# Great new Esfa!!!



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

I am missing my planted tank so much I have decided to get another. it will be a "little" smaller than my last 3 foot tank and I have deicided to keep freshwater shrimpin there too as I love my inverts in my marine tank so much :2thumb:

You will have to let me know if there are any uncommon shrimps to look out for Matt : victory:


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Coooooooooooool! 

Well I should be breeding snowball shrimp soon. These cost about £100 for 10 to import from Germany. :lol2: They're not commercially available in UK atm either. I'll chuck you a few of them if you want. : victory:

They cant be kept with cherry shrimp, though.


----------



## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

Esfa said:


> Coooooooooooool!
> 
> Well I should be breeding snowball shrimp soon. These cost about £100 for 10 to import from Germany. :lol2: They're not commercially available in UK atm either. I'll chuck you a few of them if you want. : victory:
> 
> They cant be kept with cherry shrimp, though.


 *feels left out*


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

I was just searching the net for "snowball shrimp" and I found this site : victory:

Shrimp Species List .:. Freshwater Aquarium Shrimp Species Information Pages

I never knew there were so many inverts to choose from!


----------



## Natonstan (Aug 9, 2008)

:lol2: Esfa you certainly are clued up on Shrimp, Ive only ever kept Brine


----------



## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

i want shrimp again, but my lfs only stocks amano's... hence being ice to esfa:whistling2:


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

herpmad_boi said:


> i want shrimp again, but my lfs only stocks amano's... hence being ice to esfa:whistling2:


hahah :lol2:

Im not really upto posting shrimp tbh... the only reason why i offered alpharoyals some is cause he can come pick them up. :lol2:


----------



## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

i'll run....:whistling2:


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Esfa said:


> hahah :lol2:
> 
> Im not really upto posting shrimp tbh... the only reason why i offered alpharoyals some is cause he can come pick them up. :lol2:


And I am sure there will be a catch some how! dont think I am swapping a shrimp for a Royal :lol2:


----------



## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

alpharoyals said:


> And I am sure there will be a catch some how! dont think I am swapping a shrimp for a Royal :lol2:


Ooh goodness:|


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

alpharoyals said:


> And I am sure there will be a catch some how! dont think I am swapping a shrimp for a Royal :lol2:


damn! :whistling2::Na_Na_Na_Na:


----------



## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

maybe a ickle royal?:whistling2:


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

:lol2: not even an ickle one! :Na_Na_Na_Na:


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

So far........


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

WOW! Looking amazing! :Na_Na_Na_Na:


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

A few plants in...


----------



## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Looking good. Nice plants. :2thumb:


----------



## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Nice. Whats that bottom left? Looks like caulerpa :lol2:


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

AshMashMash said:


> Nice. Whats that bottom left? Looks like caulerpa :lol2:


Nooo! :lol2: ( I had to google caulerpa to see what it was :blush
its "Pogostemon helferi"

I have had a re-arrange and took 2 hours planting "Glossostigma elatinoides" I found the best way to do it is one piece at a time!!! :devil:

I said it was "smaller" than my last :Na_Na_Na_Na:









bear in mind the substrate is sand!









I need something to fill the mid range, has anyone any suggestions? I am after a dwarf plant as I am trying to make it look like a minature landscape.


----------



## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

alpharoyals said:


> bear in mind the substrate is sand!


Looks like pea gravel to me...:hmm:

A larger piece of wood would be more effective, I think. :whistling2:


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Trillian said:


> Looks like pea gravel to me...:hmm:
> 
> A larger piece of wood would be more effective, I think. :whistling2:


Its a twig that was snapped off a bogwood log, the tank is an 8" cube


----------



## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

i've always wanted a planted tank with emergents... an open topped tank with suspended lights... that would be cool...

yeah boss, you always have to have a nice planted tank. those new plants look very healthy... are tropical freshwater fish expensive in the u.k.?... plants?

the prices are going up here at a good pace... i have to get in there and get my plants all pruned for spring... just redo the whole thing.

i've never really messed with shrimp...

3 foot long tank?... hmm... how many gallons is it? my plant tank is 3 foot long and is a 65 gallon.


----------



## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

alpharoyals said:


> Nooo! :lol2: ( I had to google caulerpa to see what it was :blush
> its "Pogostemon helferi"
> 
> I have had a re-arrange and took 2 hours planting "Glossostigma elatinoides"


Ahhh ok! Means nothing to me, but cool  Its looking good, it'll look even better when it all fills out


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

> i've always wanted a planted tank with emergents... an open topped tank with suspended lights... that would be cool... I have found evaporation is quite quick :bash:
> 
> yeah boss, you always have to have a nice planted tank. those new plants look very healthy... are tropical freshwater fish expensive in the u.k.?... plants? no, not at all
> 
> ...


hope this helps :2thumb:


----------



## Boccia-Boy (Jun 9, 2008)

Other than Matt what is a esfa?


