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Moving Up... My Pure Red Line Crs


jumpsmasher
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I figure I should actually something in my member's journal instead of spamming the invert section since Tanker been so nice to set me up with one.

This will be a breeding journal of sorts for my own line of Pure Red Line.

I started the line around the beginning of 2013 with two separate lines:

1) Nishiki-Ebi Japanese PRL - Grade "A" No-Entry / Hiro (SS-type patterns)

2) MananaP Red Line PRL - Probably one of the first home grown PRL in Canada - Stephan has been working on this line for a couple years from the Vancouver area

Although the initial plan was to keep the two lines separate (and they were for a first little while), the foundation for my current line started with my top male (and only remaining) Nishibi-Ebi JPRL, My top female (and only remaining) Nishibi-Ebi JPRL and my top two MananaP PRL females

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Nishiki-Ebi JPRL - Top female and male, Feb 2013

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The mothers of my PRL shrimps - Nishiki-Ebi JPRL female (left) & MananaP PRL females (right), Aug 2013

As the first batches of shrimplets started growing I decided to sell-off all my regular CRS's and focusing solely on my PRL.

No-Entry Line

My main line consists of the above shrimps, with the goal being the "perfect" No-Entry pattern (generally what we call SS+ Grade here). Along having a thick shell / solid colors (a common trait for all JPRL), nice solid red legs and having a well defined No-Entry pattern, for me that is having a full red head that goes all the way down to the legs, and a perfectly round Hinomaru circle divided down middle with a well defined white strip run down the middle of the hinomaru, Of course you also aim for larger sized shrimps but that is priority at his stage.

Mosura Line

I also branched off a pair of Mosura PRL that was part of my initial MananaP shipment. The pair turned out to be a male and female and I kept them in their own section by themselves. I am not 100% sure if they are his PRL or if are hitchhikers from the SSS CRS I gotten at the time - most likely the former i had order 10 shrimps and there were 10 including the 2 Mosura ones (MananaP also had a Mosura line at the time). To be honest i never intended to develop this line - at the time were essentially culls as i didn't want any Mosura patterns in my main lines. Over time they reproduced and I also added any Mosura offsprings from my main line. In the end i decided to develop it for my friends, many of whom were big Mosura fans.

Since I never really focused on them until lately, they still got a long ways.

I also no longer consider them as "Pure Red Line" due in part the uncertainty of their origin and because they been throwing out the odd snow white offsprings (very nice ones but still snow white - I have taken them and started on as separate project). My No-entry line have not thrown out a single snow white. ever. Granted it could be due fact some of the headgear ones are pretty much all white with only a bit of red on the head and face.

At this moment I am still unsure of which direction to take the line; if I want a traditional Mosura for a full red head / white body or to go for headgear style mosuras (SSS+ - crown, flower etc;) . I might end up going for both if I can get some more tanks set up and further divide the line : )

Edited by jumpsmasher
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Current setup:

My current setup consist of 4 tanks;

  • 2 x 23/20gal long which are my "Breeders" tanks for my two lines. Both further are split into two (originally 3) partitions. The smaller partition is where I keep my top breeders (Tier 1) while the large partition acts my my grow out tank / nursery as well as any shrimps that I consider "Tier 2"
  • 23 gal cull tank for my No-Entry line which is basically my "Tier 3" shrimps
  • 10 gal "catch-all" cull tank for the culls of the Tier 3 No-Entry PRL as well as culls from my Mosura tank (low quality color or any non-mosura patterns - no-entry etc;). some of the no-entry offsprings from my Mosura are very nice - better than my Tier 3 No-Entry even. These shrimps are generally sold off in bulk as normal CRS

23 Gallon Long No-Entry Breeders' Tank

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20 Gallon Long Mosura Breeders' Tank

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23 Gallon Rimless No-Entry Cull Tank
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One of my original CRS tanks.. been running almost non-stop for 3+ years - rock solid and super stable, never had any issues in all these years it's been running.
I am in process of planning another rack as I figured I would need to least a couple other tanks to further develop my line.
Edited by jumpsmasher
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My PRL Class of 2014: new graduates


No-Entry Line - August 17th, 2014


DId a long overdue cull this past weekend in my main breeders' tank as alot of the young juvies were getting close to breeding age. While I did move a bunch of them into my cull tanks I also promoted a trio of young shrimps to my Tier 1 breeder section. To make room for them, I "retired" a couple of my older adults that were in my Tier 1 section. This new trio were born sometime this year; probably the spring and are the first batch of juvies to join my Tier 1 group.


Without further ado, I presents my class of 2014 :P

If things goes as planed and they continue to develop, they will be the foundation of my next generation of No-Entry PRL : )


P.S. not sure if I got photos of all three of them but there is at least two different individuals below:


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Pretty sure this is a young male, not a very good "no-entry" symbol on the back but everything else is pretty good.


