Is my bamboo/wood/fan shrimp ok?

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Yesterday I noticed one of my bamboo has dark balls up under its swimmerets. I tried to research what they could be but was unsuccessful. Does anyone know what it could be? ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1404353211.558096.jpg


Enjoy the small moments for they comprise life.
 
Sure does look berried. This is one of the species that truly does need brackish in order for the shrimplets to fully develop though.
 
Yes. I read about that. I'm not set up to breed these guys, unfortunately.

I hope it's eggs and not something more serious.
 
For sure, eggs. They wil be brick red once they drop low enough to be seen underneath her. If they are breeding, you must be taking good care. Can't be anything else, that is very clearly a female. Males have much thicker first pairs of walking legs, and a large hook that is very obvious when they get past a couple of inches long.
 
She has dropped the eggs already and seems to be in good health.

Lol, when I got these shrimp I did everything absolutely wrong. I put them in to tank that was a week old, with one other fish. Poor things almost starved until I figured out how to feed them! (They love bottom feeder tablets.) They don't fan as much as I expected them to but they are mostly nocturnal so perhaps I just don't see them doing it.

They have both shed at least once (one of them twice). Their colouring is getting darker with an obvious lighter stripe on the back.

Just coincidence that I got a male and a female. I'm so happy that they seem healthy... It's too bad I'm not set up to breed them but it seems like very delicate work.


Enjoy the small moments for they comprise life.
 
Do they have a current to feed in ? If not, try to provide one. The smallest of pumps will do the trick, placed near the bottom. Try feeding flakes crushed to finest powder, or spirulina powder mixed with water is super for them. They should be spending a lot of time 'fan' feeding, not bottom picking. If she dropped those eggs so early, may well have been diet related. Liquid phyto is excellent if you can get it, the kind fed to marine corals. Give some a couple times a week.

They are not normally nocturnal, mine are out all day long, every day. They move around and hide now and then, but are mostly very visible. They really do love algae, likely why the tabs attract them. But filter feeding is their norm.
 
Do you think she dropped the eggs too early? I saw her doing it and they were a dark green colour, not red. She did it over the course of about 5 days and then she shed right after. I find it very hard to find good info on these shrimp.

There is a current present but coming from the top of the tank. (AquaClear filter) There is also a water curtain on the furthest side of the tank from the filter. I have tried fry food, liquefied algae pellets, crushed flake food. I have tried pipette feeding them. The most consistent way that I can feed them is with the sinking pellets. I realize that this isn't ideal but so far it's the best way. Since I discovered the pellets there is a lot less scrounging the gravel for food. Poor things.

At first I think they were too skittish, they would always shy away from the pipette or even anyone approaching the tank, and being nocturnal makes it hard to feed them that way. Now I only put the finely crushed food (or fry food) in when I see them actually fanning, (which they are starting to do more during the day) they do get a little that way. I'll look into getting that other food you recommended. I'm in a small town so I'll have to arrange a trip to pick some up in the city.

Thanks for your help and information! I appreciate it so much!


Enjoy the small moments for they comprise life.
 
Yes, if her eggs had been full term, they would have been dark red, and you would,have seen them bulging under her, slowly working their way down her swimmerets. Some shrimp lose a first brood, not sure why, but diet is a suspect in any artificial setup.

They are filter feeders, which means much of their natural intake is invisibly tiny. Microscopic organisms. If you can get some, microworms are very easy to culture and can be fed a few times a week. Fish like the worms too. If you can get frozen food, like baby brine shrimp or bloodworms, it might work if you made a smoothie of it in a blender, froze it again in small chunks and fed it thawed to liquid. The problem with this is that most of the nutrients become so diluted so fast, they don't get much good from it. Daphnia that are frozen lose almost all their value within seconds of hitting the water, sadly.

I culture single cell liquid algae for mine, about five different species of it and feed a couple hundred CCs a few times a week. NLS smallt from my fry starter is one dry food that works, if you have to use dry food. So do Golden Pearls, in the 5-50 micron size, which is a shrimp specific food, though mainly for farmed shrimp larvae, it works for the filter feeders. Can be ordered online.

Mine will hang in the the current from my AC, I put wood or something for them to grab in the strongest part of the current, as well as run a separate circulation pump for them, with a flat filter sponge suction cupped to the side of the tank right in its path, which they love to hang onto. I turn the filter off for about a,half hour after I feed liquid algae, so it won't get filtered out too fast. The pump keeps it all going around, gives the shrimp best chance to filter it out themselves.
 
I've read about growing "green water" (basically algae water). I've considered this for my shrimp but I was also worried about having an algae outbreak in my tank. I have algae now, of the brown spot and black beard variety. I'm worried about adding more problems to my tank. I do have some live plants and a couple of oto cats to help out with the situation. Do you think it's worthwhile to grow some green water?


Enjoy the small moments for they comprise life.
 
Pure cultured 'Greenwater' does not cause nor worsen algae problems in tanks. The most commonly available species is Japanese chlorella, botanically the species name is nannochloropsus. It will grow in both salt and fresh water, one of the only species that will. Easy, easy to grow, very nutritious, I think it's worth it, but it does take a wee bit of effort.

