# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Invertebrates >  My humble CRS

## Ecalyte

Hi everyone!

After a lot of sourcing.. and purchasing, I've managed to populate a tank of about 30 crown/flowerheads with good solid white colouration!

Here are some pictures!

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## eviltrain

Woot, you must have spent alot of time and money. Power~~~

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## Ecalyte

Hmm.. well, the shrimps themselves didn't really cost that much. But if you're talking about the investment in getting to this stage.. then yes, haha!

Individually, the shrimps cost far less than the BKKs!

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## alvinchan80

Very nice & expensive shrimps... All the best to your set up with more shrimplets coming your way....

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## felix_fx2

Wha. Soild !!! They all like triplets!!!

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## hellomyfriend

hope to see the power shrimplets soon  :Smile:

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## soonhong

Nice power shrimps......thanks for sharing.

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## Kenng

> Hmm.. well, the shrimps themselves didn't really cost that much. But if you're talking about the investment in getting to this stage.. then yes, haha!
> 
> Individually, the shrimps cost far less than the BKKs!


Haha, are you sure the shrimps don't cost much? They are so nice and white.  :Well done:

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## Ecalyte

Thank you bros for your kind words

For those interested, this is the tank that I'm housing them in

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## eviltrain

2 separated filtration system?

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## Ecalyte

The middle compartment has a gap at the top covered by a black filter sponge to prevent shrimps from one side going to the other

Initially, I had just one filter: Jebao 503.

I felt that while the side with the outlet had nice surface movement and good water flow, the other side was very stagnant. I tested by dropping a piece of moss and it actually stayed afloat in the middle of the tank!

So I added an Eheim 2213 from a decom-ed tank.

More info on this thread..

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...cm-tank!/page2

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## alvinchan80

> Thank you bros for your kind words
> 
> For those interested, this is the tank that I'm housing them in


Wow.. Nice.. The shrimps have a high moss wall to climb up..

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## eviltrain

i don't think the black sponge is able to prevent shrimplets from going to another side. tested and proven. you need fine stainless steel mesh.

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## Ecalyte

> Wow.. Nice.. The shrimps have a high moss wall to climb up..



Thank you! 
The moss wall on the left is new, that's why it looks so flat. It's tied with xmas moss from bro Nicky. 
The right side has been there a little over 1 week, and you can already see the growth on it! Quite fast. Mini x-mas moss from bro blue33!

However, the shrimps seem to prefer to graze around the gravel, not so much the moss wall.. I'll see a few of them grazing there every now and then, but most of them prefer the driftwood and gravel!




> i don't think the black sponge is able to prevent shrimplets from going to another side. tested and proven. you need fine stainless steel mesh.


Ahh.. I see! Hmm, I'll have to think about how to put a fine mesh there instead. For now, I don't think I'll worry about it too much since none of my shrimps are berried.. 
Not very good at DIY! Haha!

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## eviltrain

maybe post a side view of the partition, i might have some easy DIY idea for you  :Very Happy:

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## Ecalyte

Ok thank you!

I'll take some pictures of the centre partition without the filter wool later when I get back home from work!

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## Yida88

Wow. Bro nice shrimps you have . look so delicious. Hope to have such a set up like your's too...

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## jonas83

I would like to see your partition too.... Post it soon please

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## redsuns

Very very very nice shrimps!! Definitely worth your effort!!

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## Ecalyte

> maybe post a side view of the partition, i might have some easy DIY idea for you





> I would like to see your partition too.... Post it soon please




Usually the water level is much higher than this! I have to do a water change soon  :Smile: 




> Very very very nice shrimps!! Definitely worth your effort!!


Thank you so much bro redsuns! It's been a long road.. haha!

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## eviltrain

oh, if you need the wire mesh cut to size to fit there, call me at 83380543. give me the dimension, length, height, thickness of the glass.

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## Guppy77

hi there, the moss wall looks good, is that plastic mesh ?

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## Ecalyte

> hi there, the moss wall looks good, is that plastic mesh ?


Hi bro! The moss wall was tied on a steel mesh before it was tied onto a plastic mesh. This is because if the steel mesh was left alone, it would eventually warp over time due to the size of the mesh (42x37cm). 

Unfortunately though.. after a while I started seeing browning of the moss and it was spreading; slowly but surely. bro nasty12 helped me to untie and re-tie the moss wall and to our shock.. the steel mesh was rusted in the area where my moss was browning.

Maybe the rust was killing the moss? I couldn't be sure, but it's looking very likely.. so we re-tied it. Now it looks like crap  :Sad:  Just waiting for it to grow....

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## eviltrain

Rust? You better keep a look out on your shrimps. Im worry about some metal leak into the water column. Better add some active carbon to absorb it.

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## rcw

simply nice scape! easy maintenance.lovely CRS

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## Ecalyte

> Rust? You better keep a look out on your shrimps. Im worry about some metal leak into the water column. Better add some active carbon to absorb it.


It's been out for over 3 weeks now, no casualties... I guess i dodged a bullet? haha..

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## eviltrain

Wa. Then u really lucky. Haha

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## goody992828

Wow finally saw your project out with nice setup and great looking shrimp.... power......

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## newlife

Really understand your efforts in those FlowerHead you have...
Sourcing for a real solid white FlowerHead is indeed very hard...
Mostly yellowish due to high golden gene...

But have all as FlowerHead in a tank...don't you have a higher % of SnowWhite/golden offspring???

