Hobby Pictures and Update

[Terran]

A while I got two new species of shrimp the Malaya Shrimp(Which is brand new to the hobby not many people have it yet) and the Sri Lanka Dwarf Shrimp (Also rare to the hobby but has been around longer)....Together they were pretty expensive....

They have gotten a lot bigger since I got them and soon they should be big enough to have eggs and Ill have a lot of offspring and I wont have to worry about them dying anymore.....


Heres some pictures....they were pretty hard to get pictures of because I have to wait till they get close to the glass to get a decent shot....
The Malaya
http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000572.jpg
http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000571.jpg
The Sri Lanka
http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000545.jpg
http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000542.jpg
and a couple of group shots of my Red Cherries
http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000495.jpg
http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000493.jpg
Notice how different these red cherries look like compared to my selectively bred red cherry shrimp...obviouslly Im selectively breeding them to become more red
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/Shrimp3.jpg

For a while I have been doing research of what to add to my 29 gallon tank...I am tired of fish so I was really looking for something different....Part of the critera is that they would need to be able to reproduce and have a self sustaining population in my tank....I looked into aquatic salamanders...but nearly all of them require cool temperatures and my room gets pretty hot and I dont want to have to invest in a water chiller....I looked into Dwarf Sirens
http://cars.er.usgs.gov/herps/Salamanders/P_axanthus/Pax1.jpg
Obviouslly not my picture
Which is essentially a salamander that doesnt have back legs and never leaves the water....but they get big, too big to be able to develope a self sustaining population....

So finally I decided on African Dwarf Frogs....they are very docile to each other small and reproduce in aquariums ....the only probelm is that they will eat their own eggs if they find them....so I am trying them out and hoping that I can grow enough vegetation to hide the eggs....right now though the tank is a bit sparce....I put them in my 29 gallon with my large population of non selectively breed Red Cherry Shrimp....


The frogs at first tried to eat the shrimp but most of the shrimp are too big for their mouths...and all of them seem too fast for the frogs to catch...Now the frogs leave the shrimp alone and the shrimp even clean the frogs by eating the things growing on them....
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000551.jpg

I established a population of black worms in the tank which you can see in some of the pictures so hopefully the worms reproduce in the substrate and give the frogs constant supply of food....they love the worms....
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000547.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000546.jpg
Arent they just cute as the dickens :o
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000520.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000519.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000502.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000488.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000498.jpg


As this project was developing a ran across information about poison dart frogs....And I got really excited about the prospects of keeping them...Some care for their own young and they reproduce readily in captivity....So I made a terrarium....
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000617.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000615.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000613.jpg
I still need to grow some plants in it....The fountain in it I am especially proud of.... pretty clever craftsmenship went into that foutain...made it myself and it functions as both a pretty fountain and a carbon water filter....:)

I am thinking about this type of poison dart frog its really little....only 15mm
http://www.poison-frogs.nl/images/reticulatus1.jpg
Obviously not my picture
but Im a little discouraged though because they are so territorial that I probally would only be able to have 5 in a tank even though they are very small and I would have to remove the young after they reproduce...So thats not really a self sustaining population....

So Now Im trying to think of something else I could keep in a terrarium that could have its own self sustaining population....And it can be any type of animal.....even insects....Hmm Im stumped....Anyone have any ideas?


Heres some updated pictures of my Cajun Dwarf Crayfish....
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/BlueCajuns.jpg
And my Marbled Crayfish
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000532.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a257/andruk81/ShrimpandCrays/P1000523.jpg


Most of you are probally bored already :D Cheers anyways!

[AcesandEights]

God help us, should you ever harness your intellect for evil, Terran :D

But seriously, this is the sort of thing I love to see people sharing. It looks like a very cool and very thoughtful pursuit, Terran. I hope you'll keep us updated. Also, the pics were great, I mean the quality and clarity. The selective breeding of the red cheery shrimp and the fact that you built the fountain/filter are ridiculously impressive.

About how many generations are you into your bred red cherries?

Again, man, thanks for sharing. It's always cool when people make the effort to do so :)

[Terran]

Evil huh....I could get down with a little evil....But generally I dislike people so much that I am too apathetic in regards to being evil towards them...Its just like...why waste the effort :|:D

Im about 10 generations into the shrimp but Ive only been selectively breeding them for around 7....I have had the cherries for about 2.5 years I think....

The guy who I got the cherries from Mustafa from petshrimp.com was selectively breeding his for a while I have no idea how long hes been keeping shrimp...people on that forum are a bit impressed with how red I have gotten mine....that site is like the end all site for information regarding shrimp....Thats also where I got the Malaya and Sri Lanka dwarf shrimp....Im hoping to get more species from him later(if you go to the Varieties section of that site youll see how many Dwarf shrimp the guy has ....)....maybe some Crystal Red Shrimp...or Tiger Shrimp...

Yeah I love it when people have "odd" passions....like my little brother's friend breeds snakes, several different species and at one point he even had an alligator (he also has a couple scorpions)....so when he comes over to visit my brother we usually ignore my brother for a bit and talk "shop" about our various projects....


Anyone else got hobbies/passions

[Yojimbo]

My wife is into tropical fish-- cichlids (Africans) to be exact, but some fire oscars as well as a few large koi. So since this is her hobby, I spend my weekends cleaning tanks! I recently invested in one of those python changing units that allow outflow/inflow through the same hose connected to the faucet and it's made my life a little easier. So I spend a little less time cleaning fish waste now! Guess that is my hobby, trying to spend less time cleaning tanks!

