Breeding Questions

[GotCrabs]

Just wanting to know what's going on with my shrimp in regards to breeding, I've got around 40 Red Cherries, 10 Chameleon, 10 Darwin Algae, 5 Yellow Cherries, 5 Red Crystals, I've seen a few berried RCS as well as YCS and DAS but don't seem to be seeing many juvi at all in the tank though, just a couple here and there.

Ph is 6.5, light period of 6 hours per day, shrimp are fed with Boss Aquaria products which they go mental over, I got 3 small Corydoras that are slightly larger that an adult Red Cherry and all get along, just not sure what's going on, have lots of plant life for shrimp to sit, breed amongst, water changes every Sunday, Dino Pee and Spit added each morning, tank temp is 27 I think from memory, just not sure what the go is, any ideas? Cheers.

[fishmosy]

Several potential reasons amongst that info:

I'll suggest 4 -

1. Corydoras, no matter how small, will eat small shrimp, even if they cant eat adults.

2. A mix of two or more species of shrimp can result in lower breeding rates. In particular cherries will often outbreed crystals when jept in the same tank.

3. The temp in your tank is too high. Shrimp wont breed well when stressed, like when the temperature is too high.

4. Are the fertilisers necessary for the tank? Are the plants or shrimp more important? Are you also running CO2? Depending on your actual dosage rates, the fertiliser might be causing stress. Shrimp are sensitive to nitrates amongst other chemicals found in the fertiliser.

[Proto]

Darwin Algae offspring won't survive in your tank, they need salt water and green water to become shrimplets and even then most people don't have much success.