Cherry Shrimp Outbreak!!!

Had 7 shrimp for about 8 months now. Had a mystery fish in tank with them and the females berried up but I never saw new shrimp. 2 weeks ago mystery went into my 30 and now I have an outbreak!! Got to have between 30-60 new shrimp. So what should my plans be? There in a 5.5 gal. Oh and it looks like ALL the females are berried again.

 

First of all, congratulations! You can move some of them to your other tank(s). Or you can give them away to an lfs, friend, or try to sell them.

 

Well done it would be best not to move young shrimp for at least 6/8 weeks even then if they go into a fish occupied tank the chances are they will get eaten, you also need to find shrimp food for baby shrimp to help with the moulting process, the first few weeks are critical to young shrimp, you can also supplement the food with blanched spinach, you may already know this but just in case.

 

you also need to find shrimp food for baby shrimp to help with the moulting process, the first few weeks are critical to young shrimp.

Just out of interest, which baby food do you use Richie (richie.p )?
I've only ever just used BacterAE to add biofilm for the babies, but would be keen to buy some specific baby food if it means that more babies would survive. I had a quick look at ProShrimp and there's so many to choose from, I thought I'd see what you recommend!

 

It's important to give baby shrimp the minerals calcium and Bactor AE in the early stages as most shrimp die because they don't get through the moult, this food I use give them all they need and cut your losses, I know there's other food out there, Bactor AE is a great all rounder in itself as it also creates biofilm, also the food I use is giving all my shrimp a constant source of everything they need to keep them in top condition that's adults and young

 

It's important to give baby shrimp the minerals calcium and Bactor AE in the early stages as most shrimp die because they don't get through the moult, this food I use give them all they need and cut your losses, I know there's other food out there, Bactor AE is a great all rounder in itself as it also creates biofilm, also the food I use is giving all my shrimp a constant source of everything they need to keep them in top condition that's adults and young

Thanks Richie!
Are they from 'Mark's Shrimp Tanks' ?

 

Yes they are Emma that pic I posted is what iam feeding now with Bactor AE, you can buy that pack for about£9 Mark calls it his sample pack after you test them out on the shrimp you can then buy bigger bags, one of them you'll cut out as it's dose the same as Bactor AE shipping takes only a few days and its cheap enough, you've seen pics of my tanks and that's all his food supplemented with veg

 

Yes they are Emma that pic I posted is what iam feeding now with Bactor AE, you can buy that pack for about£9 Mark calls it his sample pack after you test them out on the shrimp you can then buy bigger bags, one of them you'll cut out as it's dose the same as Bactor AE shipping takes only a few days and its cheap enough, you've seen pics of my tanks and that's all his food supplemented with veg

Thanks!
I'll get some, always keen to try out new bits and bobs!

 

you wount regret it emma

 

Ok I had no idea. How big do they get before they molt. The adults have molted many times and the smaller shrimp are all different sizes. I’m feeding them nothing special same foods I feed my fish. All look fine. The biggest of the smaller ones are about 1/4” smaller than the adults.

 

The only way they grow is to moult so from day one the process starts, if the young are coming on and growing ide not change as they are getting what's needed in the tank, you are not doing anything wrong I would supplement with spinach, just put some 3or4 leaves in boiling water for 40 seconds slide onto wooden squer as in my avatar photo take out any uneaten after 2hrs they will benefit from it, I have tanks dedicated to shrimp only so only feed shrimp food designed for shrimp but yours are happy on what your doing

 

Ok will try the spinach.

 

Reading back through your post I think the mystery fish was eating your young so that was the problem, it's a nice looking setup you've got there

 

86 ssinit have a look at one of my tanks the glass is covered in biofilm and shrimp of all ages on it, if you could leave one or even part of glass to go like this your young shrimp and adults will stick to it like glue it's not everyone's cup of tea but great for shrimp

 

Thanks Richie mystery fish was definitely the culprit. Running the light on a 4hrs on 4off than 5on set and not much algae growing. There’s plenty of biofilm on the glass and I’ve got algae in the other tanks that I drop in for the shrimp. So far so good and they are growing.

 

If it's working for you that's great just carry on with it the other tank will mature it dose take time, the one in the photo as been running 3 years but I add Bactor AE which helps with biofilm, your doing ok don't change anything the spinach will be a good addition, if you think you have a problem any time give us a shout, keep us posted on your progress as it helps others as well

 

I will keep this thread going. Hoping to get a pic like your avatar with a bunch on a spinach leaf. May give me a better idea how many are in there.

 

Wow the shrimp look great

 

I wish to have them in my tanks but theyre not in any pet store in the whole country and amazons super expensive and not even shipping to my country. Just bad luck I think

 

SORRY to hear that Hamza can't your lfs recommend somthing

 

SORRY to hear that Hamza can't your lfs recommend somthing

Nope they got nothing but commonly fpund aquarium fish
Its hard to even find bn plecos which cost about 2$ for a 2 to 3 inch fish. Id order online but theyre not shipped here

 

Three more berried and they’re getting bigger

 

Glad to see it's working for you,tank looks good

 

86 ssinit Are you gonna sell them as I wanted to buy some also do you ship to kenya? Most sellers on ebay aren't shipping to kenya and ebays the only site I trust but if you are selling them id like to buy some

 

have you considered marine shrimp as I've found marine outlets in kenya and there are some beautiful shrimp in marine, ide go as far to say they are prettier than tropical

 

Nice to know someone whos been to kenya.
I can't use marine cause all my tanks are fresh water and so are all fish shops in my town so I wouldnt be able to have marine shrimp

 

Sorry Hamza not selling and don’t know the first thing about local shipping of live animals. Could only imagine what I’d have to do to ship internationally. Again sorry.

