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29 gallon tall, light is 4800 lumens, 40 watt, 80 LEDs, 64x 6500K 16x Actinic Lumen: 4800 LEDs: 80x 0.50 watt Config: 64x 6500K, 16x Actinic TDS 197 KH 6 GH 7 PH 7.8 Temp around 72-74 nitrate 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 I mineralized top soil originating from North West Florida because I was origannlly going to do a welstad method tank, maybe 1.5-2 inches deep. With 2.5 inch 3mm-4mm substrate. Most of the plants are Florida native plants I found in a pond near my house, except for the Java fern, Marino ball, Frogbit, and I just received my shipment of Java moss yesterday. And the driftwood I found behind my house about 15 years ago that I have used in aquariums before so not too much tannins leak out anymore. I put on a cleaning green pad over the filter so the babies don’t get sucked up, I think it is fine enough to keep them safe. I will be doing an only Dream Blue Velvet shrimp tank to try to start a colony and will most likely get a smaller tank(not sure if a 5 gallon or a 10 gallon) so I can cull the odd ones and create a better dark blue line of shrimp. If I do get a second tank for the culled shrimp would I keep it as a glass bottom. For the maintenance I will be checking TDS and when it starts to creep up then I will do a 10% water change with reverse osmosis water, the nitrates have been getting eaten up by all my plants. The shrimps have been eating a lot of biofilm off of the plants, I keep an eye on their digestive tract and it seems most of the time completely full from plant matter. Yesterday I steamed some carrot and lettuce but only one shrimp went on the carrot for only two minutes. I also have some color flakes that I drop in from time to time. Thanks for the support guys

I have tweezers for tending my aquatic plants. That's what I use to get the bloodworm right to the shrimp. Over feeding bloodworms is probably not good.

The two with yellow ... they look like saddles, so they are possibly females. As Crabby said, those are eggs that are not ready for fertilisation yet. Side photo shots are better than top-down shots for identifying sexes. It's just a matter of waiting now. Feed the shrimp well, make sure they get proteins in their diet, along with the usual foods you feed to prep them for mating. What protein rich food to feed? I hear you ask. Frozen bloodworms from your local fish shop. Make sure the females get them especially.

Ok thanks! Regarding the Java Moss, I formed them into balls using fishing string. Is that fine or would the shrimp prefer it to be spread out? Also not sure if the moss would rot on the inside. thanks

I would go with, if it is yellow (can't see that in the photos) it is most likely eggs, and as JayC says, they are probably at a very early stage and the yellow patch will probably then get bigger and look more like a 'SADDLE' shortly, just be patient and keep an eye for now! I don't think it necessary to get any more at this point? You may need to start thinking ahead now though. What fish (and how many) do you have in this tank as almost all fish will eat the baby shrimps as they are so small. They will need plenty of cover like moss (I see you have some?) to hide in when young! Maybe you could post a photo of the full tank and we may be able to prevent/limit as many problems as possible at this early stage, before you get babies? Anything else, tank size, water parameters, maintenance regime etc will be helpful as well. Do you use any additives or leaves etc? Simon

Hang in there! The occasional shrimp dying with all thats going on would be expected by me, some will be less healthy/stronger than others with everything that has happened? Been there a few times myself in the past, and very close to that point now myself so I can sympathise? Keep at it though especially if you are getting babies! Simon

I'm pleased the fish has recovered! My bad about the Indian almond leaves, you are right, they help reduce PH! Busy day yesterday with the new shrimp arriving, hope they survive, though nothing went right, d'oh?????? Simon

Is that Apisto in the same tank as the shrimps? That's going to be a huge risk to shrimps. Apistos will definitely eat them. You seem to be maintaining stable parameters for CRS, ever since removing the rocks in your tank. I would suggest going for CRS, even if they are fussier with parameters. It's harder changing parameters now.

Well this has brought up a question from me - how do you make sure your shrimp get to them if there’s fish in the tank? Do you over feed? Or intentionally feed into heavily planted areas where it’ll get stuck?? On that note - @DreamBlueVelvet are those the only livestock in the tank?

