Tips On Starting A Shrimp Colony

I'm going to start a new shrimp colony ghost shrimp in particular I would like tips on how to maximize their breeding to create a massive colony. Ive tried do shrimp before but they all died probably because of water quality because I was extremely new to fish keeping

 

I have cherry shrimp, and they're insanely sensitive to the water. The wate rmust be dechlorinated and left to sit for at least 24 hours before being added during water changes, and must be added very very slowly. For me I tend to steadily add it in over the course of 3 hours after a change. If you have them with fish, it's very important they get hiding places. They love plants, of course. I'm currently growing some grass for them but it's a lot slower growing than I thought. But a ground cover is still a good option for them. Getting something like a daphnia colony started beforehand will greatly benefit the shrimp, they love eating them, though you still have to feed them every day. Make sure they have a lot of hiding places, and good luck! Remember, they're so sensitive to water parameters that just adding cooler water than the tank could kill them from shock.

 

IME ghost shrimp are hardier than cherries and can tolerate a pretty wide range of stuff. Two main issues with them: the first is they're mainly feeder shrimp, which means they're poorly kept and about 1/3-2/3 will probably die within the first week you get them just because of the bad conditions they were in. The second problem is that ghost shrimp will eat their babies. Most people who breed them get around this by placing a berried female in a smaller container (once eyes can be seen in the eggs) with lots of mosses or something and then moving the female back after she releases the eggs. Most raise the young in a separate container until they're too big to eat. Good luck!

 

IME ghost shrimp are hardier than cherries and can tolerate a pretty wide range of stuff. Two main issues with them: the first is they're mainly feeder shrimp, which means they're poorly kept and about 1/3-2/3 will probably die within the first week you get them just because of the bad conditions they were in. The second problem is that ghost shrimp will eat their babies. Most people who breed them get around this by placing a berried female in a smaller container (once eyes can be seen in the eggs) with lots of mosses or something and then moving the female back after she releases the eggs. Most raise the young in a separate container until they're too big to eat. Good luck!

do cherrys eat their babys?

 

do cherrys eat their babys?

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No. and you don't need to dechlorinate water a full day before. That's not how prime or any other dechlorinator works. You got to acclimate them right, by adding a little bit of water into their bag or bucket for an hour or so to get them comfortable. Make sure the water you're adding is similar temperature to the tank but unless it's a huge difference they'll be fine. Cherries also tend to do better in colder water. 76-78 rather than 80 or 82.

 

Just wanted to say, I do have to let my water sit because my pH swings like crazy after 24 hours. Out of the tap it's 7.2, but after I let it sit for 12-24 hours it drops to 6.6. That large of a swing can be dangerous to the shrimp if I just put it in. That's not everyone, but I prefer to play it on the safe side. Also, I normally take 2-4 hours to drip acclimate them, which IME is the best way to acclinate shrimp and is very easy. And, you're totally spot on, they thrive at 76-78. CRS don't eat their babies either but are much much more sensitive, and amanos don't, but it's quite difficult to breed amanos.

 

YouTube is your friend on this topic. Says someone who wants to keep a shrimp tank, but can’t right now

 

You don’t have to wait 24 hours to change their water or anything like that. Cherries are Neo shrimp, they’re really very hardy, Ive has whole colonies live through ammonia and nitrite spikes, and Ive had them live through being hunted to near extinction, and yet somehow the colony always survives. It’s what I would recommend over ghost shrimp, any day

 

CRS don't eat their babies either but are much much more sensitive, and amanos don't, but it's quite difficult to breed amanos.

Just need to say that usually CRS stands for Crystal Red Shrimp, not Red Cherry Shrimp. CRS are caridina whereas red cherry shrimp are neocaridina. To my knowledge crystal red shrimp are much more sensitive than cherry shrimp and I think they require water that is softer and with a lower pH.


EDIT:: my bad. I didn't notice the either in your original post. You should still give the full name before an acronym though, as not everyone will know what species you mean.

 

Just need to say that usually CRS stands for Crystal Red Shrimp, not Red Cherry Shrimp. CRS are caridina whereas red cherry shrimp are neocaridina. To my knowledge crystal red shrimp are much more sensitive than cherry shrimp and I think they require water that is softer and with a lower pH.


EDIT:: my bad. I didn't notice the either in your original post. You should still give the full name before an acronym though, as not everyone will know what species you mean.

You're totally right, I really should be more specific. Sorry, I keep both and it's too much of a mouthful going around and saying all the words that I just abbreviate when I talk about them IRL.
But definitely for breeding purposes cherries are the easiest.

 

You're totally right, I really should be more specific. Sorry, I keep both and it's too much of a mouthful going around and saying all the words that I just abbreviate when I talk about them IRL.
But definitely for breeding purposes cherries are the easiest.