A two litre or one gallon water or soda bottle, clean water ( bottled spring saves trying to sterilize tap water )' plus a strong light source for at least 16 hours daily. More hours are better, but for one bottle, a single 23 W spiral flourescent 6500k bulb right beside the bottle will work. Algae needs to be fed periodically too, and for safety's sake, I prefer to use ferts specifically intended to grow single cell algaes. One old standard is known as Guillards, and Carolina Biological labs have one called Alga Grow.

I buy pure starter cultures and the ferts from Carolina or local company that stocks Florida Aqua farms products. With some minimal attention, one culture can last years. You just split and reculture it every few weeks. Cultures ready to feed can be kept in the fridge for a few weeks if need be. The ferts are used in very, very tiny amounts, less than 2 mls for a gallon bottle of new culture if I'm using FAF Guillard, so despite their initial cost, they are pretty economical.

Cultures also need to be aerated, using a pump and air stone, so they don't settle. If they are not agitated, settling occurs, which suffocates and kills the underlayers. An Air stone keeps it all moving and it is ready to feed when you can't see your hand through it on the other side of the bottle. Most cultures come with some instructions, I can email really accurate directions if you need them.

Fwiw, I prefer Florida Aqua Farms algae discs for nannochloropsus. So easy to store and use when wanted. Live cultures in glass tubes have to be set up within a day or two of receipt, where the discs can wait til you are ready to work with them, up to six months.

Home made green water is possible too, but because it can have any of many species in it, it may add undesirable algaes to a tank. Yet another reason I prefer to use lab raised cultures.
 
I finally saw my female bamboo shrimp again today. She's quite skittish and always seems to be hiding when I am home. She's always the first to duck for cover if she sees movement outside of the tank too.

It appears that she hasn't aborted all of her eggs. I know that she lost some...I saw her release them. The eggs that are left appear to be bigger and are starting to turn a brownish-red colour. Her colouring is also changing. There is now a white strip down her back that is becoming progressively more prominent.

Fascinating little creatures.


Enjoy the small moments for they comprise life.
 
Fishfur, I just saw my female bamboo shrimp release a light coloured powder ( for lack of a better word) into the current. It was hard to tell where she released it from, maybe her mouth? Do you have any ideas what this could be?


Enjoy the small moments for they comprise life.
 
Sorry to be so long away. No idea what she might have been releasing, unless it was eggs. If it was eggs, you'd notice she has fewer or none left. If it wasn't eggs, I'm as mystified as you are, I've never observed such a thing.

These guys are usually not really skittish, but if she had just moulted, which might explain the more prominent back stripe, she'd be hiding for a day or two until her new shell hardens. But if she moulted, she'd be unlikely to carry eggs through a moult. Typically they moult, then send out pheromones to tell males they are receptive, and then mate. Eggs appear later on.

Just keep an eye out and see if you can observe her more. If she continues to be shy, it may be that she wants company. I have quite a few of them, and they are always out and about. I think they feel safer in company than they do when alone or with just a pair.
 
Yeah. She moulted and the eggs are all gone. I haven't seen her release that powdery substance again. It was weird.

I have seen them being more active in the afternoons and evenings and the odd time I have turned the light on at night have seen them both fanning in the current. It appears that they are healthy and getting enough to eat because they are shedding on a regular basis.

Anyway, the male (I call him Poppa) just shed last night. It's easy to tell now that I know how to sex them! I was wondering if I should be adding an additive to the water to help them with replacing and rebuilding their exoskeleton, especially because they don't eat their sheds like the other shrimp do.


Enjoy the small moments for they comprise life.
 
Always nice to be able to tell what sexes you have isn't it ? If your water is fairly hard, I would not worry about supplementing calcium. The fact they are moulting without difficulty is a good indication the water is good enough. Mine don't moult all that often, though several of them are near adult size, so they naturally moult less often. But even the younger ones don't do it all that often.

Because I keep some dwarf shrimp with the fan shrimp, any moults get eaten eventually, so I leave them in the tank.
 
Yes, I leave them there for a few days anyways. I have some RCS and one lone ghostie. I lost a oto cat and a ghostie and maybe (?) a couple RCS in the last 2 months (lots of places to hide in my tank so an accurate head count is always difficult) but I have never found any bodies. My water parameters are always in range... Never a spike in ammonia, nitrites or nitrates.... So I'm assuming that my shrimp have cleaned up the evidence fairly well. I've even checked around the tank to see if there were any jailbreaks...I can't find anything. The ghosties do particularly well eating the old sheds.


Enjoy the small moments for they comprise life.
 
I only have a 24 ga tank that is rather heavily stocked currently. Do you think that I would be able to add more bamboo shrimp ( to make them less skittish)?

I do 30% water changes about every ten days. I use the tap water and a conditioner plus cycle. Nitrates are always 20 or less when I do changes. Nitrites were 0 this last change and ammonia was less than 0.6. I have an AC filter rated for a 30ga tank. It is moderately planted and the plants are thriving. I want to add some java moss yet.

I have it stocked with:

16 adult White Cloud Minnows
11 adult Cardinal Tetras
3 oto cats
1 ghostie
3 (?) RCS ( initially there were 6 but I only ever see 3 at a time)
2 adult bamboo shrimp

I'm hesitant to add more as I'm afraid of overstocking. My husband suggests adding another filter (he wants more fish) but I think the poor beasties need space as well.

I'm understanding that bamboo shrimp have a low waste load. Do you have any input?


Enjoy the small moments for they comprise life.
 
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