Welcome Spongy

[Spongy]

Shrimp Keepers Forum welcomes Spongy.

Please feel free to browse around and get to know others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

View Member

regards,
skfadmin

[Spongy]

Hiya, I recently (5 - 6 months ago), started a tank for my wee one. We have 4 Bloodfin Tetra's in there. A couple of days later I had to go back to the shop because I really wanted the shrimp. My other half thought I was going mad! We got the 2 Amano shrimp settled in (love it, they are brill). Now one of the Amano's seems to be pregnant. I want to make sure they are before making any other moves. I'm not even 100% they are Amano, but if anyone can help I'd really appreciate it. x

 

[sdlTBfanUK]

Welcome fellow uk member.

That looks like an amano shrimp to me and it does look like it has eggs.

I don't have any experience with amano but they have been around in the hobby a long time. I don't think they are easy to get the babies to survive from what I have heard? Friends that have had them in the past tend to just buy more when they want more as they SAY it is too much hassle breeding but they may just being lazy?

This post may help and be of interest. There are probably others as well on here so I will have another look after my first coffee of the day..........

https://skfaquatics.com/forum/forums/topic/12339-am-i-missing-any-info-for-breeding-amano-shrimp/?tab=comments#comment-126101

Simon

[Crabby]

Heck them some crazy lookin eggs! Yeah would say she’s berried, no experience with amanos tho so probs can’t help there. Defs looks like an amano to me, too big to be a glass and chances r that a lfs wouldn’t have anything super rare that looks like that.

Good luck with the babies though! I’ve got no idea on how well they’ll do but if they hatch then moss or tight-leafed plants will help protect them from the tetras.

[jayc]

Unfortunately, Amanos need brackish water (salty) for the larvae to survive.

No one has ever bred Amanos in freshwater. As you can see their eggs are super tiny, compared to Neo Caridina and Caridina bee shrimps. These shrimps with tiny eggs, hatch into a larvae form, unlike Neos and Bee shrimps who hatch as tiny shrimps. These larvae need brackish water and feed on microscopic foods like green algae and plankton. 

Edited August 14, 2019 by jayc

[Crabby]

Oh lol forget the last paragraph I typed, that’s a bit sad.

[jayc]

Don't be put off. It just means that you need to look for Neos, aka Red Cherry Shrimp.

RCS are easier to look after than most shrimps, and they might be okay with Bloodfin tetras.

[Spongy]

Hiya guys, thank you very much for your useful info. Really appreciate it.

Researched loads, don't know how it's going to turn out, but I feel the need to give the wee ones a fighting chance. sdltbfanuk I'm going to be using a lot of the info you gave me. In my panic, I asked around if anyone had a tank they weren't using. Trust me! Ended up with the biggest thing you could imagine! 250l! Next issue..... (as I think I have the brackish water thing sorted) is how to fill the two holes in the bottom of "Shrimptopia". Any recommendations? I was thinking some real thick PVC or glass with clear silicone sealer. Sorry, I really am a noob, but have fallen for shrimp in a huge way. It's the least of my bad habits. Lol. x

 

[sdlTBfanUK]

Good luck with all this! You could mastic glue a thick plate of glass or PVC over the holes on the inside of the tank base as it will be covered with some substrate anyway so won't be seen? That is quite a huge tank though so it will need a lot of stuff to set it up on top of this? If your aim is to try breeding amanos and they only need brackish water when newly born it may be much easier/cheaper to buy/set up a smaller nursery tank for the brackish water, unless you plan to keep adults permanently in the brackishh water as well as a permanent shrimp tank/farm? 

Hope it all works out and hopefully you will keep us updated?

Simon

[jayc]

On 8/15/2019 at 8:56 AM, Spongy said:

how to fill the two holes in the bottom of "Shrimptopia". Any recommendations?

What holes? 

Edited August 16, 2019 by jayc

[sdlTBfanUK]

9 hours ago, jayc said:

What holes? 

Spongy was given a 250L tank with 2 holes in the bottom???

Simon

[jayc]

On 8/16/2019 at 7:30 PM, sdlTBfanUK said:

Spongy was given a 250L tank with 2 holes in the bottom???

Completely glanced over it. 

