The next stage worthy of an announcement will be when the newly hatched shrimplets have matured and begin reproducing themselves. Only once I've obeserved the full life cycle take place in this tank, will I know that this is an effective alternative to what we have been doing previously with our dwarf shrimp.
Thanks again Yucca for sharing what you are learning. Can't wait to hear how it turns out and see it with my shrimp
Just a quick update. I brought a water and magnolia leaf sample into the lab today because I knew I was going to be doing some water testing anyway.
Nitrates in this leaf-only (no plants) tank was 1.6mg/L, and I am due for a water change as it has been almost a week. This very low value indicates that with enough available surface area, the biofilm (algae, diatoms, protists, and other micro-organisms) can be as effective as plants when it comes to removing toxins and nutrients from the water, confirming Mustafa's findings.
I scraped the surface of the decomposing leaf and looked at it under the microscope. I didn't stain the cells nor did I use the high magnification necessary to view bacteria, but I saw a very diverse population of micro-organisms: diatoms, unicellular algae, protists, nematodes, rotifers, etc)
Thanks again, I will now use the maple leaves I have socked for 2 and a half weeks. I hope the tannins are gone and that I will have the success you have
I sure will Newjohn. One thing I can tell you now is that even though I used dried maple leave, not sure if they were from hard or soft maples, there sure were a lot of tannins. Thanks for the warning YuccaPatrol, this is why I soaked my leaves for 2 and a half weeks and changed the soaking water every couple of days.
The Fisherman wrote:Yeah, thanks for the information! That is very interesting.
In fact you have convinced me to not put any live plants in my new shrimp tank.
-John (AKA: The Puffer Ninja)
John, I think that live plants can still be a good thing in a shrimp tank, especially for a show tank. Just don't let the plants overtake the tank to the point that they limit nutrients necessary for micro-organisms that shrimp like to eat.
Last night, I spent several hours removing Java Moss from my main show tank of cherries and amanos. I had been so proud of my thick lush carpet that I had painstakingly trained to grow on the surfaces of upright tall driftwood. But it had grown so much that it was taking over the tank.
I still have the slow growing plants that I started with in there, as I do want a planted tank full of shrimp, but I'm also confident that removing the moss will be beneficial to my shrimp. I had noticed that growth and reproduction had slowed in that tank and I am looking forward to seeing what happens now that the moss is gone. I expect to see increased growth and reproduction over the next couple of months. . .
The leaves I use are from a local park which has oak and maple trees, they are the same size as the oak leaves. I will try the leaves of other trees in the future
I have pin oak and maple. I use leaves that are just recently fallen and dry. I don't pre-soak. There is a bonanza for the ready shrimper in the next month or so.
badflash wrote:I have pin oak and maple. I use leaves that are just recently fallen and dry. I don't pre-soak. There is a bonanza for the ready shrimper in the next month or so.
I have pin oak, bur oak, and maple.
I try to get the already really dry ones as well.
YuccaPatrol, thanks for the info. I may try a small amount of JavaMoss or Java fern then.
Java Fern is my all-time favorite. In case you don't know, it prefers to grow on the surface of hard objects like rocks and driftwood. It should never have its roots in the substrate.
Use fishing line or thread to tie it to your decorations and it will slowly attach itself and keep on growing to cover the surface.
Here is a photo showing a very healthy clump attached to driftwood. This piece was started 2 years ago from one small piece of rhizome with about 4 leaves. Healthy Java Fern will produce little baby plants at the tips of the leaves and when these break off, they can be attached to another piece of decoration.
I'd give it a couple months. I've never really measured the time it took, but I do know that it takes less time than it takes for a standard tan colored rubber band to degrade and fall apart when used to attach the fern to a rock.
