Jump to content

Hoping to start a Colony


Elkwatcher

Recommended Posts

New Reds and hoping to see some shrimplet's soon.  Not a shrimp only tank... what are the chances with 6 Pygmy Cory and 8 Embers as tank mates?

It's well planted, has driftwood and a Paradise Nut.

GH 6-7    KH- 5     PH 7.5   Temp 76F  Cuttlebone.  Established Tank with bio film on the back walls.

Do I need any additives that might help?   ie Salty Shrimp Minerals?

  1636830945_NewRedCherrycopy.jpg.ec75a9fdf7e4a652da0e77fbae8c3109.jpg

 

 

Cherry_Shrimp_Bowl_April.thumb.jpg.702e402f6cd63bd3bfbfa0ed69c122f5.jpg

 

13804875_RedCherryShrimp.jpg.b66eb658f82fcb5b854febd7ce84c98d.jpg

 

1674922675_ShrimpTankRescape*****.thumb.jpg.c650feab6894fbb75a7eae9a9eaa2e1f.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

More great photos!

Those parameters look pretty ok to me? Maybe some Indian almond leaves as shrimps like the biofilm that grows on them and the tanins are good for them? If there aren't too many shrimps then there is probably enough biofilm for the shrimplets?

I have ember and a few neon tetras with my red cherrys and they have lived together for 5+ years. I'm sure the odd baby shrimp gets eaten but they are good at hiding and can move very quickly when scared, they flick their tail and vanish. The mother will probably have them somewhere safe and they may not move far from there for a few weeks so it may be a while before you see them, but don't panic if you don't see them for a while........ As they are so tiny usually you see them first on the biofilm on the glass.

There are baby foods for shrimp but they may not be suited to a bigger tank because the babys don't travel far from where they are born? I don't bother with this for my cherry shrimp, they are very neglected but survive well all the same, though 80% are now brown or clear, not many reds left?

There is a product called Bacter AE which most shrimp keepers use which helps with growing biofilm and is supposed to help with young shrimps.

Simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Incredible photos again, in terms of the fish I have a school of 20 embers with my shrimp, and have never seen an interaction between them. No interest in hunting from the embers whatsoever. It may just be my group though, you’ll have to gage yours.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you Simon, I will have to order the Bacter AE online.  I dehydrated a few bunches of organic Kale and powered it with my mortar and pestle.  Going to try my own shrimp food treats using recipe from Marks Shrimp Tanks.  There is an abundance of wild treats in the back yard such as Beech leaves, nettles, Maple, Alder, dandelions, blackberry leaves.  All my tanks have Catappa leaves in them as well as Alder cones.  I had molting issues with the last batch of shrimp after having them for almost 6 months.  No one berried.  

The last "mosquito larvae" I saw floating around turned out to be Giant Danio fry, as I stole some substrate from them to start the shrimp tank.  A surprise to say the least  but now I have a school of 8 in my 50 gallon!

Trish 

53 minutes ago, Crabclaw said:

Incredible photos again, in terms of the fish I have a school of 20 embers with my shrimp, and have never seen an interaction between them. No interest in hunting from the embers whatsoever. It may just be my group though, you’ll have to gage yours.

@Crabclaw  That's good to know.  I've been told the Pygmy Cory's might go after little ones though... I'm hoping not as they are little character fish and add a lot of entertainment to the tank. ?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/2/2019 at 4:28 PM, sdlTBfanUK said:

More great photos!

Those parameters look pretty ok to me? Maybe some Indian almond leaves as shrimps like the biofilm that grows on them and the tanins are good for them? If there aren't too many shrimps then there is probably enough biofilm for the shrimplets?

I have ember and a few neon tetras with my red cherrys and they have lived together for 5+ years. I'm sure the odd baby shrimp gets eaten but they are good at hiding and can move very quickly when scared, they flick their tail and vanish. The mother will probably have them somewhere safe and they may not move far from there for a few weeks so it may be a while before you see them, but don't panic if you don't see them for a while........ As they are so tiny usually you see them first on the biofilm on the glass.

