My success story

[tooth]

Sure enough. A newly berried shrimp showed up this morning.

[tooth]

The last clutch was small--only 8 or so larvae. They are mostly benthic now, but took a little longer, 5 or 6 weeks to become so. The other two berried shrimp seem happy enough, but no new ones have shown yet. I'm happy, though, because I've not had reproduction this late in the year.
Hope everyone is having a nice Christmas Season.
Brad

[Mustafa]

thanks again for the update! What's your room/water temperature now? Does it vary between day and night much? Is it actually about 68-70 in the room where the shrimp are as you wrote in October?

[Shiawase]

Ever since seeding my tank with Mustafa's water/snails/moss ball in April, I've had berried shrimp non stop. My tank had gone without having any babies for 2 years prior to ordering from Mustafa. So I'm very happy!

It's about 70 degrees in the house but the tank is in a cooler room so I'm guessing around 68. I'm surprised they are reproducing through the winter too. I feed them maybe once a month if I remember with a dot of spirulina off the tip of a toothpick but sometimes they go for 3-4 months without any supplement food.

It's hard not to mess around with feeding and meddling with water parameters but you are right. Patience pays off!

Thank you Mustafa & members of this forum for your advice and for the magic water!

Happy Holidays!

[tooth]

I've been paying attention to the temperature parameters. The room temp varies from 66 to 70 degrees (October, November, December), depending on the warmth of the day, always coolest in the morning--usually about 67 to 68 degrees.
The tank varies from 66 to 68 degrees in the morning, before the light comes on, to 67 to 69 degrees in the evening when the light has been on all day. I've not seen colder than 66 degrees. I'm measuring the top 4 inches of water with a dial meat thermometer. The shrimp like to sit on the sides of the tank in the upper 2 inches when the light comes on. As the day progresses, they leave the top, and spread through the whole water column as it warms.
A female released larvae this week--about 11.
There are two more berried shrimp. They make 4 since the colder months started. Interestingly, the banded female that reproduces 2 or 3 times in the warmer months is not one of them. Maybe I just needed more population/individual variation to have year round reproduction?
At any rate, it is good to see larvae floating around this winter.
Brad

[Mustafa]

You still haven't started feeding right?

[tooth]

No feeding. It is coming up on 4 years (in April) with no food added to the system. The substrate is still 95% covered with algae. I've not noticed any great decrease in algae coverage this year. The sides of the tank have remained algae free since the algae sheets came off a while ago. It seems the system is in equilibrium, with the waste of the shrimp providing all the nutrients the algae needs, with light of course, to maintain itself. We'll see what happens as the shrimp population increases. Will the shrimp population be limited by the algae growth, or will the algae need to be supplemented by food added if the shrimp numbers overwhelm the algae availability?

I just checked the tank a minute ago and discovered another berried shrimp--the fifth for the cold season.

[Mustafa]

Thanks! Let's stress this again **NO FEEDING FOR ALMOST 4 YEARS!!*. Wow!

Anyway, I think I've mentioned it here before, but some of my breeding tanks are at about 60 degrees and I have larvae in them.

[tooth]

Two berried females appeared over the weekend--for a total of 4 in the tank currently. 2 have small clutches, maybe 6 or 8 eggs. The other 2 are 12 to 15 or so.
It's been cold enough that we've been running a small space heater occasionally in the room (our bedroom), so the room temperatures have not been quite as cool as in November-December. I'll take a reading this week before the tank light comes on, on a night we run the heater to check the water temperature in the morning.

[Ace]

I absolutely want to thank you so much for posting all of this. I have read every word and am following your story. It should be required reading. Many stand to learn so much.

Would you please post a current photo of the whole tank so that we can see it?

Again, thank you so much.

Ace

[tooth]

Thanks Ace.
The tank temperature in the mornings has been a little cooler--between 65 and 66 degrees lately, even running the space heater in the room. But since it is well above the 60 degrees Mustafa mentions, I'll not worry.
I'll post a pic soon. The decoration is unremarkable, but the shrimp are delightful.

[tooth]

I'm still using just a phone camera. The algae is washed out. It is actually a medium green color. The shrimp congregate at the top of the tank in the cool mornings to warm up.
One of the females released larvae the other day, so I'm down to three berried females currently. The larvae are difficult to see in this pic.
With so many shrimp, I've noticed a constant 'rain' of, ahem, fertilizer for the algae. I've not taken any readings for nitrates, nitrites, pH, ammonia, specific gravity, or anything else (except temperature) since the tank was set up. I lost interest in all that during my saltwater and freshwater aquaria days. Since the shrimp are happy, I'm happy.
Brad

[Mustafa]

It should be required reading. Many stand to learn so much.

You know what...i'm going to pin this entire thread right at the top of the forum. Excellent idea!

Thanks again for the updates, Brad! Your updates over the years are invaluable!

[tooth]

My pleasure. This adventure has been exactly what I was looking for--no muss, no fuss, fun and fascinating to watch, animals doing their thing.
This proves that Mustafa's method works, IMO.

A newly berried female appeared this afternoon, giving me four again.
The temperatures are warming up a little here in Utah. This could be the start of the usual spring mating frenzy!
I never expected such happy shrimp when I started almost 4 years ago. All that sex would make anyone happy.

[tooth]

I just took another look at the tank, and there are 2 more berried shrimp that were shy, making 6.