Don't apologize I just wanted to clear it up in case any newcomers seen it and thought CRS were the same as RCS. Didn't want anyone putting crystals in an environment meant for cherries and getting upset when their shrimp died because they thought they were the same.

 

Fair enough, although there is technically a small overlap where they can be kept together... but that's a problem for a different thread lol

 

@OP. I think this post got out of hand, your original post was about ghost shrimp. From my experience ghost shrimp are a pain to breed, removal of the larva into a green water solution, then back to the back tank. For .40 cents a shrimp go buy them in bulk. As pointed out earlier most will die very soon. They are not really meant to be a part of a tank but rather a food source.
Now, I think what others are saying if RCS Red Cherry Shrimp are better. But I will caution you that they are the easiest and also the hardest to keep.
Do your homework read what has worked and what has not. Don’t believe anyone who says ya just toss them in a new tank and they act like guppies and start to breed.
You have to go very slow, 6 to 8 weeks after you tank is cycled. Add some shrimp expect 50 to 60% deaths hopefully some will have fry and those will start your colony.

Good luck

 

@OP. I think this post got out of hand, your original post was about ghost shrimp. From my experience ghost shrimp are a pain to breed, removal of the larva into a green water solution, then back to the back tank. For .40 cents a shrimp go buy them in bulk. As pointed out earlier most will die very soon. They are not really meant to be a part of a tank but rather a food source.
Now, I think what others are saying if RCS Red Cherry Shrimp are better. But I will caution you that they are the easiest and also the hardest to keep.
Do your homework read what has worked and what has not. Don’t believe anyone who says ya just toss them in a new tank and they act like guppies and start to breed.
You have to go very slow, 6 to 8 weeks after you tank is cycled. Add some shrimp expect 50 to 60% deaths hopefully some will have fry and those will start your colony.

Good luck

Actually, you can get around the extra 6-8 weeks after cycling the tank (make sure it is fully cycled!) by adding bacterial supplements that increase biofilm. And, there really shouldn't be ANY deaths when adding in cherries, if you experience even a 10% death rate when you add them, there's something wrong. Either you didn't take long enough to acclimate them, something is very wrong with your water, or they were sick to begin with, which would most likely be a bacterial infection. Unless you meant ghost shrimp, but I already addressed their massive death rates after adding them.
Also the post didn't get out of hand, I have no idea what you're referring to? OP did initially ask about ghost shrimp, then turned to cherries since the initial question pertained more to breeding shrimp than the type. I don't believe a new thread was necessary for this, since the title has a broader scope.

 

Just wanted to say, I do have to let my water sit because my pH swings like crazy after 24 hours. Out of the tap it's 7.2, but after I let it sit for 12-24 hours it drops to 6.6.

I would think if you added just a bit of SeaChem alkalinity buffer to your tap water it would stabilize right away. You'd end up with slightly higher ph, but would be more stable in the long run.

 

Most shrimp do better with very low GH/KH and in softer water. That's not to say they don't do very well in other conditions, but if you're going to be finicky about the water in a Shrimp-only tank well...
Personally, I have RCS and Ghosts in various tanks ranging from 150-310 ppm KH, its more about the acclimation than anything.
When I can finally get Blue Sakura, however, they will be in strait remineralized RO water with a drip fill setup. ($25 ea for A grade, heh)

 

I would think if you added just a bit of SeaChem alkalinity buffer to your tap water it would stabilize right away. You'd end up with slightly higher ph, but would be more stable in the long run.

Thanks for the suggestion! I appreciate the advice, but I'm kinda wary of trying new things. I go by more of a if it broke, why fix it, kind of a deal. Also, I keep some mischlings as well, and they need the lower pH.

Most shrimp do better with very low GH/KH and in softer water. That's not to say they don't do very well in other conditions, but if you're going to be finicky about the water in a Shrimp-only tank well...
Personally, I have RCS and Ghosts in various tanks ranging from 150-310 ppm KH, its more about the acclimation than anything.
When I can finally get Blue Sakura, however, they will be in strait remineralized RO water with a drip fill setup. ($25 ea for A grade, heh)

Do you mean the blue cherries?? If so, I know quite a few cheaper online retailers, anywhere from $4-8 each for high grade blue dreams and velvets if you want that info. Same for blue bolts, a few places sell them online for $10-12. I'd love to see how they go for you, I have a few, and I actually keep them on tap water (same for the mischlings also) but I'm blessed with tap with a TDS of 30-40

 

Rtessy, in years of Cherry Shrimp keeping I am only expressing my experience. Happy you have had better results. I disagree with comments on rushing the setup, short cuts IMO are the reason things fail. But again this is just my opinion based on my experience.