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## Ecalyte

no idea really.. my first batch is due in a few days.. but as I personally haven't ventured into PRL having a snow white / golden offspring is not an issue to me..

This tank is not for selective breeding, it's for my personal viewing pleasure.. haha. Most of the offsprings are going to be A-SS grade. Very rarely i will get SSS or flowerhead offsprings.. 

I think I should have ventured into PRL, the amount of money I spent in culling so many flowerheads due to lack of thick whiteness could have bought me 2 tanks full of PRLs.. haha! But as it is.. I love flowerheads a lot more than PRLs. Maybe my taste will change soon as have everyone in this hobby..

There have been a lot of progress with this tank in terms of its inhabitants etc, I have a lot of very thick white flowerheads now and to add to that, 7 of my female flowerheads are pregnant, but I'm afraid to post updates.. I'm sure with the recent events you'll understand why..

So probably I'll just keep it to myself for now...

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## Oliverpool

Fantastic tank and shrimps Bro Ecalyte! Looking forward to your updates soon.

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## RonWill

> ...but I'm afraid to post updates.. I'm sure with the recent events you'll understand why.. So probably I'll just keep it to myself for now


 Whatever happened recently has little bearing on your collection of flowerheads. I'm inclined towards these as well, for their uniqueness but to embark on procuring them will be excruciatingly painful on a salaried person's wallet.

I'm still working out plans for a 4-tier 2ft recirculating system with full-seal partition and individual overflow bulkheads. It will incorporate PVC manifolds for drainage, return and air. The setup is likely for breeding fishes but will consider lugging out a Teco RA680 from the storeroom if shrimping, so do post updates.

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## eviltrain

> Whatever happened recently has little bearing on your collection of flowerheads. I'm inclined towards these as well, for their uniqueness but to embark on procuring them will be excruciatingly painful on a salaried person's wallet.
> 
> I'm still working out plans for a 4-tier 2ft recirculating system with full-seal partition and individual overflow bulkheads. It will incorporate PVC manifolds for drainage, return and air. The setup is likely for breeding fishes but will consider lugging out a Teco RA680 from the storeroom if shrimping, so do post updates.


woot. Seems like you also caught the shrimp poison. XD. Please post a journal too!!!

Bro Ecalyte, just post la. Yours are completely different from what happen recently.  :Very Happy:

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## RonWill

Alan, nothing to woot about... yet! Poison not deep enough unless you care to guide me?  :Grin:

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## newlife

Bro Ronnie...Awaiting for your setup journal journey to began...
Moral support to you...hee hee...

Bro Ecalyte...your FlowerHead has nothing to do with PRL....totally 2 different issue...
I'm once a FlowerHead Siao...花痴...hee hee....Alan should know about it...
Just update....I wanna know the outcome result...

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## binniez

Yeah bro! Do let us know see the offsprings! Bound to be some bueatiful pieces from so many FH mamas. Hehe! Drools~  :Drool:

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## Ecalyte

Actually just today I'm sad to report 2 deaths from my CRS FH partition, and 2 deaths from my BKK/BDS partition. My solid solid BDS FH stud and extreme BKK have died  :Sad:  It's molting issues.. I have no idea how my GH has increased since I have no rock in the set up at all. These deaths also only happened today, and prior I've seen regular molting. Ugh  :Sad:  

Can CO2 cause an increase in GH/KH? Anyways.. going to do 20% water change on a 2-day basis in an attempt to bring the GH/KH down before more casualties. The mamas from my CRS side are still alive..

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## Oliverpool

> Actually just today I'm sad to report 2 deaths from my CRS FH partition, and 2 deaths from my BKK/BDS partition. My solid solid BDS FH stud and extreme BKK have died  It's molting issues.. I have no idea how my GH has increased since I have no rock in the set up at all. These deaths also only happened today, and prior I've seen regular molting. Ugh  
> 
> Can CO2 cause an increase in GH/KH? Anyways.. going to do 20% water change on a 2-day basis in an attempt to bring the GH/KH down before more casualties. The mamas from my CRS side are still alive..



That's sad. I have never heard of co2 increasing GH/KH. Since you have no rocks the other suspect is the soil. Initially I had a Yamato and 3 of my cherry die on me right after they molted. Why? I suspected it was due to the Ada Amazonia hardness lowering ability. My GH/KH was both zero. I have since increased my GH to around 3 but still unable to much about my KH and it's at one or so. But no shrimp molting issue since then.

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## avex30

> Actually just today I'm sad to report 2 deaths from my CRS FH partition, and 2 deaths from my BKK/BDS partition. My solid solid BDS FH stud and extreme BKK have died  It's molting issues.. I have no idea how my GH has increased since I have no rock in the set up at all. These deaths also only happened today, and prior I've seen regular molting. Ugh  
> 
> Can CO2 cause an increase in GH/KH? Anyways.. going to do 20% water change on a 2-day basis in an attempt to bring the GH/KH down before more casualties. The mamas from my CRS side are still alive..


Bro Ecalyte maybe you want read the recent issue on soil depleting? How long did you have your soil in the tank? type of soil used? Err media? i read somewhere some media can raise GH issue. Did you add any new media?

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## Zenith82

Super beautiful, thick white, flower head. Great shrimps...

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## Ecalyte

> Bro Ecalyte maybe you want read the recent issue on soil depleting? How long did you have your soil in the tank? type of soil used? Err media? i read somewhere some media can raise GH issue. Did you add any new media?