 

On 8/15/2019 at 6:51 PM, sdlTBfanUK said:

glue a thick plate of glass or PVC over the holes on the inside of the tank base

That's a good idea. 

 

On 8/15/2019 at 6:51 PM, sdlTBfanUK said:

That is quite a huge tank though so it will need a lot of stuff to set it up on top of this?

Tip - If you have a tank that is too big ... there is no need to completely fill the tank all the way up. Shrimp only need a shallow pool of water, but you just need to make sure your filer inlets have enough water to be underwater.

Edited August 23, 2019 by jayc

[Spongy]

Hiya guys, thank you very much. Really appreciate it.

Today I have used aquatic safe silicone sealer and and 5cm pvc, kinda A4 size to plug my holes (no pun intended). Need to let that rest for a few days, got two massive weights on it to hold it down.

 We have bought an 11 litre tank to put Mum in now as she seems to be hiding loads. I'd rather she felt comfortable.

We are going to set up a 2 litre brackish rig for the babies when they pop out and are going to use a pipette type system to pop them in there.

I think we have it sorted. Fingers crossed! x

[sdlTBfanUK]

Hope it all works out well for you and hope you keep us updated!

Simon

[Spongy]

Hiya. We did the plastic and clear silicone thing, then filled the tank ?. We were terrified we'd flood the house. All good though. I 50% changed the water today and checked the ph, cl2, kh, no 2/3 levels. All good(ish), we have very hard water. Mum has been in her own tank for nearly a week now. Trying to build up a load of algae in there with her for when she pops. Bought the salt to make the water brackish once we get Mum out. I'M SO NERVOUS! I hope we're doing this right, please help if not. x

[jayc]

48 minutes ago, Spongy said:

Bought the salt to make the water brackish once we get Mum out

Setting up a brackish water tank is one thing, but have you thought about what to feed them?

Amano hatchlings (don't know what to call them) don't eat normal food. They eat the algae in green water and biofilm after day 2. So the tank ought to have been set up weeks ago and let green algae develop in the water. 

All is not lost however, you might be able to feed them powdered spirulina or chlorella - the kind you get at health food stores sold as super foods. NOTE: this is a disclaimer - I don't actually know if this powdered algae will work, as I don't keep shrimp that hatch into larvae. 

[Crabby]

Good luck! Sounds like a great project! 

btw, I love that spongy has 5 posts and 5 reputation points... (100% positivity on posts vs everyone else with under 50%)

Edited August 23, 2019 by Crabclaw

[Spongy]

Cheers JayC, we have set up a separate tank for the babies and doing what's needed to create the algae in it, we've popped a bit of our already created stuff in to help speed the process up.I really want this to work. x

18 hours ago, Crabclaw said:

Good luck! Sounds like a great project! 

btw, I love that spongy has 5 posts and 5 reputation points... (100% positivity on posts vs everyone else with under 50%)

I'm just magic. Lol. Nah, loving this, loving that people are willing to help is brilliant. This seems like a fantastic community. x

[Spongy]

Still working on it, mucking about with stuff. But.........this will be "Shrimptopia". Lol. x

[Crabby]

Lol I love the groot statue! Just wondering, what type of rock is it in there? As steensj2004 and I have both had problems with rocks in shrimp tanks recently...

[jayc]

2 minutes ago, Crabclaw said:

As steensj2004 and I have both had problems with rocks in shrimp tanks recently

Yeah, but ... Spongy is setting up a brackish water tank for baby Amano shrimp. Very different to what you and Steens are trying to do. Brackish water is high pH. high GH, high KH and salt.

[Crabby]

Haha I’m wrong again, might just stop giving advice in circumstances I have no direct experience with ?

[jayc]

7 minutes ago, Crabclaw said:

might just stop giving advice

LOL, no don't stop.

You will never learn new things if you don't ask, question or test. Sometimes just a conversation can lead to other topics that no one else anticipated.

Edited August 24, 2019 by jayc

[Spongy]

Oh, the massive tank isn't for the brackish water, we have another smaller one for that. 

The rocks???? Got me worried now. I have dragon stone and a lump of glass and some pebbles and slate. I soaked the pebbles and slate and scrubbed them. 

x

[Crabby]

Oh... steensj2004’s problem was with dragon stone. He had to take that out of his tank. I recommend reading that thread before you go on with that.