Beardedbillygoat’s Fish & Shrimp Tank Journal

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

The 60 gallon is a joint project with my wife. I’d had the idea of some nanofish being put in there at some point maybe in the fall but she’d broached the subject. It came down to CPDs or green neons and the tight schooling of the green neons won out. I’m a catfish guy so the subject of a dwarf cory species came up and I thought the pygmys habit of schooling with other species helped us finish off the stocking. 

I shut some videos of the neon schooling as well. The only contact the shrimps and the fish have is if the neos get in the way of the school or if the cats get in amongst the plants and you’ll see the neos pop up. 

Here’s a better video of their schooling behavior. 

it’s really added a new dimension to the tank. The back right corner is still fan shrimp central. The orange Sakura neos are everywhere. I love watching them scape the lace plant to get to the red root floaters ! 

Have fun everyone! 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Some updates: 

Ive found a local Sulawesi snail dealer, just need them to email me back on timing to get those snails?!

60 g - Im really excited about a lot of berried shrimps. The mommas are all hanging in the back of the tank which I’ve found to be the usual for berried momma neos. 

shrimplets are one of my favorite things in the world really any baby coming up in my tanks is exciting! 
 

45 g tonight I saw a baby bristlenose pleco, he was too tiny and in a spot I couldn’t get a good pic or video and so I’m just terribly excited about this tank well except the MTS invasion I’ve got but I’ll address that in due time! Speaking of which need to get a QT tank up and running for my snail solution! 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

8 hours ago, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

 

How do you have so many vampire shrimp?!?

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@TheSwissAquarist2 vampire shrimp, 3 bamboo shrimp

[anewbie]

When i see 'vampire' shrimp I think of of sucking the life out of ....

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I’ve recently been working on my 45 g. 

First issue was the particulate floating in the tank. Cory’s and plecos, we all love these little buggers but with aqua soil it’s hard. So I’ve capped the aqua soil with sand - my fishwife lives lighter substrates- and I’ve added a HOB with lots of fine filter pads. It’s worked. It looks better! 

Next up was planting. In the back left the Val has never really come back in that corner. I tried moving some runners and more mature plants and yet like Val always does it did it’s own thing and struggled. Recently saw an insane Nymphaea species on auction (micrantha) and some larger crypt undulata to fill out the tank. 

I’ve been much more careful about the population in this tank. I had huge schools of tetra before and instead of restocking I focused on the survivors of the previous disaster - my cherry barbs and Rhadinocentrus “Searys creek.” I added some males and with my fish room being fairly broken down added in a trio of adult Rhads. I’ve really loved the look but the snails have now begun to gum up filtration so I decided to add a group that could handle the snails.

 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

60 g display - this is a joint venture with my lovely fishwife. We’ve been slowly stocking this tank with peaceful inverts and nano fish. 
 

I’ve been very appreciative of all the feedback and support. It’s a really lovely tank. So enjoyable to sit in front of and watch the pygmy Cory’s and green neons school together after feeding. The orange Sakura neos are very active and as you can see saddled and berried. 
 

I’d wanted to consider another peaceful inhabitant. My focus is that any inhabitant needs to serve a function in the tank and take a niche that would benefit the other inhabitants. I don’t want anything too large and think about its role in the tank for the long term. A pleco or otocinclus catfish seemed a good choice. Something that could benefit the neos and not threaten the other inhabitants. Thanks to my participation in some FB groups for the state of Washington a group of L397s came up for sale from a regional well regarded breeder. With all the wood in my scape and biofilm generated by the moderate to high light and nutrients I felt that they were a beautiful and appropriate choice. Their poop 💩 with all the wood and biofilm is gold reportedly for neocaridina. To say they’ve settled in would be accurate since I only see their tails typically. I perhaps chose my wood too well as some of the wood particularly a chunk of drift wood from La Push has so many grooves that I think there are 3-4 of the 6 in there. To my surprise last night one of the youngsters came out to play. 

One more reason to love this tank. Have fun and a safe productive weekend! 

[JChristophersAdventures]

An amazing tank! Those orange shrimp really shine against the wood/plant backdrop. At approximately what PH does this tank run at, if you don't mind me asking? Thanks.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I’m in the Pacific Northwest. Our water municipality does some bad things with water which led to the collapse of my fishroom for context.
 