Never added any new media, it's all biohome plus. Also, the soil is a mix of ADA 2 Amazonia normal and powder type, it's been in the tank for 3-4 months. I just did a few tests with those cheapo strips... GH is on the high side although pH is still around 6.5

This is funny because just a few days before I watched one of my BKK moulted without any problems... it's only since my last water change that I saw these deaths.

Does anyone have any experience with Dymax Instant Start? It's an anti-chlorine and anti-chloramine solution that I'm using..

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## newlife

> Actually just today I'm sad to report 2 deaths from my CRS FH partition, and 2 deaths from my BKK/BDS partition. My solid solid BDS FH stud and extreme BKK have died  It's molting issues.. I have no idea how my GH has increased since I have no rock in the set up at all. These deaths also only happened today, and prior I've seen regular molting. Ugh  
> 
> Can CO2 cause an increase in GH/KH? Anyways.. going to do 20% water change on a 2-day basis in an attempt to bring the GH/KH down before more casualties. The mamas from my CRS side are still alive..


How long you use your soil??

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## Ecalyte

3-4 months

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## Ecalyte

This is my super thick white BDS FH stud that passed away. His partner is luckily still alive! When she's pregnant you can't see the eggs.. But without a strong stud like this :Sad:

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## andrewheng

Sorry to hear that, Bro.

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## ZackZhou

Bro, you might want to test your water parameter for the tap. Recently water ph and gh changed a little and was reported by some hobbyist from other forum. My side(amk) ph increase from 6.5 to 7.1. Gh from 3 to 4  :Smile:  


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## newlife

Beautiful piece....wasted + heart pain...
What's your gH now?
Nothing can do to bring down gH except w.c...
Use distill water to the w.c...and do a test again....

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## eviltrain

> Alan, nothing to woot about... yet! Poison not deep enough unless you care to guide me?



Ronnie, 
you much more longer in this hobby than me. you confirm easily know all these just by google-ing. besides that, im no master. im just a normal hobbyist who loves to share poison, opps, knowleges. there is self proclaimed enlightend master out there. 

but he's always in the hidding, quite difficut to get him.

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## eviltrain

bro Ecalyte, 

better to waterchange using old method. age water for 1 week before water change is the safest.

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## vynax

> no idea really.. my first batch is due in a few days.. but as I personally haven't ventured into PRL having a snow white / golden offspring is not an issue to me..
> 
> This tank is not for selective breeding, it's for my personal viewing pleasure.. haha. Most of the offsprings are going to be A-SS grade. Very rarely i will get SSS or flowerhead offsprings.. 
> 
> I think I should have ventured into PRL, the amount of money I spent in culling so many flowerheads due to lack of thick whiteness could have bought me 2 tanks full of PRLs.. haha! But as it is.. I love flowerheads a lot more than PRLs. Maybe my taste will change soon as have everyone in this hobby..
> 
> There have been a lot of progress with this tank in terms of its inhabitants etc, I have a lot of very thick white flowerheads now and to add to that, 7 of my female flowerheads are pregnant, but I'm afraid to post updates.. I'm sure with the recent events you'll understand why..
> 
> So probably I'll just keep it to myself for now...


Bro, i guess is this batch of flowerhead is not pure or you have mixed lineages. you can get high % of Fh by selecting and breeding Fh. after a few generations of selective breeding, you will get better rate in getting Fh offersbrings

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## Ecalyte

More bad news.. Molting has re-occured in the tank, but at a cost.



One of my very thick white female. Sigh!!

She was due in a few days, carrying a LOT of eggs. I counted about 30+. Anyways, in the process of attempting artificial hatching thanks to the advice from bro alvin.



Hope I'm doing the artificial hatching correctly

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## eviltrain

something wrong with your water lo. cannot be shrimps dying every day.

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## Ecalyte

the 4 deaths occur after water change

then i realise there's molting issue so i changed water again to rectify... then die again.

Nothing's out of the ordinary except the water changes.. maybe my anti chlorine?

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## Ecalyte

I checked the water parameters.. all was ok except for GH a bit high so i did water change, then now the GH is back down again and i see some moulting

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## ZackZhou

Gh high as in how high? Taiwanese even said that gh of 3~4 is abit low for crs. Gh of 6 should be the ideal. So now I also dunno what's the ideal gh. Haha


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## binniez

Hmmm.. Bro, I won't suggest doing big water changes. Maybe u can break them down into 10% over a few days. 20% wc + the current problem in your tank might cause them greater stress. U mentioned there was rust in the moss wall previously. Could be due to that? Have you checked the other moss wall for signs of rust as well? Also, u might want to change your water conditioner to shizhen or tetra brand as I have personally used them and they are shrimp friendly seeing that you suspect some problems with you water conditioner.

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## gryphon

Bro sorry about your loss. Such beautiful shrimps  :Sad: 
IMO, 20% water change is too much, 10% is safer
Have you just started using Dymax Instant Start? Mosura Shizen is usually used and most bros will age the water for a few days then use it for water change. 
I just learnt this from the advices to Newlife's thread and have recently bought a container to age water for a week. Added Shizen as well as a ketapang leaf in the water.

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## gryphon

Another thing, check behind you moss wall to see if there are hydras or other pests on the glass.

Best of luck to your artificial hatching

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## crsfrenzy

How do you make the plants grow at the side?

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## newlife

What is your gH????
Seem like you have the similar problem I met...

