my first preggo blue neocaridina! advice?

just found my first preggo blue velvet, jw if anyone has any advice on how to help the shrimplets survive I do want to grow my population.

she's in a 5 gal with 15 shrimp, 6 ember tetras and tiny pest snails.
I did have a plan to move them to a ten gallon because that tank is terrible and to cut out the snail population but I just saw this one has eggs so I don't want to risk the move right now. she doesn't have the best coloring but maybe she bred with one of the fellas that does. here's to hoping.
I am thinking I should take out the embers as tiny shrimp could make a good snack.
there's some plants, driftwood, alder cones, catappa leaves, rocks and moss but not tons of coverage for babies. older pic of the tank below, the mystery snail has moved to a dif tank and the pest snailpocalypse is in full swing.
any advice would be appreciated.

 

Hey, kait! Congrats on the berried shrimp!

So, I have a community tank that my shrimp are in. There are 17 fish in the tank... one being a bn pleco. While I've never seen her hunt shrimplets, I'm sure she might get one here or there while grazing. As for the other 16... yes, they eat shrimplets. (There are very few fish that don't.) I have a TON of cover, so that's probably why my colonies grow. Basically, you need really good hiding spots - and a lot of them - for the babies to get big enough not to fit in the mouth of your tetras. IMHO, you do have cover for your shrimplets but probably not enough to have a high survival rate if you leave the tetras in there. Is the 10 gallon ready to go for the tetras?

As for moving the shrimp to the 10 gallon, if it's cycled and mature, it's an option. But, it would depend on if you move the tetras, too, and how much cover is in there.

I do suggest getting glasgarten bacter ae & shrimp baby if you don't have those, and work on getting the numbers from snailpocalypse down.

 

Hey, kait! Congrats on the berried shrimp!

So, I have a community tank that my shrimp are in. There are 17 fish in the tank... one being a bn pleco. While I've never seen her hunt shrimplets, I'm sure she might get one here or there while grazing. As for the other 16... yes, they eat shrimplets. (There are very few fish that don't.) I have a TON of cover, so that's probably why my colonies grow. Basically, you need really good hiding spots - and a lot of them - for the babies to get big enough not to fit in the mouth of your tetras. IMHO, you do have cover for your shrimplets but probably not enough to have a high survival rate if you leave the tetras in there. Is the 10 gallon ready to go for the tetras?

As for moving the shrimp to the 10 gallon, if it's cycled and mature, it's an option. But, it would depend on if you move the tetras, too, and how much cover is in there.

I do suggest getting glasgarten bacter ae & shrimp baby if you don't have those, and work on getting the numbers from snailpocalypse down.

the ten gal just has substrate in it so they'd be pretty out in the open but I guess I could pick up some standard plants at the LFS. but I got big plans! hahaha Cant imagine how this all started with a single tank and betta fish. LOL
I do have bacter ae and shrimp king mineral pellets.
I think I'll move the tetras out just to be safe since its the first time I don't want to gamble too much.

 

I love the look of your 5 gallon, so I'm sure you'll have that 10 gallon gorgeous in no time!

I think I'd wait on moving the shrimp to the 10 gallon for now. Sounds like it's just starting out, so it may not be mature enough for your shrimp.

I read somewhere that snail poo helps with shrimp digestion. I can't remember where I read that, and I haven't done any research on it, but if it's true maybe the snails are helping out. Well, not all of them - I'm sure there's too much of a good thing!

I know you'll have more success with your shrimp by not having the fish in the tank. Once you have a good colony going, then you might look at putting them back together if that's your goal.

 

Have a shrimp breeder tank and keep snails and chilI rasboras with them right now. Colony has grown from 14 to about 40 over 2 months. We've observed several berried females and while I never see fry in the open on the side with fish, imagine they are concealing themselves until they feel safe. Some predation may occur. Tank has spiderwood and heavily planted with a small open area in the front. Best advice is moss, moss and more moss. Other than the open sandy spot up front pretty much have moss covering every other area even under the other plants. Use stargrass and wisteria as well to provide cover and living area.

Best of luck; shrimp rock!