We’ve been hovering just south of 7 around 6.8, kh at 50-80, gH at 150-300, remineralized r/o over a substrate that’s organic compost, aquasoil, generic aquarium gravel and sand. This along with the mix of hard scape- wood is Malaysian driftwood, Washington coast driftwood; larger rock is agates from Central Oregon along with volcanic rock from the same place with river stones from good knows where - maintain a nearly neutral pH. Out the tap my water is 6-6.4 typically. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

Are those plants fake?!? They look too good to be true! 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I’ve not doctored photos so yep those are my plants. Fluval 3.0 plus a Coop light on both displays, Fluval is on risers to get best coverage and the Coop Light is on the glass lid. Easy Green and Easy Iron. I’ve added some rare Excel but yeah not in at least a month as the shrimps, fish and snails have been ridding me of algae’s. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 7/16/2023 at 12:50 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I’ve not doctored photos so yep those are my plants. Fluval 3.0 plus a Coop light on both displays, Fluval is on risers to get best coverage and the Coop Light is on the glass lid. Easy Green and Easy Iron. I’ve added some rare Excel but yeah not in at least a month as the shrimps, fish and snails have been ridding me of algae’s. 

Madagascar Laceplant looks great anyway. 😍

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@TheSwissAquaristironiclally saw a bunch of BBA this AM so I’ll make some adjustments. Ironical.

I’ve seen my vampire shrimp get a bit more comfortable. I think they know there’s no predators now which is nice. 

I obtained a group of 15 juvenile rabbit snails as I head toward a goal of starting a Sulawesi tank. Our club had Hans Georg Evers in to speak on the aquatic life of Sulawesi. Worth my membership fee - that man can really inspire an aquarist. I was already contemplating a Sulawesi tank when the talk was posted (I had COVID so couldn’t attend) and well it’s a done deal now. They are so small you can’t see the rabbit heads but they are nice looking snails - their shells are that lovely cocoa brown you see in photos and videos and then you see little yellow, orange and polka dotted faces. 

Guppies, I’ve had groups in the past and missed them. Recently my tub with the surviving members of the original sad bowl family I found a blue guppy in there  - these are the Blue Hawaiian Moscows from Luke Roebucks line via @Bentley Pascoe. I’m not sure if I have a male or female but anyway that was an exciting event. It’s spurred me on to eventually trap that guppy and perhaps then obtain a group from RedFishBlueFish where he sells them. But while obtaining the rabbit snails I was offered a trio of Santa Claus 🎅 guppies and I grabbed them. Any guppies that breed true and especially with females that show good color I’m usually in on and these deliver. 

Hope you’ve had a great weekend. I’m headed out to work on the yard and gawk at my ponds. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Ah my garden in the evening is quite lovely. I’ve worked with the fishwife on her garden beds and we’ve been doing some projects to help our yard and prepare for the fall/winter/spring rains ie anti-erosion work. Eventually this will include at least 2 perhaps 3 rain gardens and hopefully a larger bog and pond that they’ll feed into. It’s good to dream big but this is actually doable I think. 
My mini and other ponds are coming along. This is my 30 g resin planter, it’s got a fun Aponogeton species distachyus, some Marsilea martica a 4 leaf clover type plant and a hardy lilly that’s never bloomed. Oh and giant duckweed! Can’t forget the duckweed although the giant version is definitely preferable to the tiny stuff. Makes good mulch! Stocking are some whiteclouds I rarely see. I think I’ll get some more golden WCs and see if the regulars will follow them around. 
This is the 50 g Rubbermaid which I used as quarantine for my shubunkins. It’s also got a group of sunset variatus which are stunning and have the longfin dorsal genes.

Planting I’ve got arrowhead plant Sagitarria latifolia, Caltha palustris the aquatic marigold, Cascade Iris, Scirpis zebrinis the zebra rush, and Juncus effusis the corkscrew rush. 

Here’s the 150 G after initial instal. I can’t say that the watering function for the garden is all that great. I think I want to try some watering hose where it’s got those small holes and run that through our beds. I’ve actually been awful about the plants in there honestly I don’t know all their names like I do the plants in the smaller mini ponds. 
Initially I had the setup Cory recommended with a sponge and airstone connected to the drain for the 150 but with all the adjustments I needed to do I abandoned it and did one xl sponge filter. Eventually I replanted these plants and settled on the current setup. 
Inahbitants are a group Of 7 golden whiteclouds and 5 shubunkins. 
The white with red on the head (Kohaku) is the only one a name with my youngest naming them Chris.

My next step is using some bamboo shade cloth to go around the 150 so I don’t have to stare at the Rubbermaid insignia or the plumbing. 

Something so soothing about it. My wife and I as we sat out tonight she mentioned she wants something in our front area as you walk in to help demarcate the space and create small sitting areas and mentioned perhaps a water fall which is super exciting. Im thinking of either using the existing 50 g or perhaps buying another about that size to be the catchment for the falls. Sounds like a nice spot for some more fish!

