Shrimplets!!! Any advice??

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SteffeyJ

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jun 28, 2021
Messages
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Location
Ohio
Hello all!!
Today I noticed my first shrimplets! I could see at least 5 of them and 2 different sizes. (Which i knew i had AT typoLEAST 2 very berried females)
Anyways, I've been using BacterAE about once a week. (And only a TINY amount) and i have crushed up a tiny shrimp algae wafer and put it in. (Also about once a week.)
I have some crushed coral in the tank... what other ways can I add calcium?
The shrimp do molt just fine.. so I think the crushed coral is working fine. I also have a TINY piece of cuttle bone in there somewhere. (Its always magically moved around! Lol!)
Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated as this is my first time having baby shrimp!
And I am VERY excited!
Thank you!!
:) Jasmine.
 
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Finding the first babies is such a thrill!

Firstly, do you have the intakes covered with a prefilter sponge??? I think I recall that you do.

You can order shrimp fry food. I am using Glasgarten Shrimp Baby, and all the shrimp enjoy it. There are other brands as well. This one is the tiniest balls. The adult food is actually a powder which seems odd to me but it seems to readily enjoyed as well.

The babies should be fed near where you see them hang out. Yes they can eventually go towards food, but it is a sure bet to put it right where they are.

I also used a little glass food dish so I could watch them and the adults eat and it can help keep the food from polluting the substrate, reducing the need to vac the substrate.

You can use a pipette to target the location to drop the food.

But it isn't necessary.

I do water changes by using a cup which is under the overflow of the HOB filter. That way it is not as big of a chance to catch a shrimp.
 
I actually have a very small power head on that tank
Never saw one like it before until I had it lol

The back has little slots the water goes in, through a tiny filter and then out 2 little outlet holes. I took a 'paint strainer' and wrapped it around the thing to cover the little slots in the back just to be safe.
But I also have a sponge filter going as well :)
I've been feeding BacterAe and crushed up shrimp wafers and also still put a couple of omega one shrimp pellet/tiny ball things in for the adults as well.
There are quite a few snails in there and they do a good job of eating any remaining food.
I just worry if the shrimp are getting enough calcium. Theres cuttlebone in the tank tho.
Also, is BacterAE and crushed wafers enough??
I will look into the food you mentioned also. Just in case! Looks like I have 2 more berried females already! So hopefully more babies on the way!!
Thanks for the help!
 
The shrimp do need good mineral content for molting properly. And having good healthy babies.

I would definitely recommend serving them some specially made shrimp foods, There are complete foods Shrimp King has them and GlasGarten as well. I just ordered a sample pack again from Shrimp King, even though I have the other Glasgarten foods too.

That sample pack has the 5 in one pak complete, mineral, protein, snow pops, and 5 leaf. I did recently notice a slight different 5 pack of foods from them. Mine comes tomorrow.

Since I feed a very large variety of foods to them I haven't noticed problems with molting.

Also I include bits of about 10 other foods. Including Omega Super color veggie Kelp pellets and their Marine granules and Hikari Crab Cuisine, Hikari sinking omnivoire wafers, Northfin Krill Pro, Hikari freeze dried Daphnia and their Brine shrimp, Fluval Bug bites Community and Betta, Hikari Fancy Guppy cause the little fish like it and so do the shrimp. And Ebita Breed uatro and foods for baby and Ebikuma Dango. Thos were from sample packs from Jungle Aqua Shrimp and Plant store also is member JungleFowl here at AA.. Also sells leaves for the tanks too. Also use them, and source from a couple other places as well.

Since I have been keeping shrimp for awhile and I have had time to build up such a variety and which are shared by the other fish in the tanks too.

A side note is people say to keep away from copper, which is deadly to inverts if used in medicating a tank, this is true. Shrimp need a tiny amount of copper for building their blood so you will often see it as an ingredient in shrimp food, in very tiny amounts.
 
Yes okay! That definitely helps because I did notice that a few of my foods do contain copper and have been avoiding them ever since! Glad to know it is ok in small amounts though!
I recently made a purchase of some new foods for the shrimps so that they can have a variety too..
And like you said, as I go, I am hoping to build up more and more.
So far I have;
BacterAE, Shrimp baby, shrimp lollies, hikari shrimp cuisine, hikari crab cuisine, omega one shrimp pellets, fluval bug bites shrimp formula, aqueon herbivore, aqueon omnivore and omega one veggie mini pellets.
Have been trying to mix things up a little and see what the favorites are..
Hardest part is pacing myself and waiting so that I don't overfeed!! Lol!
I also have some freeze dried daphnia for my fish, do you think the shrimp would try that?
So far the lollies and the omega one pellets seem to be a favorite. Along with BacterAE of course.
I always seem to go a little overboard and get too much. But would rather have something and not need it than to need it and not have it! Lol.
Also, any other tips for calcium?
Have cuttlefish bone and crushed coral but not sure what else to try? Was looking at 'wonder shells' have you tried those before?
And will definitely look into the Shrimp King Complete or sample pack on my next purchase. :)
Thank you so much!!
 
