FrogFan23

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Agreed.

I'd heard it was a CSA thing too ...

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The Zebras that have been passed around Edmonton and Calgary the last year or so are difficult to identify in the shrimp sites / i do not believe they are true Zebras.. As I also think it would be unlikely that they would interbreed if they were.... My tank of that mix tells me that either they will interbreed or the Zebras are a caricina sp. of some type.. thanks for your thoughts... maybe someone else can add to this The membership of Crustaform contains some of the foremost experts on freshwater shrimp in the hobby. Many of the new species in the trade are first introduced via Germany. If anybody knows what they are talking about, it would be them. I've found that some lighter-coloured cherries do appear to have stripes. It is also not unusual to have male cherries swimming around all the time. They are much more active in that regards than the females (especially after a female has molted). Zebras are caridina sp. but cherries are neocaridina (as are snowballs), which is a different genus altogether. Based on everything I've read, I agree that a neocaridina species should not be able to crossbreed with a caridina species. If you'd like a more definite answer on the possibility of RCS & zebras interbreeding , you could always try asking Mustafa at PetShrimp.com or one of the shrimp mods on Crustaforum.

:welcome: to the forum! Yep - shubunkins are wonderful. We got our three from Nature's Corner last year - very healthy and enthusiastic fish. Out of curiousity, what do you mean by "Dollarama" cattails?

F.Y.I.: products like "Had-A-Snail" or "Snail-Away" are PERMANENT solutions. Your tank will be forever ruined for ALL copper-sensitive creatures (including snails, shrimp, crayfish/lobsters, amphibians and others). These solutions infuse themselves into the aquarium sealant and continue to poison the tank afterwards. In my opinion, NOT a good idea - better to use a natural solution like others have suggested in this thread. Happy to see that you chose the loaches. You will enjoy having them. :thumbs:

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I didn't realize that Seachem's Ammonia Alert monitor was able to distinguish free ammonia. I am pretty sure I have seen the monitor at both PetSmart and Big Al's. Guess I should have read the link I provided more carefully. I only noticed the "reduced feeding" part. I agree that it is more important to reduce the toxins, just didn't realize that it was safe for Koi to go without a feeding. Learned something new ... :thumbs:

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How often & how much you feed your Koi is dependent on water temperature. Hikari has a lot of information on keeping Koi. You can look at it through this link: Feeding your coldwater fish. Koi do not have stomachs, so it is important that they get food at least once a day. Obviously, limiting your feedings as proposed during the cycling process is a good idea and it will reduce your water changes. (FYI: At a room temperature of 18 C, I am feeding my Koi once a day in the morning. Koi do not need a heater.) I suspect that he/she was probably thinking of the test kit's inability to detect the difference between toxic and non-toxic ammonia. I have been using Prime for years and I have never had inaccurate readings. I just cannot determine how much of the ammonia is non-toxic with my API test kit. If you are testing after water changes, you will detect the residual non-toxic ammonia created when Prime declorinates the water, which can range from from 0.25 to 0.5 ppm. This might also explain your result.

When I faced this problem with a quarantine tank for one of my frogs, the advice I got was: Ammonia (toxic) < .25 ppm Nitrite < 1 ppm Nitrate < 20 ppm These were the targets they aimed for with fish. They did have much experience with aquatic frogs.

I agree. I've found Stability to be ineffective at the standard recommended dosages. However, when I overdosed as RD. did, it was much more effective. There are very few ammonia test kits that can distinguish the difference between toxic and non-toxic ammonia, thus the "false" reading RD. mentioned. Prime will bind (i.e., convert to non-toxic) approx. 0.8 ppm of ammonia per standard dose. Kordon's Amquel+ will also do the job (~ 1.2 ppm ammonia & 2 ppm nitrite per dose) but requires heavy aeration. This would probably be a good idea when overdosing with Prime, as well. I've found that, in the short term, as long as you try to keep the ammonia and nitrite under 1 ppm, most fish can weather through the cycling process. Koi are very hardy fish. I never had a problem with my two Koi during the cycling process, but they are in approx. 145 gallons of water. Hopefully, your 30 gallon tank is only intended for short-term use, as Koi can reach 24 - 36 inches in length. There are many factors that affect the development of the nitrifying bacteria, but I do not think that salt contributes in that manner. To my knowledge, salt is only used to temporarily counteract the effect that nitrite has on the gills - by improving the fish's oxygen uptake. Water temperature does speed up the cycling process, but the higher temperatures needed to do so would not be ideal for your Koi, given that it is a cold-water fish. Increased aeration - to improve oxygen saturation in the water - will also help speed up bacterial development.

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Oh, we're out there all right. It's just that the availability and variety are poor and the prices far too outrageous for a critter that is best kept solitary. Inverts are one of my passions but keeping and raising crays can be challenging. They are very sensitive to nitrate and temperature levels. Myself, I have very little interest in Procambarus alleni or the plethora of blue-colored crays that are out there. I find the species that look more like a marine lobster more appealing. The aussies are attractive but get quite large. What sort of crays do you have? Do you have any of the dwarf species? This might be of interest to African_Fever, as the dwarves can be kept in a colony and, to my understanding, do not eat plants. Many of the dwarf species breed as well as dwarf shrimp. For myself, I have been looking for a Canadian source of Cambarellus shufeldtii for about a year now. I agree with BlackMumba about utilizing AquaBid. There just aren't enough Canadian sellers on that board, especially in the invert section.

I know someone who works in the field. It is illegal to catch and transport living specimens of our native crayfish. The species is highly invasive and can very quickly disrupt the eco-system of an area they are introduced into, thus the law is intended to prevent their spread. My understanding is that the fines are quite high if caught. Here is the excerpt from the Alberta General Fisheries Regulation: Basically, you can fish for them for the purposes of consumption, but you must kill them at the catch site prior to transporting them home. Here is another link discussing the matter: Edmonton Reptiles

On a frog forum I am a member of, this topic came up often. Like one of the posters on that forum pointed out, keep in mind that earthworms will travel for kilometers under the ground. Just because you don't use pesticides doesn't mean that your neighbours don't. There is an inherent risk involved in using "wild" worms. Wild worms can also introduce other pathogens and parasites. Given how hard some of my amphibians have been to acquire, I've never been willing to take that risk. I prefer to use worms from bait shops, instead. If you're as paranoid (and cheap ) as I am, another option is to start up an enclosed worm farm (i.e., no contact with the outside world - although the farm could be kept outdoors) and raise them yourself. They make for an excellent compost bin and their castings can be used in your garden or indoor planters. I'm surprised that the fish have enjoyed the red wiggler compost worms. When cut, they give off a horrible tasting fluid that most amphibians cannot stand. Maybe fish aren't as discerning (or fussy) as amphibians?

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Ditto on the canisters. The Rena XP series are as easy to clean as as the AC hobs and you definitely do not need to clean them as often. Also, I've never had the intake pipe plug up as often as it does on the ACs. Canisters also work better with sand substrate than hobs. The one negative is that the XPs must be two feet below the waterline to work properly (although I haven't tried bending Rena's recommendation to confirm). This is not true of other canister brands, however.