Okay thanks, I’ll keep you guys posted. I will try to get better photos with my dslr in the meantime

Well it could be a bacterial infection or a parasite if they weren’t actually saddles, but I absolutely doubt it’s that. It’s either a saddle or they just have a lighter pigment to that part of their body and it’s their internal organs, which are found there. And mature females don’t necessarily always have a saddle. The saddle is just unfertilised eggs that they are holding. These may be not yet mature shrimp, or just females who haven’t made a saddle because they have been in the stress of shipping, probably from one source to another then to you, over the past week or something. I personally haven’t ever kept neos but they are meant to have yellowish internal organs I think, unlike my Tangerine Tiger shrimp, who are caridina and have brown/black organs. As you said, they aren’t the most clear photos (although you’ve given your best shot, which is appreciated!), but it could be either. It’s not easy to tell, so maybe just wait a couple of weeks to see, and if there aren’t any saddles or berried females then you could reconsider buying more. They’re pretty expensive shrimp so I don’t think you should rush into buying more just because yours are too young to tell their sex.

Well I want to start a colony and don’t want to buy more, at first I thought I had all 7/7 males, after noticing 2 shrimp’s with the yellow inside their bodies I now think maybe I have 2 females but I could be mistaken. IMO if they are not saddles than what would the yellow inside their bodies be, right? if they are all males then I would have to purchase more ?

Hrmm maybe... Really can't tell though. Does look like it a bit. Are you asking so you can get more, or just out of curiosity?

I can’t tell if they’re male or female, I believe they’re just too young to tell. Most suppliers do their best to give you a mix if they can tell. Those first 2 photos of the ‘saddle’ don’t actually look like a saddle to me, it’s usually higher up the neck. Which is a bit worrying if I’m right, but usually I’m not ?. I think you might just need to leave them for a few weeks to see. Good luck!

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.

Not much at all. One worm each should be enough. Feed twice a week. KH 6 is high for cherries, and it reflects in the high pH. Try to work towards getting this down. That's normal when there is plenty of biofilm and new food so Dee introduced. Just keep at it. Make sure you thaw the worm in tank water before feeding.

Sorry to butt in as you asked JayC, we are in different time zones...... Also JayC is the kh of 6 likely to cause any problems which DreamBlueVelvet should keep an eye out for and symptoms etc, or any action they should take? The breeding cycle is about a month I believe and you usually get about 30 eggs! If these shrimps are still juvenile there may not be a male capable of fertilising the eggs at this point, though as they are the same age (assumed) you would have to be quite unlucky, just bare it in mind! Simon

Ok thanks @jayc how often and how many bloodworms should I feed my 7 shrimp? Also how long would you think it would take for the eggs to be ready to be fertilized?

I don't think the shrimp will be too bothered with what you do with the moss and without any predators like fish the shrimp don't need to hide. Some people tie (or glue) it to driftwood/rock or to a mesh pad to make a sort of carpet etc. If it likes the water though it will flourish and whatever you do it will take regular maintaining to keep it in check? Using an aquarium safe superglue is by far the easiest and quickest way of attaching it, probably a dearer option though! Simon

That is a very nice setup you have and the parameters look perfect (KH is a bit high but if it works as it is, stability is probably more important/safer, so I would leave that unless you encounter problems), thanks for the photo! I like the fact you have gathered bits from locally as well. It may look a bit empty now but as soon as they start having babies numbers can rocket very quickly! The babies will like the extra moss you got yesterday, they are so tiny when first born that you may not even be able to see them, sometimes it takes a few weeks before they are large enough and coloured enough to be seen but even then they are tiny still so you will still have difficulty seeing them. The babies also don't move far from the point they are born to start with! I thought you mentioned fish, but my mistake? Dried leaves (oak/Indian almond etc) are a great thing for shrimp as it gives more area for biofilm to grow on and have other benefits as well. If you are going to collect them yourself be sure they aren't contaminated with either pollution (roadside) or pesticides etc! Regarding a cull tank, it depends what you want from it really. If you just want somewhere temporary to keep the shrimp until you pass/sell them on to someone else then it makes sense to keep them in a clear bottomed tank (easier to catch and see the shrimp etc), but if you are planning to let them just live out their life in the cull tank then it would be more natural and pleasant if there is a proper more scaped tank for them? You probably don't need to feed the small number (7) of shrimps you have at the moment as there should be plenty of biofilm in your large tank! Look forward to hearing how it all goes, and fingers crossed you have got some females that start your breeding colony. Simon

Sorry, yes I should have clarified. I’m trying to decide which shrimp I should keep based on parameters and the fish I keep (basically the apistos and huge endler females are the only ones who would matter), out of any natives but ghost shrimp, any neos or caridina shrimp.