 

Have a shrimp breeder tank and keep snails and chilI rasboras with them right now. Colony has grown from 14 to about 40 over 2 months. We've observed several berried females and while I never see fry in the open on the side with fish, imagine they are concealing themselves until they feel safe. Some predation may occur. Tank has spiderwood and heavily planted with a small open area in the front. Best advice is moss, moss and more moss. Other than the open sandy spot up front pretty much have moss covering every other area even under the other plants. Use stargrass and wisteria as well to provide cover and living area.

Best of luck; shrimp rock!

I had chillI rasboras with shrimp and I found a couple of them were brutal hunters of the babies. I bet if they were not in your tank you would see an explosion of babies.

 

I had concerns along those lines and ascribe to the 'eat what fits in the mouth' principle. I'm big on experimentation so thought I'd try it and so far colony is growing nicely. I feed smaller amounts twice per day to keep down on hunger driven hunting and rely on ample cover to reduce predation. I'm sure some of that is going on with eggs or fry, but apparently not enough to impede good growth of #s. That may change into the future as the chilis mature and grow (relative term) a bit bigger, so prepared for eventualities, but for now it works.

 

Have a shrimp breeder tank and keep snails and chilI rasboras with them right now. Colony has grown from 14 to about 40 over 2 months. We've observed several berried females and while I never see fry in the open on the side with fish, imagine they are concealing themselves until they feel safe. Some predation may occur. Tank has spiderwood and heavily planted with a small open area in the front. Best advice is moss, moss and more moss. Other than the open sandy spot up front pretty much have moss covering every other area even under the other plants. Use stargrass and wisteria as well to provide cover and living area.

Best of luck; shrimp rock!

wow that's a huge increase! I've had them for a while and they just got around to it. but I've never had shrimp before so here's to hoping! I'll have to get some more moss thanks for the tip!

 

I love the look of your 5 gallon, so I'm sure you'll have that 10 gallon gorgeous in no time!

I think I'd wait on moving the shrimp to the 10 gallon for now. Sounds like it's just starting out, so it may not be mature enough for your shrimp.

I read somewhere that snail poo helps with shrimp digestion. I can't remember where I read that, and I haven't done any research on it, but if it's true maybe the snails are helping out. Well, not all of them - I'm sure there's too much of a good thing!

I know you'll have more success with your shrimp by not having the fish in the tank. Once you have a good colony going, then you might look at putting them back together if that's your goal.

thanks so much! yes I'd like to wait until after the holidays and really plan what else is going to go on in there I'm kinda at a standstill because of hardscaping. I've been having a hard time finding Malaysian driftwood or what have you to go with the other peices I have.

 

as an update.... I did not move the nano ember tetras from the tank... eek.lol bad fish hobbiest. but the babies don't seem to be disappearing. I upped to two small feedings for the fish so they hopefully won't be hungry enough to eat them. I had some white shells I boiled in the tank and I noticed the baby shrimp were hanging out inside the shells... so I threw a bunch more in there. they seem to be doing well in their hiding spot. as a surprise I also found I have two more pregnant shrimp. now that the holidays are over I gotta get the ten gallon ready for everyone.

 

so far the babies are unscathed, the ember tetras are seriously uninterested in them. the ones that have hatched are growing slowly. this tank is a heckin mess. can't wait for them to get to a healthy size so I can transfer them to the pest snailless 9gal.
also a tip for anyone else that ever reads this post. if ur water change bucket is dark in colour... it sure makes seeing any baby shrimp (that are also dark in colour) u accidentally sucked up hard to see. lololol you might spend something like couple hours fishing them out depending on how determined you are.
I've learned since to be extremely careful doing water changes with babies and put a peice of nylon around the siphon. but that also means u can't clean it as well..... so...
we're adjusting.

 

IMO fish and shrimp do t work well together. If you must have fish with your shrimp get nano species fish and then only after you shrimp are well established.
Also, shrimp like stable tanks. I would not relocate you shrimp but rather your fish.

 

Thanks for posting this. I'm planning to set up a 5 gallon tank on my desk at work, starting with ember tetras and adding blue shrimp after a couple months. I intend to have it at least moderately planted, along with a pile of rocks for the shrimp to hide in.