The Crystal Red Shrimp tanks at Colourful Aquarium

[blackBRUSHalgae]

Agree. But the plants in his crs tank are really minimal nor do they look very healthy to me. If i happen to pass by some day, will take a picture.

I can see where you come from, looking at his simple tank and thinking to yourself how the hell he could managed to breed such high grades CRS? But you must take in consideration that his tank is very very matured already, and on top of that, you must also consider things like:

how often is he feeding his shrimps?

what are the total surface area in his tank? (surface area of each and every gravel of substrate, surface area of his small little HOF's suction pipe, safety sponge on the suction pipe and filter sponge in the HOF, surface area on the outside and inside of the HOF, surface area of the tank... basically surface area of anything and everything )

How often he changes the water?

How much he changes each time?

What kind of water he uses to replace the removed water?

What is his tank's temp?

Does the temp fluctuate?

If so, by how much and how often?

How much air is exchanged between the water column and air column?

By breaking down, how much carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, etc, is being exchanged each time?

And there are probably hundreds more conditions to consider...


and basically, there are so many factors involves in this complex ecosystem, you can't judge by the simple looks and commit yourself into believing there is some magic somewhere in this simple setup.

[marle]

Wow. Thanks for the insights.

Bro, there are some questions its obvious i cant answer as i do not know, but lets try to answer as many as possible.

Feeding - i think he overfeeds his crs as i saw mouldy food inside.

Temperature - There is an air conditioner located just on top of his tanks.

Surface Area - Each tank does not look very big to me, there are some bigger ones and in fact i saw a very small crs tank even about 15cm by 10cm.

Last but not least, i do not believe that theres some magic somewhere but actually realized the fact that contrary to many breeder's belief of having alot of filtration like canisters and ios, a simple overhead filter will suffice when other factors are fulfilled. Let me elaborate.

I agree with you that the water in his tank is very mature, but there is one thing we can learn. The fact that colourful has achieved is not magical but it has proven to us that one does not require lots of filter media in the filters to keep crs. I am amazed, yes! Because i have never witnessed such a simple setup before. Most of the time i see crs keepers with canisters or filters with large capacity for filter media. This is the message i want to convey, and not saying theres magic. Do you get me bro?

[stillife]

Hi Marle,

I do have a friend who managed to breed SS grades 4 times in his 40cm x 20 x20 tank with just a small wattage internall filter, a pump to aerate the water, using GEX plant/shrimp substrate, a timer base PL light for a dw of fissiden and foreground plants. Office environment which can achieve constant air-conditioner (between 21-24 degC)

His tank has lots of "tiny pest" which he claim healthy and couple of horn snails.

Personally, I feel that one must understand the best condition for rearing CRS. These tiny creatures are very sensitive and they need good water conditions. I did spoke to Colorful boss and he told me temperature to rear CRS has to be low. You need chiller he claimed. I notice he set his temp for his chiller @ 24 Deg and as Marle has observed, he also has aircon running above his tank. I also saw many fans blowing on top of some tanks (I guess some plants need cold water to grow well)

Back to your thread on how he managed to rear these high grade CRS, on one side we see the best part of his success, I guess we do have to consider situation where not all CRS will survived. The boss did told me that not all will live. I guess putting those good CRS into smaller tank could be part of his selection breeding.

The water condition in his shop should be well maintained enough for him to shuffle around. I guess have to be for him since this is part of his business.

Nice thoughts and information from all...

cheers

[Quixotic]

I agree with you that the water in his tank is very mature, but there is one thing we can learn. The fact that colourful has achieved is not magical but it has proven to us that one does not require lots of filter media in the filters to keep crs. I am amazed, yes! Because i have never witnessed such a simple setup before. Most of the time i see crs keepers with canisters or filters with large capacity for filter media. This is the message i want to convey, and not saying theres magic. Do you get me bro?

The problem is a lot of other people MAY think it is magic.

The need for cannisters or filters with large capacity for filter media is not merely based on what you see and do, it's what that may happen if you do not do what you are supposed to do.

Let's say, you forget to change water one week, then the week after, and then after and... Or perpaps, someone spilled more food into the tank that you are unaware of.

Which do you think would be better equipped to cope with a potential issue? I would choose the cannisters/filters with large capacity for filter media any time. But then of course, there can be many other unknown factors, so mileage will vary.

I think I have said it before, it's about risk management, it's how you understand and manage the potential pitfalls of the setup you have.

[marle]

bro, i cannot agree more with you. For myself, i would also prefer to have tanks equipped with better filtration when i am keeping crs compared to one like colourful.

I get your point.