Sure. But can you summarise what you are trying to achieve again? are you debating on which type of shrimp to keep based on your current water parameters?

Sorry, but @jayc any chance I could get a second opinion on this? Wanting as much advice as I can get, so I have the best chance of not killing any shrimp.

I managed to get a little better photo, what do you guys think? = ) I’ll try to get better pictures in the future, I have been using my iPhone 6s plus

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.

Thanks for the response Simon! In my experience Indian almond leaves reduce ph... don’t I want to bring it up a little? Cherries won’t like 6.4 or anything. Yeah fair enough. Hadn’t thought about that. That was actually my original hope/plan, and you are definitely tempting me! I love the blues. There aren’t any for the adults anymore really, they just hide in plants and between breeder boxes, but in the driftwood there’s loads of divots that I’ve filled with mosses and anubias roots. I also have moss in between my rocks, which absolutely no fish can get into. And there’s also places where the shrimp aren’t very visible. ie between some leaves of my java fern, or in the roots of that, or even in a little ‘cave’ that’s a big divot beneath the driftwood that forms an arch, with a hollow above it that gets totally dark. In addition to all that, I’ve started growing a carpet of dwarf hairgrass on the left, and dwarf chain swords on the right. This provides plenty of ground cover, although my current shrimp have ignored it so far. It may not be perfect, but for a teeny young shrimp there are totally options. Alright. Yes I think I mentioned that in my last post, he made a full recovery within a week. Must have only been a graze or a burn. I really appreciate the help Simon! Cheers, C

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

Slowly consolidating my various threads from other forums back to here. Here is another project of mine which I'm doing at the same time as my 4ft tank. Naming: Now called One Tree Nano as I've put most of my yellows in the 4ft tank now. Tank Goals: - Apply knowledge gained from the experts here - Build a fun place for the shrimp I intend to keep - Keep it simple and visually pleasing Equipment on hand: Aqua One 30cm Glass Cube Black Soil Fulvic - Normal – 5Kg Black Soil Fulvic - Super Powder – 3Kg Hagen Elite 25w Mini Heater Aquaclear Mini ( 20 ) Hang on Filter DIY Components: LED LED stand Breeding caves Flora being considered: US Fissden Eleocharis Belem Fauna being considered: Neocaridina Yellow Shrimp Caradina Zebra Darwin Algae Shrimp A pic of the Aqua One 30cm cube next to the cheapy tank I was originally going to use. Both are being water tested while I wait for the stuff to turn up. The back of the cheapy has had black vinyl applied already, I might use contact paper for the cube. Tank pre-start photos

Played around with the Kenko tubes a little today

I only just noticed around 8 little shrimplets int he tank. They don't look to be rilli or yellow. Look like plain old cherry.

Thanks. Some photo's from today: IMG_3256 by AussieNoGi, on Flickr IMG_3250 by AussieNoGi, on Flickr IMG_3243 by AussieNoGi, on Flickr IMG_3231 by AussieNoGi, on Flickr IMG_3267 by AussieNoGi, on Flickr

Progress after 5 days. Tree of life sure is living up to its name: That's some funky stuff growing off the wood. I’m told that the shrimp will love it. After flooding US Fissden pearling: Usual growth on newish goldvine: Tree of Life ;)

And finally, some movement on the tank itself. First layer of the soil: Left gaps on the sides for the finer soil: The super fine stuff on the sides: Now all over: My tree, will be going for something out of Avatar with the tree of life: Corner view: Front view, eye level: Shrimp view, looking up: The lights are not as white as I had hoped, the blue and red are very strong. I may add more whites later but for now the tree looks pretty cool in multi colour. My hairgrass is in along with the fissden on the breeding caves. The soil is damp and I will spray mist daily for a few weeks before filling the tank with water.