There are baby foods for shrimp but they may not be suited to a bigger tank because the babys don't travel far from where they are born? I don't bother with this for my cherry shrimp, they are very neglected but survive well all the same, though 80% are now brown or clear, not many reds left?

There is a product called Bacter AE which most shrimp keepers use which helps with growing biofilm and is supposed to help with young shrimps.

Simon

Hi Simon, 

Your problem with your reds your not culling the unwanted colour shrimp to keep a nice red line. When I say culling I don't mean killing, I mean removing from the breeding tank to another tank where you don't mind the off colours or selling/donating to local fish shop. Good luck shrimp keeping. ? 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been distracted with the taiwan bees and pretty much ignored the red cherry so you are entirely correct. The problem now is that the moss and plants are so dense and the clear/brown shrimp are so difficult to see!

I was thinking the other day that maybe I should restock some reds and fish out the boring ones which I may do soon, though the only real solution would be to start the tank afresh, which I wont be doing? Some of the browns with the stripe along the back I quite like as well.

Simon 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

I have been distracted with the taiwan bees and pretty much ignored the red cherry so you are entirely correct. The problem now is that the moss and plants are so dense and the clear/brown shrimp are so difficult to see!

I was thinking the other day that maybe I should restock some reds and fish out the boring ones which I may do soon, though the only real solution would be to start the tank afresh, which I wont be doing? Some of the browns with the stripe along the back I quite like as well.

Simon 

It all depends what you like, don't let anyone say you must have red, really red. I'm trying to breed blue red rili atm. They are coming out with alsorts of lovely shrimp. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have my eye on red sakura (?) from proshrimp, they are cheap and a good colour, if I order some taiwan bee I will get some red cherry at the same time! I like yellows but I think they would be too much of a distraction from the fish? It is my oldest and therefore most neglected tank and has tetras as the main attraction! 

If I get some new shrimps I will try and fish out lots of the boring browns/clears and put those in the betta tank. My main focus at present is the betta and the taiwan bee shrimps (not in the same tanks obviously)!

I had celestial Pearl Danios years ago!

Simon

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a word of caution on the Bacter AE... the spoon it comes with is considered over-dosing to most people who use it... and if a tank doesn't have enough aeration, can cause shrimp deaths. Many people I see who use this product tend to under-dose it to prevent deaths although one person had to completely stop using it entirely.

 

You may want to try and stick with an algae/vegetable based diet (great idea with the kale!) and add in protein occasionally... which may come in the form of fish food? (since it is a mixed tank...)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought worth mentioning as many people aren't aware and I have heard of deaths when Bacter AE was used.... most often when fed "too much", even if within the guidelines of the manufacturer. :) 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Zoidburg said:

Just a word of caution on the Bacter AE... the spoon it comes with is considered over-dosing to most people who use it... and if a tank doesn't have enough aeration, can cause shrimp deaths. Many people I see who use this product tend to under-dose it to prevent deaths although one person had to completely stop using it entirely.

 

You may want to try and stick with an algae/vegetable based diet (great idea with the kale!) and add in protein occasionally... which may come in the form of fish food? (since it is a mixed tank...)

Thank you @Zoidburg for the heads up on Bacter AE.  

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantastic pictures! What camera are you using!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Steensj2004 I have older DSLR's.  A Canon 5D and 7DII    The 2 lens I use for Aquarium are 18-55mm and a 100mm macro.  I am still learning. ?

  • Like 1
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

    • 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!
    • GtWalker97
      Hi SKF!   So I bought some PRL (or at least they were sold as such. These claims are dubious in Australia as people don't know much about the genetics, nor do they care as long as they can make a quick buck). After 8 generations of breeding true, I'm having around 1 in 200 throw a much darker red. They almost look like Red Shadows, but I don't know too much about those types of hybrid. Can anyone help with ID'ing the gene?   TIA (First 2 pics are the weird throws, second photo is their siblings and the last photo is the parents)
×
×
  • Create New...