Bug Wizard Blues

Holding a Bear Tooth in My Mouth 

Video of me holding a bear tooth in my mouth projected onto 50lbs of volcanic ash 

2018

Forest cockroach with nymphs, Pseudophoraspis nebulosa?, Blattodea

Photographed in Singapore by Nicky Bay // Website // Facebook

Cambrian baby

Devonian baby

Triassic baby

Wandering violin mantis (aka Indian rose mantis), Gongylus gongylodes, Empusidae. Found primarily in southern Inida and Sri Lanka and popular in the pet trade.

you look EXACTLY like a leaf

your eye spots ARE absolutely terrifying

hey guys after trial and error these are the things that have worked best for me keeping and breeding shrimp successfully !!

1) MOSS 🌿🌿

any moss will due i really love christmas moss but java moss is the most common due to its ease to grow but beware! it’s a weed!! this stuff will take over your tank if you don’t trim it. baby shrimp live hiding and grazing and it provides them shelter and a stress-free environmeny growing up which is good for their color n health

2) SPONGE FILTER

really the only way to go i’ve tried sponge filter covers and a while back i had a small tear in the back i hadn’t noticed and i went to clean the filter and found probably 60 newborn baby cherry shrimp living in it!! took me hours to get them all out. this is the safest way, super cheap n easy to clean especially since shrimp don’t produce that much waste anyways u just gotta stay on top of cleaning. pictured below is the one i got from aquarium creation and it blends into the tank well and they also sell super nice cherries and give free stickers and food samples with every order !

3) INDIAN ALMOND/CATAPPA LEAVES 🍂🍂

warning ⚠️!! they add tannins to water but fixable through water changes. shrimp graze off micro nutrients that grow on them and it also helps replicate a natural leaf litter environment for them. it does some cool stuff n they love it !! i’ve heard alder comes have similar effects but i have yet to try them

4) DRIFTWOOD !!!

malaysian driftwood, spider wood, cholla wood you name it!! all of these add tannins some lower pH as well. buy presoaked or soak it yourself to lower the tannins and it also provides essential hideouts for shrimp!!

5) DARK SUBSTRATE 👏👏🖤

okay not a neccesity but definetly brings out their colors the best and contrasts the plants nice as a plus . if you get active (vs inert) it can also lower pH and provide essential nutrients to plants but beware cost and initial set up foggyness. you can clear up with carbon and seachem purigen (!!!) i LOVE THIS STUFF i never understood why everyone was so head over heels for it but it’s like $7 on amazon and makes your water CRYSTAL CLEAR I MEAN DAMN but that’s a rant for another time …

anyways i really hope this helps someone whether you have shrimp and just aren’t having luck or you are looking into keeping neocaridinia/caridina shrimp for the first time please look into getting some of the things on this list!! they really helped me and my success rate for keeping shrimp 💕🦐 this isn’t everything like heater, light, tank yadda yadda but it’s a good start remember to look into it more to round your opinion on different items and what is best for your budget/fish. a better background knowledge on the pet you are going into will also help you solve problems quickly if they arise (and the definetly will!! i had my fair share of bumps along the way)