2014 Shrimp journey recap

[OzShrimp]

So 2014 is drawing to a close, what were your shrimping goals for the year and how did you go in achieving them?

 

My 2014 goal was to have my 4ftr  full of CRS by the end of the year, I have always been inspired by the tank shots Ace would have of his full tanks when he sold them. Initially i lost practically all my stock at the beginning of the year. After the donation of a few shrimp from 2 members and then later winning some in a comp on here in exchange for the posters i got a head start with about 20 CRS. I also managed to buy a 2nd hand RO Unit allowing me to successfully start breeding and maintaing my colony keeping them alive.

 

Now i probably have about 50-60 CRS in my tank ranging from new shrimplets to adults. Ever 2 weeks i probably lose 1 shrimp however i think its deaths of age or not eating the food. 

 

My other goal for the year was to get a cull grade TB to see if i was able to keep it alive in my tank as the next step up from CRS. I failed to source a cull TB so this goal was unachieved.

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My Goal for next year is to continue to try and grow my CRS colony and exchange with other CRS breeders to strengthen the genetics in my tank.

 

 

 

[ineke]

My year started well with my shrimp room finally in action , lots of breeding happening but boy it has ended very badly for me. I was given some new substrate and decided to change my tanks over to it about 3 months ago. I did them gradually and let them do a mini cycle - I used all the same plants , filters and most of the water but unfortunately I had numerous losses especially amongst the cherry population. The one big tank I didn't change hasn't had any issues so my CRS colony has survived. I have a small colony of Black/Chocolate/Blue cherries but lost all the rest - I'm guessing the pH of the new substrate was too low for them. I have a good number of Tibees ,some CBS, a large number of mischlings and a couple of TBM but not pure TB , I also have a few pinto type - the pattern and colour needs a lot of work. The shrimp are recovering now and I finally have a few berried girls due in the next week or two. So for 2015 I need to improve the stock I have and invest in some TB. I probably won't go back to breeding any cherries except for improving the ones I still have. Hopefully 2015 will be a big improvement on 2014

[newbreed]

I had the mission of setting up a rack in 2014. Originally was going to be ten tanks, but reduced this to five. This has been more successful than I had hoped, with minimal losses and many wonderful shrimplets coming through.

My CRS that were given there own three foot tank have blossomed into a madly expanding population, again minimal losses due to the fact I don't change much around and leave them to their own devices. The grade of offspring is improving with the addition of better quality genetics, thanks Gbang and Aquathumb.

I have been lucky to have had successes in the TB realm, with surprise genetics popping up from a supposed pure TB I purchased. Many pinto type showing up and now first generation is weeks away from breeding age I believe.

My red bolt program has really gone nowhere fast and I will leave them for another couple of months, but may disband this program in 2015.

I have some Tibee girls with a red mosura type male, the first drop is occurring now, so hopefully some red Tibee variants in the mix!! This will be developed further in 2015.

My first lots of mosura type BB have dropped and there are some beauties in the mix, two more mums yet to drop. I hope to develop a stunning dark mosura BlueBolt in 2015.

All in all I have had a lucky year and not too much heartbreak!!

2015 should bring another eight tank rack by easter and maybe delving into a few tanks for tigers mid year??

Couldn't have achieved, nor persisted with, any of it without the support and inspiration this forum and its brilliant members have provided! Many thanks everyone!

Good luck with everything in 2015.

Edited December 28, 2014 by newbreed

[fishmosy]

2014 was mostly a wind down in the total number of tanks I keep, but an increase in the number of shrimp tanks. Basically swaping from fish dominated to shrimp dominated. Started the year with around 20 tanks in total of which 2 had shrimp, reduced now to 7, with 5 for shrimp.

I've finally been able to set aside two tanks so I can work on increasing the grade of my CRS. One for breeding and display, and one for the culls. Also started a new tank with chameleons, and now just waiting on their first lot of offspring to mature so I can start line breeding. Haven't done anything with my cherries which are now breeding uncontrolled in a 4ft with some Aus natives, snails and plants, but have set aside a tank to line breed some reds (from choc parents) which I will be starting in the next week or so.