Have fun everyone!!

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Santa Claus guppies! The females are getting really big. I’m excited for fry. 
I really like this strain as both the males and females are gorgeous. Females have turquoise and pink on the tails! 
New additions to the nano 60 g. Firstly I wanted to put my Rhadinocentrus Searys Creeks in there - more swimming room and lighting planting really brings out their colors. 

Also in the 60 are a trio 2 females and 1 male Mexican Dwarf Crayfish. Beautiful little critters. 

Finally I’ve added some neocaridina to the future Sulawesi tank. I figured I’d spend a small amount now, make sure the shrimp do well then go after a colony of cardinal shrimp. 
 

Have fun everyone! 

[Lennie]

Very nice looking tanks dude! 

 

could you please inform me regarding the lace plant? I wanted to keep them but I remember reading them going dormant after mid 20s C temperatures. So I quit the idea. What's your experience like?

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Lenniesuper hardy, grow well, tough, perfect for shrimp or algae eaters who can rasp on the leaves - otos, bristlenose, etc. here’s the thing with them and Crinums, Aponogetons etc- if you have a big swing in parameters or temps then they’ll go dormant. But the advantage is you won’t lose the plant when the tank crashes for whatever reason. The one in my 60 g is the same one I bought 4 years ago. That to me is amazing! They love root tabs I give them one or two every couple months. If they go dormant then just trim back, put some root tabs, do you best to have stable parameters and it’ll come back. Light can be intermediate to moderate for best growth. It can be a magnate for algae’s but when a tank is well balanced it will also fend it away as it grows quite quickly. 

[Lennie]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:31 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Lenniesuper hardy, grow well, tough, perfect for shrimp or algae eaters who can rasp on the leaves - otos, bristlenose, etc. here’s the thing with them and Crinums, Aponogetons etc- if you have a big swing in parameters or temps then they’ll go dormant. But the advantage is you won’t lose the plant when the tank crashes for whatever reason. The one in my 60 g is the same one I bought 4 years ago. That to me is amazing! They love root tabs I give them one or two every couple months. If they go dormant then just trim back, put some root tabs, do you best to have stable parameters and it’ll come back. Light can be intermediate to moderate for best growth. It can be a magnate for algae’s but when a tank is well balanced it will also fend it away as it grows quite quickly. 

Yea I better not force my luck regarding the temperature considering they are an expensive plant, at least here. It is super hard for me to keep it stable sadly :') 

 

Thank you for your detailed response!

[anewbie]

On 7/25/2023 at 11:31 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Lenniesuper hardy, grow well, tough, perfect for shrimp or algae eaters who can rasp on the leaves - otos, bristlenose, etc. here’s the thing with them and Crinums, Aponogetons etc- if you have a big swing in parameters or temps then they’ll go dormant. But the advantage is you won’t lose the plant when the tank crashes for whatever reason. The one in my 60 g is the same one I bought 4 years ago. That to me is amazing! They love root tabs I give them one or two every couple months. If they go dormant then just trim back, put some root tabs, do you best to have stable parameters and it’ll come back. Light can be intermediate to moderate for best growth. It can be a magnate for algae’s but when a tank is well balanced it will also fend it away as it grows quite quickly. 

Bit confused since crinums are from a different family as aponogetons and have different requirements. Also different apongogetons have different requirements and different tendency towards dormancy. Some require removal to different environment; others don't go dormant and some will periodically go dormant but do not require removal from aquarium. There are different plants sold as 'lace' and unfortunately they come from different regions of africa and have different requirements/behavior.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Tanks are coming along, water changed both my main displays and saw some interesting things. 

Ive had multiple sightings of multiple members of my L397 group! Wooohooo! Gosh what a lovely little fish! Those worm lines on the heads and the vivid colors, gorgeous ! 

The vampire shrimp have been great fun along with the bamboo shrimp. They have their own corner with a powerhead that I feed every other day with powdered foods. 

 

I put a feeding dish up front in the tank which has helped my shrimp keeping- being able to see all the generations and get a sense of how they’re coming along in terms of producing more. 

Plants well it’s been interesting. I’ve struggled with my regulator sealing properly. I’ve tried different gaskets and just can’t get it going again. I’ve been terrified of what the outcome would be but instead the plants are growing slower but the vibrancy has continued. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I had an opportunity to do some long delayed maintenance and resetting of tanks today.