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## Ecalyte

Hello everyone, sorry for the lack of answers, I will try to answer everyone now




> Bro sorry about your loss. Such beautiful shrimps 
> IMO, 20% water change is too much, 10% is safer
> Have you just started using Dymax Instant Start? Mosura Shizen is usually used and most bros will age the water for a few days then use it for water change. 
> I just learnt this from the advices to Newlife's thread and have recently bought a container to age water for a week. Added Shizen as well as a ketapang leaf in the water.


It was nice meeting you today! Thanks for helping me test my GH with your liquid tester! Hope the shrimps you netted today will do well in your tank  :Smile: 




> How do you make the plants grow at the side?


It's just a normal moss wall. My tank is currently on 24/7 co2 dose using an atomizer at 1.5 bubbles per second. I don't doze any fertilizer and have stopped dosing excel about 3 weeks ago..




> What is your gH????
> Seem like you have the similar problem I met...


Bro gryphon helped me to test the GH for both my tanks and it's 3. I think I've narrowed the problem down to the Dymax anti chlorine that I've used for the 2 water changes that led to the deaths.

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## gryphon

> It was nice meeting you today! Thanks for helping me test my GH with your liquid tester! Hope the shrimps you netted today will do well in your tank


You are welcome. Looking forward to see your berried KK and CRS offsprings. Thanks for the nice shrimps

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## binniez

> Hello everyone, sorry for the lack of answers, I will try to answer everyone now
> 
> 
> 
> It was nice meeting you today! Thanks for helping me test my GH with your liquid tester! Hope the shrimps you netted today will do well in your tank 
> 
> 
> 
> It's just a normal moss wall. My tank is currently on 24/7 co2 dose using an atomizer at 1.5 bubbles per second. I don't doze any fertilizer and have stopped dosing excel about 3 weeks ago..
> ...


Bro, U might want to stop your CO2. I had problems with shrimps and CO2 in the past. They start to die for no reason too. Unless that is you have very lush plants growth. If not mosses in general do not require any CO2.

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## Ecalyte

My eggs didn't make it  :Sad: 

I saw 3-4 fully developed fries, but they were already dead when I found them..

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## gryphon

> My eggs didn't make it 
> 
> I saw 3-4 fully developed fries, but they were already dead when I found them..


It is a pity. Nevermind your other berried mamas will give you many nice offsprings

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## zphone

Really sad to hear about the shrimps died...hope everything is fine now and your shrimps breed well.

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## RonWill

> I saw 3-4 fully developed fries, but they were already dead when I found them..


 Have you resolved issues with tank's water parameters? I was hoping to hear favorable updates on assisted hatching and interested to know what contraption was used.

Just to be politically correct, I believe the commonly accepted terminology for baby shrimp is "shrimplet". "Fry" generally refer to baby fish and FYI, the plural for fry is still fry. Fries... well... you get that from McDonalds!  :Grin:

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## Ecalyte

> Have you resolved issues with tank's water parameters? I was hoping to hear favorable updates on assisted hatching and interested to know what contraption was used.
> 
> Just to be politically correct, I believe the commonly accepted terminology for baby shrimp is "shrimplet". "Fry" generally refer to baby fish and FYI, the plural for fry is still fry. Fries... well... you get that from McDonalds!


Haha oops! Yea I meant shrimplets!

Tank parameters are fine, I narrowed it down to the anti-chlorine I was using. I did a water change with shizhen and no deaths.. (so far)

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## eviltrain

great news! happy that you have counter the problem.

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## RonWill

Ecalyte, so what was it you used to artificially hatch the clutch of harvested eggs?

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## Ecalyte

I think it was a strainer that my mother use? I don't really know what she used it for.. haha! A bucket, and an air bubbler too!

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## Ecalyte

Some pictures of my shrimps that were taken by bro Alvinchan! Thank you so much for these wonderful pictures!

*CRS*





*BDS*

This would be the first time I'm showing my BDS FH. Enjoy!  :Very Happy: 






Unfortunately.. most of my CRS were hiding away.. hopefully we can have another shoot soon when they're all out!

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## Yany

Gorgeous shrimps!

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## Ecalyte

> Gorgeous shrimps!


Thank you!!

I have quite a few flowerheads with some crazy red legs, but they were hiding away  :Sad:  Maybe next time.. We were in quite a rush as I had an ill-planned mahjong game that made the timing really bad..

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## gryphon

Nice photos by Alvin. Lovely shrimps. 
Didn't take the other blacks?

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## Ecalyte

> Nice photos by Alvin. Lovely shrimps. 
> Didn't take the other blacks?


Haha thanks! Umm.. We had only 30 minutes to take pictures so most were hiding... Only missed out on the thick female.. The rest are BKK which are plentiful here hehe.. Maybe i can psycho bro alvin to come back and take more pictures.. Hehe

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## alvinchan80

> Haha thanks! Umm.. We had only 30 minutes to take pictures so most were hiding... Only missed out on the thick female.. The rest are BKK which are plentiful here hehe.. Maybe i can psycho bro alvin to come back and take more pictures.. Hehe


Don't need to psycho, just remind me bring my net and my tau huey tub to your house.. No need much.. Just 1 shrimp either BDS or FH side.. I don't want cull tank portion please.. Hahahahaha..

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## gryphon

> Haha thanks! Umm.. We had only 30 minutes to take pictures so most were hiding... Only missed out on the thick female.. The rest are BKK which are plentiful here hehe.. Maybe i can psycho bro alvin to come back and take more pictures.. Hehe





> Don't need to psycho, just remind me bring my net and my tau huey tub to your house.. No need much.. Just 1 shrimp either BDS or FH side.. I don't want cull tank portion please.. Hahahahaha..


