Beautiful mosses. And I love to watch fish -- they are so fascinating.
It looks like the shrimp are in a feeding frenzy.
Yes Dot, they're very keen on banana, which I feed to them once a week. Frenzied is exactly how they respond!
Where did you get the discus from? I bought 1 more discus from Kenny's discus, and I won a $70 leopard eruption discus (both come friday).
Do you have OEBT shrimp? I think the orange eyes are cool. I have some; they aren't as hardy as the cardinal shrimp.
Terry Root of OZ used to be a discus breeder; he thought his plants did extra well since he used the water from his discus tanks to water his paphs. You should try it.
I purchased the fish from two retail outlets in Oz, one in Sydney that imports through Indonesia and the other closer to my home in the Hunter Valley that imports through Thailand. I visit each regularly hoping to discover a specimen with...
je ne sais quoi. I hope your new purchases are what you're hoping for, as there's such variety within each strain, much like variability to found in paph hybrids.
I'm picking up my first 20 Tiger Shrimp in two days, some of which are orange eyed. I'm excited to be introducing these and beginning a new breeding project crossing them with my current line of white crystal shrimp with the objective of producing White Tigers.
As to using the tank water on my paphs - I'm going to make a point of doing so routinely and will let you know how the plants respond. Thank you for making the link to Terry
Very interesting!
Are you adding CO2 or nutrients for the moss?
What light levels does the moss get?
Are you collecting terrestrial mosses that grow near water or are some also arboreal?
Lance, I don't "add" CO2 to my tanks, as I've devised a substrate that generates sufficient CO2 for most aquatic plants to thrive. I add little in the way of ferts, preferring macros to be supplied by fish waste. I do add magnesium sulphate, as my water is rain water, Ca is supplied in the sub. I also add micros in the form of seaweed extract at each water change.
Lighting varies widely! from <1 watt per gallon to >6wpg. No science, just pragmatism - whatever is at hand
Collection is purely opportunistic, but mainly terrestrial. However, I recently came across a profusion of fallen trees covered in what I initially thought was a species I didn't have. However, a more thorough examination determined that is was one that grows around my home, but takes a very different form during the last stage of its life cycle. The nutrients from the decaying wood, the lower light levels and the higher humidity all providing optimal conditions for its growth.
Keeping discus for 40 yrs has endowed me with an intuitive discernment for quality... similar to the skills of senior ST members who's replies I read and reflect on while referring to the new pic postings. In time I believe I can build my appreciation for quality in paph breeding to a similar level as that which I've acquired in discus breeding by digesting the detailed replies of members who provide explanations/descriptions/cross references/etc... Thank you to everyone who makes this possible for all us rookies.