one of my shrimp had a bad molt :( I know it’s a little hard to...

one of my shrimp had a bad molt :( I know it’s a little hard to tell, not like they are easy to get photos of, but everything below that white line on the tail  is the old shell, (the line is the ragged edge of the old shell) it won’t come off. Now, it could be worse, I’ve just been reading about how this can happen where the HEAD gets stuck, which is obviously worse. And the little dude is still going around doing shrimpy things, and does not seem to be in distress. but still, not good. not quite sure what to do about it though.

In other aquarium news, I’ve decided that I’ve had enough with these damn tannins. When I did the bowls, I did not have a ton of continuing problems wit the tannins from the soil, they disappeared after a few water changed, and everything was great. But maybe the bag I got this time was heavier on the peat and/or wood chips? I don’t know. But the tannins are ridiculous. Even though the water parameters are perfect, no ammonia or nitrite, BARELY detectable nitrates, I’ve been reduced to doing a close to 50% water change every 5 days or so just so the plants can get enough light through the water. Above is what it looks like now, just before i do yet another water change because it’s just too dark, it’s gotten darker than that before, though. I could probably get away with doing the occasional top off and a 25% change every 2 weeks if not for the tannins, especially if i was able to get more plants with the increased light levels.  After some research, I heard some good things about Seachem Purigen successfully removing tannins way more effectively than activated carbon. So I ordered some of that, and am going to give that a try. So maybe soon i will be able to take some pictures where everything is not tinted yellow/brown. I am fine with a bit of tannins, and will remove the Purigen once the leeching of tannins is no longer at an absurd level… just not so much that it’s actually limiting me to low light plants even though I have a light that should allow me medium to high light plants. And while I love my crypts, I want a pretty green carpet to be a thing that I can do. :(

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