Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

I've got an issue that I need input on.

First off, I'm quite new to shrimp keeping, much less breeding them. I am really just beginning to have a few females berry up.

I have a small colony of "blue cherries" and some "blue bees" that I got a few weeks ago. I converted a fish aquarium that had been running for several months and the shrimp have been thriving and growing. A few days ago I noticed one of the blue cherries had berried, but her eggs were hanging down, dragging along when she moved about. I caught her in a net and she released the eggs. I noticed the same thing tonight -- was going to take her out as well but she released the eggs and took off. I also saw another shrimp "digging" around in an abandoned batch of eggs. All eggs are now in a little hatchery and I'm hoping they will hatch. There are 3 blue bee females in this aquarium, all berried normally.

My first attempt at artificially hatching eggs was from a (berried) female that I found dead (mentioned in another post). I'm happy to report that the majority hatched and I know at least a few of them are still alive. A couple of other attempts failed.

Anyway, I'm thinking it may be a water issue based on searching through the forum. I haven't tested the nitrate, but I know it tested around 10 - 20 ppm before I converted it to a shrimp tank, but I did a 50% water change before adding the shrimp. I just tested the PH, and was surprised to find out it looks to be around 7.8. I've added a bit of peat pellets to the filter to bring down the PH.

Any advise/comments on why this is happening and how to correct it would be appreciated.

Here is one piece of advice that is really easy to follow. Do nothing. Just do the normal (once a week 10-30 percent water change) and just wait. Stop feeding for now until everything is in balance. Ph 7.8 is not a problem, you're just going to make things worse by trying to "correct" the ph. The less you try to "correct" anything in a shrimp tank, the better the shrimp will do in the long run. Most problems stem from the fact that the tank has not found its long term bacterial and algal balance, yet. It really takes 1.5 to 3 months for that happen. The shimp that die during that time would have died no matter what you do. Once your tank is "mature" for shrimp, you can start feeding once every 2-3 days just about enough that your shrimp can consume within 10-15 minutes (at the most).

I've learned my lesson starting tanks from just using filter material and plants from another tank. I've had several losses in one of the tanks I did that way, and can only hope I didn't damage all of the shrimp enough such that they die before producing babies.

This particular tank was an established fish tank, fairly lightly stocked, but up and running for probably 6 months or longer. All I did after I moved the fish out, was do a 50% water change without disturbing the gravel, although I did move a few plants around so I could see the shrimp better, before I added the shrimp. I've fed very little, I'm not sure I fed at all for the first couple of weeks, but I know I've fed a small amount a few times.

So I guess I've disturbed the balance in that tank? I guess my main concern is that something isn't wrong with the shrimp itself, so she can't carry eggs. But I guessing from what I've read, and hoping, that is not the case and that only time will help.