I seriously Need Help !

[JaVaGiRl]

I am about to get 24 more adult cherry shrimp in the mail in about 2 days. I don't think I should put them in my shrimp tank because I already have 30 ish shrimp in there and it's only a ten gallon. I also do not have time to cycle another tank before they get here. I was thinking about putting them in my 29 gallon all planted tank, I have a few guppies, mollies, and plattys in there. I know for a fact that they will not harm them because I have had shrimp in there in the opast. BUT, I also want them to breed. I always had shrimp do well in my 29 gallon, but they hide alot and they never bred in there. So, what should I do ??

[TKD]

JaVaGiRl,

Why don't you just put the fish in the 10 and the shrimp in the 29?
And, if you knew you were going to be in a space crunch why get more shrimp?

Oh, and normally guppies will rip shrimp limb from limb, I assume your other fish will do the same.

TKD

[Erirku]

Sorry Javagirl, but can you get the bold off the wording. It seems like your mad or yelling for help and it also annoys me. No offense.
Now why would you go and purchase shrimp if you knew you didn't have room? also, if you have 30+ shrimp, why didn't you test to see if they would breed in the 29 gallon? are you sure your fish won't harm the shrimps? Fish have a much bigger advantage against shrimp, that's why I devoted a 10 gallon to the cherries and crystals, and their breeding like crazy. Well I hope I have answered your questions.

[csmike]

I think the fish will hunt the shrimps down but again I witness 5 discus in a 72 gals don't even show any interest in the shrimps in there.

What I am trying to say is that you take your own risk to put the shrimps in the 29 gals for them to survive and breed.

If I were you, for the time being, put half of the shrimps in the 10 gals, setup a breeder net thingy in the 29gals and put the rest of the shrimps in there with a whole bunch of java moss. You may want to upgrade you 10 gals to a bigger one as a shrimp only tank.

When the population reach certain point, they seem to slow down on breeding. I guess it is due to high competition for food, water condition, and etc.

Just my 2 cents and from what I saw.

[mindbum]

my 10 g. cherry only tank has more shrimp than i can count. somewhere in the 50 to 100 range. they are doing well.

every once in a while i take some out and put them in one of my other tanks. i go for the midsize ones. not quite to breeding size and not so small they are an automatic snack.

my macrobrachium havent even eaten the cherries in that 20g tank yet. and they dispatched any number of guppies.

i dont think i can report any cherry red reproduction in my 30g which usuallly has 3 otos, 6 paleatus corys, japonica 8?, many cherries and guppies. i think the shrimp fry are too tasty to pass up b.c i've seen ovigiarous lady shrimp in there. so now when they show eggs i transfer them to the shrimp only tank and alles gut.

that's my 2 cent.

peace

[theshrimp_123]

Look,

As long as there is enough food and adequate filtration, you can cram as many shrimp in there as you want (within reason).

[GunmetalBlue]

Hi Javagirl, just a comment - I don't know the details of the shrimp you're getting, but just in case you were told that they/some were the hybrid ones, this is just me, but I would keep them separate from your regular Red Cherries. Also, if you breed and give some away or sell any, make sure new owners know of their genetic background.

If this is so and you do decide to keep them separate, I would suggest something like what Csmike said, keep them in a breeder net thingy until either 1.) they are big enough that they *could survive in the 29 gal or, a better idea, 2.) start cycling a 10 gallon now, and in 4 - 6 weeks or however long it takes to get that tank cycled, their new home will be ready, and they can be transferred from their 29 gal (breeder net), into the new tank. This can also work if they are the regular Red Cherries and you are afraid of "cramming" all of them into the 10 gal.

-GB

[JaVaGiRl]

Well, I ordered the shrimp because it was such a great deal that I found. Also, I have lots of other tanks I could have set up seperatly, but I think I have too many tanks as is. Well anyways, the guy sent me 2 pregnant cherries allong with my 24 . Soo I ended up getting 6 free What I ended up doing was taking my 8 amanos out of my ten gallon and putting them into my 2 gallon java moss tank. My friend breeds amanos and I got some great advice. He doesn't even remove the baby shrimp from the original tank. Soo I am trying my own expirement... I am adding 6 grains of aquarium salt to the watter daily, and taking 2 cups out weekly and adding 2 cups of fresh watter to the tank. This is how my friends gets great results without the hassels of removing then adding then remove and so on. I will definatly post my results, its exciting. Anyways I ended up putting my 26 cherries in with the rest of my cherries in my 10 gallon. Someone earlier stated if I would put them in my 29 gallon they will get ripped apart by my fish. I heard of that before, but, I have had shrimp in there for years without any harm. Maybe its because they are use to shrimp and other critters because I introduced them to the crustaceons at a very young age. I even have very old ghost shrimp in with my rare red crayfish and rare blues (that even surprised me)... but again they were introduced very young. I think this is a major factor in my success but then again, maybe its just good luck.

[Mustafa]

My friend breeds amanos and I got some great advice. He doesn't even remove the baby shrimp from the original tank. Soo I am trying my own expirement... I am adding 6 grains of aquarium salt to the watter daily, and taking 2 cups out weekly and adding 2 cups of fresh watter to the tank. This is how my friends gets great results without the hassels of removing then adding then remove and so on.

I can pretty much guarantee you that your friend is not breeding Caridina japonica. I have heard so many people claim they are breeding "Amano Shrimp" in total freshwater or with some addition of "aquarium salt" and in the end it turned out that all these people had no idea what they were talking about. I could write a whole book about how these people mistake other shrimp for Caridina japonica...

