Sulawesi Shrimp Tank Update

Well, it has been almost 2 weeks since I got the cardinal shrimps and so far, they look to be doing fine in the tank. I've even seen some empty shells in the tank showing that at least they are able to molt properly. Hopefully, this time around they will survive and thrive in my tank. Here's one of my favorite picture with the cardinal shrimp picking on the yellow rabbit snail's shell. They seem to be living together well and so I guess adding rabbit snails into Sulawesi shrimp tanks does help to reduce stress in the shrimps.

Final Sulawesi Shrimp Tank Attempt

It has been a while since I've updated my blog mainly due to the multiple disappointment encountered in my aquatic adventure.  Firstly, all my previous Sulawesi Cardinal Shrimps died within a week of me acquiring them ... probably due to my own fault of not setting up the tank correctly. My 2ft tank is now semi-infested with hair algae and even my fishes in that tank is not doing particularly well. The CRS seems to be living fine in the tank but I'm down to my last female tiger endler. The tiger endlers multiplied pretty well before but for some unknown reason, they started contracting "ick" and dropped one-by-one.

Anyway, I've decided to give the Sulawesi Cardinal Shrimps a final try and setup a 1.5ft cube tank just for them. This time around, I'm using Holland sand as the substrate, ADA rocks and driftwood for hiding places and properly aerating the tank for 2 months before finally another batch (10 pcs) of the Sulawesi Cardinal Shrimps for a final try. The look to be settling in better this time around but I guess it is still too early to tell as it has only been 2 days. I guess time will tell ...

Finally .... 2ft Planted Tank!!!

Yep, I'm finally setting up my 2ft planted tank ... updates soon ...

Sulawesi Shrimps In The House!!!

Finally, the new batch of Sulawesi cardinal shrimps arrived and populated the tank. Beautiful little critters ... hopefully they will survive in my tank (fully cycled for >1 month) and bloom. :) They seem to be settling in pretty well, scouring for food all over the tank. I took the endlers out and left only a tiny red chest fry to keep the ecosystem in check. :) Pictures coming soon ...

Renewed Interest

Recently, I've also developed a renewed interest to endlers again after getting a pair of tiger endlers and red chest from a friend. Decided to house the tigers in the existing 1.5ft tank and the red chest temporarily in the Sulawesi shrimp tank. I hear keeping fishes in a shrimp tank helps it to cycle faster/better and develop the much needed bio film for the shrimps. I googled around and it appears that endlers can thrive pretty well in a variety of water conditions from acidic to alkaline. Much to my pleasure, the tiger endler female just gave birth to close to 20 frys 2 days ago. She was berried when I got them ... lucky me? :)

Also got a pair of Sulawesi snails as tank mates for the Sulawesi shrimps ... I can't wait until it is time to get the shrimps ... Also decided to add a little more scape into the Sulawesi tank ... it looked a little barren and miserable previously.

As you can clearly see, a trio of red chest is swimming in it ... a pair that I just recently got and the lonely male that was from my previous batch of red chest ...

Sulawesi Shrimp Fever Again

Finally, after some very long thought and effort, the Sulawesi shrimp tank is up again. This time, I made sure that there are no lava rocks in the tank (removes the possibility of the lava rocks leeching poison).  I used the same 1.5 ft tank but this time, it is filled with only coral sand and I'm using only reverse osmosis (RO) water to ensure that there are no other "poison" that could pollute the water. I plan to eventually raise the GH of the water with Shirakura minerals to the desired GH i.e. more than 6 ... need to get a GH test kit ...
Eagerly awaiting for the arrival of my pH and temperature meter that I've just bought from eBay. That will help to tell me if the tank has reached its desired pH i.e. more than 8. I'm planning to house only cardinal shrimps for the time being (and perhaps some Sulawesi rabbit snails). Also added a big piece of driftwood and some java ferns, mini pelia and plagiomnium affine to help add some greenery into the tank. How does it look? :)
Also, decided to re-scape my original 1.5ft cube tank. Got bored of the old look ...

I'm Back!!

After months of absence, I'm making a comeback to this blog and also to my hobby. I've been neglecting the tanks for a while and was busy with the house renovation and the house move until recently. Unfortunately (or fortunately), quite a few of my livestock (mostly shrimps and some fishes) did not survive the move and perhaps even the difference in the tap water. This actually gave me an excuse to start over so I re-scaped my 1.5ft tank and sold off the cube tank.
Suddenly, the spur of excitement for Sulawesi shrimps started resurfacing and so I'm in the process of setting up ... yes ... I'm trying again despite saying that I won't. This is going to be my LAST ... LAST ... LAST ... attempt on Sulawesi shrimps so wish me luck. Lots of learning to apply from the past mistakes and hopefully, it will be good this time ... only time will tell ...