Jump to content

Questions about breeding net?


sara-86

Recommended Posts

I have ordered 10 cherry shrimp for my community tank.

After ordering them I read the full description and realised they are juveniles between 0.6mm and 1cm.

I recently did a swap on the fish in my 64l planted tank,

I now have :- 6 otos, 5 golden cloud minnows, 5 rummys, 3 amano shrimp, a rabbit snail, a bulldog pleco and a male betta.

I'm slightly overstocked, but I do 25% water change once a week and always test my parameters before and after so no ammonia, nitrite and low nitrate.

The tank itself has been setup for a couple of years now.

I'm also cycling a tank for my betta, he mean.

Anyway I was wondering if I would be better to keep my cherries in a breeding net until the betta moves out and they grow a little bit, it would get better circulation than the plastic trap.

I'm worried that the size they are my minnows and rummys or even my amanos might take the opportunity to snack on them.

How long could they realistically be in the net?

What sort of size do they need to be for the minnows and rummys to leave them alone?

How long will it take them to grow?

They will have their own food and any excess can be easily removed, I have plenty of moss they can have and a thin plastic mess that can be added to the bottom incase the fish try to grab them through the net.

Any help or advice would be brilliant thank you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, sara-86 said:

I'm worried that the size they are my minnows and rummys or even my amanos might take the opportunity to snack on them

Firstly, welcome to SKF.

The minnows and rummy might take an opportunity to nibble at the shrimp, but the amano won't so no need to worry about the amano at least.

 

51 minutes ago, sara-86 said:

How long could they realistically be in the net?

What sort of size do they need to be for the minnows and rummys to leave them alone?

How long will it take them to grow?

These questions are a bit more difficult to answer, as it is based on circumstances.

As a general indication, any shrimp at 1cm or larger should be ok. 

It could take 3-4 months to get to that size.

It's also difficult to predict is your minnows and rummys will leave the shrimp alone even if they are more than 1cm long. Some people have fish that never bother their shrimp. Some have fish that are real shrimp hunters.

There is no guarantee that even a shrimp larger than 1cm will be safe. Fish don't swallow shrimp whole, unless it is a little shrimplet. They nibble at the legs and antenna of the shrimp until the shrimp dies. The betta is almost certainly a risk. Tetras can be a risk, and Rummys are certainly right up there, being big and bold. 

It can be done, but there are risks. 

Provide lots of hiding spots the fish can't get into. Provide lots of plants. Keep the fish regularly fed. That should help minimise some of the risks.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had 10 adult cherries about an inch in size in my tank, the rummys never bothered them but they didn't get a chance to breed so I don't know about smaller shrimp.

The tank is planted, it has rocks, wood and a coconut cave only the shrimp can fit inside.

When I added my betta (which was in a tank with amano and cherry shrimp at my LFS and pretty placid looking that's why I picked him) he destroyed the colony and tore himself up before they had a chance actively hunting through the tank in any space he could squeeze into for them, I have seen the odd one every now and again but not for a couple of weeks now.

I decided he was moving out (not just because of the shrimp but also to treat him with salt for his torn fins) along with my platys which kept pulling up my carpet plants.

I replaced them with the minnows which are fine with the amanos, 1 of which is smaller about the size of an adult cherry.

I'm now thinking they could have the betta tank n leave him where he is, I know he will heal up eventually n he never bothers my fish or amanos.

The thing is I know cherries don't do well in new tanks, this one is almost cycled my nitrite has spiked and started to level out but it's not quite at 0ppm so it's still empty for another few days.

I have plenty shrimp food so they wouldn't go hungry but there will be no algae or biofilm really and it will be newly cycled with them being so small and sensitive I really don't want to put them in it until it's been up and running for 6 months at least.

I'm really strict with my cleaning regime so the net wouldn't be stagnant, there would be a light flow circulating round the tank, they will be at the slowest side.

I can remove the betta when his tank is cycled but I think the shrimp will still be to small to be released into my community tank.

Keep them in the breeder net for a few months then the betta tank alone?

Add them to the betta tank alone when it's cycled?

Keep them in the net until the betta moves out and add them to the community tank?

Keep them in the breeder net for a few months until they grow then add them to the community tank?

Sorry is all jumbled about I was thinking out loud then I'd remember something else and add it in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like you have a couple of tanks there. How many tanks do you have exactly?

The best decision would be to give the shrimp a tank of their own. And by the sounds of it, keep the shrimps away from that betta. Keeping them in the breeder net and adding them into the cycled tank alone sounds like the best plan.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just have 2 tanks, my platys went to a friends tank and I picked up the minnows at my LFS. I'm going to do that, they will stay in the net until the new tank is a few months old. Thanks for the help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • beanbag
      Update to say that after a few gravel vacs, front wall scrub, moss / floating plant trim, that the condition seems to have improved.  My current theory is that it is due to waste / debris management, where "stuff" like that brown mulm accumulates in the substrate and behind the HMF filters.  Maybe some tanks can somehow deal with it, but mine can't.  Also another experienced shrimper suggested that maybe those "shell bugs" don't just live on the shrimps but also in this debris.  Maybe this is the reason some tanks fail due to "old tank syndrome" where all they need is a good gravel vac? Also, I am guessing that plant trim helps too because now more of the nutrients and light go into growing algae instead of more plants? Well anyway for this tank I will try weekly water change and monthly gravel vac / plant trim.  For my next tank, I'm thinking of something like an under-gravel system where this mulm can fall down and I vac it out.
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
×
×
  • Create New...