Yes okay! That definitely helps because I did notice that a few of my foods do contain copper and have been avoiding them ever since! Glad to know it is ok in small amounts though!
I recently made a purchase of some new foods for the shrimps so that they can have a variety too..
And like you said, as I go, I am hoping to build up more and more.
So far I have;
BacterAE, Shrimp baby, shrimp lollies, hikari shrimp cuisine, hikari crab cuisine, omega one shrimp pellets, fluval bug bites shrimp formula, aqueon herbivore, aqueon omnivore and omega one veggie mini pellets.
Have been trying to mix things up a little and see what the favorites are..
Hardest part is pacing myself and waiting so that I don't overfeed!! Lol!
I also have some freeze dried daphnia for my fish, do you think the shrimp would try that?
So far the lollies and the omega one pellets seem to be a favorite. Along with BacterAE of course.
I always seem to go a little overboard and get too much. But would rather have something and not need it than to need it and not have it! Lol.
Also, any other tips for calcium?
Have cuttlefish bone and crushed coral but not sure what else to try? Was looking at 'wonder shells' have you tried those before?
And will definitely look into the Shrimp King Complete or sample pack on my next purchase. :)
Thank you so much!!

It sounds like you have lots of choices for the shrimp! I did get a couple sample mineral stones for the shrimp as samples from a vendor and a hobbyist. Also have bought a sample of tourmaline round "stones". I didn't notice a particular difference.

But I might like to have it just in case I ever saw an issue in molting. My water has little KH basically 0-.5 and hardness is a bit more. So maybe that part helps.

Almost always kept a chunk of Cuttlebone in the tanks but recently have run out since I moved. The old ones were a bit mucky black and tossed. Which this reminds me to get a new pack of them.

It seems to me doing smaller water changes a time or 2 a week is good for keeping some minerals from the water in the tank. If you have too hard of water the shell can get too thick and hard and also cause a bad molt because it will not pop off like it should. Not aware of your particular water conditions, mine favor shrimp conditions and many people do not have that kind of water.

Though I should go back to considering using RO/DI remineralized water only, since I have had a very bad experience once in the past with a chemical contaminant in the city water killing a lot of shrimp.
 
I actually found 2 or 3 molts last night! (Which were gone this morning!)
And noticed about 5-7 TEEENY TINY baby shrimplets!!!
PLUS already had atleast 3 babies from before which have already grown quite alot!!!
They grow MUCH faster than I expexted!!

But, if they are molting properly AND having babies, that must mean they are happy, right???
It makes me think I am doing things right!!
And I hope so!!����
Fingers crossed!!!
 
Congratulations! It does seem that they're happy if the babies are being born, AND growing up! You should see more each time as the young and new mommas mature and can carry more eggs to successful births.
 
So I've actually ordered some new shrimp, for a different tank (dont want to mix colors)
And up until this point, I've only kept cherry shrimp
And was told to drop acclimate once I recieved them in the mail..
All of them survived and have done so well!!
But now I am reading that you SHOULD NOT drop acclimate any shipped critter. Fish and shrimp.. because it is prolonged time in their toxic water...

So, should I still drip acclimate my new arrivals?
Or should I do, float the bag to temp, dump fish over net and drop into tank??

Any opinions on this??

And would you do fish the same way?
 
First off see if you can get the water parameters for the tanks they come from.

But when you get them sometimes the water isn't quite the way they say. So test when you get it.

Shrimp are pretty small and will maybe be less toxic than say with fish in the bags.

But if you add a couple drops of prime you would be able to neutralize it.

If my tank water is pretty similar to the new shrimp water, I will just do a addition of small amounts into the shrimp water like in a gallon pitcher, get the water half way up and empty half. Keep it up till it gets pretty full again and empty again half or as much would keep them with some water to cover them.

Doing the water additions you want to make sure the shrimp don't get cold from not having heated water. I would think it gets done within 30 min.

Then try and get the shrimp shoo'd into the tank with as little water added as possible.

If your shrimp are from water quite a bit different than yours, you might need to consider having it with RO or RO/DI with remineralizer. That way it will be in more ideal shrimp water parameters and stable long term. I have been pretty fortunate that the shrimp which have come to me have been pretty similar.
 
Oh, and about the water temp. If it is very different from the air temperature and tank temperature I might open the bag and put them with a drop of Prime if it is a small amount of water, a couple drops if it is a large bag full.

Also still add a scoop of tank water in to help equalize the temp. Then float a little bit and begin adding water. Adding the water will begin equalizing the temp.

*****Also there is a different way to do it if it is a Breather bag. Floating is a no-no.
 
Thank you!!
The person I got my cherry shrimp from had pretty much everything the same! even fed the same things and everything! Was great!
But this time I ordered from someone else.
And also have my first and probably only 'shipped fish' arriving as well...

I am so nervous and scared..

So thank you for your response!!
I just want to be prepared lol.
And dont want to hurt them or do the wrong things!.
So I appreciate your recommendation!
Thank you!
 
All shrimp were drip acclimated and are still doing WONDERFULLY!!!
BUT!
I made a post about my garra's recent issues in the freshwater fish health section.. any chance you can help, autumnsky?? Can PM you also about it if that works better... but could really use your help..
He is acting fine but am so scared that it may be serious and I dont want to lose her/him..... :(
 
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