# first batch crystal red babies hatched



## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

The wait is over after 30-31 days.

Here is one on glass, less than 24 hours old:









blow up









they are colored up at birth.


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

Congrats! Good luck with them


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## amber2461 (Jun 15, 2004)

Congrats on your latest babies, thanks for posting it !


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Congrats! That has to be exciting.


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

thanks all!

Better pics of the crytal red babies, they are so cute


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Wow!... Got to love the baby shrimpies :razz:


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## amber2461 (Jun 15, 2004)

Aye, would love them more in MY tank


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## richy (Nov 8, 2004)

Congrats, Sha! Looks like they do breed as easy as other shrimp species. BTW, what's the count on the number of hatchlings?


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

richy said:


> Congrats, Sha! Looks like they do breed as easy as other shrimp species. BTW, what's the count on the number of hatchlings?


yeah, they do seem to breed easily, just takes longer to mature.

I am wondering about the hatchling count too. The females carried the eggs to full term, so two females should have hatched about 40 shrimplets now, but I can only count a few at any time. Granted, my tank is extremely densely planted, with moss walls. So maybe some are hiding. I am wondering, do the crystal red babies need food other than algae? Maybe some are not finding food and starving? One thing I noticed, the crytal red shrimplets are much less active than cherry reds. The latter are always busying eating algae, the former just stay still most of the time.

Anyway, I have a net breeder on order, and I am going to put my third pregnant female in it before the eggs hatch, so I will know exactly what happens to the babies.


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## richy (Nov 8, 2004)

shalu said:


> yeah, they do seem to breed easily, just takes longer to mature.


easy breeding is a good sign.



> I am wondering, do the crystal red babies need food other than algae? Maybe some are not finding food and starving? One thing I noticed, the crystal red shrimplets are much less active than cherry reds. The latter are always busying eating algae, the former just stay still most of the time.


I would imagine that you don't have to do anything special for the CRS babies. Normal feeding (or non-feeding as the case may be) should work fine, IMO. If you have a moss wall in there, that would be a constant food source.

Re: CRS v. Cherries, I think all shrimp species have different temperaments. Amanos can be aggressive, as I'm sure most of us have discovered, while cherries and tigers and whatnot are less so.



> Anyway, I have a net breeder on order, and I am going to put my third pregnant female in it before the eggs hatch, so I will know exactly what happens to the babies.


Will the netting provide an escape route for the CRS babies?


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

richy said:


> Will the netting provide an escape route for the CRS babies?


We shall see how big the holes are on the breeder. It is designed to hold fish eggs and fries, so I expect the holes to be quite small. But then, shrimps have legs and are far better at getting through tight space.


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## richy (Nov 8, 2004)

i'm not even so much concerned with the size of the holes. i'm thinking more along the lines of them climbing out, since the can grab onto and "stick" to the netting.


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

Rich, the "net" breeder I bought was actually hard plastic box with slim slots on it and a cover. I put the third pregnant female crystal red and the bumble bee in it last night. Their babies were due anytime.









This morning, I found that the crystal red hatched half of the shrimplets already. More were on the way. It is deliverying a baby, with its rear end raised. Within seconds, a shrimplets dropped out and jumped couple of times before settling down.









Here is the baby shrimplet, dropped out of mother's belly just 10 seconds ago,









Mother and baby, can you find the baby in the picture?









I found out what happened to my shrimplets soon enough. It turned out that the slots on the side of the breeder box were wide enough for the shrimplets to craw out! And one did, before my eyes, after a little stuggle. A neon tetra got to it immediately when it went swimming! AAARGH! Those neons were out of the shrimp tank! This is officially becoming a shrimp only tank.

So far, I have found crystal reds are pretty easy to breed. A fourth and my largest/best looking female maybe on its way to pregnancy. This time, no predators are going to eat the babies.


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## amber2461 (Jun 15, 2004)

Fantastic pictures, and again, congratulations on the newest arrivals in your tank, I envy you ... we never ever see crystals here at all ... so thanks for posting them.


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## cminghan (Oct 7, 2004)

for me, i will feed my shirmplet with a slice of tomato everyday, then i will throw away those left over the next day, some time i feed them sucker fish algea pellet from hikari


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