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Feeding on "snowflake" food


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This this one is a male as well but not 100% sure.. the white & red are very nice around the face / head, good red coverage on the legs (except last pair). The thickness of the white on the back still needs more work though and there is a bit of red under the second "hinomaru" dot..

Edited by jumpsmasher
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Mind-bogglingly jealous. My CRS breeding project didn't pan out, yours is absolutely thriving!

It wasn't an easy road and I had many failures, the most disheartening was losing most of my Nishiki-Ebi JPRL due to high temperatures / bacteria infection last summer. I was lucky enuf that my top two survived long enuf to produce a batch of shrimps (but all not much longer) due to that I was never able to produce a "pure" Nishiki-Ebi line as I originally hoped. Actually that not true.. it was more disheartening that lost about half of my Nishiki-Ebi when they decided to go for a group walk outside the tank one evening : (

If there was 3 things I learned thru my experiences that i could past on to anyway starting out or having issues, it is the following:

  1. Use 100% Re-mineralized R/O DI Water
  2. Use ADA aquasoil or similar active buffering substrate but ADA is most readily available and let it fully cycle and beyond (6-8 weeks) - most ppl are too impatient to wait for it.
  3. Temperature - 24-26C, not hard for most ppl but keeping it stable is key - there are many little things that could affect this; meaning no daily fluctuations from no heat producing light sources, watching temperatures very closely at various times of the day and during the summer and keeping a keen eye out for bacteria infections or signs of a stress.

Well actually there is a 4th thing and that is KISS - keeping things simple like in the layout of the tank, no plants except for maybe some moss or java fern, no rocks or decoration except for maybe driftwood or lava rocks (having rocks that alter water chemistry is also a common mistake) and of course no fish. If there is one thing i would change about my current tanks is that they are too busy, most of that is because just broke down a rack and needed a place to put the plants and driftwood.

Great job! I think my next tank will be for PRL.

Thanks Ron! PRL? I though you were scaling back your shrimps plans,.. :p BTW, great to have you back buddy, now when is the next group order? :p

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Thanks Ron! PRL? I though you were scaling back your shrimps plans,.. :P BTW, great to have you back buddy, now when is the next group order? :P

I did scale everything back but it was mainly due to health problems, I am hopefully on the road to recovery now so I can start planning a new tank. I am actually discussing a group order with Frank right now but he won't even let me make the order till I have my health under control, he definitely values friends over money.

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When you say "cull" are you meaning separate out the ones you don't want into a separate tank, or kill off. Cull can mean both.

Any low grade ones you don't want, I would be willing to buy/trade/graciously accept the donation. Low grades are fine for me because I am not trying to make the lines you are doing. Just like having these guys in my 2 tanks.

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Thanks Ron! PRL? I though you were scaling back your shrimps plans,.. :P BTW, great to have you back buddy, now when is the next group order? :P

I did scale everything back but it was mainly due to health problems, I am hopefully on the road to recovery now so I can start planning a new tank. I am actually discussing a group order with Frank right now but he won't even let me make the order till I have my health under control, he definitely values friends over money.

Well hopefully things are looking up for ya and here's to a speedy recovery. I great to have you back on the forums and no rush on the group orders.. i got no more room until i set up a new rack!

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When you say "cull" are you meaning separate out the ones you don't want into a separate tank, or kill off. Cull can mean both.

Any low grade ones you don't want, I would be willing to buy/trade/graciously accept the donation. Low grades are fine for me because I am not trying to make the lines you are doing. Just like having these guys in my 2 tanks.

Separate tanks. I have some Tier 3 PRL currently for sale but any "tier 4" culls I have are usually spoken for - I have a friend who buys every Tier 4 culls and mischlings I have on a regular basis - usually cleans out both tanks every time he drops by but if I have any leftover I will let you know

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Well hopefully things are looking up for ya and here's to a speedy recovery. I great to have you back on the forums and no rush on the group orders.. i got no more room until i set up a new rack!

Thanks.

Do you have any details on the set ups and the parameters. I believe you've outlined your old set ups before but it would be interesting to see how you've changed them especially with your great results.

Edited by Ron
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Well hopefully things are looking up for ya and here's to a speedy recovery. I great to have you back on the forums and no rush on the group orders.. i got no more room until i set up a new rack!

Thanks.

Do you have any details on the set ups and the parameters. I believe you've outlined your old set ups before but it would be interesting to see how you've changed them especially with your great results.

I went through a few different setups since my original rimless 23Gal but I came back around to the layered UG + Canister Filter.