 

Do you mean the blue cherries?? If so, I know quite a few cheaper online retailers, anywhere from $4-8 each for high grade blue dreams and velvets if you want that info. Same for blue bolts, a few places sell them online for $10-12. I'd love to see how they go for you, I have a few, and I actually keep them on tap water (same for the mischlings also) but I'm blessed with tap with a TDS of 30-40

Blue Sakura are Caridina, and I unfortunately live in Canada (no x-border livestock).

 

Rtessy, in years of Cherry Shrimp keeping I am only expressing my experience. Happy you have had better results. I disagree with comments on rushing the setup, short cuts IMO are the reason things fail. But again this is just my opinion based on my experience.

I'm sorry if I came off as trying to counter your experience, I really didn't mean to. I just know this OP posts a lot of threads about very quick breeding options, so I thought they would prefer a faster alternative. I definitely agree with you, it's much more likely to go well if the tank has been established for several weeks.

Blue Sakura are Caridina, and I unfortunately live in Canada (no x-border livestock).

Oh, that's interesting, I've never come across a Sakura grade for Caridina. You still might want to check out aquabid.com, I know there are several Canadian sellers who ship high quality blue Caridina, I know there are blue auras and some others, but I don't quite remember the rest... they come up every now and then.

 

is starting a cherry shrimp colony worth the investment and when could I see results?

 

It depends on a lot of factors honestly. You likely won't get any sort of big profit, unless you have free utilities or something. Nothing to live off of, but you could pay for the hobby. YouTube has some awesome videos on this, I highly recommend watching them. That being said, if these are your first shrimp/ if you're new to the hobby, don't start with the fancier, higher priced strains of RCS. It's very appealing when you look at, say, a blue dream selling for $8 versus the normal cherry shrimp selling for $1-2. There's a reason for that price tag, and it's largely due to the fact that the colored strains are more sensitive, they have higher mortality rates, and don't produce quite as many young. Cherry shrimp reproduce about once every month to three months, and generally don't do so until they're used to the new tank, which can take up to three months. It also takes about three months for shrimplets to mature. That being said, you probably won't be able to start getting any sort of significant profit for about a year.
If you want to do this purely for money, I'd start with some high grade cherry shrimp, or, if you want to go an entirely different route, you could try breeding something that's normally wild caught, such as saltwater fish. Most things that you would actually get a decent profit out of require a very large investment, and a single accident could wipe it all out. If you're just looking to pay for the hobby, cherry shrimp just might work.

 

The ROI is up to you really, I have a lot of fun caring for and watching the shrimp develop. That’s my ROI. To try and sell shrimp you raised seems more of a pain then it’s worth. Common RCS are selling for 3-4 dollars at my LFS, if I brought in 50 of them and they gave me a dollar each, (I think that would be generous BTW) it still would not pay for what I have invested. My one RCS tank with everything in it less the shrimp cost over 50 to setup. Add plants, time, fertilizers...
I look at it this way, it’s a hobby not a business, hobbies cost money businesses make money.

To answer your question, IMO, yes well worth the investment and you could see your colony start to grow in a few weeks if you get shrimp that already are carrying eggs. Otherwise as Rtessy points out it could be a few months after you get shrimp.
Keep in mind they are not self sustaining you have to keep putting money into things like fertilizer, plants, food, equipment, adding more shrimp to keep the genetics from getting to close.

IMO keep it a hobby, if you get too many shrimp give them away, Schools might be interested in setting up a tank as a class project, sell them if you can, but your not going to get rich that’s a given.

Good luck

 

Cichlaholic.com - Contact Spencer Jack
This guy is in Winnipeg

 

The ROI is up to you really, I have a lot of fun caring for and watching the shrimp develop. That’s my ROI. To try and sell shrimp you raised seems more of a pain then it’s worth. Common RCS are selling for 3-4 dollars at my LFS, if I brought in 50 of them and they gave me a dollar each, (I think that would be generous BTW) it still would not pay for what I have invested. My one RCS tank with everything in it less the shrimp cost over 50 to setup. Add plants, time, fertilizers...
I look at it this way, it’s a hobby not a business, hobbies cost money businesses make money.

To answer your question, IMO, yes well worth the investment and you could see your colony start to grow in a few weeks if you get shrimp that already are carrying eggs. Otherwise as Rtessy points out it could be a few months after you get shrimp.
Keep in mind they are not self sustaining you have to keep putting money into things like fertilizer, plants, food, equipment, adding more shrimp to keep the genetics from getting to close.

IMO keep it a hobby, if you get too many shrimp give them away, Schools might be interested in setting up a tank as a class project, sell them if you can, but your not going to get rich that’s a given.

Good luck

I think I may have the issue with too many RCS pretty soon--in my 20 gallon community tank. They are breeding like crazy. If I wanted to catch them to sell back to my shop, what would be the best way to do that? I'm certainly not planning on making a profit, but if I have too many anyway, why not get some store credit?