Red Cherry Shrimps

[Starringme]

Hello every1!

I'm a newbie to shrimps, and tried searching for info on this shrimps. Found out there isn't extensive info on them. So I would like to ask a few questions hoping you guys would know better.

1. My Red Cherrp Shrimps(RCS) are currently bout 1 cm, I know they reach bout 2-3 cm when adults. So my question is, how long will they take to reach that state(adulthood)?

2. What is the habitat of the RCS like? I would like to recreate their natural habitat in my tank.

3. My RCS are currently hiding in the Java moss in my tank... Is there anyway to make them come out of prevent them from hiding? I wanna see them!

really nice forum! Thankz in advance guys!

[alikhanweb]

I found quite a bit of information on the Red Cherry Shrimp, try doing a search on google for "Neocaridina Denticulata" and you will find lots of info. Mostly, it will be in German but you can have google translate it to English. People in germany, denmark, etc are going crazy over these shrimp. And they are breeding them like crazy too.

I just set up a tank for these guys and have about 14. I see some young ones but they might have come with the shipment because its too early. It takes at least 2-3 weeks from once you see an egg-carrying female.

These guys are great, they are shy for me at all, I give them crushed up sinking OSI shrimp pellets and they love it. Also, I tried raw zuchini the other day and they gobbled that up too.

I have hang over the top filtration going, very clean water, and temperature between 72-73 and I already see very red females with a lot of yellow in the neck area which is a good sign. I gave them lots of caves, cut up pvc burried under the gravel with one opening available. Javamoss and hornwort. The hornwort traps food and also absorbs ANY ammonia which they hate.

Will post more details as I see progress. I am thinking of buy an Algae Ball which I hear they like as well, it traps food particles too. They are big eaters for sure!

Enough for now.

[Mustafa]

Hello and welcome!! I am sure you will enjoy this forum. Look below for some answers to your questions....

Hello every1!

1. My Red Cherrp Shrimps(RCS) are currently bout 1 cm, I know they reach bout 2-3 cm when adults. So my question is, how long will they take to reach that state(adulthood)?

They even reach 4cm when they are fed *really* well. I have one "monster" Red Cherry that is over 4cm!! The growth of shrimp depends entirely on food. If they eat 24/7 they will reach adult size in a little over a month. If they don't get much food, they literally take months and months to grow or won't grow at all if they can't find any food or so little they can just maintain themselves.

2. What is the habitat of the RCS like? I would like to recreate their natural habitat in my tank.

Read my article...that's approximately how their habitats look like from reports of people who went to catch shrimp. There are not many plants at all in most habitats (actually most habitats are totally devoid of plants), but there is a lot of leaf litter on the ground.

3. My RCS are currently hiding in the Java moss in my tank... Is there anyway to make them come out of prevent them from hiding? I wanna see them!

If there are not any predators or pesky fish around they will soon start walking around on top of the java moss carpet. Ovigerous (egg carrying) females will still try to hide as efficiently as possible, but will come out once in a while. As the numbers grow, you will see more shrimp. If you want to see them even better and often, you need to establish a tank as described in my "keeping shrimp" article.

really nice forum! Thankz in advance guys!

Thank you very much and you're welcome! With the help of everyone here this forum and website will grow and prosper over the years and so will the hobby of keeping shrimp.

Take care,
Mustafa

[Mustafa]

I found quite a bit of information on the Red Cherry Shrimp, try doing a search on google for "Neocaridina Denticulata" and you will find lots of info.

--The only problem is that Red Cherries are N. denticulata sinensis. If he searches for N. denticulata he will not find anything on Red Cherries. However, they are similar enough.

Mostly, it will be in German but you can have google translate it to English. People in germany, denmark, etc are going crazy over these shrimp. And they are breeding them like crazy too.

--I am from Germany originally and I know all the Shrimp people from Germany and communicate with them quite often, too. The info you will be finding here on Petshrimp.com is as good as or *better* than any. The problem with "Babelfish" on Altavista is that it mangles the translations quite a bit and changes the original meaning quite a bit. It is good enough for simple translations, though.

Mustafa

[Starringme]

Oh yeah.... Thankz for the reply, beginning to love the forum!

Woo... What are OSI shrimp pellets? I give my cardinal tetra micro pellets... Some of which sink down to the bottom which the shrimp like to grab hold of and eat them! I even saw one steal from another... Interesting... Sooo interesting... Oh ya, hornworts eh? Hmm maybe i'll try to acquire some of them. I haf a algae ball!! Which i jus leave in a small container and when i think the RCS need more food i jus pinch a little of the ball and drop it in. The RCS flock to it!

WOW 4CM!!! Omg... That's cool. Maybe I'll just try to feed them more... Oh, izzit possible to overfeed them??

Summary of me post:

1. What are OSI Shrimp pellets?
2. Is it possible to overfeed the RCS?

[Bradimus]

1. What are OSI Shrimp pellets?

Ocean Star Internation is a company that makes fish food. Presumably, shrimp pellets are a food pellet made from shrimp.

2. Is it possible to overfeed the RCS?

It is certainly possible to overfeed the aquarium. Rapidly decaying left-overs will fill the tank with nitrogenic wastes.

[alikhanweb]

2. Is it possible to overfeed the RCS?

My only concern with overfeeding would be the quality of the water. If you overfeed and the Red Cherry Shrimp don't eat all of it, food will decay, produce ammonia and make an unhealthy environment.

[Mustafa]

2. Is it possible to overfeed the RCS?

No. The shrimp will eat enough to fill their stomachs and digest the food first (and excrete it) before they eat more. However, since they are slow eaters and can't gobble up huge amounts of food like fish, it looks like they are constantly eating.

I would not worry about ammonia buildup in the tank because of food at all. It won't happen. I know it's a widely spread myth, but decaying food does not produce any ammonia. You have to put something freshly "dead" in that tank to even see traces of ammonia. What the food will do though is aid in the growth of algae, which is actually beneficial to the shrimp.

So...feed the shrimp as much as possible without food *visbly* decaying in all corners of the tank. Once you have algae growing en masse you don't even have to feed all that much anymore...you just feed to keep the algae growth up.

Take care,
Mustafa

[Starringme]

Wooo... Yes yes yes... Very useful information!!

I now feed my shrimps more... And they seem all that restless... Swimming about and constantly eating i hope.

I keep track if there is any decaying food. I'll make sure tt does not happen.

Thanks thanks!