Despite all the advice to the contrary, I tried out some Caridina shrimp in the tapwater-based Shrimphaus. This did not go well and after 3 weeks there was only one brave survivor left. The usual way to keep soft water shrimp is to start with reverse-osmosis (RO) water which is selectively remineralised mostly to restore […]
Read more →‘Crystal Red’ caridina shrimp: top-down view on the edge of the river Bloody Mary shrimp (Neocaridina davidi) have been living in the Shrimphaus for a couple years now and are starting to get a little long in the tooth. Their solid dusky red colour also makes them difficult to see against the dark aquasoil and […]
Read more →It’s been a challenge to find an epiphyte that looks good on the mountain. I tried Anubias nana ‘Snow White’ which failed to grow, and the similar Anubias nana ‘Pinto’ which grew fine but looked too big for the nanotank. Also in the mix was Bucephalandra caterina which grew well and kind of resembled a […]
Read more →I picked up a new drop checker from Dennerle – the Carbo Test Precision, sold by Real Aquatics. This drop checker comes in three different sizes. I got the small 20 mm version which actually surprised me by how small it turned out to be. This checker is different because instead of having a hanging […]
Read more →I have been using an Asta 20 nano LED light on the Shrimphaus, and that’s been fine but it’s a point source light so there’s not much illumination at either the back (shaded by the river) or the right side (furthest away). Today I swapped that out for a new Week Aqua S400 Pro aquarium […]
Read more →I have been considering floating plants for a while, but they always looked kind of big and dangly and nasty to me which has put me off. Then the Aquatic Plant Society had a get together at Aquarium Gardens and I saw this pretty new (to me) much smaller floating plant from Tropica: Salvinia minima. […]
Read more →I have been using 600 g disposable CO2 cylinders to provide CO2 gas to the Fireplace Aquarium and that has been pretty good. One cylinder lasts two or three months and they are a reasonably unobtrusive size. Recently though I have been going big. Welder’s Warehouse has a two extra-large cylinders combo deal. Each cylinder […]
Read more →I like the look of the Cryptocoryne nevelli and the Schismatoglottis prietoi as well, but it seemed like they were on the wrong sides of the tank. The C. nevelli got larger than I thought it would so blocked the view of the Alternanthera reineckii ‘Mini’ and the recently re-attempted Alternanthera reineckii ‘Rosanervig’. (Must… get… […]
Read more →Ember tetras are a great little fish with lots of colour and activity. They are a ‘shoaling’ fish which means they like to stay together in a loose group – this is different from ‘schooling’ fish which exhibit a tight formation with highly synchronised movements. Filed under “there’s always one”, we have this one ember, […]
Read more →Sold by Tropica in a tissue culture cup as ‘Cryptocoryne nurii‘, this small crypt is doing very well in the Fireplace Aquarium. Unlike the smaller bright green leaves in the tissue culture form, the new growth submersed form leaves are larger and have a very pretty mottled dark green and dusky rose colouration. Sometimes this […]
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