My new addition...Caridina cf. babaulti

frugalfish · Post by **frugalfish** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 6:43 pm

Well I feel confident enough to start a thread on my green shrimp. I got a hold of six egg laden females and hoped that they would be viable. Although I knew I was taking a chance, luckily I have been rewarded with baby shrimp. I have had other opportunities to aquire this species, but because of the lack of males specimens and hence no chance of breeding them I always passed them up. Only one females has dropped her young, so time will tell if the others will do the same. Judging on the time they have been holding and their behavior I'm pretty optimistic that they will. As I have read previously these babies are very small and difficult to find/see. It's always fun adding a new shrimp to ones collection, but this one is a little special, because it's a shrimp my wife wanted me to get. She's pretty darn happy and I am too. Pictures to follow sometime later.

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:12 am

Congratulations, it's always ecouraging to see successful breeding. It's a definite indication that you're providing a suitable environment.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:19 am

Best wishes with the rest of the females. It is a joy to add a new shrimp to your collection

Please keep us updated.

Thanks.

Post by **Mustafa** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 9:46 am

It'll take a while until the young grow up, but please keep us up to date...success or not.

frugalfish · Post by **frugalfish** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:40 pm

Updates will definitely be given...positive or negative.

These shrimp are coloring up nicely and the females that have dropped young are far more active now. Again today another dropped it's young and more "tiny" shrimp found. Going to stop looking soon, too much strain on the eyes locating these shrimp.

Post by **Mustafa** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 9:31 pm

Good to hear.

By the way...your southern california tap water is pretty much perfect for these guys. They like it reasonably hard and alkaline.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:17 am

Going to stop looking soon, too much strain on the eyes locating these shrimp.

Magnifying glass or reading glasses may help.

frugalfish · Post by **frugalfish** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:47 am

Mustafa wrote:By the way...your southern california tap water is pretty much perfect for these guys. They like it reasonably hard and alkaline.

That was another reason I wanted these shrimp. It's nice to have fish/invertebrates that enjoy the water you have. Average readings I get out of the tap are 300ppm hardness and a pH of around 8.

Neonshrimp wrote:Magnifying glass or reading glasses may help.

Been there, done that.

The Fisherman · Post by **The Fisherman** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:23 am

Great to here about the young, and good luck with them!

Any pictures?

I've been considering these shrimp too, since my well water is basically seawater without the salt

-John

frugalfish · Post by **frugalfish** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:10 am

Pictures are going to be hard to come by, because of the glass being covered with algae. Perhaps in a couple of weeks when I scrape the front pane I will snap off some shots. For now I feel the need to leave the algae as is for the health of the aquarium and its inhabitants.

JK · Post by JK » Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:25 pm

Nice to hear your putting the shrimps first.

Good luck with the babies.

They sound like the ideal shrimp for me too, rock hard water here as well.

frugalfish · Post by **frugalfish** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 10:18 am

I don't remember finding or reading about how many young are typical for this species, but there sure seem to be a ton of babies now. Perhaps the smaller baby shrimp mean more eggs per clutch? Just glad to see so many tiny shrimp all over the tank, can easily count 60 at any given time.

Post by **Mustafa** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:07 pm

With good nutrition large females can produce up to around 80 or so eggs, maybe more...I actually sat down once with a magnifying glass and tried counting the eggs.

frugalfish · Post by **frugalfish** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:33 pm

Mustafa wrote:With good nutrition large females can produce up to around 80 or so eggs, maybe more...I actually sat down once with a magnifying glass and tried counting the eggs.

WOW!

Well that explains it. I get an easy 60 just by quickly counting the ones on the glass. Well if the survival rate is decent I guess I'm in store for a good population explosion.

lampeye · Post by **lampeye** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:37 pm

A number of fish from India are surprisingly tolerant of cool temps...might this hold true for their shrimp? Mustafa, how low have you let green shrimp go, temp-wise? I realize with those guys, it might not want to be an experiment one wants to perform, but...