# CRS Photo Journal pt.3



## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

This pond barley really helped with bringing down the nitrates in no time at all.

































Left: crs Right: PRL CRS all waiting for the 30gal to cycle. I lost about 6 crs and 2 PRL during the 3 weeks period. 









I love this net! It's hand made by the owner of feelaqua which is sold in Japan $50. He gave it to me as a gift and in my opinion it's possibly the best net made for CRS. It's long so I can easily the bottom of my 18" high 30gal without getting my hands wet, the overall tool has a good weight feel, very high quality stainless steel, and the best part is I find my crs really like the mesh. If I want to pick up a shrimp, all I have to do is move it about 1 cm in front of my crs and they always happily climb in. Although I suppose this could happen with all kinds of nets.

















Feeding some lightly blanched organic baby spinach, high in vitamin A (and especially high in lutein), vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, folate, betaine, iron, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc, niacin, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids. 


























Finally discovered that it's best to photograph CRS with a low aperture setting. (faster shutter speed to let in less light) This will eliminate the "glare" effect on the white portion of the crs and show more detail.


















































SS no entry Hino pure red line "SSNEHPRL"


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Beautiful shrimps! 

That net is very sexy lol. I am sucha nerd for nets and things like that myself. My dad once made me a net out of copper pipe... I guess that's where it comes from. X)

What HOB is that, the new marineland ones?


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## Beijing08 (Jul 19, 2010)

nice to see new stock 
how much were the individual PRL's?


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

Nice shrimps Jay, congrats....and I love the net.

Ah, and nice shorts....


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

um the prl ranged from $30-$80 each.

Next time I buy crs they will be the $200 hakata's but that wont be atleast a year. 

Right now I'm trying to get my prl to breed. 

thanks alex, they breath very well


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

Ciddian said:


> Beautiful shrimps!
> 
> That net is very sexy lol. I am sucha nerd for nets and things like that myself. My dad once made me a net out of copper pipe... I guess that's where it comes from. X)
> 
> What HOB is that, the new marineland ones?


I think it's an aqua clear. 
I also put food inside the net sometime and just leave it in the aquarium.


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

Did you prepare the cholla wood at all before putting it in? I was scared mine was killing my shrimp even after being boiled for an hour and rinsed, but decided to give it another try. Most likely something else that killed some of my shrimp.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

With my wood. I put it in a bucket then dumped hot water from my kettle onto it and let soak for 30 minutes.

I doubt it's the wood.


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

splur said:


> ......Most likely something else that killed some of my shrimp.


I have 6 pcs of cholla wood in my tank and I just boiled them for a while and that's it.

Jay, would it be safe to use the pond barley in a HOB filter while the shrimps are in the tank ?!?

I have some nitrate problems lately(don't know how) and Id like to drop it down ASAP.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

Alexpatrascu said:


> I have 6 pcs of cholla wood in my tank and I just boiled them for a while and that's it.
> 
> Jay, would it be safe to use the pond barley in a HOB filter while the shrimps are in the tank ?!?
> 
> I have some nitrate problems lately(don't know how) and Id like to drop it down ASAP.


Yeah ofcourse alex. In my experience they love barley. It soaks up nitrates and has humic acid which are beneficial for crs. In fact I tossed 2 lbs in a mesh bag and tossed it right into the tank. This and/or duck weed seems to be the best solution with nitrates.


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

I'll try to find some in Montreal(?!?) then.....and no duckweed for me, thanks, I hate that little floater.

Where did you got it from and what's the name I'm supposed to look for ?!?


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## dchow (Oct 30, 2009)

Hey Alex,

Did you change any feeding habits or try new foods? I've been messing around with feeding in my tank to trigger small nitrate buildups and was curious what foods you were using.


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

Well David, I have a schedule for my tank and I feed food once a week....I'm using a mix of *Biomax series food* and I alternate with *Ebi Dama*.

And even with just one day food feeding I managed to get 60ppm in my tank...did a few big water changes and I got it down to 10ppm.

Why would you want a buildup on nitrate in your tank ?!?


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## dchow (Oct 30, 2009)

I've been testing various foods to see what spikes nitrates so I can avoid those foods  . There are some that take less than others to cause nitrates. 

I don't want nitrates at all. I just want to see how much of what food I can put in daily so that my nitrates spike to 5ppm. My tank can remove that in about 2 days.


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

dchow said:


> ........
> My tank can remove that in about 2 days.


With what ?!?


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## dchow (Oct 30, 2009)

um beginners luck?

I'll post a tank shot of my vegetation. Its a combination of duckweed + asian ambulia I am guessing. I actually like the duckweed, the ambulia drives me batshit insane. 

I quite like the hygro sp. green i have. I think thats my most favorite plant and I grew a bunch from just one stem that tagged along lol. 

You feed biomax Series right the stuff at the bottom of the page?


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Alexpatrascu said:


> Nice shrimps Jay, congrats....and I love the net.
> 
> Ah, and nice shorts....


LOL!!! Alex you are too funny!


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

I'm just saying Jess ....good to know he's well aerated/ventilated !!!

