Yeah, if your shrimp population is starting to steer towards the orange color, then as they breed the percentage of orange color offspring will get higher (there will still be other shades of color being produced, just less percentage). Thats basically how specific shrimp colors are created, its though many many generation of constant culling/separating and breeding the same colors with each other until the the desired colors are achieved.Originally Posted by Bern C
I didn't know their color will fade so fast. My fire red offspring are all orange.
I don't have spare tank to cull them. Maybe I just move those almost transparent one to my guppy tank. Let say if the orange one keep mating with the orange one, I will get oranger shrimp? XD Nvm la I just treat them as orange shrimp. Cos the full orange one look quite nice also.
The lights used at LFS like OTF (and many other LFS) are usually those pinkish "color enhancement" lights, they do tend to make the shrimp color look quite different and more intense than they actually are. Its called display marketing.
Oh... that's how they breed those yellow shrimp? XD Maybe I will try it when I get another smaller tank. It seem like a tedious work. @_@
XD OTF cheated my feeling. I was like wow neon shrimp? Then I take a look properly.. it's cherry red and some of the shrimps shell is slightly transparent. Then I was thinking is it the pinky light or not. But quite cool leh buy those kind of light. Is there a led version?
Lighting is very important for showing off the colours of the fish/shrimps. It you keep fish like Guppies or Rainbow Fish, you will find that their metallic and florescent sheen is extremely attractive with the right lighting. But normally fish keepers only have lights shining from the top of the tank. Other than that, they never think of special lighting at night, for example lighting ONLY from the front with a spotlight of the correct spectral output. Thus they are missing a lot of enjoyment of the fish.
Yeah, thats how shrimp breeders create color variations, they maintain dozens and dozens of tanks just to constantly separate every generation of shrimps to line breed specific colors... the same breeding methods are also used by fancy guppy and betta breeders too.
It is indeed tedious and time-consuming work... thats why shrimps with nicer colors and patterns cost so much more.
There are quite alot of "color enhancing" LED lights available nowadays... usually used by those who keep blood parrot fishes, goldfishes, discus etc.
Here is an example: http://www.up-aqua.com/00-dm-page/00up_ad-led-U-R1.jpg
I saw those lighting on fish before but never think of making use of the light till I saw it on the cherry shrimp and ramhorn snail. Maybe it's because of the glossy shell that make it more attractive and also it's on the black substrate. XD Thinking of trying it but I don't have fire red shrimp.
Guys~~~ I have being trying out the hay feeding. I didn't feed my moina for 4-5days and added some hay and hay infusion 3 days ago. Moina seem to turn little brown.
@_@ My tank kinda messy due to the hay.I saw quite a numbers of cyclops too. Will cyclops eat Moina babies??
It seem like I gotta start another culture.
Where you got the hay from? How did you prepared the hay infusion? Mind to tell?
Guys~~~ I have being trying out the hay feeding. I didn't feed my moina for 4-5days and added some hay and hay infusion 3 days ago. Moina seem to turn little brown.
@_@ My tank kinda messy due to the hay.
I got them from my ex-workplace but I not sure where the source also. XD Mine looks more like straw than hay. Last time we have tried straw, rabbit/hamster hay and dried grass from the road side after grass cutting. The problem with dried grass is that we not sure if it got polluted since it's along the road side. Straw not rich enough. Hay has the richest content but pricey.
For preparation, there are many ways but I stick to the mosquito bait infusion. hay + water + 1 week of fermentation(just left it in the lab without sunlight). For my moina culture, I used 500ml bottle + 3 stalks of straw. XD But I chose to change my plan after reading the forum about adding hay into the daphnia culture. So after 1-2 day of soaking the straws in the water which soften the straws, I add 1 stalk of straw + 1/2 bottle of infusion into the culture. @_@ So my tank looks kinda messy due to the straw rotting.
Rotting is good, mah, since bacteria is produced for the Moina to eat. I think dried yeast can also produce bacteria.
Your picture is superb, man. Very clear. What camera you used to take it?
Yeah~ but kinda unsightly due to the brown particles floating around. XD Hope no fungus growing though I have some slime growing on my potting soil bag. Thinking of removing it for the moment. Now I having trouble to harvest due to the brown particles.
I thinking of starting another culture due to the cyclops which I afraid it will compete with my Moina in the future.