She would admire your collection, as I do, Terran! Quite impressive, brother!

[Terran]

Yeah I need to get a changing unit....when I do water changes I have to siphon it out with my mouth and a tube into a bucket on the floor....then to put the water back in I have to put the bucket on top of the tank and siphon it down.....

Its nasty.....but luckilly I only have to do it like twice a month....but twice a month for each tank I own means I essentially have to do this siphoning 1.5 times per week

Does she breed any of her fish?...do they have names?....I havent named any of my animals....they are more like a mini zoo to me than a pet

[capncnut]

Gosh, now those cherries are RED!

Thanks for posting this Terran, excellent pics btw.


http://www.poison-frogs.nl/images/reticulatus1.jpg
I kinda liked the blue one you showed me... :D

[Danny]

cool, ive allways preffered fish, but i dont get why peole get all funky around lizards and the stuff, teat salamander looks bitchin' ,like a creature out of final fnatasy or something, you should get some of those two headed turtles and try adn breed and army of mutant turtles.


-granted not much of an army if they can fit in the palm of your hand but still, totally cool.

[Yojimbo]

Yeah I need to get a changing unit....when I do water changes I have to siphon it out with my mouth and a tube into a bucket on the floor....then to put the water back in I have to put the bucket on top of the tank and siphon it down.....

Its nasty.....but luckilly I only have to do it like twice a month....but twice a month for each tank I own means I essentially have to do this siphoning 1.5 times per week

Does she breed any of her fish?...do they have names?....I havent named any of my animals....they are more like a mini zoo to me than a pet

She breeds only platties, mollys and guppies, primarily because they are livebearers and require less maintenence. You basically put several females in with a male of preferred coloration and let them go at it, and there is little that you need to do after they breed apart from segregating the pregnant females in a hatching enclosure so that they don't get eaten while still at the fry stage.

As far as names go, she does have names for most if not all, but they escape me now as I attempt to recall them. I refer to them as "the red one" or "the blue one" rather than by their given names.


With regard to the water changes, do yourself a favor and get a Python system as it will make the process a lot easier and certainly more pleasant. I used to do the mouth siphon and bucket routine, but those days, thankfully, have long since passed.


I looked on a UK aquarium accessory supplier for you and found that and they were charging outrageous prices for a system, so you should check the following link which will lead you to the manufacturer that produces these items. You will then be able to piece-meal assemble your own system which is going to be much more cost effective. Basically all you will need is the unit that connects to the faucet (plus any adaptors to make it connect) a hose of appropriate length and a plexiglass suction unit that looks vaguely like one of those penis enlargers that one would see advertised in Hustler or Swank. Will save you a load of time and effort, trust me! (Come to think of it, would probably work as an enlarger as well if you could summon up the courage to stick it where fish waste goes! Topic for another forum, I suspect.)

http://www.aquariumpros.com/c-PYTwc.html

[Debbieangel]

I am learning how to paint, here is one of my paintings:

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee314/Debbieangel/PIC_0267.jpg


Sorry for the size!

[Yojimbo]

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee314/Debbieangel/PIC_0267.jpg


I dig it! Wish I could paint (or draw for that matter) but haven't been blessed with the talent you have! Yojimbo is envious!

[Terran]

Im glad to see the painting....This is the type of thing my mother would love to have hanging up in her living room...but all she gets out of me is the crazy type of stuff that isnt exactly "pretty"

What is this painted on....from this perspective it doesnt look like canvas.....
Is it done from life....a picture....or from imagination?



I know youve already seen this Debbie but I figure Id post it for others input....

This is a painting Im working on ....Its one part of a pair of paintings....I hope to finish it some day...
http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v143/106/52/15622184/n15622184_33122627_5035.jpg
Theres a lot left to be done on it...more colors/shadings, objects, and clean up etc etc...

[Debbieangel]

Here is another one and I dont know why it is comin out so big?

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee314/Debbieangel/PIC_0039.jpg

[Debbieangel]

Another painting:

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee314/Debbieangel/Picture18.jpg

[AcesandEights]

Very pretty, Debbieangel! You do water extremely well (especially in the lighthouse painting)!

[Debbieangel]

Very pretty, Debbieangel! You do water extremely well (especially in the lighthouse painting)!

Thank you...but its acrylics then I sealed the paintings with a sealer spray.
I am a starting out, I hope to get better as time goes by, I mean real professional looking!:)

[Yojimbo]

You folks with your artistic abilities and talents--you make me sick with envy. I can draw stick figures and even that doesn't really work cause they don't even really look like stick figures.

I wish that I had as much talent as you all! Dig that skeleton man and his two skeletal pets! And that farmhouse next to the snowy pond and that lighthouse that I now wish I could live in.

[wyvern1096]

Hmm, I used to paint a lot of pewter and ceramics like christmas villages and figurines for battletech or D&D. Haven't done that in forever. Now I'm a certifed car nut, spend a lot of time working on the new house, and being a dad.

[Debbieangel]

You folks with your artistic abilities and talents--you make me sick with envy. I can draw stick figures and even that doesn't really work cause they don't even really look like stick figures.

I wish that I had as much talent as you all! Dig that skeleton man and his two skeletal pets! And that farmhouse next to the snowy pond and that lighthouse that I now wish I could live in.

Thanks, they were two of the hardest to paint! highlighting and shading are very hard to learn,but,I am starting to get the hang of it finally.