Help!!! Rcs

[Retired_AF]

I have a tank with RCS and plants plus an abundance of assasin snails. I have found them to be very hardy. I started 2 years ago with 20 shrimp. I started selling them on Craigslist for $1 each and financed my 90-gallon reef tank plus bought a lof of other gear. I don't take a lot of special care of them (I know, thats the #1 sin of being an aquarist) just water changes about once a month and I feed them whatevere fish food I have. I have used algae wafers, flake food, cichlid sticks and catfish food. They eat it all and multiply like crazy. My tank is a 27-gallon bowfront and I have hundreds of shrimp, mostly 3/8" to 1/2" size. I dont know if any die but it seems they would or all of them would be adults. I just never seem to find any bodies. Now I am using them to feed my saltwater fish. The damsels love them and my blue wrasse hits them before they get halfway down the tank.

 

[Fish_Fan]

No more deaths so far and yes i do have live plants. I have 2 java ferns and java moss. When will they breed? I have a big female that molted but isn't pregnant. Thanks for the responses

 

[Fish_Fan]

Oh it's a just RCS tank and has never been treated with anything

 

[Linwood]

When will they breed?

Are you playing Marvin Gay on the stereo? You have to set the mood, you know.

 

[Fish_Fan]

Haha hopefully they will breed soon

 

[Hoffman]

Just leave them be. The first time mine had them it was a total surprise. Seem a little shrimp the size of a pin head on a rock! If you got the males, and you got the females, your tank will be the tank of love in no time! Once you see one berried, then you'll be really excited., good luck!

 

[Fish_Fan]

Thank you!

 

[Retired_AF]

If you have a filtration system be sure to cover the intake with something to prevent the tiny shrimps from getting sucked in. Sponge or a pantyhose material works well.

 

[Fish_Fan]

Yeah i have a prefilter sponge over intake

 

[Fish_Fan]

I might be moving the RCS to a 5 gallon in a few weeks, does the tank have to be matured for RCS? It would be a new tank( i would cycle it of course)

 

[candygirl415]

I had at least one RCS die immediately after going in my tank. It was fully cycled. I just recently added 4 new ones for gene pool, and again one died immediately. Its hard to tell if I have had any other deaths as my ghost shrimp are super fast in consuming them. It just happens, nothing you can do. However they are sensitive to cycling. I lost 3 out of my first 4 ghost shrimp due to cycling.

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[Fish_Fan]

Ok I decided to keep them in the 6 gallon and maybe do a rescape

 

[candygirl415]

That's hard to do if your changing your substrate. That's why I just upgraded to a little bit bigger of a tank. I wanted to redo the entire scaping. Moving them to another tank isn't a problem as long as it is completely cycled. If the water perimeters are exactly the same, then the transition shouldn't affect them.

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[Fish_Fan]

Ok thanks! Im just going to move some things around and add some low-light plants. Any suggestions?

 

[azmodan]

RCS do best in tanks that are mature because the tank has been given enough time to grow important microorganisms, algae, and biofilm -- all which RCS feed on. Thus I would not recommend putting them in new tanks.

 

[candygirl415]

Mine absolutely love driftwood and marimo moss balls. They also hang out on my mosses, hornwort, and wisteria. They like cholla wood too.

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[Fish_Fan]

Ok thanks i think im going to get some anacharis, anubuas, and moss balls. Thx 4 the suggestions

 

[Fish_Fan]

Also i would like to maybe get some kind of fish that wont eat my shrimp/shrimplets and that can go in a 6.6 gallon tank. Any more suggestions??

 

[candygirl415]

Yw. Make sure you get true marimo moss balls, not fake ones. They act like sponges absorbing debris that shrimp will pick off. And if you don't have driftwood, at least get a small piece. They'll pick at that alot too.

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[Fish_Fan]

Ok i already have a pretty big piece of Malaysian dw