Red Cherry Shrimp

[bettasrcool]

I'm going to start breeding red cherry shrimp for my LFS, and I have the tank set up, and they should be getting here this week. I was wondering if anyone has any advice. Also, do I just feed them algae wafers? I have some frozen bloodworms from my betta too. Thanks!

[HN1]

What size tank are you going to breed them in? I feed our 20 long "farm" either 1/2 algae wafer per day or a whole one every other day. We have a population of 100 - 300 depending on when we sell them. I also throw in the occasion blood worms, flake, (ironically) shrimp pellets, etc. They also appreciate the occasional fresh veggies. Remember to mix the blood lines from time to time or the quality, coloration, hardiness, etc. will decline.

Good luck!

[bettasrcool]

Thanks! I have a 3 gallon, but I live near the store, so I wont let too many build up, I just made sure there are alot of climbing/hiding places like java moss, rocks, and plastic plants.

[bettasrcool]

Its my first breeding project so Im trying to keep it under control with a small tank

[HN1]

I started with mine in a 3G as well.

They do two things from my experience... eat and reproduce! lol

I went from the 3 to a 10 to the 20 within 3 months. 10 per gallon is a decent rule of thumb. That is adjustable based on level of maintenance of course. The issue I had was that by the time they were big enough to sell, they were reproducing and the numbers skyrocketed. Good luck. They're a great way to start with breeding IMO.

[bettasrcool]

Yea, the LFS said they preferred 3/4 to 1", but if it was getting overcrowded they could take babies. Or could I feed babies to my betta?

[bs6749]

Originally Posted by HN1

10 per gallon is a decent rule of thumb.

That's not even close to the limit. 30 per gallon or more is possible. I have kept over 300 in a 10g tank. All I had in there was substrate, live plants and that's it. No air line and not even a filter and had no issues. The tank was set up this way for 6 months or more until I moved them to another tank. Many breeders keep 300 per 10 gallons with no problem. There is a lot of misinformation going around that you can only keep 10 per gallon. I'm not sure where this all started but there is no truth behind it.

[bettasrcool]

I guess Ill just have to see when it seems like its too much for my tank, it sounds like its different for everyone and it depends on certain things.

[HN1]

Originally Posted by bettasrcool

Yea, the LFS said they preferred 3/4 to 1", but if it was getting overcrowded they could take babies. Or could I feed babies to my betta?

The betta would probably love the snacks!

Originally Posted by bs6749

That's not even close to the limit. 30 per gallon or more is possible. I have kept over 300 in a 10g tank. All I had in there was substrate, live plants and that's it. No air line and not even a filter and had no issues. The tank was set up this way for 6 months or more until I moved them to another tank. Many breeders keep 300 per 10 gallons with no problem. There is a lot of misinformation going around that you can only keep 10 per gallon. I'm not sure where this all started but there is no truth behind it.

I know that more can be done. I did not say that was the "limit". I said, it was a good starting rule of thumb. Obviously, if I routinely allow my population to reach 300 in a 20G I'm not subscribed to the rule entirely. I would never recommend that someone new to a species push the limits of "easy" keeping though. I've had cherries (and a host of other shrimp and fish) breeding for well over 2 years and have had the population up to roughly 500 or so. No way to really count though so I don't know the true number.

[mgamer20o0]

you counted all 300 of them? if your selling to the store i would really start with a bigger tank. 10 - 20 gallon and if you want to be a steady supplier maybe 2-3 tanks. they want adult shrimp. you pull out most of your adult population out of one tank its going to take a while for them to grow and start breeding again. i would set up a couple tanks each time pulling them from another tank unless your only going to take in 30-40 every month or two.

[bs6749]

Yes, I counted all of them as I wanted to know exactly how many I had. I do this when I "break down" tanks to thoroughly clean them every so often. I'm sure you know what it's like to have so many fish that you don't know how many you have, or even forget about some that you do! I forget the number exactly, but it was well over 300. In fact, it could have been 400 now that I think about it. I had them in a 10g tank. I drained off about 7 gallons of water from this tank and put about 2 gallons of tank water with about 2 gallons of fresh water into a 5g bucket leaving about a gallon in the tank making it easier to net out the shrimp. I netted out what I could into the becket and then poured the remaining shrimp into the bucket once I netted most of them. I then split them up between two 10g tanks and a 29g tank.

[bettasrcool]

I got them today! They were bigger than I expected, and there were tons of little tiny babies! (don't worry, I have panthose over the filter intake)



I think two or three of them have egg "saddles".

[Liquid_Pyro]

They look great, I am getting some of my own this Sunday!

I just dont have the black substrate to make their colors just pop like yours

[HN1]

They look very good. Good luck with them!

[severum mama]

Wow, they have very nice coloration and look super healthy already! Good luck with the breeding project.

[mgamer20o0]

nice. good luck.

[bs6749]

I wouldn't keep any type of filter other than a sponge filter in a shrimp tank. Some of mine don't even have filters and have been up and running fine for 9 months or more.

[severum mama]

Our 20 long uses an Aquaclear 50 with pantyhose tied around the intake. It works great for us. A sponge filter would work great too.

[bettasrcool]

Thanks guys, a female has eggs on her swimmerettes(under her) now. Anyone know how long until they hatch?

[krap101]

I think it's 3-4 weeks.