Now, the different colors are going to be caused by other elements in the aragonite. Ask about what all a crystal in your consideration has. Stay clear of copper. When copper is present in aragonite, it is so very beautiful. Unfortunately, it would kill the shrimmpies. :/
I hope you do go and I hope you end up with something/s beautiful.
This is a great thread! And nice tank Ace! Looks like you took the marimo ball apart and attached it to your rocks. Let us know how they do over time. And those aragonite crystals are great looking!
When a crystal is colored by something (iron, copper), it's in very tiny amounth, so tiny it's almost impossible to detect without spectroscopy, I dont think it would kill shrimps. BUT beware of other minerals growing around your piece of aragonite, it may be way higher content of heavy metal.
Ace, would you mind sharing where you acquire the spheres? and what size is your Nanosphere9? Also, how did you get the pumice to sink? Doesn't it naturally float?
Thank you! I did pull the balls into long strips and then I placed them between the pumice. Today, I noticed some branching thread like growth that is rather long.
Minishrimps
It is a vase that was purchased quite a number of years ago from a wholesale floral supply house in Saint Louis. The sphere is 16 inches and has a volume of 9 gallons. It was a single pumice rock that I chiseled into pieces and some floated while others sank. I boiled the floating pieces to get them to sink. Through an extensive search online I was able to find 16 and 19 inch spheres. I'm not sure if it is permitted to give specific website addresses in this forum. Most have large 10 or 11 inch openings. I prefer the smaller openings like 6 1/8 that I have. Please, let me know if you have any other questions.
Last edited by Ace on Mon Feb 27, 2017 7:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
Nanosphere 9 began January 11, 2017 and today (day 47) I have observed the first 2 shrimp with eggs. Additionally, the Marimo continues to grow with no sign of deterioration.
Last edited by Ace on Mon Feb 27, 2017 10:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ace wrote:Nanosphere 9 began January 11, 2017 and today (day 47) I have observed the first 2 shrimp with eggs. Additionally, the Marimo continues to grow with no sign of deterioration.
Last edited by Ace on Mon Feb 27, 2017 10:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
In the beginning, I used aragonite sand and I rinsed it for a very long time but the water never rinsed through clear. Some settling occurred but the water has never cleared completely. It would also appear that two "small" horned nerites are not enough to keep the glass clean in this 9 gallon sphere. I try and get the smallest horned nerites (and trumpet snails) so they are as small as possible compared to the shrimp. I have found that trumpets and nerites require no acclimatization, at all, to brackish water. After debating all this time I decided to do a %100 water change last night. I somewhat cleaned about 2/3 of the glass and raised the salenity to 11 at the same time.
Power feeding them has paid off. Today, I found a third shrimpie with eggs!
Their diet has been organic millet, organic red rice, organic raw pulverized baby spinach, organic raw finely shaved purple carrot and spirulina.
Information that I have from the breeder states that the frequency of shrimp carrying eggs is directly related to the quality of their diet combined with high variety. I like to try new food items frequently and always raw, organic and non genetically engineered. My own personal experience is that, generally, high frequency feeding leads to reproduction in many animals.
After this %100 water change I expect to see a lot of molting. Immediately after molting is when a female will be looking to get a male. I am curious what will happen in the folllowing days and weeks. Of course, this unintentional induction of molting may have the very unfortunate consequence of the shrimp losing their eggs.
I may decide to start manicuring the marimo as the growth is rather wild looking. And I may continue to do %100 water changes until the water is as clear as crystal.
I am still waiting for a shipment of rare black tree coral to arrive so that I can realize my vision for Nanosphere 9 as a sea-side grassy hill with trees.
Wow a little jealous of the green egg shrimp. Can't recall seeing that before. The mom looks very light. Does she have any red.? Maybe she will produce 'white' offspring. Very interesting. These are Mustafa's shrimp?
