saddled females dying

[mickeyG]

Hey skf hoping all you crazy shrimp peeps can help me.

I have had a problem with my saddled crs females dying just when its at the any day now stage and after sourcing a female (ace you champ you) and getting her berried with a sss male I came home to her white as a ghost with what looks to be the leftovers from the other shrimp going for a munch on her eggs!! Devoed bad as this is the third time I've had the same probs with girls and after thinking I was a ladies man I'm starting to doubt my shrimpin pimpin ability lol

Wp seem fine but I don't have a kh th test so can't comment on them but ammo nitrite and nitrate are 0 but ph is at the bottom of the Api scale

Should I Sep the female from the population in a breeder box or am I missing something any help or advice would be welcomed

Tank has plenty of moss n wood for cover so she would have had plenty of spots to relax in

I did notice yesterday she was abit slow in movements but I put it down to all the eggs she was carrying now i am worried I'm not doing something right

I use ro with salty minerals with shrimp sand could that be it at all as dean did warn me( once I can get a tank built my orders are a comin )

Thanks skf

Mick

[Aquathumb]

Have you checked for parasites in the tank? Planaria or Hydra perhaps? How is your temp? has it been fluctuating? hows the TDS?. Given any unusual foods lately?

[mickeyG]

Temp is stable and I have seen four planaria since I've had the tank setup (6months) no hydra tho I have a uv on my pump too. Tds I don't know tbh could it be that? I introduced mullberry leaves into the diet in the new year. Hrmmm

[CNgo2006]

What is the male female ratio in tank? Is she getting overly harrassed = stress?

[BlueBolts]

Dead berried females are more common then you'd think. Many hobbyist experience this, and have varying theories to resolve this.. Assuming the WP are correct ....

1. Ample hiding spots- harrasement/serenity zone (some breeder even transfer their berried female into its own breeding box.

2. Varied Food/Diet - ensure a mixture of foods. I tend to feed my shrimps with frozen bloodworms once a fortnight to ensure they get fat/protein in them, as it readies them for breeding.

3. Minerals - TDS/Ec - On top of Salty Shrimp, I add mineral powder to ensure the water had the right mineral mix.

Hope this helps....

[zacsbee89]

When I had lots of female cherries die, I found higher TDS and more aeration did the trick...my TDS was 130-150 (fluval shrimp stratum) now at about 220 (normal river sand) and have a way better survival rate of females!

[mickeyG]

Thanks for the replies everyone!!

My m/f ratio was 2/1 as she was my only girl....

I just got home with a Tds ec pen and its reading between 200-300 on the Tds lights so maybe thats is playing a part? Plenty of hiding spots and my tanks diet is mulberry leaves,azoo growth,azoo breed and also azoo shrimp meal.

Does the higher tds reading mean I have a build up of sorts and should lower dose my next wc tub with salty? Thanks again guys for helpin my noobsness, with my new Api test kit and now the pen I'm feeling like a scientist!! Well a scientist with steel cap boots on haha

[BlueBolts]

G'Day mickeyG, TDS 200-300 wouldn't raise any immediate alram bells, but around the >200 is perhaps preferable. I reckon you need to add some mineral powder.

[blindfisherman]

G'Day mickeyG' date=' TDS 200-300 wouldn't raise any immediate alram bells, but around the >200 is perhaps preferable. I reckon you need to add some mineral powder.[/quote']

>200 tds for CRS? am i missing something?

[mickeyG]

What are you thinkin bfm? I have azoo bio balls in the tank and am sitting on the red bee balls for my tb tank should I put some of them in this tank are they simlar to mineral powders? Thanks for the feedback guys

[blindfisherman]

I thought for CRS it was 150-200 TDS? and lots of people even say less than that.

I'm just getting a bit confused as some people in the thread are talking about cherries when the OP mentions that it is CRS.

[mickeyG]

I've read that a tds between 150-250 is fine for crs but my tds pen is flashin at 250 so I'd prefer to lower it somehow? Real new to the tds thing so I'm all ears.

I've also added another heater just to make sure no temp problems and also added another temp gauge.

Atm I have fifteen litres of ro/salty mix dripping into the tank and ill do another ten tomoz night to make sure the water is at its freshest. My other s and ss grades are showing great color and are chomping away at a shrimpmeal stick atm I've seen a few shrimp skins laying around so I'm hoping a young girly is amoungst the group

[durro68]

I agree and am a bit confused too - to me there seems to be 2 camps on the TDS/EC .... BB seems to keep things at a higher TDS than Dean or example .... if you follow the Saltyshrimp instructions you get a TDS under 100 (from Memory) I add stuff to this to sit about 140ish for CRS etc

I thought for CRS it was 150-200 TDS? and lots of people even say less than that. I'm just getting a bit confused as some people in the thread are talking about cherries when the OP mentions that it is CRS.

[Gbang]

No no it is suppose to be exactly 128 TDS or 200 ec for the salty shrimp product. Dean uses this formula but Marcus likes 200 TDS. Both are just as successful which is very interesting. It does lead me to believe it is all about acclimatization to ones water parameters aside from having the right minerals. Cause both bb and deans waters are constant even though te Wp are different

[BlueBolts]

Apologies for the confusion.....I've personally found my shrimps breed best at >200ppm, with great shrimplete survival rate, breeding consistency...etc. Salty Shrimp advises a TDS OF 128ppm / 200 Ec. Both Dean and my breeding results are good, which proves there are a combination of WP factors that influence the success of a breeding program.

Best to determine what works for you.... A good maintenance program is critically more important I reckon.