My success story

[minishrimps]

I was reding this thread and had to quote this!

Hi Ken,
I owe it all to my innate superabundance of laziness. Effort=Pitfalls
Brad

the real reason i got into supershrimps! too funny...

[tooth]

Thanks minishrimps, and I stand by it--my sloth, that is.
Seriously, supershrimp are just the ticket for enjoyment without headache or hassle.
Hope you do well.
Brad

[tooth]

It appears I might have another breeding spree this spring, like last year. A third berried female showed up today.
I've noticed a few males have become quite active, swimming rapidly around and bumping into the others. Warming temperatures, or are they getting the signal from the females to commence the mating season?

[JennyPenny]

Funny you should mention that.
My tank is pretty new and has only had shrimp in it for a few months. Two night ago I noticed about half my shrimp in a swimming frenzy! I have never noticed behavior like this before! I saw a molt and hoped they were looking for a good time. I'm not very good at sexing them but I think the ones swimming all over were all males. I've been looking for a berried female but haven't seen any. And it's probably too soon for them to breed in my tank.

[Varanus]

Funny you should mention that.
My tank is pretty new and has only had shrimp in it for a few months. Two night ago I noticed about half my shrimp in a swimming frenzy! I have never noticed behavior like this before! I saw a molt and hoped they were looking for a good time. I'm not very good at sexing them but I think the ones swimming all over were all males. I've been looking for a berried female but haven't seen any. And it's probably too soon for them to breed in my tank.

It may indeed be too early (though this seems to vary, some here have had their shrimp for over a year before breeding starts, others get breeding within a few months), but keep in mind that berried females spend a lot of time in hiding so its not unusual to miss them or think you don't have any. Unless I am feeding them my berried females are usually only seen out in the open for short periods.

[tooth]

I have a couple of females that, when berried, like to perch on the back glass of the tank. With their backs to me they think I can't see the eggs bulging from their sides. On the other hand, the banded female I've mentioned before is quite the exhibitionist. She flaunts her eggs for everyone to enjoy. But, generally, my experience is similar: Berried females like to hide.

[tooth]

The berried female from February began dropping larvae yesterday. This morning I count 6 little downward heads. She is carrying 5 more, total of 11 it appears. The final number may change--they're somewhat difficult to see.
The incubation time was about 9 weeks, about 2 or 3 longer than last Spring. Lower average temperatures, I suspect. The tank is not heated and we keep the home temperature at 68 or so in the Winter (the room with the tank is a little cooler yet). But the average house temp is a little higher these days--around 70 since Spring is here.
Hope everyone had a nice Easter.
Brad

[tooth]

The breeding spree is in full bloom, it seems. A fourth berried female showed today.
I should also report that this month marks 3 full years with no food added to the tank.

[jonesinfershrimp]

wow! congrats on all the berried females. and 3 years with no added food?! thats awesome. whats the water change schedule for them? 6 months with top ups between?

[KenCotigirl]

Great job tooth. 3 years is something else.

[tooth]

wow! congrats on all the berried females. and 3 years with no added food?! thats awesome. whats the water change schedule for them? 6 months with top ups between?

The food is coming from the algae the 'dirty' substrate is providing. I used hermit crab substrate--bad ammonia at the first, but once the tank cycled the algae has been booming. The algae growth has slowed the last year or so, as there is no more on the sides of the tank, just on the substrate itself. I imagine I'll be adding food eventually, but it will be a couple of years at least.
I never do water changes, just top off once a month or so with distilled H2O.

[tooth]

I'm almost embarrassed to say a fifth berried female showed up yesterday.

[Mustafa]

I have not seen a berried female since the last eggs 'hatched' the end of September. The room I have the tank in is a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house, about 66-68 degrees. The shrimp quit reproducing about this time last year as well. Since the only other parameter I control is the hours of light per day, and it is controlled by a timer, I assume the difference in breeding is due to temperature. During the warmer months the room stays between 70 and 74 degrees. I'd like Mustafa's take on this.

Alright..a "little" late for a reply, but better late than never. Temperature definitely plays a role. Maybe that room gets even colder than 66-68 in the winter, which may be too cold (although I have observed reproduction at those temps, too). My problem has always been the opposite in the middle of summer...tanks temps on my upper rack got all the way to the 90s. Starting in the low to mid 80s I usually see reproduction slow down and stop eventually.

[Mustafa]

I'm almost embarrassed to say a fifth berried female showed up yesterday.

Yeah...how dare you report your success! In any case, congrats once again! Your data over the years on this shrimp have been invaluable! It's very hard to say when these shrimp actually reach "equilibrium" when it comes to numbers, but I'm pretty sure you're still far from it looking at your (nice looking) tank pictures.

[Jayjayel]

So enjoyable to read your posts. Keep sharing.