I take for you... Just BKK offspring ;p

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## Ecalyte

> I take for you... Just BKK offspring ;p


Haha! I counted 9 BKK offsprings just now all hiding behind the moss wall. All from the one mama, because the other 2 are still berried... Last count was only 4, so I guess they were hiding away since just now I counted there were 5 more! This moss wall is really really good for shrimplets. Every time a new berried mama hatches her brood I will always find them behind the moss wall without fail. These shrimplets will continue to stay in that moss wall for about 1 week before they start to venture out.. However, I did take heed of your warnings of possible Hydras.. so I check high and low all the time.. hehe, so far there's none!

But I'll reserve one BKK offspring for you and bro alvinchan la! Haha.. if my brood successfully grow, I'll pass one to you and bro alvinchan! The price... PICTURESSSSSSSSSSSS!

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## redsuns

Very nice BDS!!! LOVE them to BITS!! HAHA..Hopefully your problems are all solved and they will be happily living and breeding away in your tank!  :Very Happy:

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## Ecalyte

> Very nice BDS!!! LOVE them to BITS!! HAHA..Hopefully your problems are all solved and they will be happily living and breeding away in your tank!


Thanks!

Actually.. I'm seeing regular molting here and there. But just today after light's on, I see another dead juvenile BKK with a cracked shell. Is there an inherent molting problem with BKK? Or am I missing something here? My BKK are the only ones having this molting issue.. I also happened to pick up a molt with eggs  :Sad:  I wanted to know what it was as it looked weird and not like a normal molt, then I saw the eggs... I know it's BKK because the molt is brown-tinged.. The mama didn't die though because I did a head count on all the BKK I had

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## gryphon

> Thanks!
> 
> Actually.. I'm seeing regular molting here and there. But just today after light's on, I see another dead juvenile BKK with a cracked shell. Is there an inherent molting problem with BKK? Or am I missing something here? My BKK are the only ones having this molting issue.. I also happened to pick up a molt with eggs  I wanted to know what it was as it looked weird and not like a normal molt, then I saw the eggs... I know it's BKK because the molt is brown-tinged.. The mama didn't die though because I did a head count on all the BKK I had


Very strange GH 3 should not be a problem. Hope those bros who breed BKK can advise

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## cheetf

Good to see that your water problem is solved. Did you get any pretty snow white offspring come out of the flowerheads? If so how many percent?

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## Ecalyte

> Good to see that your water problem is solved. Did you get any pretty snow white offspring come out of the flowerheads? If so how many percent?


Thanks!

Actually my CRS haven't given birth yet.. but my BDS FH / BKK tank have about 6 spawns already.. from the BDS side I haven't gotten a single snow white, but oddly enough.. a couple of CRS haha! I also have 2-3 hino with a blue tinge, but they're too small to judge if they're hino KK! Maybe just some gene shrimp.. I think my CRS should spawn in a week or so (fingers crossed!)

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## cheetf

Cool, that's good to hear. Should get bro Alvin to take more pictures.

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## gryphon

Hope they are hino KK. Should be very difficult to photograph such small shrimplets. Easier to wait a while longer when they are bigger and colors come out more

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## Ecalyte

Managed to catch a snapshot of one of my pregnant flowerheads. Since my aquarium light is too strong and always give me over-exposed pictures, I used a torch light to shine a light from the top of the tank and then recorded a video on the iPhone. Paused the video and took a screenshot of the frame I liked the most (Thanks to advice from the bros here)



Hope you like it! The picture quality is still a bit blurred, haha!

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## rolex

> Managed to catch a snapshot of one of my pregnant flowerheads. Since my aquarium light is too strong and always give me over-exposed pictures, I used a torch light to shine a light from the top of the tank and then recorded a video on the iPhone. Paused the video and took a screenshot of the frame I liked the most (Thanks to advice from the bros here)
> 
> 
> 
> Hope you like it! The picture quality is still a bit blurred, haha!


this piece is very nice!
Congrats and thanks for sharing.
happy shrimping  :Smile:

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## newlife

Beautiful piece of FlowerHead...
Bkk common problem...molting...

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## gryphon

Beautiful mama. Your shrimplets doing well?
1 of my CRS gave birth already, but so far only spotted 1 shrimplet  :Sad: 



> Managed to catch a snapshot of one of my pregnant flowerheads. Since my aquarium light is too strong and always give me over-exposed pictures, I used a torch light to shine a light from the top of the tank and then recorded a video on the iPhone. Paused the video and took a screenshot of the frame I liked the most (Thanks to advice from the bros here)
> 
> 
> 
> Hope you like it! The picture quality is still a bit blurred, haha!

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## Ecalyte

> Beautiful mama. Your shrimplets doing well?
> 1 of my CRS gave birth already, but so far only spotted 1 shrimplet


Hey bro! Yea! My shrimplets are doing well! Except for the BKK.. I think they're all kapoot already  :Sad:  Can't seem to spot any of them! But on a lighter note, I still have 4 berried KK mamas, hopefully their brood have a better survival rate?

Anyway these days my shrimps are in a photo-mood. Too bad I don't have DSLR to take pictures so I had to make do with the same method I used as above

Here are a couple of my studs

*FH with deep red legs*


*FH with really thick white body and nice head pattern. Almost a twin of the FH mama I posted earlier! The FH above him in the picture is another berried mama..*


Also.. I saw 2 FH shrimplets! Looks like my FH genes are not so bad after all! Haha.. The other shrimps are all SS, 5 of them. Only one berried mama spawned so far.. I think one more is due in the next few days!

