Fish to Bone in one day

Shrimps having a good time helping themselves with fresh sashimi. See how fast they scratch the ailing fish into a piece of fine bone.

PH testing again

I think I did the last PH test about 3 months ago. I did a test today and found my aquarium PH rather high...towards 7.6. How long it has been at this range I do not know but my shrimp's color is pretty solid under such parameter. Was there any co-relations or other factor at play?

Photo taken with and without lighting. Nevertheless, I am quite happy such intense color has been consistent for months. These shrimps are many generations (at least 8th?) from the first batch of Fire Red which I bought from GC 2 years ago.... Since then, I have never added new purchases. Amazing to see their solid red can be sustained for so long.

"Liberating" my shrimplets

Setting my shrimplets free by tilting the breeding box facing my java moss.

The babies are taking their own sweet time out of the cradle.

They are now on their own device.

Shrimplets inside Breeding Box

Pardon my lousy camera. There is no place like breeding box to keep my shrimplets safe. Yes! the berried FR has finally "give birth" to about 20 shrimplets (my estimation) or could be more since it difficult to count these hyperactive tiny fellows











If more shrimps are berried, I may consider setting up a 2nd breeding box to expedite the growth of my Fire Red populations.











I will release those guys into the main tank once they exceed 0.5mm so that more berried shrimps (two at a time) can be brought into the box.

Otocinclus affinis natural habitat

Ya, call me a city folk who pay a dollar for a piece of Otocinclus when you can actually get it free here, by cupping with a single palm, if you dare to put your hands into that river. That river, is truly a wealth pot so-to-speak but it also gave me the goose bumps already.

Before and After "weeds trimming"

Before: Rampant growth of Moss/algae to allow my berried shrimps enough hiding places and also provision of basic staple for the adult shrimps and shrimplets.











After: Decided to give my tank a good trim without compromising the lush green scape. I might take away the BBA infested watercress floating on the extreme right area and replace with something undecided at the moment (tiger lily, nana, non-green plants or simply leave it empty......). Any suggestion? See how fast the fauna dissappeared into hiding compared to the first photo.