Breeding Crystal Red Shrimp

[Balik]

I am trying to breed Crystal Red Shrimp and Cherry Red in 15 G Tank with sand substrate.
Temp avg 74 to 78 F , it has nano filter and air stone .

Both these shrimp types are in same tank.

CRS are breeding like rabbits however my Crystal Red Shrimp count is same for last 4 months. I see lot of Crystal Red Shrimp Pregnant Females with a lot of eggs, however I have spotted only couple of baby Crystal Red Shrimps so far.

Any advice what should I do get Crystal Red Shrimp population increase. Considering that CRS have increased there pop. by X 5 times
in the same time.

I do regular no more than 20% water change every weekend. I use AMQUEL and NOV AQUA to treat my water after it has been rested for 24 hrs. Also use PRIME sometimes.

[vinnymac]

I've been breeding crystal red shrimp for about 6 months now. My population is up to approximately 150 as of this week.

I had the same issues you had initially...females with eggs...but no babies. I started my tank at 78.5F with a mix of cherries and crystal reds and my cherries bred like crazy.

I started with 25 low grade crystals from US hobbists and then I imported 35 very high grade A and S crystals from Asia. My water is moderately hard and the PH is 7.6.

I did some research and talked with a few crystal red breeders in Asia and they all said my temp was the problem. I lowered my temp to 76 at first and I noticed many of my crystal reds showed nicer coloration and molted more frequently. Now I have the temp at 73.5F and they are breeding like crazy. I see new babies every couple weeks.


Try to lower your water temp and keep up with water changes. I feed my shrimp every other day and change 25% of the water each week.

Good luck!

[Balik]

So you think if I bring down the Temp to 73F , it will help CRYSTAL and will not hurt Cherry Reds also !
How about the acidity of the water. I read that Crystal like acidic water .

Regards

[vinnymac]

So you think if I bring down the Temp to 73F , it will help CRYSTAL and will not hurt Cherry Reds also !
How about the acidity of the water. I read that Crystal like acidic water .

Regards

The first thing you need to do is check the quality of your water. Make sure you do not have high levels of nitrates or copper. Cherries are hardier than crystal reds. Seachem Prime is a good treatment to use. Keep up with weekly water changes.

Then, lower your water temp and see how they do.

Good luck!

[imisky]

from my experience of breeding high grade CRS and cherries together, when one of them thrives the other only does soso ok. take the temp for example, cherry shrimps like tempurature above 25dC, while CRS like it below 25dC. alot of ppl can agrue with me on that fact, but when i keep CRS at lower temp the breed more often and give off better colors then if kept above 25dC. cherrys loose there color and kind of fade a little when kept below 25dC. altho both can be kept in the same tank, and both does well in acidic water it would be better to seperate them IMO. esp if you want MAX reproduction. but if you are just going for the average keeper then these are wat my water specs were before when they did fine together. but once i wanted to breed the higher grade CRS, the cherries started to slowly stop reproducing.

temp: 26.5dC
NO3: 10ppm
ammonia: 0
Ph: 6.4-6.7
Kh: 3dKH

[Balik]

After posting the above question string in last Dec 2005.

I had two Crystal Reds with eggs and they had some babies but none survived more than 10 days.

During the pregnancy I separated the females and put them in below 23C Temp setup with very clean water (With weekly water changes of 20%) in a small (1.5 G) sand filled setup.

Now all my Crystal are back together in a 2.5 G Planted setup with box filter.

None of them had eggs for last 2 months. Which seems very odd as my Cherry Reds are exploding in population.

Do Crystal follow any particular mating cycle or season?

Under 25C Crystal are doing great, very active and colors are very attractive.

I have 3 female and 2 Males Crystal Reds.

Should I put them back with Cherry Reds, so they can be encouraged to get pregnant again

Any advice will be highly welcomed.

Thanks,
BALIK
======

[badflash]

You need soft acidic water to breed them. See the shrimp varieties page. Mustafa has recently updated it with water parameters. For CRS:

Needs soft, acidic water to feel well and breed. Can survive for a while in slightly alkaline water, but usually no offspring survive after hatching. Adults seem to be shorter lived in alkaline water, too.

For Cherries:

Can live under conditions that are soft and slightly acidic (ph 6.6-7.0) to very hard and alkaline (ph 7.0-8.4 and above). Very adaptable shrimp. Is most productive and does best in soft to medium hard water with a ph in the alkaline range. Might not reproduce at all in water that is too acidic.

[Balik]

In my area in NC , Raleigh area water is pretty soft.

I have WARDLEY BULL's EYE Solution for PH 7.0 and 6.5
So do you think I should use those to increase the PH ?

Thanks,

[badflash]

I can't find any info on the chems used for this, but if they contain phosphates, you have found your probleem.

If your water is soft the pH should be acidic and should be pretty close to perfect. Neutralize any chlorine/chloramine and check the pH. I'm guessing you don't need to bufffer at all. Muratic acid (in tiny amounts) and baking soda (in tiny amounts) should br all you need if your substrate is silica sand.

[Balik]

TANK SETUP
=========
2.5 G with playsand substrate with small pebble white gravel on top.
Box Filter and JAVA Fern with Xmas Moss and some Riccia on bottom.
Temp never above 73F or below 70F.

Hope this helps.

Balik
===

[badflash]

Check what is in that buffer. If it is phosphate based, you'll get no shrimp. No, you don't want to increase pH, 6.5 is good.

[Balik]

Check what is in that buffer. If it is phosphate based, you'll get no shrimp. No, you don't want to increase pH, 6.5 is good.

What do u mean by Buffer ? How do I check it ?

Thanks,

[badflash]

I have WARDLEY BULL's EYE Solution for PH 7.0 and 6.5

Sounds like a buffer to me if you are using it to set pH. Most buffers have phosphates in them. Check the ingrediants. If it doesn't say phosphate free it isn't. The local pet store should be able to get you a drop test for phosphates so you can measure.

Mustafa showed me about controlling pH using muratic acid. It takes a while, but it works. Just take it easy. Removing phosphates from an established tank take a long time.

[tapmxt1]

CRS breeds all year round if the water condition is right. They need soft water. After the baby shrimps hatch, the female gets pregnant immediately at her next molt.

My tape water is PH 7.2-7.4, KH 1-2, and very high GH 14+. CRS did not do well with my tape water. Now I collect water from my de-humidilier and use it for CRS. After I start using dehumidifier water, my CRS breed with no problem.

To raise the youngs, if you keep them in "very clean water", none will live unless you feed them proper baby shrimp food. In my baby tanks, I have only moss and I purposely let the green algea grow. I only clean the front wall so I can see them and leave the other 3 sides GREEN. I can see them standing on the wall and busy in picking on something. I do feed them some flakes or other things 1-2 times a week.

[raptor83]

Is proper aquarium sand the same as 'silca sand'? (eg does it have the same properties) Also, whats the best way to introduce green algae into a freshwater tank?
Thanks in advance