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## gryphon

This few weeks I am tied up at work, I will see if end of the month I can spare a few hours on weekdays afternoon to go help you take some photos.
Good FH genes  :Smile: 
Maybe you can try adding a sponge filter which will help with the oxygen flow of your tank given your CO2 level should be quite high

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## Ecalyte

> Hey bro! Yea! My shrimplets are doing well! Except for the BKK.. I think they're all kapoot already  Can't seem to spot any of them! But on a lighter note, I still have 4 berried KK mamas, hopefully their brood have a better survival rate?
> 
> Anyway these days my shrimps are in a photo-mood. Too bad I don't have DSLR to take pictures so I had to make do with the same method I used as above
> 
> Here are a couple of my studs
> 
> *FH with deep red legs*
> 
> 
> ...


Haha this is how bad I am at sexing shrimps. The first picture is actually a female and she just got berried. She never show any indication of a saddle at all.. haha!

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## Jianyuan

nice berried mamas!!

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## Ecalyte

Err... super epic fail on my part. The second shrimp in the picture is ALSO a female and is now berried.

So this means that I only have the one male in the tank and the rest are females -_-

Lucky my male is a Benibachi flowerhead!

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## eviltrain

add more males lor, if not later your male shrimp legs weak.

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## felix_fx2

Holy cow. Sounds like forced/selective breeding.  :Razz:

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## gryphon

Wow so lucky to get so many solid female flowerheads. Better get more males else he will be overworked

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## Ecalyte

I am decomming my tank. Reason? Increase of pH. Over the last couple of days my pH has been increasing. Then today it's increased from 7.0 to 7.4. HARDCORE -_-

I have no rocks in my tank, nothing that can attribute to an increase in pH. I use full biohome media in my canister, filter wool in my prefilter. I use ADA2 Amazonia soil at the base topped up with ADA2 Amazonia powder. 

Until about 1-2 months ago, the front lawn partition of my tank has been empty. I filled it up with ADA 2 Amazonia powder. Before filling it up, my pH was 6.4ish. I HIGHLY suspect it's the ADA 2 Amazonia powder soil. Why? I set up an external breeding box and used ADA 2 Amazonia powder soil (same packet used as the front lawn). Filled it up with tank water. When I measured the tank water at 7.2, the pH in the breeder box (after 5 hours) was 7.4. AN INCREASE???? 

CURRENT PH PARAMETERS: Inside tank 7.40, External breeding box 7.46.

How can I isolate that this is a problem with the powder soil? My cull tank that is set up with the EXCESS ADA 2 Amazonia (Normal) soil I had from filling up my 2ft tank is measured at 6.5 pH! (Using the SAME pH meter). So even IF my pH meter was calibrated wrongly, there is a difference of 1 pH. The cull tank was started using water from my main tank roughly 2-3 months ago.

I decided that this soil is hardcore faulty. I have no idea why it would be like this. So, I will decom my tank and restart it when I come back from Hong Kong.

You know what's so sad about this? I have about 8-10 CRS Flowerhead shrimplets that are damned solid. The white is super thick, the red is deep. redsuns was over my place to see it.. WHAT A PITY. ARGHHHHH

Sorry, emo-ing.

Byebye CRS and BDS flowerheads, byebye KK

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## bai

> I am decomming my tank. Reason? Increase of pH. Over the last couple of days my pH has been increasing. Then today it's increased from 7.0 to 7.4. HARDCORE -_-
> 
> I have no rocks in my tank, nothing that can attribute to an increase in pH. I use full biohome media in my canister, filter wool in my prefilter. I use ADA2 Amazonia soil at the base topped up with ADA2 Amazonia powder. 
> 
> Until about 1-2 months ago, the front lawn partition of my tank has been empty. I filled it up with ADA 2 Amazonia powder. Before filling it up, my pH was 6.4ish. I HIGHLY suspect it's the ADA 2 Amazonia powder soil. Why? I set up an external breeding box and used ADA 2 Amazonia powder soil (same packet used as the front lawn). Filled it up with tank water. When I measured the tank water at 7.2, the pH in the breeder box (after 5 hours) was 7.4. AN INCREASE???? 
> 
> CURRENT PH PARAMETERS: Inside tank 7.40, External breeding box 7.46.
> 
> How can I isolate that this is a problem with the powder soil? My cull tank that is set up with the EXCESS ADA 2 Amazonia (Normal) soil I had from filling up my 2ft tank is measured at 6.5 pH! (Using the SAME pH meter). So even IF my pH meter was calibrated wrongly, there is a difference of 1 pH. The cull tank was started using water from my main tank roughly 2-3 months ago.
> ...


Sorry to hear that you have loss so many of your nice shrimps. 

By the way I also using ADA powder having this problem increase of PH maybe this batch of soil came in not so good. The normal ADA is still ok.

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## gryphon

Bro, very sad to hear this. Your CRS and BDS flowerheads are so damn solid!
Hope after your reset you will come back with similar or better solid shrimps

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## Yany

Sorry to hear about the shrimplets. Very sad whenever something like this happens... that is not within our control. 
Have fun in Hong Kong and eat loads. Then come back with a vengeance!  :Smile:

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## reiner09

looking forward to the day when you make your comeback....and with more picturess..take it as a break in HK..

