Cherry Shrimp...now what? :eek:
- Thread starter OrangeCones
- Start date
I was going to get cherry shrimp a week or two ago. The lfs had some and I was going to add some to my guppy tank. When I got there he explained that he didn't have time to net 200 shrimp out of a java-moss invaded tank (he's been moving his tanks around alot. He just went from his basement store to a new house with a garage store a while ago) so his goldfish had a snack.
Good luck breeding them!
Good luck breeding them!
Ok, my shrimpies are doing great. They are calm, turning over each piece of gravel looking for food, some eat on algae wafers, some on sinking pellets, some just seem to pick around on the driftwood and plants in there. They crack me up that some will hand upside down from floating plants, 'grooming' the root hairs for food.
A few have molted (I'm guessing, there are none missing and yes I count them!). It looks like pure white shells of shrimp. Do I leave these shells in the tank for the others to scavange (several seem attracted to them, picking them up and even dragging them around, especially the larger females), or do I take them out as 'dead' pieces that could spoil the water quality? I have plenty of plants in there and 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and nitrates about 7 (a bit closer to 5ppm than 10ppm).
Any advice from you shrimp keepers would be appreciated.
A few have molted (I'm guessing, there are none missing and yes I count them!). It looks like pure white shells of shrimp. Do I leave these shells in the tank for the others to scavange (several seem attracted to them, picking them up and even dragging them around, especially the larger females), or do I take them out as 'dead' pieces that could spoil the water quality? I have plenty of plants in there and 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and nitrates about 7 (a bit closer to 5ppm than 10ppm).
Any advice from you shrimp keepers would be appreciated.
if you leave them in the shrimp may consume them for calcium and other things that will help them grow. but you could toss those clear molts out or even feed them to a large fish (I used to feed the molts to my goldfish). I highly doubt they shed enough flesh material with each molt to spoil the water quality. many people simply leave the shells in there. I currently do the same.
Wow, I just got some RCS a week ago as well and I love them. They are all small (like 1/2 an inch or less) but they're still great, I love how they can hover in md water! I only have like 1 female with decant color, but taking picures of them is too hard for me
Mine love to scrape the brown algea off my rocks, its great!
Mine love to scrape the brown algea off my rocks, its great!
dont worry paper, if you have at least one female and some males, if you take good care of them they will breed well for you and you will see some more color in females. these shrimp do grow over 1" (the females) and the females also get very red when mature, not just speckled red but solid red with a pink dorsal stripe.
Newman - My largest female is berried and based on the size of the little ones, I think she's going to release them soon. But she has no 'cherry shrimp' color, looks mottled brown. I don't care if some of them are 'wild color' or not, but I want to make sure its the same species.
If I could get a good close-up pic of her, do you think you could tell?
If I could get a good close-up pic of her, do you think you could tell?
yes, Neocardinia heteopoda (or w/e the correct genus spelling is) is quite distinct. sounds like a wild color variation just like riseabove has.
post up that pic
and its cool that the adults may seem a bit small at first. they should grow, and if they dont perhaps their offspring will grow to full size. Remember these shrimp like warmwater temperature and alkaline water (they are different from most FW shrimp that way. most like acidic water and some like colder temps such as the crystal shrimp.) maybe they will grow larger in alkaline water with a pH greater than 6.9 and decent KH and GH.
btw females can be pregnant well before they reach full mature size. though of course its possible that yours already is max size who knows.
post up that pic
and its cool that the adults may seem a bit small at first. they should grow, and if they dont perhaps their offspring will grow to full size. Remember these shrimp like warmwater temperature and alkaline water (they are different from most FW shrimp that way. most like acidic water and some like colder temps such as the crystal shrimp.) maybe they will grow larger in alkaline water with a pH greater than 6.9 and decent KH and GH.
btw females can be pregnant well before they reach full mature size. though of course its possible that yours already is max size who knows.
She's about 1.25 inches so I'm thinking she's full grown. I'll get a pic up tonight when I feed them. She's the definate 'boss' of the crowd.
The shipper sent a seperate bag of water for me to test for KH/GH and pH. The water is close to my natural tap water, which reads (this week) as 9.3pH.
I was checking out one of the shells of the shrimp with my hand (thought it was a dead shrimp, but it was just the empty shell). Several shrimp 'charged' me, was so funny, and one took the shell off under the driftwood!
The shipper sent a seperate bag of water for me to test for KH/GH and pH. The water is close to my natural tap water, which reads (this week) as 9.3pH.
I was checking out one of the shells of the shrimp with my hand (thought it was a dead shrimp, but it was just the empty shell). Several shrimp 'charged' me, was so funny, and one took the shell off under the driftwood!
Finally found my SD card reader!
This is the best pic I could get of the 'wild colored' Cherry shrimp.
This is one of her swimming near the floating plants, the light backdrop really shows her lil ones.
I emailed the breeder who assures me that they only breed the Cherries and it is indeed a 'wild' type that comes up every so often.
I wonder if she is close to releasing her brood. She spends a lot of time clinging to the sponge filter and flexes her tail, almost folding herself in half, seeming to groom her babies.
This is the best pic I could get of the 'wild colored' Cherry shrimp.
This is one of her swimming near the floating plants, the light backdrop really shows her lil ones.
I emailed the breeder who assures me that they only breed the Cherries and it is indeed a 'wild' type that comes up every so often.
I wonder if she is close to releasing her brood. She spends a lot of time clinging to the sponge filter and flexes her tail, almost folding herself in half, seeming to groom her babies.
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Well, my 'natural colored' cherry shrirp is no longer holding the shrimplets. She must have let them loose on or near the sponge filter as there is a SWARM of them hanging around/eating off the sponge. A lot hanging out in the floating plants too. I didn't even notice them until I dropped some algae wafers in and it disturbed the floating plants a bit and they scattered.
I tried to take some pics of them, but they are so tiny! Only about 1/3 the width of my smallest fingernail (and I have small hands LOL!).
Is it normal for them to be white/clear at this age? They do not have any red or brown (like the mother).
I tried to take some pics of them, but they are so tiny! Only about 1/3 the width of my smallest fingernail (and I have small hands LOL!).
Is it normal for them to be white/clear at this age? They do not have any red or brown (like the mother).
I'm considering adding some shrimp to my 55.. With the fish listed in my signature, would say 3 cherry and 3 ghost by about right? How long do they live, would they breed with each other? I don't want to have too many shrimp that I can't control their breeding, but after a little research it sounds like they actually could really benefit my tank by helping keep it clean.. and be something different to look at.
What do your "wild" colored shrimp look like? I am thinking I may have one, because I have a couple shrimp that were clearish-red and it turned dark/clear with no red at all.
Ghost shrimp don't eat algae, if that is why you were getting them. They are scavengers. The red cherry shrimp do eat algae, though. 3 would not make much of a difference imo.
Also... I'm pretty sure your rainbow shark would eat them.
Ghost shrimp don't eat algae, if that is why you were getting them. They are scavengers. The red cherry shrimp do eat algae, though. 3 would not make much of a difference imo.
Also... I'm pretty sure your rainbow shark would eat them.
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agreed, stuff like the rainbow shark would be merciless. get more than 3 cherries to start, unless you can pick out females and males at the store in person. 5-10 is a good number to get both females and males. the will reproduce well, give a lot of live plant cover and healthy parameters. dont worry I highly doubt that in such a tank with those fish that the shrimp will overpopulate too much, the fish will keep their population down.