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Hello I have recently purchased 7 Dream Blue Velvet Shrimp. The source where I have received them claims they send young adults and that they should be ready to breed. I’ve been trying to find out if there are any females but they all look the same besides some size differences and some not as saturated in color as others. I’m not sure if they are all males, or maybe they are too young to identify their sex or if I’m not experienced enough to tell the difference. Any input will be appreciated, thank you.

SNAP! If I went to the tank the fish hid but from a distance they were darting about, and being so small they can get into every crevice? I hope my TB do start breeding, though it is still winter yet so it would likely be at best a month yet! Red wines are in the tank now and bloody mary are dripping! Every time I buy new shrimp I wonder why I bother, I have managed to spill water on the floor and the tablecloth is soaked???????? They better survive????????? Simon

I had no idea the old tank had gotten as bad as it has???? I have fished out about 50 boring/brown shrimps to make room for the new bloody mary and reduce the likeliness of poor quality offspring. I can't have got anywhere near ALL of them, it's very difficult to even spot them as they are so well camouflaged! I guess I should try and keep more on top of it from now on......................... Hoping new shrimps arrive alive and well in the next hour? Simon

I just got bought Gypsum from a home brewing supplier that someone suggested in the DIY topic. Heres the link. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F274202436740

Well.... before I saw the responses, I did it. ? -Caught in net. -Used dropper to drop Oul water directly into the shrimp’s body. -Let sit for 30 seconds. -Rinsed shrimp in container of tank water. -Reintroduced Shrimp to tank. Shrimp is fine, eating and moving normally. I haven’t seen any change, so probably a waste of time, not worth the risk. another dose of BacterAE, Shrimp Fit, and Bug Bites soaked in oil. Added to tank. Turned pumps off so all settles easily to the bottom. The seem to go after the bug bites. Getting exhausted

I'm curious if anyone else uses moringa leaves or powder with their shrimp. Moringa oleifera is also called the drumstick tree or Malunggay, and boasts of a lot of dietary benefits for humans. I've fed it as a shrimp lolly flavor, and they loved it. I had to look up what it was at the time; and shortly after that saw the leaves at a local farmers market (I'm in the SF Bay area and we get a lot of "exotic" greens). I blanched it in some boiling water and tossed it in; the shrimpies and snails went wild. I've been waiting for spring so I can look for some more fresh leaves. Last weekend I found a large bag of powdered, organic moringa and I've been adding that to my feeding routine in small amounts. This seems much easier to source through a health/fitness store or even through Amazon. Does anyone else feed moringa?

We don't get this plant here in Australia, at least that I know of. Shrimps will eat almost anything. If you can get the Moringa flower, that can be fed too, fresh. In fact you can feed most edible flowers to shrimps. Looking up the nutritional content of the moringa leaves ... Minerals Quantity Calcium 185 mg Iron 4.00 mg Magnesium 147 mg Manganese 0.36 mg Phosphorus 112 mg Potassium 337 mg Sodium 9 mg Zinc 0.6 mg It's not too bad for calcium and magnesium. It's also a good source of potassium and iron.

Welp, random shrimp death.odd, as it was one of the less affected shrimp? Shrimp treated outside the tank is showing improvement in the form of the darkened area lightning up. Others looking a bit better too. Just added more Bug Bites treated with diluted oil water. At this point it’s hard to tell anymore. I’m exhausted of this and considering giving up.

Mine were anything but active, those fish hid anytime you got anywhere near the tank. But from a distance, I watched them weaving in and out of the foreground plants hunting babies, like tiny Navy SEALS. That was all she wrote, they went to a friends tank. Lol. I went from searching for babies every new batch, to seeing them everywhere when a new batch, hatched.

I can see what you are saying, it maybe that it is just too young to have the fully formed shell shape of a female as the shell shape looks more males, and the eggs may be at a very early stage? Fingers crossed that in a few days it may be a bit clearer to tell? Keep us updated on the progress. Simon

I’m dying to get some tigers into my tank as well. I really want to get some ,”Fancy Tiger” offspring.I need my issue to clear up so I can order them, along with some additional crystal reds. ? Do NOT get Rasboras in my honest opinion. Mine massacred my babies. They are excellent hunters and they are small enough to get into tiny areas. My baby population increased exponentially after removing the 5 I had.

I’ve actually watched that video, I’ve done a lot of research and the only thing I have noticed was different sized antennas until I pulled out my flash light. I took some better photos, 5/7 shrimp do not have any yellow behind their heads but 2 of them do. Are these photos more clear to tell the difference if they are actually saddles?

You may be clutching at straws, but who hasn't in this hobby at some point, i've done it more times than I could count. It's possible but it may just be the light reflection. I really hope it is as you could soon (a month) have a tank full of babies? Have you seen this useful video, it may give you more hints; https://skfaquatics.com/forum/forums/topic/14104-telling-male-from-female-shrimp/ Simon

Yeah that’s what I thought, I took out a flash light last night to see if I could see any saddles. Does this look like a saddle, it has a yellow hue?

