gogomarigo

I’m thinking of possibly creating a mini pond that will ideally stay on my porch all year long. I live in Seattle. The weather has been a bit unpredictable these past few years but usually, we rarely get temps below 40 degrees/above 80 degrees. Again, sometimes we have unusually cold or hot periods but overall, we tend to have pretty mild weather. I’m thinking of doing a Japanese style medaka pond (10 - 15 gallons). Has anyone done one without a filter or air stone? I have an outlet on my porch but I’m worried rain will get into it when it’s windy. During the summer months, I’m planning to move the pond towards the shady area of the porch or bring inside when it’s over 80 degrees. I heard medaka are quiet hardy when it comes to the cold. I’m not sure if the water will still be okay when the temp gets too cold for plants though. I feel like water hyacinth, water lily, pennywort, water lettuce, etc. wouldn’t do too well in the colder months...? And if that’s the only source of filtration, I wonder if that will cause a crash. I know the fish’s metabolism slows down when it’s colder anyway but not sure if potential plant loss would cause everything to crash.

Still waiting for the water sprite to fill in the back but the tank is coming along quite nicely!⠀ ⠀ Some days I want to tear it down and re-start from scratch but I’m learning to trust the process. Amazon sword and three water sprite from the Co-op!😍

My first (visible) baby shrimp!! It’s only a few days old.⠀ ⠀ I was surprised because I thought the eggs were hatched on the opposite side of the tank where the other mama shrimp have been hanging out.

Blue velvet. yes, they were originally yellow.

What does it mean when my berried neos eggs are turning white? It’s just happening to a couple of them so far. One has all white eggs. One has a mix of white and yellow. If the eggs are dying, would the shrimp drop them automatically or might she hold onto them/potentially get an infection...? This is my first time having berried shrimp (over 5 total so far!)

Did some tank cleaning in preparation for my first ever shrimplets, due next week at the earliest! Photo: Little Pyggies chillin’ out

Do the green neons need a lower ph or will they be okay at a neutral ph?

Really cool, thanks for sharing!!

Has anyone tried feeding bee pollen to their neos before? Some things I’m wondering: How often do you feed? As a regular food or just as a treat? Is the bee pollen a good source of food for baby shrimp or is it more for adults? Do fish tend to go for it too or do they generally leave it alone?

Not the best photo but I have my first berried shrimp! It’s a blue neo from the Coop😊 This one seems to be a blue rili. It’s funny cause last night, my partner had remarked on how big that particular shrimp was getting (she hadn’t dropped her eggs yet). And I was doing extra research on neocaridina life cycle, trying to estimate when they’d transition from juveniles to adults and begin mating—very anxious to make sure my shrimp feel comfortable. I think it’d be cool to observe the lifecycle of neos but I also want breeding because to me, it’s an indicator that the shrimp are happy and feel safe. I’ve been wanting sparkling gouramis but the Coop has been sold out. The bright side is that this gives me a better opportunity to grow my shrimp colony in the meantime. I have Pygmy Corys but I read that they’re safer for baby shrimp since they’re omnivores but have more scavenging behavior rather than actively searching for and chasing little moving things to eat. I have lots of plant cover and leaf litter too. I read that Pygmy Corys are also relatively easy to breed🤔 They lay eggs tho so it would be more complicated for a beginner like me compared to “live bearers” like the sparkling gourami (can that term be used generally or is it only used for particular types of fish like mollies and guppies...?) I feel like most beginner fish keepers are attracted to the bright colors of guppies, neon/cardinal tetras, bettas, apistos, etc. but there’s something that makes my heart flutter seeing the hint of rainbow flashes on “plain” colored fish like Pygmy Corys and sparkling gouramis (kind of like the sparkly details of the book, “Rainbow Fish”). Plus sparkling gouramis have those beautiful bright blue eyes! Anyway, I marked the date to start actively checking for missing eggs/baby shrimp in my planner (which I mostly use for work). I feel like I’m a grandma😂 I’m excited!!

Tested a food dish for the Pygmy Corys since they (and the Amano shrimp) are quite messy eaters. I’ve been feeding frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, Hikari micro pellets, Hikari sinking wafers, and Fluval bug bites. The sinking wafers are the least messy but the Corys aren’t as crazy for them as the other foods, particularly the micro pellets. Maybe it’s the krill? Just tried the bug bites today but they didn’t seem too interested in that either. Second place goes to chopped up frozen bloodworms (if they’re whole, sometimes they come out of the Corys’ gills😟). Third goes to frozen brine. I’ll probably skip the dish and continue encouraging their natural grazing/scavenging behavior. Seems like food particles still float out of the dish anyway, since the Corys are so wiggly. I fed a bit too much this time but usually, the shrimp (Amano + blue neos) and various microfauna (and plants!) take care of the rest.

Ah, I read through the list like five times and my eyes missed it. Thanks!

The is the name of the fish that looks like it has leopard spots?

Caught this tiny lil bladder snail using its bladder organ to float

Also, the taller stems keep leaning sideways so I’m wondering if the light is too intense