 

Sorry Hamza not selling and don’t know the first thing about local shipping of live animals. Could only imagine what I’d have to do to ship internationally. Again sorry.

Tnx nywyz

 

Nice to know someone whos been to kenya.
I can't use marine cause all my tanks are fresh water and so are all fish shops in my town so I wouldnt be able to have marine shrimp

Have you tried ordering from your local fish shop? Try find out who's the main supplier to the smaller ones and then ask that one to order for you next time they order from abroad. It might take a long time but you could be lucky eventually. Ordering online yourself is risky because customs might not allow live animals through the border and then you've wasted your money. I had the same problem as you, I live in the Middle East. Took me 7 months to eventually get some! But I got them

 

Have you tried ordering from your local fish shop? Try find out who's the main supplier to the smaller ones and then ask that one to order for you next time they order from abroad. It might take a long time but you could be lucky eventually. Ordering online yourself is risky because customs might not allow live animals through the border and then you've wasted your money. I had the same problem as you, I live in the Middle East. Took me 7 months to eventually get some! But I got them

Tnx maybe ill try that. Thing is the main suppliers in another city bout halfway across my country so ill have to wait till school holidays and the small shops usually buy from local breeders thus less variety but ill see if I can get the supplier when I go to the capital. Thnx BettaOman

 

Hamza L.K You have a paper in kenya called Star Classifieds try putting an add in there it may bring something

 

Do u mean like an add saying lookin 4 aquarium shrimp

 

Yep you got it someone out there must have shrimp find any papers that allow you free advertising, also try and Google for an aquarium society see if they can help

 

Free advertising in d 3rd world is impossible but I was told by my uncle about this guy who sold them fresh water prawns (deads/for eating) this guy catches them in some stream so I could ask this guy to bring the tiny shrimp that get into his nets the next time he goes and if he does find some alive id buy them from him

There will probably be some small wild shrimp then I can separate them according to similarities and hopefully end up with a colony of freshwater shrimp

 

That's how it all started and with selective breeding comes colour, at least it's a start for you, I will watch with interest if you go down that road

 

Just hope the guys brings some alive.
If they come out to be really good looking I might as well start selective or line breeding them like my guppies
It will be a fun journey if God wills

 

Today’s pic . So many shrimp! The white specs on the glass are shrimp. So my question today is how many shrimp can you keep in a 5gal tank? Twice a week I’m changing about a gallon of water and cleaning all the media.

 

That's a brilliant tank well done in one of my 5gal tanks I have upwards of 100 shrimp at any one time. I wouldn't clean the media that often once a month is ample, you could end up destroying the good bacteria if washed to much and you don't want that,when you do a water change try an use a white bucket that way you'll see any escapees and you will find them I also use a torch to look for them you could also do just one water change a week that would be fine but its up to you.

 

New update. Shrimp and plants growing great. Seems any plant I put in there grows. May make that tank a 10gal. This way I can put bigger plants in there. Shrimp clean plants great. Any spot algae they eat right off.
Tried putting them in other tanks and had success in 5he 30. Again any algae in tank is gone. Added to 90 but I think fish may have eaten them. But green slime algae is mostly gone so they may just be hiding during the day .

 

Well I’ve had this little shrimp tank running for almost 6 months. Started as a fry tank and when the fry were gone I added cherry shrimp. Well the shrimp have been a huge success. I’ve been putting my anubias plants from my 90 in it and the shrimp clean all spot algae off them . They’re the best algae cleaners. But some of my plants just don’t fit in a 5 gal tank. So.....

I got a 15gal for them and I’m slowly added them into it. Hope to have them all in by the weekend .

 

All done .

 

Very nice I like it, looks like berried shrimp as well,

 

Thanks Richie. Yeah some berried in there. Thought there were about 100 in the 5 gal. But there was closer to 300. Couldn’t belive how many were in there!

 

My little 7gal had 200+ when I cleaned out to put black bee in I couldn't believe how many were in there and it was only a few weeks earlier I took 7dozen out for my lfs and I never had a problem with that tank, I was finding young for days before I could do the switch. That's a nice tank it'll be even nicer when you've got a 1000+ in I also like the look of that pint of beer

 

Ok just wrote this in another thread but thought I would enter it here too. Just bought a kh&gh test kit and tested my shrimp tank one drop they went to yellow and green so I’ve either got 0 on both or 1. So why is this tank working. Also checked my other tanks and got 5he same results.

 

15gal is doing great. Think I have too many shrimp!! What to do now?

 

It's looking great there's tons of room in there yet don't worry dosnt look like your over crouded, take a photo of feeding time show us what's in there, look at mine and still multiplying, if anything you can cull the very brownish if you've got any not for the colours to start to throw back to wild,

 

Just an update. I’ve learned that the shrimp will clean algae off plants from my other tanks. Keep getting this black algae growing in my qt tank. Only thing different is this tank gets thrive. But when it gets bad I drop it into the shrimp tank and they go to work!!! 10 min latter
will put up more pics tomorrow m.

 

After a nights work .

 

Been awhile so I added this video before they close this thread. First tank is a 30 I was using as a qt tank. Started putting my culled shrimp in here and they took off. They’re sharing the tank with 5 ottos a pair of Cory’s an SAE and a pair of bosemanI rainbow fish fry. The second tank is the upgraded 15. Now I lowered the temp because they were breeding like crazy. But been spending time on other tanks and realized the population has decreased big time in this tank. So I’m raising the temp to see if they start breeding again .