I would start trying to get your parameters a bit higher which you can easily do as you have GH/KH+, which may also help raise the PH a bit (also add some Indian almond leaves). Do it really slowly though so you don't upset anything. The GH/KH+ should raise those at 2:1 rates (ie current 4:2, then 6:3, then 8:4, though I would stick at 6:3). I don't think it worth trying CRS as they are so visable, especially on the black substrate that they will shout 'EAT ME', especially when young, and with all the fish etc it probably isn't worth trying the more difficult shrimp in that particular tank. I would go for some more Tangerine Tigers and one other colour of cherry shrimp, maybe blue so they contrast with the yellow of the TT, and they will be less obviously visable to the fish when on the black sand and young. There aren't many hiding spaces, especially for young shrimp in your beautifully set up tank??? The TT and cherry are much easier and adaptable to different parameters and should be fine with a PH below 7 but just do a longer acclimate! Has the fish with the marks on its head improved/recovered? Simon

Those all look like males to me if they are fully formed and not still too young? They should be at breeding age about 3 months old, about 1cm. They have nice colouring? Simon

hi guys, I've had climbing phosphate levels, roughly 2.5, which is higher than I'd like. My tank is heavily planted. I only feed every other day if that, and don't over feed ( i feel, fish eat most of the food within 5 minutes). What I'm wondering, is there a level of phosphates that I need to be aware of, ie gotta do a w/c NOW. thanx r

That doesn't have phosphorus either, not enough to raise it by that much. The only other source is dead plant material or rotting food particles settled either in the substrate or within the filter. Clean out half your filter sponges and "try" to gravel vacuum as much as possible. I noted that you have a heavily planted tank, and gravel vac can be hard without disturbing the plants.

I do use ferts. I dose flourish ( I under dose), nitrogen, potasium and iron. I test my water before dosing. I've been dosing the same for months if not years, with the exception of using the equilibrium again. I just started using that to raise my GH for my snails. r

That's normal. Equilibrium has no phosphorus. Are you sure you have no other source of phosphorus coming into the tank, like fertilisers? Aim for : 1 part phosphates to 10 parts nitrogen. Since many planted tank aquariums have Nitrates NO3 in the range of 5-20 ppm, this means the phosphates should be around 0.5 to 2 ppm. Plants need Phosphorus, and use it along with Nitrogen and Potassium. So maintain it around 1 - 1.5ppm to avoid algae issues, but still have enough for healthy plants.

0.25 out of the tap. I thought it might be coming from equilbrium, but many people on another site don't think that's the cause.

Hmm, now I'm perplexed. Do you use tap water? Test the water source for phosphates. Phosphate is added to our tap water for a few reasons, and your local area might be adding more than other towns/cities. Are you fertilising the tank? Most macro fertilisers have Phosphorus in it along with nitrogen and potassium.

i do a 50 percent w/c weekly, usually every tuesday. That's why I'm perflexed. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't harming my shrimp. I can only speak for myself, but I don't really want to grow algae. So I pay attention to my water parameters, I keep a journal. I test my water before dosing ferts.

Phosphate levels of 1.0 ppm (mg/L) or higher, the conditions become favourable for algae growth. At 2 to 3 ppm, algae overgrowth is likely to occur. Ideal phosphate levels are 0.5 ppm or less for an algaeless tank. It's unlikely to be harmful for the fish and shrimps, it just encourages algae. So it depends if you want some algae in the tank or not. 2 - 3ppm is probably still okay, certainly a trigger as a reminder to perform water changes. Maybe 4 ppm is a trigger for a water change NOW (if you don't already have overflowing algae) !! If you do your weekly water change, phosphate levels should be under control. It's when you get lazy that issues develop, and with parameters that matter more than phosphate.

Let me know if you find a good source for Calcium sulphate.

Looking at some of your previous posts, Cherries should be a breeze for you (hope i didn’t jinx it). I went with the DIY method because it looks substantially cheaper and there should be enough for me to share around with some mates that might get into shrimp as well. All part of the “fun”.

So I'm wanting to restock my shrimp in my 29 gallon tank, but I'm not sure how to go about it. At this moment in time I would be interested keeping any shrimp on the planet other than ghost shrimp! But the thing is, I dived head-first straight into caridina, because after doing research for 4 months before getting a tank I thought "Well, I know all the technical stuff for keeping them, why shouldn't I try a harder shrimp!". Now the problem is that I only have 2 shrimp left, and they're both males. I only once had a berried female, but I lost her a while ago - she just disappeared. I've actually only seen 2 shrimp dead in all this time, once when we had a heat wave, and once when the power was out for a bit and I didn't have any aerators on hand. I was thinking to switch to cherries just because everyone says they're so easy, and that was the plan from the beginning. The problem with that though is my pH sits around 6.4-6.8 most of the time, and slowly drops after I remineralise until my next water change. My GH and KH are at 4 and 2 usually, and I think these parameters might be too soft for cherries. My other option I think would be to get a couple female TTS or maybe CRS (to make some fancy tigers) and breed my remaining stock to get more. I would likely breed them in my 5 gal that is now running with a guppy in it, then move the babies into the 29 once they are large enough. I could also try to breed the DAE and/or Darwin red nose shrimp that I'll be getting soon for my 5, and put the babies in the 29, as these are larger species. But again I'm not sure if my parameters would be suitable. And I don't want to change my remineralisation method, other than maybe adding some crushed coral in the back left corner. Could I get some votes? Cherry, Caridina (and which type), or native (and which type). And what parameters you recommend for each. Cheers, C

That's great Simon, always fun to get new aquatic critters. I hope to be getting some new shrimp soon, just need to decide which!

Beanbag why do you say that?

At least you’re dripping. I’m part of a Facebook group where people regularly temp acclimate new shrimp, only.