Suffice it to say that Caridina japonica do not produce "baby shrimp" but they produce free floating/swimming larvae of minute proportions, which need to be fed a certain diet for a few weeks to even become "baby shrimp." Nobody has ever managed to do that in freshwater or with "aquarium salt" (which, by the way, does not belong in *any* shrimp tank). There is not a single report with step by step descriptions and pictures on the internet or in any scientific or non-scientific magazines. There are just a bunch of people who "know someone who breeds 'Amano Shrimp' successfully in freshwater or with some aquarium salt."

Considering the state of knowledge about shrimp in the hobby it's not surprising that all kinds of people think they have a certain type of shrimp, although they really have another type.

Petstores calling all kinds of shrimp "Japonica" does not help the situation either (e.g. red japonica, black japonica...etc...etc.)

I thought I should just clarify that so people do not think that Caridina japonica has mutated and can now be bred in freshwater "with some aquarium salt" and all of a sudden produces "baby shrimp."

[chlorophyll]

Is there really some sort of false Amano that does closely resemble C. japonica but is able to propogate in just freshwater ... or is that just some sort of internet myth?

[Mustafa]

Some people in Germany claim to have shrimp that look like Caridina japonica and allegedly they bred them in freshwater. But again...there are no written reports or any pictures or step by step instructions anywhere on the internet about these shrimp. Some people in the US have been claiming the same for years too. On the other hand you have a bunch of reports (both scientific and from the hobby) about successful reareing of C. japonica larvae in saltwater with plenty of proof and others have duplicated their success.

I am not saying it's impossible that there might be a shrimp out there that looks almost like the Amano shrimp and reproduces in freshwater, but when only a couple people claim they bred these shrimp in freshwater and offer absolutely no proof of it, then their statements become highly doubtful. Taken together with the fact that all of the people who claim freshwater success with these shrimp are beginners in the shrimp hobby with not much experience distinguishing species, then it becomes even more likely that they are rearing some shrimp that does not even resemble C. japonica, but which they think is C. japonica.

And then, of course, we have people that have been spreading false information on the internet about their freshwater success with these shrimp and post pictures of Amphipods/Scuds as "proof" of breeding success, claiming that the Amphipod is an "Amano Shrimp Baby":

http://www.jayscustomcomputers.com/wilm ... /baby.html

I told this particular person that she has an Amphipod on the picture (and others have told her too) but she still claims stubbornly that it's an "Amano Shrimp Baby." By the way...there are many people who think that the person above is a "respected aquarist" and believe her every word.

So...this is why I have great doubts every time someone with very little experience comes and reports of someone else that they know who is successful at breeding "Amano Shrimp" in freshwater. You don't ever hear this from any experienced people, it's always people who are either bloody beginners who claim they've done it themselves (such as the person with the Amphipod picture above) or are bloody beginners who claim that they know someone who's done it. It's always the same story repeated over and over again.

I'd be the first one to admit that I am wrong if some reliable source actually offered proof that these shrimp can be bred in freshwater...but it's been years that these claims are floating around on the internet and I have yet to see any proof at all. If an amphipod picture is so far the best proof of successful freshwater breeding of C. japonica, then one would be foolish to lend any credence to these claims.

Here is the deal, I am officially inviting *anyone* who claims that they are rearing "Amano Shrimp Babies" in freshwater, to send me some of their offspring so I can first identify the animals as Caridina japonica and then try to repeat their success here. If they Caridina japonica or some local variety or subspecies of it *and* I can breed them in freshwater then I will come here and announce it for everyone to see and give credit to the person who sent me the shrimp. I will also put up pictures and step by step instructions on this website. I doubt anyone will come forward, but my offer stands.

Mustafa

[JaVaGiRl]

Hey Mustafa, if you are refering to me as a beginner shrimp keeper, not true. I'm not sure who it was you were referring to, it wasn't clear. I have been breeding ghost shrimp for 6 years, crayfish for 8 years. I also have bred cherries and successfully sold them... Amanos, i'm not "new" to keeping them. I have had Amanos for years now, but haven't even tried to breed them. I wasn't really interested because the $ value was a little low and just about every pet shop sells them over here. Like I said, I was just going to "try" to see if this works.

[Mustafa]

I was just referring in general to all beginners. In my eyes the number of years someone has been doing something does not necessarily say much about how advanced that person is. The number of years does not do it, it's the real amount of experience that you gain that makes the difference. That is why someone with 3 years experience can know much more than someone with 30 years experience in some cases.

Your experience depends on how observant you are, how much research you do into your subjects and finally how analytical and logical you are to synthesize all of this into the "big picture." Someone can just do the wrong thing for 10 years and still be a beginner.

In any case...what I am trying to say, in short, is that if an aquarist with 10, 20 or even 30+ (you choose) years of experience says that he/she is breeding Caridina japonica in freshwater and fishing out "babies" out of the tank (not realizing that C. japonica has free-swimming larvae) without providing any real proof, then that person is a beginner for me (especially if the picture of an amphipod is posted as the Amano shrimp "baby" as in the link above).

Mustafa

[JaVaGiRl]

Well, I saw the picture from the link you provided, that doesn't look like his. Aarons look really tiny and deformed looking, I thought he had some sort of "dirty tank" syndrome.. Its really hard to explain how they look but they don't even look like shrimp. All I know is I definatly have Amanos and I can identify adults, and if they don't breed in a few months, i'll give up on trying for the best.... Who knows, i've seen more odd things happen than this

[Solaris]

I cross bred with this alien and then she killed me

-species