Just wanted to share my ADA 60-P Taiwan Bee. Very quickly, tank was set up early Jan. 2014 with ADA AS for the substrate and left to cycle/mature for 4 months. Tank is layered with biomeida rocks similar to seachem matrix capped with about 4in of Aquasoil. Tank is utilizing both Eheim 2115 & UGF. The UGF is driven by a small water pump that is routed to my breeder box and fed back into the main tank. Tank has only moss including my favorites such as fissidens, mini fissidens, fissidens geppi, rose moss, and mini pellia.
These are Nick's Xin/Feather PRL. I've been breeding and culling these guys pretty heavily for over a year now. Females and Males have beautiful white and sexy red legs. Very happy with the purchase.
The crypt you see is a cluster of C. Flamingo. If memory serves me correctly, I was one of the ten original to participate in the group buy over at APC and one of the five or six people to successfully transition the tissue culture. This specimen was displaying a more pink color prior to moving it into this higher light and fertilized tank. I'm working on achieving the signature pink that C. Flamingo is known for. I have a few daughter plantlets to work with now.
Thanks Nick. I kept the TB inside a breeder box for a while. They bred like 2 times for me whilst inside the breeder but not all the babies made it. They're thriving inside the 60-P. It's much bigger and the parameters is much more stable. I must have great genes because a majority of the babies are either Shadow Pandas or BKK 1-2 Bars. I'm even getting Bolts from these guys. Not too shabby. :thumbsup:
That guy man! He just messaged me and told me his secret buy. Hahahaha. Btw, can't we just all get along? Nikon & Cannon? [emoji4]. You'll need to teach me your secrets!!!
Taiwan Bee aren't much more difficult than CRS or other bee shrimps. Stable parameters is important. Specifically, I use ADA AS filled to about 3-4in. I always use an UGF but it has to be layered with something in between the UGF and soil. Ada AS isn't great if it comes in contact with an intake as it breaks down quite easily. Temperature should be in a cool range of 70-74 degrees. Ph:6, TDS: really depends on remineralizer product, gH: 4-6, kH: 0.
About Nikon.
If you have DX body 40mm macro or 60mm macro . For FX 60mm.
2 flashes 6-7feet from the tank one 3-4 feet left one 3 feet right . So if you are upfront of the tank light should be behind you and further left and right. They should be little bit higher than tank top edge feet or so. Camera sinc speed 1/250-300.Flash speed the same.
ISO 500-800 depend of the camera and noise.EV+1 to +2.5 depend how bright you like to have your shrimps. High iso and EV is to make shrimps to pop over background.
Do DIY lens hood from black paper and insert it over the lens. The carton hood should reach the front tank glass or to be no further than 1-2" from it. Purpose is to stop Flash reflection from the glass going in to the lens. 5.6-11F should do the job. It depends of your DOF requirements. Post processing with Adobe Light Room will do the rest.
LMK if you need further info. You can find some of my pics in the forum. Not that great like Nick-Canon combo thought :smile:
105 is the best but too expensive + you have to stay further so more reflection light will go to the lens which is bad. If you have D700, D800 or D610 then you may go with it but for D7000 or D7100 the new 60mm is perfect.
For macro 1:1 and close up portraits Canon is better because it’s JPG processing engine and compress codec is way clear than Nikon. It is the same with camcorders. Canon has much sharper image than Sony and Panasonic. But....when we are talking about build quality and look, lens quality and software futures Canon is way back. Now I have Canon T3I + 60mm macro for shrimps and flowers and 3x high end Nikon bodies + 20ish lens for rest of the photography.
Cheap flashes $50-80 from amazon with SU4 features will do the job nicely.
Thank you for the great advice. I've also read online about a long zooming micro lens isn't always a benefits for micro shots as it allows too much light into the lens. Something along those lines.. Your advice is greatly appreciated. It's good to know it's possible to do great pictures with a D7100 and a 60mm Micro vs 105mm Micro. I think if I set my goals to the 60mm Micro, it will be more easily attainable by end of year.