@ David, yeah, I'm using a few of their products(the last four): Biomax Food, White Pellet, Biozyme, Aminovita-P.

I got them a long time(RCS era) ago b4 I even was into CRS.

I'm also using freezed spinach 1-2 times a week.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

Alexpatrascu said:


> I'm just saying Jess ....good to know he's well aerated/ventilated !!!
> 
> @ David, yeah, I'm using a few of their products(the last four): Biomax Food, White Pellet, Biozyme, Aminovita-P.
> 
> ...


hey! it's hot in there with that 250 watt light.
I hope your spinach is organic and that your blanching it.

They also really seem to be enjoying the barley.


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

CrystalMethShrimp said:


> hey! it's hot in there with that 250 watt light.
> I hope your spinach is organic and that your blanching it.
> 
> They also really seem to be enjoying the barley.


I drop my organic spinach in boiled water for 5 min before putting it in the freezer.

IMHO there is NO need for such a light when it comes to ANY fresh water setup.

These are made mostly for salt water setups.

The costs and heat that come with such a light fixture...man...

It would be way better to go with LEDs or T5/T5HO for your setup....you're saving money and prolly some stress not having to deal with the heat.

Now back to the barley.....what am I supposed to look for exactly ?!?!?


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

Alexpatrascu said:


> Now back to the barley.....what am I supposed to look for exactly ?!?!?


Judging by the picture, looks like pond barley you can get from any hardware store.

http://homehardware.ca/en/rec/index...fZ67l/Ne-67n/Ntk-All_EN/R-I5077962?Ntt=barley

I'll have to invest in this as well if it not only lowers nitrates but can also act as food! Do you just put it straight in the tank?


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

splur said:


> Judging by the picture, looks like pond barley you can get from any hardware store.
> 
> http://homehardware.ca/en/rec/index...fZ67l/Ne-67n/Ntk-All_EN/R-I5077962?Ntt=barley
> 
> I'll have to invest in this as well if it not only lowers nitrates but can also act as food! Do you just put it straight in the tank?


Thats the same price Big Al's has them for. I just picked up a bag yesterday there. All my shrimp tanks have aquaclear hob filter and a giant sponge, and I run a sponge on the intake, so I'm thinking of doing the aquaclears with a bit of bio cylinders, eheim peat pellets to soften the water a bit, purigen to really clean the water, barely pellets to help remove anything else and then a bit of fine filter floss at the end to help polish any small particles. With that, I should only have to really replace the peat and barely every 4-5 months, same as the purigen to recharge, so I really shouldn't have to do much work on them other than clean out the prefilter sponge.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

Alexpatrascu said:


> I drop my organic spinach in boiled water for 5 min before putting it in the freezer.
> 
> IMHO there is NO need for such a light when it comes to ANY fresh water setup.
> 
> ...


The light is a bit of a hassle in terms of heat and energy cost, but theres a specific reason why I use it. 

In any case I've just ordered a 36" 3 bulb t5ho light with a timer built in.
2x 10,000k day light
1x true blue actinic.

As for your barley, this is what I got.
http://www.bigalspets.ca/Laguna-Bar...olor_map,price,size_name&searchRank=salesrank

I used about 1 LB in a mesh bag that comes with and left it in for 1 week. nO3=0ppm


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

CrystalMethShrimp said:


> The light is a bit of a hassle in terms of heat and energy cost, but theres a specific reason why I use it.
> 
> In any case I've just ordered a 36" 3 bulb t5ho light with a timer built in.
> 2x 10,000k day light
> ...


It says the 2.5pound bag would treat 1250gal, so the pound you put in should be good for like a 500gal tank for 6 months. lol. That should do it for a long while.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

getochkn said:


> It says the 2.5pound bag would treat 1250gal, so the pound you put in should be good for like a 500gal tank for 6 months. lol. That should do it for a long while.


It's "potent/active" for 6 months.
I used 1 lb to quickly soak up the no3.
I only had it in the tank for 1 week and it brought my no3 from deep orange to yellow.

I didn't want to do water changes b/c it was filled with r//o i bought and carried from walmart, so too much hassel and cost there.

btw if anyone wants 1.5 lbs of barley unused or a bucket of duckweed
Just pm me an offer


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

CrystalMethShrimp said:


> It's "potent/active" for 6 months.
> I used 1 lb to quickly soak up the no3.
> I only had it in the tank for 1 week and it brought my no3 from deep orange to yellow.
> 
> ...


So do think it would better to just put it in the tank or inside of a filter would be fine as well?


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

CrystalMethShrimp said:


> The light is a bit of a hassle in terms of heat and energy cost, but theres a specific reason why I use it.


Well it's good that you're trying to put some food in you tank for your CRS fast....

About the Barley, we don't have HH in Montreal and I can't seem to find it on any other stores(website).

I'll try to see if I can find it at some LFS.

If I'll find it, I'll put it in a used ZooMed 501 mini canister filter and I'll put it on my tank.