Yeah.. I tried dry yeast on one of the culture but XD I suck at it. 3-4 days later it will crash, which might due to overfeeding or container too small. @_@
Now I will see how long the hay method will last. So far it has the least casualties. ^_^ It has being 8 days with only hay and they are still multiplying. XD Just hope they can last.
I'm using iphone camera. XD Dunno how to use DSLR.
Well, hope you succeed in your cultures.
^_^ Thank You~ Also many thanks for all the advises from you guys~Well, hope you succeed in your cultures.
Update on my Moina in Jar culture:
=( My only running culture. Dunno how long can they last.Still trying to make an almost maintenance free culture.
Last edited by Bern C; 19th Jun 2015 at 20:43.
How you make hay infusion? Why you can get hay? Where to get?Update on my Moina in Jar culture:
=( My only running culture. Dunno how long can they last.
That hay infusion is my left over and I diluted it with water. I used 1/2 of the 500ml bottle of hay infusion + hay for my main culture last time. So I diluted the left over hay infusion w/o hay with water. Then use it again and dilute it again. Mine is actually straws as shown on the pic above. You can use rabbit/hamster hay instead. It's more rich so just use a little bit will do. Let say the 500ml mineral water bottle, just enough to cover the bottom will do. XD You can add more but the smell will be damn awful, can smell like rubbish truck if too concentrated. Then dilute it up to your preference. XD I don't have the exact formula to feed the moina. You can also use boiling/hot water to soak the hay to soften it 1st, then pour away the water and refill it. XD Just a gentle reminder, use another container that can safely withstand boiling water.
XD This jar is actually an unexpected culture. It supposed to meant for frozen pulex experiment but I ended up adding 3 Moina. XD So the ammonia source is actually frozen pulex. =X I actually didn't plan to add in any food but I don't have aged water so I used the diluted hay infusion for top up. Actually the diluted hay infusion didn't cloud the water. It seem that moina still able to find food in clear water, which i suspect once the phytoplankton or bacteria build up they will eat it. Or maybe they eating the wall algae, I really have no idea. Also the substrate are filled with algae that will pearl. I think quite a balance eco system.
Is the hay the ones used to feed horses? How to make an infusion? Is it by soaking in water?
Yup... any dried grass used to feed animals = hay. Straw is for bedding due to low nutrients. So for straws the infusion will be milder than hay. After 2-3 use(refill of fresh water), can throw away the straw and replace the with new straw.
For my hay infusion:
1)Soak in hot/boiling water to soften the hay. Also to kill whatever micro-organism, fungus, bacteria etc. Then pour away the water. <=== Optional. The longer you soak, the more nutrients will be lost. I will soak till the water cool off if I am adding hay straight into my Moina culture else 5-15min should be enough.
2)Add hay into a container with a cover(don't have to be airtight). I don't have the exact answer for the amount of hay to amount of water. It depends on richness of hay or straw. Also the purpose of the hay infusion. It's more of trial and error to get your idea infusion. I usually do it with 1/10 hay to 9/10 water.
3)Fill the container with water and cover it. Let it ferment for 1 week away from direct sunlight.
4)After a week, the culture might be very gross and super stinky. At times you might find the mold and fungus growing on your infusion. No worries, just stir the infusion. The infusion is ready when there's a smell, water turn brown and slightly cloudy.
5)Filter the amount of infusion you need through a kitchen sieve or net. If you want less particles then filter again with brine shrimp net. Note** Don't throw away the hay residue as it can be reused.
6)Return the hay residue back to the container and refill the container when it's near empty. For hay, it can be reused 3-5times. So label your container the number of times it has being reused.
7)Dilute the filtered infusion to your desired concentration with water. =D Done~
Hope this help. ^_^ Oh ya.... BTW remember to cover the moina culture with mosquito net or something as hay infusion is used as a mosquito bait.
@Bern_C
Thank you very much for your detailed instructions.
How long can dried hay be stored for future use, months or years?
How long can dried hay be stored for future use, months or years?[/QUOTE]
No problem~ =D
Since we are using it to make infusion, it can be stored for few years if kept dry and away from sunlight. XD But don't use it to feed hamster rabbit if it's more than a year old hay as it will lose it nutrition values as it ages. Try to get a very small pack, as hay can be reused. I don't recommend drying the used hay and store it for next reuse as I never try it before. @_@ I think it gonna be very messy due the the gross stuff and hay starting to break up.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks