Shrimp not breeding...

[FishOwner]

I used to have a colony of 20-25 shrimp, with a male ratio of 1:4. When I received the shrimp, one was berried and closing to hatching her eggs, and those eggs hatched. Ever since that shrimp, I have not successfully been able to breed any shrimp. My shrimp are always saddled, and I do see eggs every few weeks, but for some reason, the shrimp drop the eggs each and every time I see them.

I'm getting a little worried about my shrimp as their population is starting to decline. Are there any causes of recurrent egg dropping?

 

[Starkkj]

I used to have a colony of 20-25 shrimp, with a male ratio of 1:4. When I received the shrimp, one was berried and closing to hatching her eggs, and those eggs hatched. Ever since that shrimp, I have not successfully been able to breed any shrimp. My shrimp are always saddled, and I do see eggs every few weeks, but for some reason, the shrimp drop the eggs each and every time I see them.



I'm getting a little worried about my shrimp as their population is starting to decline. Are there any causes of recurrent egg dropping?

From what I’ve gathered improper water conditions can cause this. What’s the ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and if you have a measuring tool... the tds? Tds will always be the one to get you especially if you top off the water level rather than doing a change once it evaporates enough. When evaporated, the water leaves behind the minerals and increases the tds which is harmful for aquatic life.

 

[Starkkj]

From what I’ve gathered improper water conditions can cause this. What’s the ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and if you have a measuring tool... the tds? Tds will always be the one to get you especially if you top off the water level rather than doing a change once it evaporates enough. When evaporated, the water leaves behind the minerals and increases the tds which is harmful for aquatic life.

Shrimp tend to do well at ph levels of 7.0-7.4, gh levels of 7-10, kh levels of 2-6, tds of 180-300, and temps of 70-72. Ammonia needs to stay below 0.02, nitrite and nitrates need to stay fairly low as well.

 

[FishOwner]

Sorry for getting back to you so late!

I NEVER top off. I always do a water change when water gets too low.

My pH is always around 7. I don't know the gH, kH, or TDS, although I did go to PetCo to try to get the parameters checked. They just gave me a "high" hardness, which they say is normal for my area (South Colorado). Ammonia and nitrites are close to zero, and last I checked, nitrates were at 20 ppm.

Do you think the nitrates are the problem?

Some of my shrimp are starting to roll over, sit on their backs, and just die. I can't tell if it's molting problems or something else. Might there be a correlation between the breeding and molting problems?

 

[Starkkj]

Sorry for getting back to you so late!

I NEVER top off. I always do a water change when water gets too low.

My pH is always around 7. I don't know the gH, kH, or TDS, although I did go to PetCo to try to get the parameters checked. They just gave me a "high" hardness, which they say is normal for my area (South Colorado). Ammonia and nitrites are close to zero, and last I checked, nitrates were at 20 ppm.

Do you think the nitrates are the problem?

Some of my shrimp are starting to roll over, sit on their backs, and just die. I can't tell if it's molting problems or something else. Might there be a correlation between the breeding and molting problems?

Sorry for getting back to YOU late! I think the hardness is probably the biggest issue. I’d switch to buying and using bottled spring water and treating it with bacteria and quick/safe start. That’s what I use! I’ve noticed my females tend to have molting problems and die after a few hatches so that very well could be the problem. Add in some calcium and use some spring water. That should help

 

[Autumnsky]

Too much water hardness can cause problems - too much calcium hardness makes difficult for a quick smooth molt / release of shell from new body of shrimp. Can't get out!
But not having enough minerals in the diet to make a good shell is a problem too. Iodine I understand is a nutrient which is important. So a food with seaweed is good.

Once you find the right combination it will click.

Temperature, maintaining a stable environment, not too much water changing tds, mineral changes, kh/gh.

 

[FishOwner]

Ok, I'll try the bottled water approach. Someone also recommended to me to leave my water change bucket full of water for a few days, so that the hardness would naturally disappear. I doubt it will work though, since calcium, magnesium, etc., aren't that volatile.

I'm also going to try to get kH and gH test kits. Everything would be so much easier with them.

Thank you!

 

[Autumnsky]

Letting the bucket of water sit, the pH calms down to what is will be in about 24-48 hours. Minerals don't evaporate.