I tend to put the off camera flash much closer, and use ettl mode. I keep it on a tripod and position to light subject at about 45 degree angle if possible. I use flash compensation and manual mode to balance light sources. I always use f11 for larger depth of field and crisp focus, and I use lens extension tubes on a 100 mm macro to fill the frame with the subject.
My crop frame canon sensor is terrible with noise, you Nikon guys have better performance there, so I keep my ISO low, but you can get away with more.
I tend to put the off camera flash much closer, and use ettl mode. I keep it on a tripod and position to light subject at about 45 degree angle if possible. I use flash compensation and manual mode to balance light sources. I always use f11 for larger depth of field and crisp focus, and I use lens extension tubes on a 100 mm macro to fill the frame with the subject.
My crop frame canon sensor is terrible with noise, you Nikon guys have better performance there, so I keep my ISO low, but you can get away with more.
If you put flash further it will give more light. Try 5-6 feet from the tank. You don't need to fill whole image with the subject. Probably 1/3 is the max.Big magnification and large size object make every mistake more visible. Look at Speedie photos. I think that he crops heavily. Ones he told that he shots pretty far from the tank.
Set your aperature higher, the back ground items will look less grainy.
I get scared when the shrimps start climbing. I always find them on the floor around the tank. It's amazing that they can climb up glass when water is running along the side. I think it's a survival instinct to go to area where the water is fresher.
Nice Shrimps!!! Still to scared to get taiwan bees. Don't know why I feel they aren't as stable because of the whole mischiling deal, even though there have been so many varieties coming out.
Set your aperature higher, the back ground items will look less grainy.
I get scared when the shrimps start climbing. I always find them on the floor around the tank. It's amazing that they can climb up glass when water is running along the side. I think it's a survival instinct to go to area where the water is fresher.
Nice Shrimps!!! Still to scared to get taiwan bees. Don't know why I feel they aren't as stable because of the whole mischiling deal, even though there have been so many varieties coming out.
I'll try the aperture recommendation when I actually buy a dslr and macro lens. Currently using iPhone for pictures. After finding out that a 60mm micro lens from nikon would still work and work really well with the d7100 it's really out things into more affordable ranges. The d7100 is around 1k for body (less if I bid on eBay) and the 60mm micro is around 400ish vs the 105mm which is around 800-1k, I'm slowly opening up to just pulling the trigger sooner vs the end of year plan.
It's pretty crazy when I first observed the climbing behavior, but after doing weekly waterchanges for months and experiencing them doing every single time, I'm a bit more accustomed to it now. As long as there's moisture on the surface, they'll climb... There climbers man... I've seen them break the surface tense with oncoming outflow pushing up. It's hard to stop these guys.
Genetically speaking, I feel like Taiwan Bee are stronger now than ever. I remember keeping Taiwan Bee in the past (unsuccessfully) and how they were so weak, they just hide away from strong currents. Not so today. Taiwan Bee today have been breed and mixed with other genes and have since become a lot stronger and more durable.
I agree with you insight that it could be a survival thing to explore fresher outlets of water. They seem to always gather around the corners where I feed new clean water back into the tank during my WC.
Don't be scare to try them out jimmy! Taiwan Bee = PRL = CRS in terms of durability.
Pure Line Shrimp ^^ From what I understand they are CRS that have been bred to not have golden offsprings and are bred to have the whites and red parts of their bodies all filled in rather than having clear spots in them like CRS. Maybe someone else more experience in explanation can tell you more details about it but I have both PRL and CRS and the PRL are more vivid color and all filled with color whereas the CRS have clear spots here and there
Shrimps get taken to a whole new level once you get caught up in it!!!!! Tons of threads about different variations of shrimps and how to keep them happy! It's fun to learn about all of them then you get addicted.....-_- most would know what I'm talking about haha
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