Breeding Red Cherry Shrimp

[TheEvilCliff]

Brand new here, though I've browsed these forums in the past via Google, and now I need more direct advice.

I've got a 29g freshwater planted tank, sand instead of gravel

Plants: hornwort, anubias, swords, lilies, and a moss ball.

Inverts: 20+ red cherry shrimp, 6 assassin snails who keep the pond snails in check, and 10+ of what I thought were baby cherry shrimp but are actually gammarus. (Very disappointing!)

Fish: 5 neon tetras, 6 oto catfish, and 2 rubber lip plecos.


My question to all of you good people is this: If the gammarus are breeding, why aren't the red cherry shrimp doing the same? My water tests out well, it's harder water since I live in the mountains, but I can't figure out what the problem is.

The gammarus really started taking off about a month ago when I put a sponge over my filter's intake, hoping to help the RCS's breed, but so far, only those little green buggers are.

I feed a pinch of flake a day, and a spirulina wafer every other day.

We used to have more fish, but over the past year, we lost a gourami and a couple of guppies and I want to breed more shrimp before I bring in more fish.

I'm open to suggestions, questions, and links.

 

[fort384]

Welcome to AA!

RCS usually readily breed, but there can be a few things that keep them from proliferating.

How long have you had the shrimp in the tank?

What is the water hardness testing at?

Nitrate?

Temperature?

pH?

 

[TheEvilCliff]

Welcome to AA!

RCS usually readily breed, but there can be a few things that keep them from proliferating.

How long have you had the shrimp in the tank?

What is the water hardness testing at?

Nitrate?

Temperature?

pH?

Hardness: I don't use the dip strips anymore, but they came out and indicated 80, if I remember right.

Nitrate: 0, up to 2 ppm if I go more than a week without a water change.

Ph: high at 7.4

Temp: 78

The shrimp have been in here for several months, with females getting berried and all, but we never spotted small shrimp until recently with the Gammarus, who aren't the shrimp I want to see more of.

 

[fort384]

hmm, if the females are getting berried, possibly the juvies are getting eaten by your fish before they have the chance to grow big enough to avoid it? Tiny shrimplets make great snacks for most fish - even neons can eat them. Generally with RCS, if the females are berried, baby shrimp are almost inevitable. Your water parameters sound more than acceptable to induce breeding.

You might add some additional cover to give them more of a chance to survive to maturity? Java moss would work well, is easy to keep, and would fit in with your other plant choices.

 

[jetajockey]

Gammarus also breed faster than RCS so just because you may see lots of them doesn't mean that the RCS fry are safe. RCS fry also get bigger so they can't hide as easily. A fish like a neon probably isn't going to actively hunt for a shrimp fry but if they ran across one I'm sure they'd eat it.

 

[TheEvilCliff]

I have some cholla wood that all the shrimp like to hide in, and I've got my hornwort wrapped many times around a nano tree, making an area that the adults like to hang out in.

I'm willing to believe that the gourami we had would nibble up fry and the scuds, he was a mean one.

But I've delayed adding more fish so I can have more shrimp, I suppose I just need to be patient. Is it relevant if the eggs under a female are yellow vs green?

 

[fort384]

I have seen yellow-ish eggs before on RCS - never seemed to affect my overall colony growth. Usually they are more greenish though.

 

[jcolon]

RCS eggs can be yellowish ... I've seen both colors with my Berried females. I agree with Jeta and Fort ... Your parameters should be OK for RCS to breed AND I suspect your Neons are the primary culprit. Baby shrimp would present an irresistible treat. You could try adding Java Moss and leaf litter. Both would supply a food source and great hiding spots. Dried Oak and or Maple leaves would work ... As long as the tree was free from pesticides.

 

[warthog76za]

RCS breed like Guppies once they start you, will have an endless supply. My nano tank was overpopulated and moved them to my Community Tank within a couple of months I was down to about 5 RCS 2 females and 3 males, since the fish in the CT made a right feat of them majority, moved them now back to the nano and the poulation is now slowly growing back...and both females are berried again lol