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## Ecalyte

Bro.. I already got my eye set on flowerheads in HK... I can bring maximum 60 pieces, I make sure all bloody solid white/red flowerhead. After this tank of mine disaster like this, my aching gut has just increased my HK trip's budget ASTRONOMICALLY. I am going to scour the goldfish street of all their solid FH.

What if I go there and don't have solid FH? HAHAHA crap!

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## Ecalyte

Now I'm at a loss as to what soil I should use for my reset.

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## gryphon

> Now I'm at a loss as to what soil I should use for my reset.


Mosura... but must quickly get at Colourful before it runs out.
Some bros are using the new ADA, but I thinl it is still too early to tell if they are as good or better than ADA2

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## RonWill

> I decided that this soil is hardcore faulty. I have no idea why it would be like this...


 Can we safely rule out parameter fluctuations from our mains? It's been real cranky lately. Still, those were nice FHs and I feel your losses...

As far as the soil goes, have a word with the distributor and/or poll for opinions from those who are already using it. Good luck on the revamp and have a fun shopping spree.

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## Ecalyte

I just tested my aged water it's sitting at 7.24

My tap water is sitting at 7.45

My tank water is now at an AMAZING pH value of 7.69.

My cull tank (i just did water change) is sitting at 6.52.

Definitely the soil.

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## Ecalyte

Information for those who are curious, my tank has only soil, driftwood, fissidens on mesh, a moss wall made of plastic and stainless steel mesh.

ADA 2 normal soil as base, topped up with ADA 2 powder soil. 

My 2 canister filter is filled with pure biohome plus, prefilter with filter wool.. and that folks, is all I have.

Nothing that can attribute to a pH rise...

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## RonWill

> I just tested my aged water it's sitting at 7.24
> 
> My tap water is sitting at 7.45


 In and of itself, this pH level is abnormally high...

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## Ecalyte

I was quite surprised myself.. I always thought that our tap water should be slightly acidic. The TDS is 84 though. So it's very sparsely mineralised..

Maybe I should have kept the pH meter in there for longer? I dunked it in for like.. 20 seconds before it stabilized..

But that aside, the fact that the pH actually increased further suggests that the tap water's higher pH is not a determining factor..

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## gryphon

With Ecalyte, Bai and lizhien having confirmed of similar rising pH issue with ADA powdered soil, it seems that there really migh be problems with a certain batch of ADA powdered soil. Hope the distributor will be informed and look into this

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## lizhien

My water is ph 7.5.. Checked my ph pen against my friend's. No problem with the pen. Its the soil..

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## cheetf

> With Ecalyte, Bai and lizhien having confirmed of similar rising pH issue with ADA powdered soil, it seems that there really migh be problems with a certain batch of ADA powdered soil. Hope the distributor will be informed and look into this


And tell them? Isn't the purpose of the soil is for planting?

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## ZackZhou

> And tell them? Isn't the purpose of the soil is for planting?



Tell them that they are lying? Haha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## Yany

> I was quite surprised myself.. I always thought that our tap water should be slightly acidic. The TDS is 84 though. So it's very sparsely mineralised..
> 
> Maybe I should have kept the pH meter in there for longer? I dunked it in for like.. 20 seconds before it stabilized..
> 
> But that aside, the fact that the pH actually increased further suggests that the tap water's higher pH is not a determining factor..


In my opinion:
1) Our tap water is always neutral or slightly alkaline. It should not be acidic as the government would not want pipes to be corroded.  :Smile: 
2) However, it doesn't increase the PH level unless it went to certain processes or have other element added in....

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## cheetf

> Tell them that they are lying? Haha
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


They never say how long it will stay that way, they only say measured after 48 hours.

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## ZackZhou

> They never say how long it will stay that way, they only say measured after 48 hours.


Haha, okay noted


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## Ecalyte

Actually on their packaging they did mention that the properties of the soil is meant to bring the water down to an acidic pH level.. If you read my experience, I put the powder soil in a small breeder box, and the water actually increased in pH. So the soil is definitely faulty as it's performing functions that are a complete opposite as to what's been described. I've always been a strong believer of ADA, having used their soil since their first arrival in Singapore. So I know for a fact that this is a faulty batch of soil.. I haven't contacted them as I see no point in doing so. What're they going to do? Replace the soil with another batch of defective packet from the same batch? Give me a free untested New Amazonia soil? Nah.. I think I'll just stay away from the brand from now on...

If their distributors are really concerned over losing me as a customer, then they'll probably reply. The problem is that these people are just distributors. They're in no-way the creator or manufacturer of the soil, so there is very little they can do except perhaps apologize? That would be nice! Either way.. it's a case of crying over spilled milk.

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## Ecalyte

So after a long fight.. My new tank is finally cycled and ready to put some shrimps.

Added some commando flowerheads.. after 4 days, they're all alive and eating. 




These are just some of the Flowerheads I purchased from HongKong that's currently waiting for me to take home... 





Big big thanks to bro Alvinchan for helping me house my shrimps during this ordeal, and taking these pictures.

Once all the shrimps are back home, I'll try my best to take pictures of them..

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## reiner09

NICE bro ecalyte..you 're COMING BACK with real vengence!

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## Ecalyte

Just have to wait for my shrimps to be back home from alvin's tanks.. haha..

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## Noobz

> Bro.. I already got my eye set on flowerheads in HK... I can bring maximum 60 pieces, I make sure all bloody solid white/red flowerhead. After this tank of mine disaster like this, my aching gut has just increased my HK trip's budget ASTRONOMICALLY. I am going to scour the goldfish street of all their solid FH.
> 
> What if I go there and don't have solid FH? HAHAHA crap!


