cherry shrimp- lots of eggs, no babies?

[irene]

Hi all,

I've had about 20 cherry shrimp in a planted 10g for about 2 months now, and at least 6 of them are carrying eggs but I have yet to see any babies!  I'm sure I saw maybe one or two carrying eggs 6wks ago...the only other inhabitants are 2 filter feeding shrimp + 2 cajun dwarf crays (added last wed).   The tank is established and has been up for at least 6 mos, it was previously home to 1 red eye puffer (who now lives in a 20g long).  There is a sponge filter and the small pump that comes with the red sea CO2 bio system running in the tank.

I should be seeing babies by now, right?!

Irene

[RoxyDog]

my cherry shrimp in my 5gal are always carrying eggs and I also haven't seen a population "explosion" but I assumed my fork tail rainbows were eating them.  you had the puffer in with them, or you meant before them?

[irene]

No, I had the puffer in before them.  They are only with other inverts.  I was hoping to get a colony started but I don't seen to be seeing any babies.

Irene

[dan2x38]

What is your NO3, pH, & GH? They need low NO3, around neutral pH +/-, & calcium. For breeding I've read temp. should be around 75. In my son's tank it is temperate close to 70-72 and they breed well in there.

[bitterman]

What is your NO3, pH, & GH? They need low NO3, around neutral pH +/-, & calcium. For breeding I've read temp. should be around 75. In my son's tank it is temperate close to 70-72 and they breed well in there.

My Red Cherry shirmp are breeding in Ph > 8.6 (In the 9's) My GH is through the roof also.

[irene]

I've added some crushed coral to the tank and I could lower the temps a bit too, it's around 77 now.  I have been slacking a bit on the water changes, letting it go for two weeks intsead of weekly...so the nitrates could have been going up.

Should I throw some equilibrium in there the raise the GH too?  It seems really weird that so many are carrying eggs but they're not hatching?  Or maybe the babies are dying right away??

I do add DIY CO2, but I doubt the levels are getting very high as I also have a sponge filter bubbling away in there..

Irene

[dan2x38]

My guess is the NO3 levels. A little EQ wouldn't hurt make their shells stronger. High pH can shorten a lot of shrimp's live spans. Maybe it affects the babies too? Could always ask Zapisto from the sponsors sites. He is also doing a presentation for the Nov. meeting. He's bring some stock too!

[zapisto]

irene you NO3 is too high

[Dr. Ashtray]

Hello there Irene.  I have cherry shrimp in five of my tanks.  The colony in the 72 gallon set up is breeding steady.  The colony in the 25 gallon is going crazy in comparison.  The two colonies in the 10 and 12 gallon tanks are moving slowly.  In the 25 they are going crazy in, I have a nice big piece of Malaysian driftwood, some crypts, tall grass, Java moss, sand based with plant sub under that.  I pump C02 during the day then detach that at night(homemade).  The temperature in that tank is usually in the 76-77 bracket.  I have a maxi-jet 400 that I feed the C02 through.  I do a 50% water change weekly and add clays and calcium in a mix I bought from Cali called Pond Happiness Blend by Karma Farm Aquatics.  I also fertilize with leafzone every other week.  The cherry shrimp in there are dark red and very active.  There is a small colony of cajun dwarves in there as well as a half-fan tail guppy I am working on breeding out with peacock in the tail.  I feed all of my fish with either Color bits by tetra or hikari's micro wafers and pellets.  I have just started using Azoo's guppy food.  Nothing significant to report on that.  My water is soft, but it gets a little harder with the addition of minerals.  My PH is about 6.8.  out of the tap my PH is about 7.5.  It settles pretty quick when it mixes with the tank water.

Jeffrey...

[Fishnut]

Irene. if the tank they inhabit has a significant number of plants in it, you will also not see the babies easily.  They are SUPER tiny when they hatch.  Also, are you vacuuming the gravel when you do water changes?  If so, you are likely vacuuming away baby shrimp.  They like to hide in the gravel among the pebbles.  Here is a picture of a 4 day old Tiger Shrimp on a piece of lined paper so you can see what I mean by TINY!! .  Mine bred well until something happened to the tank and they all died.



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[dan2x38]

Irene what Fishnut is saying about vacuuming is so true. I use a small diameter vacuum tube. With a small sponge trimmed a touch bigger then the inside of the tube. I thread some fishing line through the sponge. I make it long enough so the sponge goes into the tube several inches and can stretch all the way to the top of the tube where the hose connects. Leaving the fishing line long enough I tie a loop there so the sponge does not get sucked all the way the tube plus I can pull it out. When I do pull it out after vacuuming I cup my hand under the end of tube. If there are any shrimp or fry when doing those tanks I slip them back in. Maybe this can help.

[Fishnut]

Wow...that's a lot of work Dan!  I just don't vaccume the gravel .  Altough I have no breeding shrimp, my planted tank and CPD tanks never get vaccumed.  I make sure I don't overfeed and I have lots of plants that are thriving on natural fertilizers.  When I do water changes I just take out some water and fill it up again!

[dan2x38]

Wow...that's a lot of work Dan!  I just don't vaccume the gravel .  Altough I have no breeding shrimp, my planted tank and CPD tanks never get vaccumed.  I make sure I don't overfeed and I have lots of plants that are thriving on natural fertilizers.  When I do water changes I just take out some water and fill it up again!

I do the sponge thing once. This has lasted me for more than 6 months. In breeder tanks I have no gravel. Vacuuming is same as anyone after that...

[irene]

I don't vacuum the gravel in that tank either.  I also don't fertilize that tank at all.  Maybe i'm overfeeding them?  I'm going to try cutting down the food and keeping up the weekly water changes and see if that helps.

I had a pair of cajun dwarf cray in there too, but I found one dead this morning.   I think I'll dust off the old test kits and see what going on with that tank.

Irene

[Dr. Ashtray]

The problem could be related to too many toxins in your substrate due to lack of vacuuming.  I know that if I let my substrate go for more than a month, problems start to happen.  This is why I have switched to sand substrate.  Nothing gets caught in sand.  You really make your filter work properly when you have a sand bottom everything eventually gets sucked up into it instead of building up in the substrate until it is just too much for the fish to handle.  All of the tanks that I have rock substrates in I vacuum every 3 weeks but still do the 50% water changes weekly.

Jeffrey...

[zapisto]

The problem could be related to too many toxins in your substrate due to lack of vacuuming.  I know that if I let my substrate go for more than a month, problems start to happen.  This is why I have switched to sand substrate.  Nothing gets caught in sand.  You really make your filter work properly when you have a sand bottom everything eventually gets sucked up into it instead of building up in the substrate until it is just too much for the fish to handle.  All of the tanks that I have rock substrates in I vacuum every 3 weeks but still do the 50% water changes weekly.

Jeffrey...

[/quote]
NO
i am not vacumming at all my cherry tank , simply because that's impossible , with more than 800 shrimp in 10g , i think you can imagine what the floor look like

and beleave me or not they breed like crazy and i have no trouble.
better my CPO breed better in theis tank than any other.

Just be sure to keep the NO3 low.

[irene]

I have baby cherry shrimp!  Finally!   I started doing weekly 40% water changes as zapisto said my NO3 may be too high and it seems to have done the trick.  Just wanted to share..

Irene

[dan2x38]

That's great Irene I was sure that was the issue. Got to love these little guys?

[renadia]

Good for you! sometimes does not need to be big changes for things to work.

Have fun with the babies