This is so hilariously amusing that I have to write it before it disappears from my brain. I happened to be talking to someone on Thursday when I went to buy a fish and we happened to be on the topic of saltwater and freshwater fish. Somehow, I was trying to explain to him the issue of water salinity with fish and how freshwater baths can be given to fish on certain occasions to cure diseases, such as ich.

Anyway, this friend of mine proposed a brilliant plan — attempting to evolve a new kind of clownfish. The scheme involves putting a clownfish in freshwater for an hour a day at the start. After the clownfish is able to withstand an hour’s worth of freshwater, put it in freshwater for a longer period, say 2 hours. Gradually increase the duration in which the clownfish spends inside the freshwater pool… and ta-daa! You may get a freshwater clownfish! :O I was quite intrigued by this theory initially but my friend proposed the argument that some fish live in freshwater and saltwater (agree – salmon, trout, sturgeons) and hence this may be secretly possible!

Then again, while this idea may seem plausible, a quick check on Wikipedia  reveals that the difference in the body structure enables the fish to live in different kinds of environment… so that means the Freshwater Clownfish Theory may just be a theory eventually. Oh well. So much for the theory on evolution.

My friend bought me a jar filled with water and a moss ball a while ago and told me that it’s possible to rear small shrimp and fish in the jar, based on a simple scientific theory — the moss ball photosynthesizes and produces oxygen for the critters, and in turn, the animals produce carbon dioxide for the moss ball. Previously, I purchased some orange shrimp (Caridina cf. propinqua) and Sakura shrimp (Neocaridina sp. Sakura) but they didn’t survive for more than two weeks. I’ve been thinking whether their fatality is due to the temperature (too hot in my room at times and it’s not constant), or the water quality (usually not the case), or the lack of oxygen in the tank.

I recently acquired another batch of orange shrimp and decided to find out which factor is the root cause of the death of my shrimps. Upon investigating, I realized that the moss ball does not produce enough oxygen (or, in another instance, takes in too much oxygen during the night leaving less for the shrimp) to support the entire ecosystem. Batch #2 was left in the same temperature conditions as Batch #1, put in the same moss ball tanks (currently I have 4 moss balls in 3 tanks) , but I decided to change half of the water in their tanks everyday. By doing so, none of the prawns have perished since I bought them last Friday, compared to Batch #1 where at least half of my prawn population was deceased by the first week.

If it’s truly due to the lack of oxygen, will bubbling the existing water with a pump be just as useful as changing half of the water? This is assuming that the prawns are dying because of the utter lack of oxygen. As far as I know, adding hydrilla together with the moss balls does not extend the lifespan of my prawns… they still die, as evidenced by Batch #1. But anyway, so far so good, currently 0 fatalities — 4 of my cardinal tetra and all 10 of my orange shrimp are still alive.

This is the very first moss ball jar which I received from my friend. Since it was too small to accommodate 10 prawns for Batch #1, I decided to buy three more moss balls and jars so as to prevent overcrowding and competition for oxygen. However, despite dividing the shrimp into 5 per jar, they still perished in the end. The current set-up for Batch #2 is similar to this, and I’m glad to say that my shrimp and cardinal tetras are living fine in there.

A cardinal tetra taking a peek. Since I’ve not bought the lens filter for my macro 60mm, lazy me decided to just use a compact camera to take this.

Nomnomnomnomnom! I have no idea why, but shrimps lurve this green stuff. In my other tank which houses two moss balls, my orange shrimp are glued to the moss ball the whole day long… I wonder why.  I believe they’re eating the moss ball itself cos I saw one of my moss ball shrinking! The moss ball which was a gift now has a crater in it… because of my shrimps.

Btw, I’m leaving for New Zealand this coming Sunday, so it’ll be hard to contact me. Can’t wait cos it’s finally a break after working hard for the month of April and May! Hopefully I’ll bring back loads of pretty, pretty photos for everyone to see mweehee. And I’m definitely bringing my tripod for this — so much for whining about bringing it in the other post. I’ve already packed it in my suitcase so that I won’t forget to bring it!

PS: If you ever decide to search for nicer photos of the orange shrimp which I’m speaking of here, please don’t type in orange prawn. The difference is HUGE. Be prepared to receive search results on cooking recipes if you key in the latter.