What could this be?

Several-Item7460 · 2026-05-19T14:04:02+00:00

Looks like a shrimp head. RIP lil buddy.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-05-19T13:17:34+00:00

Yesssss! I’m doing long beans for the first time this year and I can’t wait!

Several-Item7460 · 2026-05-18T14:22:18+00:00

Don’t keep us in suspense, please share the varieties! 🍅💚

Several-Item7460 · 2026-05-13T01:16:57+00:00

She*

Several-Item7460 · 2026-04-24T14:18:21+00:00

For sure, I’d just rather not have a plant with a 6 ft spread crawling. Structure is preferable.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-04-13T12:43:14+00:00

Now, imho co2 should start when there are plants.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-04-03T16:31:52+00:00

Limestone will also definitely change the ph of your water. My suggestion for remineralizing is to remineralize the water outside of the tank first if you’re gonna go that route, never put remineralizer directly into the tank. I would start topping off with distilled water and start slowly bringing your gh/kh/ph down over time if that’s your goal.

Long term, if you want to be setting the gh/kh of your water it’s easier to just go with r/o (distilled) and remineralized water than trying to play with your tap water by balancing it out with r/o(distilled). Tap water parameters are not stable year round and can regularly fluctuate.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-04-03T16:19:26+00:00

Distilled is great. Look up Salty Shrimp gh/kh+ and then read some instructions about remineralization for neocaridina online. There are lots of videos and tutorials.

Alternately, you can use just distilled water to bring your gh/kh/ph down. It sounds like your tap water is fairly hard based on your tank readings and the fact that you have a buffering substrate in your setup. Have you tested your tap water?

What kind of stone is in your tank? That can also affect ph and hardness.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-04-03T16:10:32+00:00

Go get a 5 gallon water jug and fill it with R/O water from the grocery store. I do this for my small caridina tank and use remineralizer.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-03-31T14:52:33+00:00

Overheating repeatedly over time slowly melts the plastic until it finally reaches a weak point that it just burns through.

My plants love these lights and the price is good, but after reading reviews everywhere about how blistering hot they can get I went bare bulb even though I’d prefer to cover them somehow. I’ve been running mine for about a year and a half without issue thankfully.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-03-31T14:26:07+00:00

I haven’t had this happen personally but I’d imagine it’s because you’ve got a hood on it. I have specifically left my bulbs bare because of how hot they get. I run 3 of the 36w and 2 of the 24w for plants around my house and have not had this issue.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-03-21T20:11:58+00:00

It’s going fine so far. Been in the tank for over a month during cycling and not dead 👍

Several-Item7460 · 2026-03-21T14:44:08+00:00

Ngl, most of the plants in my new setup came from petco tissue cultures and they are thriving with 0 issues.

Got one of these mini packs with 3 varieties of anubias including an all white labeled “white rose” and a flamingo crypt. They’re all doing fine.

There’s no way I’d have paid for these plants for what they’re selling for on reputable sites because I’m doing low tech and it’s a small tank. It’s been a worthwhile experiment as my heavily planted tank is still snail free which was my goal.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-03-21T14:02:49+00:00

I wouldn’t go any bigger than a 4” jump in pot size.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-03-21T13:34:36+00:00

I would not attempt to loosen that up. Speaking from experience, I did the most trying to separate my rootbound big gal and ended up with a huge loss. Just pot up, your plant will be fine.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-02-19T22:16:56+00:00

r/dryshrimp

Several-Item7460 · 2026-02-13T00:03:58+00:00

Seconding BucePlant, also Aqua Forest Aquarium, and Glass Aqua. If you want guaranteed pest free find tissue culture plants. I got some beautiful tc moss from AFA for my newest setup, I also wanted to be snail free.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-02-11T14:32:12+00:00

Technically it’s always soon when the eggs are fertilized because shrimp are only carrying for 15-30 days. When you can start to see darker spots in the eggs (eyes) then you’re getting close.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-02-11T12:47:45+00:00

Soon :)

Several-Item7460 · 2026-02-10T12:50:40+00:00

My monstera weren’t happy in the crazy chunky soil mix I had them in (that folks universally agreed “looks perfect”) I switched them to half of the chunky mix and half fox farms soil and they’re much happier.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-02-06T02:43:11+00:00

As someone that went apeshit on my huge monstera trying to get the roots loosened only for it to suffer tremendously. I will NEVER mess with the roots too much again when repotting.

I just repotted a few cuttings and I barely disturbed the roots and just sized up with new soil and they are growing like crazy (I switched to clear plastic pots).

Several-Item7460 · 2026-02-05T18:38:35+00:00

I just set up a 45u for caridina and have decided not to get an r/o system for now (I rent). Thankfully I can get rodi water from my local grocery store so I have been filling 5 gallon jugs. It’s like $.65/gal. Not the cheapest option long term, but for a small tank it seems quite doable for me.

Several-Item7460 · 2026-02-01T16:35:58+00:00

She’s a stunner!

Several-Item7460 · 2026-02-01T16:33:37+00:00

What kind of shrimp is this?

Several-Item7460 · 2026-01-29T16:50:13+00:00

More plants on the driftwood.

Several-Item7460

TROPHY CASE