If you were buying neocaridina shrimp today, what color would you buy?

[AquaHobbyist123]

Blue Jelly/Blue Velvet! That light shade of blue is my favorite color.

[Jungle Fan]

I don't regret going with my Blue Dream Neocaridinas, added to my gentle giant Amanos. I started with six Blue Dreams and now there are well over a hundred. Every once in a while a red, orange, or white and red recombinant show up among them, my wife and I consider them pleasant little surprises.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I have blue dream, and if I were to buy more shrimp, I'd buy blue dream again.  I love them.

[Jungle Fan]

Here is one of my Blue Dream recombinants I was talking about, although this little guy is a little paler than some of the other red and white ones that have appeared.

PS: This picture was taken right after I had been sick and before the longest, epic maintenance session ever; hence the green dust algae on the glass.😄

Edited December 14, 2022 by Jungle Fan

[AdamScott]

Reds and blues sell like hot cakes around me

[PineSong]

On 12/14/2022 at 2:44 PM, Jungle Fan said:

I don't regret going with my Blue Dream Neocaridinas, added to my gentle giant Amanos. I started with six Blue Dreams and now there are well over a hundred. Every once in a while a red, orange, or white and red recombinant show up among them, my wife and I consider them pleasant little surprises.

I am SO jealous of your moss!

[Root]

On 12/22/2022 at 7:51 PM, PineSong said:

I am SO jealous of your moss!

What type of moss is that???

[Root]

My LFS recently got into shrimp and keeps Red and Blue stocked up. So far he is keeping them in a small fluval flex. People seem to be picking them up here so hopefully he will start exploring more color options and space. I think if I walked in and he had a few yellows I would get them. I have been really eyeballing them online and think they would pop really well. 

[Jungle Fan]

On 12/22/2022 at 7:02 PM, Paul R said:

What type of moss is that???

@Paul R What you see in these pictures is mostly Phoenix moss Fissidens fontanus, but I've also got a good amount of Christmas moss Vesicularia montagnei on one of the branches. Here is a side view from the stump on the left that shows the two branches of the stump on the right; the big rounded mound is the Phoenix moss while the other branch has both Phoenix, and Christmas moss.

[Jungle Fan]

@Paul R Here's a view from the other side that shows the difference between the Phoenix and the Christmas moss much clearer.

[Root]

@Jungle Fan Thank you for the reply and for sharing. You have a beautiful setup. 
 

Do you run co2 for the moss and if so do you find that it helps? I purchased Christmas moss a few months ago and it didn’t do well. I then got some and chopped it up finely and rubbed it on my driftwood like a dry seasoning rub and just a few weeks ago I noticed growth! It is starting to take off, but it is in no hurry as expected. Lol

I had co2 before this, but once it ran out I left it that way and have been contemplating on getting it back. The plants I have slowed down in growth which was the goal, but I really would like to speed up the moss if I could.

As far as the Phoenix moss Fissidens fontanus, does it have the same care requirements as the Christmas Moss? Thank you for your time. 

 

[PineSong]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:32 AM, Jungle Fan said:

@Paul R Here's a view from the other side that shows the difference between the Phoenix and the Christmas moss much clearer.

So beautiful! I love both of those looks. I hope  to have success with moss one day.

[Jungle Fan]

@Paul R I do run CO2 in my tank, not necessarily for the moss but it does seem to respond favorably to it as well. The chop up and rub method has been around for a while and I believe it was pioneered by Takashi Amano when he was still alive, at least it was when I first became aware of it. In my experience it takes longer than what I'm doing though which is to attach the moss with superglue using portions of moss and attaching each piece by the originating point only, spraying with water after each piece to accelerate the setting process. I've actually described it in more detail in my 75 Gallon Amazon Jungle Tank Journal. Even though the Phoenix moss is actually from here in the States originally and the Christmas moss from Indonesia they both have the same requirements. As to lower temperature needed as some people insist I can dispel this myth my tank is kept at a steady 78.6 degrees F; the same goes for the "if you grow it too close to the surface it will be overrun by algae" neither my Phoenix moss, or the Christmas moss have that problem despite of their location. I do have to point out that I don't know of any tanks that are 100% algae free, not even the Prize winning aquascapes. Algae is a fact of life whether it gets to take over and dominate depends on how well the components of nutrients, light, and temperature are balanced. In case you would like to read what I posted in regards to moss attaching methods here's a link to the post on my journal:

 

[Root]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:56 PM, Jungle Fan said:

Algae is a fact of life whether it gets to take over and dominate depends on how well the components of nutrients, light, and temperature are balanced

Thank you so much for the input! I will check this out and I couldn’t agree more! The algae I do have I have embraced and actually enjoy it. I just try make sure it doesn’t take over my plants. I told my wife if I am going for a natural look in the aquarium then I am going 100%. Algae is a natural as it gets and is here for a reason.