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

Ok, maybe inside the canister wasn't a good idea. lol. Put some inside my Rena on my Crystal tank. 2mins, instant Tannin coloured water. Looks soooooooo brown I can barely (barley) see in the tank. Took them out and threw some carbon in the filter to clear it up a bit and we'll see how it clears up, then I'll try again with just putting it in the filter as suggested.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

If you guys are using HoB filters I would recommand you fill it to the max with eheim substrate pro for maxium surface area for the good bacteria to thrive.

With the barley pellets, I wouldn't leave them in my filter.
Just keep them in a mesh bag in your tank until your no3 reads 0ppm.
Then the duckweed/plants combined with smaller feedings will maintain the quality.

Having barley all over your ada sub is an ugly site. I don't know of any breeders that use it on a permanent basis.


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

CrystalMethShrimp said:


> If you guys are using HoB filters I would recommand you fill it to the max with eheim substrate pro for maxium surface area for the good bacteria to thrive.
> 
> With the barley pellets, I wouldn't leave them in my filter.
> Just keep them in a mesh bag in your tank until your no3 reads 0ppm.
> ...


I run aquaclears on my other tanks and they will be just bio-media, purigen and some eheim peat pellets, thats it. Not going to keep a sponge in them for more area inside.

The water is slowly clearing up from putting the barely in the filter. That was like an instant effect, looked like someone poured coffee in my tank. My crystals seemed to love it though. I swear every single crystal is out in the tank picking around in the substrate right now. I was thinking of dropping a pellet in and see if they eat it. lol.


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## dchow (Oct 30, 2009)

Alexpatrascu said:


> I'm just saying Jess ....good to know he's well aerated/ventilated !!!
> 
> @ David, yeah, I'm using a few of their products(the last four): Biomax Food, White Pellet, Biozyme, Aminovita-P.
> 
> ...


Hrm, did you ever have high nitrates before with the biomax foods. I have the shirakura ebi dama (both the regular and special). I like the regular better. I'm too lazy to boil the spinach. Just freezing it seems to work fine.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

getochkn said:


> I run aquaclears on my other tanks and they will be just bio-media, purigen and some eheim peat pellets, thats it. Not going to keep a sponge in them for more area inside.
> 
> The water is slowly clearing up from putting the barely in the filter. That was like an instant effect, looked like someone poured coffee in my tank. My crystals seemed to love it though. I swear every single crystal is out in the tank picking around in the substrate right now. I was thinking of dropping a pellet in and see if they eat it. lol.


Yeah they love barley.
When you first add it to your water you can see it seep dark tannins into the water.

Try to avoid peat as I've recently learned they have adverse effects on crs.


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

CrystalMethShrimp said:


> Yeah they love barley.
> When you first add it to your water you can see it seep dark tannins into the water.
> 
> Try to avoid peat as I've recently learned they have adverse effects on crs.


Hmm, never heard that about peat before. I have the Eheim Peat pellets, not just hardware grade peat.


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

dchow said:


> Hrm, did you ever have high nitrates before with the biomax foods.


I must admit I had, but I was feeding my RCS like crazy !!!

About the small mini canister.....I was thinking of using it for the no3 removal just enough to get the levels to 0, than remove it and keep it aside till I'll need it again, but I guess it's the same thing as the media bag so I'll go with the media bag, that's if I can find the darn thing in MTL.

If not, I'll prolly get it online from BA.


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

Anyone try feeding the CRS barley yet? I'm curious if they'll actually eat it... and not die lol.


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

It's fine. They love it and its good for them.


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

CrystalMethShrimp said:


> It's fine. They love it and its good for them.


Mine are still out on the hunt looking for it after I put it in my filter and I got the coffee water. lol. Its clearing up slowly. I've decided to just leave it and not fuck with it. Its just a bit of tannins, they'll go away eventually and instead of doing a 75% WC or something and screwing up the balance, I'll just let the water clear up slowly on its on.

I took the peat out too since you said the crystals don't do good with it. Any idea why on that or what it causes exactly with them?


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

getochkn said:


> Mine are still out on the hunt looking for it after I put it in my filter and I got the coffee water. lol. Its clearing up slowly. I've decided to just leave it and not fuck with it. Its just a bit of tannins, they'll go away eventually and instead of doing a 75% WC or something and screwing up the balance, I'll just let the water clear up slowly on its on.
> 
> I took the peat out too since you said the crystals don't do good with it. Any idea why on that or what it causes exactly with them?


Look up what peat is.

Mine was "coffee" as well but if you have a sponge filter it will clear in a week or two on it's own. I didn't even add carbon.


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

How about rinsing it befor adding it to the tank ?!?


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## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

Well then you remove the tannins which absorbs the no3. 

It's okay for your tank water to get dark, like I said if you have sponge filter it will be clear in a week. Just requires patients on your part.


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

Apparently these barley straw pellets are impossible to find downtown. Hopefully menagerie can get them for me.


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## Alexpatrascu (Jun 13, 2010)

CrystalMethShrimp said:


> Well then you remove the tannins which absorbs the no3.
> 
> It's okay for your tank water to get dark, like I said if you have sponge filter it will be clear in a week. Just requires patients on your part.


Well I'm thinking just a quick rinse so not all the tannins will be gone.

I have no problem with my water being dark, I was getting that when I was using almond leaves.


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