Unfortunately, we lost our 4 year old beta DJ Turbo. He was the traditional Thai colors and was tough as nails survived horrible illness at purchase and then the move fromOregon to Washington. RIP DJ T you will be missed. Kids don’t like having a tank with memories of a beloved pet so a quick reset was in order. I’d thought about turning his tank into a Caridina tank but moneys are tight and I have stock on hand. I reset it with H2O2 and some new aquasoil Brightwell Rio Oscuro which I like because there’s no ammonia spike with it kind of perfect for capping the existing soil. 

Its a 10 g cube, lava rock and some beach pebbles, crypts and lagenandra, stems some bacopa, moss is fissdens. 
Stock are 4 female Santa Claus guppies juveniles, and 6 cherry shrimp. The female Santa’s are gorgeous and so far the numbers in my breeding tank are heavily skewed female. 
Our female betta Mrs Turbo is obviously sad about the loss of her man. I figured she deserved a nice tank clean up as well. Moved some plants around and removed our beloved duck weed.

its an enjoyable tank with fun inhabitants and low drama.

The Bowl! It’s been looking sad-ish and needed a change. I started with the plants and the stock removed along with the hardscape. 
I wanted to create a structure for the pea puffers to hide and something that could peak their interest and contain the rhizome plants better. 

I think as this grows in it’ll fit the brief. 

My next task is to get my super red plecos out of their 15g and into their own 40 breeder. I’ll leave the 2 types of Caridina serrata (Aura Blue and Tangerine Tigers) in there to breed out. Then this fall I’ll see if I can grab some other Neos maybe Blue Dreams and start another colony with the Super Reds. I’m off work for a week with a trip coming up Wednesday we’ll see how much I can get done.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

In terms of future projects - 

1. Neocaridina davidi- I’m working on a super Bloody Mary line of Neos. I’m planning to source some additional stock after I see what my first couple generations of putting these groups together. This is a 20 g long loaded with all kinds of hair and dust algaes. I’ve got rabbit snails, ramshorns and bladder snails as probably some MTS as well. 

2. Caridina serrata- I’ve got a colony of Caridina serrata Aura Blue and Tangerine Tigers going with my super red plecos. Was planning to upgrade them to a 40 breeder this fall but they hopped on the plants when I was working on the 40 breeder for the super reds and there you go. 

3. Opae ula- I’m moving ahead with plan for a 40 breeder with Opae ula shrimp. As there were concerns about the mattenfilter I’m going to do it with just an undergravel filter, some base rock for reef, black volcanic rock and substrate will be crushed coral and inert pool filter sand. I’ve been contemplating doing this tank with Pseudomeugil cyanodorsalis. I think once the colony takes off and I’ve got tons of shrimp I could consider this as once I add the fish I’m sure a number of them will become lunch. I really want to do some macro algae like chaeto and some mangroves. A good fall/winter in the Pacific NW project! 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I went away for the holiday weekend and my brother-in-law who’s living with us for a bit sent me a video of my tank with a reduced water level and the powerhead running dry. I asked him to turn off the powerhead and I’d be home the next day should fingers crossed 🤞 be fine. Came home and the water level was lower and now he’s telling a story of a leak in the basement with the tank above the leak on the ground floor and it was about 7.5 gallons as he collected a full bucket and another half dripping or at times pouring out a vent. When I got home the power strip would not turn on for the tank and it was wet. Right above it I found the culprit I’d put a HOB on to polish the water and best I can figure out it failed somehow and dumped over the back and Bobs your uncle there’s the leak. I’ve filled it back up and nobody is the worse for wear as it leaked into the vent and then dropped out the vent so wasn’t through the floor boards. House wise we’ve gotten an evaluation and we were f’ing lucky 🍀!!

Photo dump: at first I thought I’d lost a vampire shrimp but man what a molt! 

Here he and his orange terrorist brothers at their latest board meeting, they serve Repashy and cucumber at their soirée don’t you know ?!

Had a rare day off recently and took the boys to the Seattle Aquarium. 
Brilliant cuttlefish 

Giant Pacific Octopus 🐙 

An appreciation for the finer things in life 

The Pier and some ice cream makes for happy lads. 

Im dreaming about my supersized Opae ulae tank. I’m keeping my eye out for base or living rock but I think I can get away with just lava rock which I already have. I also have a bag of crushed coral, a UGF and now I just need money and time. I’ve been thinking it would be cool once the colony is established to add Pseudomeugil cyanodorsalis who have inordinately small mouths so although they’ll eat the occasional baby if I have enough crevices and rock I doubt seriously they’d be able to get to them all. 

[nabokovfan87]

Congratulations on everything being ok. What a nightmare that somehow worked out. 

Wonderful trip and very cool to see all the things. Biggs (guy on YouTube) will often travel and stop in and do tours for his channel. Very fun little way to see a lot of places that I'd probably never get to. 🙂