Archive for January, 2008
Aquasoil Amazonia is one of the best substrates available to the Dwarf Shrimp hobbyist. It helps maintain a slightly acidic pH and helps keep the water soft. There is, however, one major drawback to Aquasoil Amazonia, it causes a large Ammonia spike when new.
When Aquasoil Amazonia is first put in an aquarium Ammonia in that aquarium will spike up to 2.0ppm (or mg/l). Because of this it is important to cycle any Aquasoil Amazonia before adding to an established aquarium, or make sure it is cycled in a new aquarium before adding any invertebrates or fish.
Cycling in a new aquarium:
When setting up a new aquarium with Aquasoil Amazonia you should follow these steps:
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Add Substrate to the aquarium.
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Fill the aquarium with water.
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Activate filter.
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Perform a 95-100% water change in 24 hours.
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Perform another 95-100% water change 24 hours later.
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Perform a 50% water change 24 hours later.
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Add any live plants you plan on adding.
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If you have filter media from an established aquarium add the media to the filter.
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Watch Ammonia levels and Nitrite levels.
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The aquarium should be fully cycled in 1.5-2 weeks. 0ppm Ammonia and nitrite indicate a fully cycled aquarium and it is ready for inhabitants.
Cycling for an established aquarium.
If you plan to add Aquasoil Amazonia to an already established aquarium the substrate must be cycled before adding it to the aquarium.
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Place the substrate in a spare aquarium or large holding container
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Fill with water
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Add a small filter or power head.
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Perform a 95-100% water change in 24 hours.
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Perform another 95-100% water change 24 hours later.
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Perform a 50% water change 24 hours later.
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Watch Ammonia levels and Nitrite levels.
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The aquarium should be fully cycled in 1.5-2 weeks. 0ppm Ammonia and nitrite indicate a fully cycled aquarium and it is ready for to be added to the aquarium
Note: Be sure to add the substrate to the aquarium gently to avoid stirring up a mess and causing another possible Ammonia spike.
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I observed some yellow shrimp, from birth to berry the same way I have observed Blue Pearl Shrimp and Tiger Shrimp. And today I have all the results of the Yellow Shrimp observations
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The yellow shrimp were born on November, 20th 2007. The first berried female was observed on January 3rd 2008, and the second generation hatched January 22 2008.
Stats:
Time to fully matured berried female: 44 Days
Gestation Period: 18 Days
Total time from birth to second generation: 62 Days
Aquarium setup
All the Yellow Shrimp were kept in a 10-gallon aquarium that has mosses and vals. The substrate is Aquasoil Amazonia.
Stats:
PH: 6.8
Temp: 76
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: less than 10ppm
The total life cycle of 62 days is very consistent with other Dwarf Shrimp that I have observed. Both the Blue Pearl Shrimp and Tiger Shrimp share a very close life cycle.
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As a hobby continues to grow many terms are created and abbreviations are used. It can become daunting for a new hobbyist to figure out what is being talked about or even written about.
To help with this I have started to write a Dwarf Shrimp Glossary. If you have any terms or abbreviations that I have left off the list please feel free to leave a comment or send me out an email!
Check out the list at http://www.TheShrimpFarm.com/dwarf_shrimp_glossary.shtml
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I am often asked what the best substrate is to use for Dwarf Shrimp, and there tends to be on substrate that stands out in the Dwarf Shrimp hobby. Aqua Soil Amazonia!
Aqua Soil Amazonia will aid in maintaining a slightly acidic pH in the aquarium and even soften the water a bit. This is important for many Caridina species such as Crystal Red Shrimp. If you have hard water with a high ph out of the Tap, Aqua Soil is almost required if you want to have happy and healthy soft water Dwarf Shrimp.
A word of caution! This substrate does release a fair amount of ammonia into the water for the first week or two and should be cycled until the ammonia no longer registers. It is also a very dusty substrate so care should be taken when planting or replanting any items in the substrate!
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After tracking a group of my Blue Pearl Shrimp from birth to the point that they are berried themselves (41 days) I decided to follow the same thing for all the species of shrimp I have. The next Dwarf Shrimp to go from birth to berry was the Tiger Shrimp.
This group of Tiger Shrimp (Caridina sp.) was born on October 18th, 2007. Two females were found berried on January 2nd, 2008. This was a total of 45 days. Quite a bit faster than I expected with Tiger Shrimp.
My Tiger Shrimp aquarium is an AGA 5.5-gallon aquarium. It has a hang on back filter with a sponge pre-filter. The substrate is ADA Aquasoil Amazonia, and is moderately planted with Vals and Mosses.
My tap water is pretty much “liquid rock” as it is very hard and has a pH of 8.1 out of the Tap, so even with the Aquasoil my pH only came down to 7.2. As with almost all of my aquariums I keep the temperature around 75-78. This aquarium also houses my Yellow Shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda) and they are fed Hikari Crab Cuisine and Omega One Shrimp Pellets.
As a side note, my Blue Pearl female that was tracked in the blog post “Dwarf Shrimp – Birth to Berry” was found on January 1st, 2008 carrying eggs again.
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