For the undergravel filter I layer it as follows:

  1. UG filter plates or pipes
  2. standard size lava rocks (1-2" washed well)
  3. "hex" style biological filter media
  4. biological filter media (Ehiem SUBSTRAT / Seachem Matrix)
  5. ADA Amazonia or Amazonia / Africana Mixture (min. 2")

For the canister filter i use the following media:

  1. Ehiem MECHpro
  2. Ehiem FIX or course sponge prefilter
  3. Ehiem bioMECH
  4. Seachem Matrix or SUBSTRATPro

I no longer use purigen in my setup as it was quite a bit of work to keep swapping them out and recharging them in all my tanks. And if I don't do that on a regular basis I just seem to have issues so in the end it was better off not using it. The first two seems to work great in filtering out any larger sediments or substrate that might get past the UG filter but most of the canister is filled with Matrix (~ 60%)

I have increased the water flow more in all my tanks and I believe that next big change will be to switch from stray bars to diffusers to try to get more oxygen into the water.. stray bars are fine if they are located above the water line but usually that is not the case in my tanks. I have notice that they seem to thrivewith more water flow and more oxygen in the water.

I user RO/DO water + Salty Shrimp Bee Shrimp GH+. Bee Shrimp GH+ is great; always give consistent results and super easy to use - just use a spoonful for every 5 gallon or RO water ( ~ 100 tds).I also add some Sosei to buffer the water as well prior to adding it to the tank.

I have been doing weekly water changes.. around 10-25% depending on the temperatures - once things cool down more I will probably scale it back to 2 weeks than maybe once a month. Tanks are automatically topped up with RO water using a float valve.

I also keep a closer eye out for signs of bacteria infections as that nearly wiped out my first PRL tank and remove an infected shrimp and dose hydrogen peroxide as needed. Would be less of an issue for you as you have a cool basement but summers are always a constant battle for me so I have to be very proactive and look for sign of stressed shrimps. I do think i have become better at "reading" my shrimps; i.e. if they are ill or stressed.

Parameter as usually as follows

pH: ~ 5.8 - 6.0

GH: 3-4

KH: 0-1

Temp: 24 C (although during the summer it may get around 26 C)

TDS: ~ 120-140 ppm

The tank setup is pretty simple.. usually some mineral rocks, crimson bee balls / Ebi-ken Shou, mini oxydator, sponger filter, driftwood / rocks with moss or java fern

I have changed the diet quite a bit though.. mostly because of the influx of new products we can now get - I always tend to try new food whenever they come out but i have settled on the following:

  • Benibachi Red Bee Ambitious
  • Lowkeys Ultra Supple
  • Lowkeys Hiden-No-Esa (Secret Food)
  • Benibachi Kale Tablets
  • Barley Pellets
  • "Snowflake" food
  • various powdered baby food (Benibachi, Ebi-ken, BorneoWild, bee pollen)
  • Baby Spinach / Kale
  • Hokkaido pumpkin

and the following supplements:

  • Ebi-Ken Han
  • Ebi-Ken Sosei
  • Benibachi Bee3 / BeeMax
  • BorneoWild Stout
  • Mosura Gravidas
  • various color additives (BorneoWIld White / Crimson / Benibachi SP-Max H)
  • Mosura Tonic Pro

For the adults I usually feed the staple / color type foods 2-3 times a week, growth type food, barley / snowflake pellets & kale in between and baby spinach once a week.

I prefer the Benibachi / Lowkeys food as they come in pellet form so it is much easier to break up into smaller pieces if need be. Also most of them are fairly soft

and breaks up quickly in the tank which makes it easier for the younger shrimps get at as they don't have to fight their way into the "shrimp ball" that form with most harder foods.

Hope this helps,

Edited by jumpsmasher
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Great info.

How long have you been using the same substrate? I know there are people out there who think having a canister connected to the UGF will exhaust the substrate very quickly, what have you found? What size Eheim do you use for your 23 gallon tanks?

Thanks,

Ron

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I believe they are around 2 1/2 years - I believe the upper limit is around 3 years with RO/DI water, maybe even longer. I think using RO/DI extends the life of ADA greatly as my RO/DI water comes out at around 6.4 and I also dose Sosei prior to adding it to the tank.

I been spot checking my pH every 2-3 months and so far it has been buffering fine. Breeding has slowed somewhat but it might be due to the summer heat. Regardless, it is probably due for replacement soon and that will happen when the new rack is up and running.

I have an Ecco Pro 2236 on one and an Pro 3 2071 on the other - they were my 2 earliest tanks using canister filters. I have since standardized on using Classic 2213 or 2215 for all my other tanks as they are relatively inexpensive - especially on the used market and I prefer to stick to the same diameter tubing as it cuts down on the number of parts I have to buy. Before I took it down, my 33gal breeder had a pair of inline Classic 2215. They are also less bulkier than the Pro or Ecco line as rack space is a premium.

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  • 5 months later...

one of my friends asked me to take some photos of my "tier 2" PRLs today; thought I would share as I never posted any photos of them; the colors and patterns are not as nice as my top breeders but some of the juvies might "graduate" to my breeding group one day. These guys will be going into one of the sections on the top row of my new rack once those tanks finish cycling in a week or two.

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Adult male that didn't make the cut to my top breeders group

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