[BlueBolts]

Great to hear and see so many hurdles and achievements accomplished by so many.....

My 2014 journey has been focused more on selective breeding. Several distraction (work, marine tank ...etc) on the later half, but looking fwd to 2015 to secure some lines and definitive directions to my breeding programs

[Squiggle]

For me, the focus of 2014 was to get Boss Aquaria changeover completed smoothly & to get the Boss Shrimp range of products out there for you guys to enjoy & take advantage of. Oh & to start getting my programs back on track after selling almost everything to buy Boss Aquaria.

Thanks everyone for your support, every single one of you have helped me help you, cheers!

[Jenbenwren]

You've done a great job Squiggle & my shrimp and I love the new Boss Products :-)

I didn't even know dwarf freshwater shrimp existed until I saw an ad selling Red Cherry Shrimp on Gumtree in Feb. The seller stated in his ad, that they were a great addition to a fish tank as they helped keep the tank a lot cleaner & the water healthier by feeding on algae and any uneaten fish food. Once the other half agreed, I brought 20 and added them to our 80cm fish tank. Unfortunately we lost most of them that night when they got sucked into the filter. I covered the filter outlet with some stocking and a few days later brought another 20 from a different person on gumtree and that started my shrimpdiction.

Now we have 3 running tanks. A 1x2ft with RCS, Mischlings & the variety of shrimplets they've had that survived including a RR TBMM, plus I was given a one stripe KK TBM & I brought an extreme KK TB and 2 Otto's.

A 45cm tank with CRS that's having a shrimplet explosion atm.

And I rehomed nearly all our fish in our 80cm tank and it's now home to RCS, Chameleons & 5 Rasbora Maculattas.

I also have the 20l shrimp tank I won in the 12 days of Shrimpmas comp 1, to set up as well.

This year I'll be scaping the 20l and when it's cycled I'll move our TB & some of our Mischling girls into temporarily.

I will also be building a 4x divided 2ft rack with a sump so I can seperate the different types of shrimp my Mischys have had and maybe add a few new ones as well. I hope to have it finished by late Feb. I've been slowly gathering what I need to make it and will be attempting to do everything myself, from drilling the tanks, attempting to diy a sump and building a classy looking rack to hold it all.

[Disciple]

My shrimp journey started around Aug 2014. I had just moved into the new house and sold the old one. I had been wanting to get a aquarium for a few years but held off for the new house. 

 

In September some time after the tank was cycled I purchased my first shrimp off Gumtree. 10 CRS for $150 haha as I was new to the scene and did not know anyone it was difficult finding sellers in WA. I was at a former Sponsor store and was told to join Shrimp Keepers Forum. From there I met a lot of very cool and knowledgeable ppl. I purchased some Red Rili's off Ron and have been culling them slowly so I can get a better quality of shrimp. My CRS turned out to be mischlings and I have got my first lot of shrimplets from them. Over the last 3 months I couldnt help myself and purchased some Yellows, Chameleons, GB's and Tibees.

 

BB's Yellows have already hatch a lot of shrimplets and are berried again. The Chameleon are going through a population boom the original 5 have turned into close to 30 and there are lots of berried female too . JP's GB's have also recently given my first set of shrimplets unfortunately my survival rates for the gb's and Mischlings are low atm. So I hope with my new set up I can follow in the footsteps of Jen & Newbreed and get a population boom this year.

 

My plans for 2015 is to take the challenge of keeping some TB's from the day I joined SKF and start looking at all the beautiful shrimp I feel in love with Blue Bolts, CRS and Blue Tigers. I have started the process by putting a order in for a divided 4 foot tank which I plan to use for the TB's and some pure CRS. I have also kept some of my culls from the red rilis to hopefully start RCS and Blue velvet colonies. Eventually I want to reset my current tank for a colony of blue tigers.

 

Lastly I hope to contribute more to these wonderful forums. I want to continue to learn from the amazing shrimp keepers in these forums. I also wish to start return the SKF love to members that have help me on my way and to future beginners like myself.