----------



## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

alpharoyals said:


> I have found evaporation is quite quick :bash:


On my open topped (180l) marine tank, which had halides, I found evaporation was about 1-2 litres per day! I had the Aquamedic auto top up system and a 6 litre RO resevoir underneath. Excellent thing it was, loved it. 



Boccia-Boy said:


> Other than Matt what is a esfa?


The title was meant to be _Great New*s* Esfa_ I believe. There is no such thing as an "Esfa"... its Matt's snakes name (Say "Esfa Snake" out aloud...).


----------



## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

these units of measure!:whip:

i have a celcius/farenheight converter i keep handy on a tab....

i always get bumfuddled with aquariums... 3 foot tank, 4 foot tank....

... now the gallons aren't even the same!

ditch metric!:lol2: keep it old skool.

use american measures... you'll confuse the french.


----------



## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

HABU said:


> ditch metric!:lol2: keep it old skool.


Nevaaaaaaaar! We do it purely to confuse you Americans :Na_Na_Na_Na::lol2:


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

AshMashMash said:


> The title was meant to be _Great New*s* Esfa_ I believe. There is no such thing as an "Esfa"... its Matt's snakes name (Say "Esfa Snake" out aloud...).


Yes it was supposed to be news :blush:

esfa snake

deefa dog

ceefa cat.......


----------



## Boccia-Boy (Jun 9, 2008)

alpharoyals said:


> Yes it was supposed to be news :blush:
> 
> esfa snake
> 
> ...


Ok doh - clever though Matt


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Haha, thanks. :flrt:


----------



## Boccia-Boy (Jun 9, 2008)

Esfa said:


> Haha, thanks. :flrt:


Don't mention it!:no1:


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Anyways, back to the subject boys and girls, does anyone know of any "minature" mid level plants that they have used???


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

alpharoyals said:


> Anyways, back to the subject boys and girls, does anyone know of any "minature" mid level plants that they have used???


Echinodorus tenellus would do well in there mate. : victory:

Or hairgrass.


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Esfa said:


> Echinodorus tenellus would do well in there mate. : victory:
> 
> Or hairgrass.


I looked at the dwarf hairgrass in the shop but it was too tall for what I want. The otherlooks quite good though


----------



## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

might have to set-up a little shrimp/planted tank.. have a small ex-faunarium type thing.. about 7litres:hmm:.. maybe if i can get cherries this time:bash:


----------



## Boccia-Boy (Jun 9, 2008)

Isnt it really hard to maintain?


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Boccia-Boy said:


> Isnt it really hard to maintain?


yup.... lots of pruning and probably daily/every other day water changes? 

btw with hairgrass, you can literally give it a haircut to the size you want it to be. : victory:


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Esfa said:


> btw with hairgrass, you can literally give it a haircut to the size you want it to be. : victory:


Mmmmmm! I may give it a go then! :2thumb:

Oh and yes it is a daily trimming, I have had to trim the glossistigma just after 48 hours


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

IN GO THE SHRIMP! : victory:

One week in for the plants.









The Glossostigma is doing well









Cherry shrimp (correct me is I am wrong Matt)









Blue tiger shrimp


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

that's a very nice cherry shrimp! :eek4:


----------



## Boccia-Boy (Jun 9, 2008)

Is anything else going in?


----------



## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Looking awesome! Loving the blue shrimp


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Boccia-Boy said:


> Is anything else going in?


 
Yeah! :2thumb:

I have just added 6 tiny neon tetras and they are swimming round together in a shoal, oh and I put in 2 crystal shrimp too :no1:


----------



## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

I orderd 6 Elondea Densa for the fancy goldfish tank. And my next project is going to be a the faun: victory: if anyone can tell my good sites to order from, that would be great, cheers


----------



## Boccia-Boy (Jun 9, 2008)

So how do you maintain these because it must be a right pain fish eating the plants ect ect.


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Thats exactly the problem, you can either have a nice fish tank or a nice planted tank :devil:

but yes, you do need to keep on top of the plants before they take over the tank. Also if you regularely trim them you can get them to grow how you like.


----------



## Boccia-Boy (Jun 9, 2008)

alpharoyals said:


> Yeah! :2thumb:
> 
> I have just added 6 tiny neon tetras and they are swimming round together in a shoal, oh and I put in 2 crystal shrimp too :no1:


Cool - so a shoaling tank??


----------



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Just an update. This was last week, I will try and get another tomorrow.


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Looking cool! :no1:

Needs some mosses though lol


----------



## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Very nice, alpha. : victory:


----------



## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Looking aweeeeeeesome


----------

