in tap water and its most dangerous metal for shrimps. And with RO water you have full control over parameters. Why higher TDS??matter of practise and observations. If you use additives from Mosura and BWS its imposible to keep TDS lower than 200 - because of level dissolved minerals.
Click to expand...

Yeah thats exactly what I personally do with the dosage :)
 
Thanks Jason.

Haha, I'll take the bait. How? I suspect my plants are nutrient depleted.
 
Easystreet said:
Thanks Jason.

Haha, I'll take the bait. How? I suspect my plants are nutrient depleted.
Click to expand...

Okay, firstly here's the trace element mix I'm using http://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/fertilisers/dry-chemicals/dry-salts/chelated-trace-173.html

Before buying I asked them if they knew if it was safe for shrimp, and they directed me towards some youtube videos that had just that question answered :D


Keep in mind that the best thing to do is every week, carry out a 40 - 50% water change so you can 'start fresh' every week with the dosing. Its also a good idea to use RO water with shrimp because, even after you've dechlorinated you never know what kind of harmful spookyness could be in that tap water..

- You might want to wait for your tank to get a little more mature before doing this however, because a 50% water change in a new setup thats just getting going isn't the best idea in the world - unless you have water issues or something. But anyway:
 
too much hassle - tommorow ill make photo of my planted tanks with moss. only thing that i use for plants is BWS Minerum - 4 drops weekly for 35-42 liters tank is enough (50 ml bottle-20 drops is 1 ml), and for sure its safe. 40-50% water change can cause more problems than restart of tank in full. When ill have time ill publish post how to set up shrimp tank and what to use to be happy with shrimps and plants.
 
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