# Cherry Shrimp Behavior



## veedubdrouin (Feb 20, 2008)

I have my Cherries in a 27 gallon tank, moderately planted, with a basic flourescent light and a sponge filter. I've had them in there for about 3 months and I'm pretty sure I can distinguish the gender of them at this point. THey have not bred, but I have some patience left that they will.

They swim around quite often and I never see the cherries in the store swimming such great distances. I think they've got great little personalities on them but does this (and the not breeding) indicate that there's something lacking? Are they swimming all over looking feverishly for food or is this jet-set lifestyle causing them to choose to hold off on starting a family?

Kh 3
Ph 7.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0


----------



## linksys (Aug 5, 2008)

Females have a yellow sometimes green saddle on their back and should be a deeper red color than the males. If not you got might of gotten something else. Got any pics? Hope I helped.


----------



## veedubdrouin (Feb 20, 2008)

I'm sure that they're cherries. Some have more color than others and i can see what I beleive to be the saddle on them, but that's where I'm unsure. I'll try to get some pics of them for opinions on the saddle.


----------



## saram521 (May 3, 2008)

kH seems a bit low. Neocaridina shrimp like harder water in order to breed. Sounds like your shrimp are exhibiting normal behavior by swimming all throughout the tank. Shrimp in pet stores may not act normally because they're typically in stressed conditions. In order to get your cherries to breed, you may want to raise the hardness of your water, or just get tiger shrimp which are caridina shrimp. Tigers love softer water.


----------



## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

kH dont affect shrimp its the GH that does. try to add more calcium. when the males are swimming like crazy that means they are breeding. if you arent successful breeding cherries i wouldnt suggest getting tigers, they are more sensitive than cherries


----------



## veedubdrouin (Feb 20, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. I haven't been able to get a pic of a female with the saddle visible, not surprisingly. This is my first attempt at breeding shrimp and i haven't made any adjustments to the water parameters. I will look into some ways to make things more ideal in hopes of bolstering the probability of one of these ladies getting berried. Thanks again for the input!


----------



## saram521 (May 3, 2008)

tex627 said:


> kH dont affect shrimp its the GH that does. if you arent successful breeding cherries i wouldnt suggest getting tigers, they are more sensitive than cherries


Actually from what I understand, a low kH reading can signify more acidic water or an instability in pH. Neo sp. shrimp will not thrive in water that is acidic, or water with an unstable pH. Your gH level will give us insight as to how hard your water actually is over the kH reading. If your gH level is also low, chances are your water is acidic. If your water naturally stays at 7.2 and is acidic, tiger shrimp would be better suited for you. Tiger shrimp are not that difficult so long as the water parameters are correct (as I just mentioned) and the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite are in balance. Vee, are the ph and kh levels that you listed from your tap water?


----------



## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

saram521 said:


> Actually from what I understand, a low kH reading can signify more acidic water or an instability in pH. Neo sp. shrimp will not thrive in water that is acidic, or water with an unstable pH. Your gH level will give us insight as to how hard your water actually is over the kH reading. If your gH level is also low, chances are your water is acidic. If your water naturally stays at 7.2 and is acidic, tiger shrimp would be better suited for you. Tiger shrimp are not that difficult so long as the water parameters are correct (as I just mentioned) and the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite are in balance. Vee, are the ph and kh levels that you listed from your tap water?


low kH does not mean the water's pH is instable, it means it can be easily adjusted. if your kH is low the pH isnt going to go up and down. lower kH can mean that the pH is more acidic and raising the kH will will the pH but the pH is whats really affecting the shrimp directly, not kH.

GH=general hardness=calcium, magnesium and other things that in my knowledge dont affect the pH because pH is the %of hydrogen ions and how would calcium add or take away hydrogen ions? also, 7.2 is not acidic. below 7 is acidic and above 7 is basic. you're right tiger shrimp arent difficult to keep as long as the water parameters are right but 7.2 isnt acidic enough to keep tiger shrimp happy.


----------



## linksys (Aug 5, 2008)

How many cherries do you have? Odds are low but they might be all males! lol i hope not but try to get some pics up. I got a batch of 25 cherries on 2/11 they were tiny and none had saddles but now i see there are plenty of females.


----------



## _chicken_ (Oct 7, 2007)

I would not be concerned about a kh of 3. My water is the same, and my red cherries have been breeding just fine.


----------



## MagpieTear (Jan 25, 2009)

I'll have to agree with _chicken, my tap water had a frighteningly low kH (too low to mearure with the API test) and they bred fine in a GH of 5. Granted they are a bit more lively since I adjusted the kH up to 3, but still, they were breeding before and after the adjustment.


----------



## veedubdrouin (Feb 20, 2008)

I only have five. My camera skills... well they haven't worked out so far. The shrimp are not exactly posing for me either. The more I look at them the less I beleive that i have any saddled females.


----------



## wmsvn (Oct 22, 2008)

looks like 5 shrimps in a 29G tank might be the problem. You might need more shrimps.


----------



## veedubdrouin (Feb 20, 2008)

So this is the best I can do as far as a photo goes. I have seriously been trying but I am an even worse photographer than I thought. So, while the photos that I've seen depicting the saddle of a female look similar to what I see in some of my shrimp, when I take a photo it is far less apparent what we're looking at. LOL!

http://picasaweb.google.com/btallent/RichardsFishtank#5320250123174654146


----------



## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

this is from my previous post in the last page of the thread:
kH dont affect shrimp its the GH that does. try to add more calcium. when the males are swimming like crazy that means they are breeding. if you arent successful breeding cherries i wouldnt suggest getting tigers, they are more sensitive than cherries


----------



## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

I too am waiting for my shrimp to berry. There are about 12 of them in my tank with saddles. I bought 6 cherries in NYC, then 5 at my lfs, and 7 at another highscale lfs. The saddles get bigger over time, those are the eggs developing. I've noticed over the past three weeks the saddles on two of the females have gotten much larger. I hope she will berry soon!


----------