Bro can advise how to bring in from Hong Kong?

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## Ecalyte

Hi bro,

Just have to pack it properly in a styrofoam box and check it in. 

You're allowed 30 pieces per person in a maximum of 2L of water (need to confirm on the AVA website)

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## newlife

I like the black flower...

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## Ecalyte

Taken right after they've just been reintroduced into the tank! Hence some of the red is not very good.. This will have to do for now! Oh yea.. WATCH IN HD!

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## revo79

Beautiful flowerheads! The batch you got from Hong Kong are really nice. Must have cost you a bomb.

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## Ecalyte

It was ok.. the one that cost a bomb is this stud right here.



However, he died  :Sad:  So now I'm looking for a new stud.. hehe!

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## hyun007

I was looking at your best stud and admiring it, AND then I scroll down and saw the ending. I felt sorry for you but I can't help myself from laughing. I am really sorry, the way you wrote, tickles me.  :Laughing:

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## Noobz

> Hi bro,
> 
> Just have to pack it properly in a styrofoam box and check it in. 
> 
> You're allowed 30 pieces per person in a maximum of 2L of water (need to confirm on the AVA website)


Thanks for the info bro.

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## gryphon

He really looking stunning. Sad that it died 



> It was ok.. the one that cost a bomb is this stud right here.
> 
> 
> 
> However, he died  So now I'm looking for a new stud.. hehe!

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## revo79

What a pity. I love the legs and the thick white.

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## Ecalyte

Watch in HD!

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## newlife

beautiful....
simply love the pattern....

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## huizhong

those are very sexy flowerheads!!!

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## Yulbrainer

Wow, this is superb. I like it  :Smile:

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## reiner09

Woa they are not humble at all leh... one of the nicest FH with solid white i have seen..

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## binniez

Woah! Nice.. At the same time, what agressive females you have! Chasing the males away.. hehe

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## Ecalyte

Berried mama! Sorry for blurry picture, taken with the iPhone

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## newlife

Come to my tank for delivery ok?
I'm a gynea for your berried mama..,,

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## Ecalyte

Few updates with some shrimplets.. This brood I got quite a lot of SS "Little Lips" Crownheads and Flowerheads, very few Mosura Flowerheads and a bunch of pretty snow whites! But none of my shrimplets are below SS pattern, which should make for a small cull pool size!

Watch in HD to be able to see the shrimplets properly.. Enjoy..

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## Ecalyte

An overdue update..


IMG_2470.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2468.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2467.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2466.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2492.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2491.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2490.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2489.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2481.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2478.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2475.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2474.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr

Hope you guys enjoyed these pictures!

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## Navanod

> An overdue update..
> 
> 
> IMG_2490.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr
> 
> 
> IMG_2489.PNG by Ecalyte, on Flickr
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed these pictures!


These 2 I like!
Very unique patterns

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## soonhong

Very nice flowerhead collection....

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## avex30

wah lau you sweep up every FH you can get??

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## Ecalyte

> These 2 I like!
> Very unique patterns


Hehe ya! I used to have 3... not sure where the 3rd one is...




> Very nice flowerhead collection....


Thanks bro! Nothing compared to your PRL collection.. hehe..




> wah lau you sweep up every FH you can get??


Haha, all from my recent trip to Taiwan.. Very difficult to find in Singapore lei... haha!

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## newlife

> These 2 I like!
> Very unique patterns


Very unique Pattern....
Hee hee...
What grade should this be???

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## garyp

wow...... nice set up!! is this a custom tank?? i have a tank which i wanna seperate into 2 as well..... so maybe some tips or a contact whom i can get this done would be great!!

And the shrimps...... beautiful!!!

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## Ecalyte

> wow...... nice set up!! is this a custom tank?? i have a tank which i wanna seperate into 2 as well..... so maybe some tips or a contact whom i can get this done would be great!!
> 
> And the shrimps...... beautiful!!!


Any tank maker will be able to do a custom tank as long as you provide them specifications on how you want it done  :Smile:  Most local tank makers have been around for tens of years and would have most likely come across your requirement before and would therefore be very experienced to handle it!

Here are some names you can look out for in the Merchant Section

- N30
- SGBros
- Aquatic Style
- Fishybusiness

I am not going to list the tank maker that I used for my tank as I feel they did a really bad silicone job and the tank even came chipped (I didn't realise it until after I've set up the tank). Therefore will never ever recommend them.

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## Ecalyte

One of my best breedouts.. 
As always watch in HD!

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## newlife

> One of my best breedouts.. 
> As always watch in HD!


Swee Swee...very nice white....

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## Ecalyte

Here's a few pictures of my BDS flowerhead


IMG_2651.JPG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2681.JPG by Ecalyte, on Flickr


IMG_2686.JPG by Ecalyte, on Flickr




> Swee Swee...very nice white....


Thanks! The macro lens is making my shrimps look bad.... the flaws are so magnified!  :Sad:  You can't see it at all with the naked eye, even if you look really closely T_T

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## huizhong

It's not bad but really good quality already! I'm loving your fH collection man. Haha.

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## Navanod

> One of my best breedouts.. 
> As always watch in HD!


In days long gone, that piece would've been worth a king's ransom!

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## magpie

Seldom seen anyone rear BDS flowerhead. Thumb Up bro Ecalyte .

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