# CRS and RCS shrimp Out of the Cold



## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

Ive had about 40 RCS shrimp in a 30 gallon with 4 small kuhli loaches and an axolotl for several months now. However I have just moved my axolotl to another tank in the hopes of having the shrimp breed. They have been kept below 75F until recently, for the last couple weeks I have run the temp up to 79 in the hopes that they will breed whoever, I have not seen any bellied females, they have saddles but i just have not seen any berried ones. In the past I have had berried females but eggs were never fertile as temperatures were too low. Ive now added 6 CRS to the tank and was wondering what I need to get them breeding too. Help me make a shrimp farm people! HELP ME!


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## dgphelps (Jan 1, 2008)

Well, from my own experience I can say if you are breeding CRS and RCS in the same tank one will likely outnumber the other and outcompete for resources causing one species to decline. For me it has always been the RCS that slowly vanish since I seem to keep CRS much easier.

I keep my tanks around 76 - 78 and other than ottos don't really keep any fish as almost all fish (other than ottos) will eat shrimp at some point. If you provide thick growth of things like subwassertang or mosses many shrimp will have hiding spaces to breed in.

I would also recommend being on top of tank maintenance, adding fresh water, etc. so they can grow well and have the right environment to breed. 

Other than that general advice I would say to read up, ask questions and tell us more about what you are doing so we can help you out.

You'll get there -- once you get the hang of it, shrimp breeding is quite easy.


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## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

thanks dgphelps,

I do a 50% water change every Wednesday, 
Yeast Generated Co2
Dosing with Flourish Nitrogen,Phosphorus, Potassium, Iron and Trace
I have Riccia Fluitans attached to driftwood and floating, where the shrimp tend to colonize
I don't have too much in the way of ground cover/foreground plants, I do have a dense patch of ludwigia and a couple of small crypts.

Are there any plants in particular I should look to get that encrourage the lovin'?


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## dgphelps (Jan 1, 2008)

I would definitely add mosses like java moss, flame moss, taiwan moss or my new personal favorite for shrimp tanks, subwassertang (aka freshwater seaweed aka MONOSOLENIUM TENERUM and so on). It does well is most lighting setups though does much better in my brightly lit tank. Better in this case means lusher green with tight, compact whirls of growth. It's super dense when it takes off and the fish can't really get in so the shrimp take advantage of it.

Attached is a photo of mine.

Also, I like to dose a homemade calcium buffer to my tanks each week to help encourage proper molting and growth for my shrimp. I make it with crushed cuttlebone (or baked eggshells) and some Epsom salts. Here's a link to my how-to: Homemade Calcium Buffer.

Hope that helps!


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## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

Ah thanks again dgphelps

I will look into finding some of that freshwater seaweed and try the calcium buffer out right away.
I forgot to mention that I dont really feed my shrimp much, as there is plenty of algea for them. However I do throw in a cube of frozen bloodworms once every 2 weeks to keep my kuhli loaches plump and so other than algea and occasional bloodworms is there anything else I shuld feed my shrimp to encourage growth and reproduction? 

Also I am currently running an abnormally strong light on the tank that I received from my uncle, it is putting out 6.5 Watts per gallon and i keep it on for about 8 hours a day. Would lowering the Power of the lighting or the lighting period encourage reproduction?


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## dgphelps (Jan 1, 2008)

I'm hesitant to point it out but I am currently selling Subwassertang in the For Sale section of this forum. 

I imagine the high light is what is giving you plentiful algae. 6.5 watts isn't super high actually but depending on the spectrum could be causing algae outbreaks. While algae and biofilm is fine for shrimp I would recommend adding at least some alternative food sources, even if in low quantities. Hikari crab cuisine is a go to food staple for most shrimp breeders. You'll need protein and calcium sources for them in addition to what they are finding naturally in the tank.

On a sidenote, I have stopped feeding my tank bloodworms as I find I get planaria after adding them to the tank. I have heard several folks who have the same thing happen and while planaria aren't necessarily known to harm shrimp or fish, I don't like them slinking about in my tanks like leeches.

I'd bet you are not noticing babies due to low calcium availability and possibly low protein content in the foods. Try mixing things up a bit and introduce food like boiled organic spinach or 1-3 crab cuisine pellets once or so a week along with some form of calcium buffer to the tank and some moss or such. Give it a month and let us know what happens.


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## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

AHHH I would love to get some seaweed from you dgphelps...but I am up in Canada, Montreal 
If you can arrange shipping to Canada I would gladly purchase some of your fine goods. 

Now as for, your suggestion does the hikari cuisine stuff supply the shrimp with calcium AND protein? or only one of the two? Is there anything I should know about feeding hikari cuisine(ie: affects on water parameters)?

Also, what does the boiled spinach do for the shrimp?

Thanks again!


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## dgphelps (Jan 1, 2008)

I couldn't find info on the calcium content in crab cuisine but I got this for you.

Taken from the Hikari website:
FEATURES
1. The enriched calcium content promotes development of your pet's outer shell, their natural protection from predators and disease.
2. Excellent for use in freshwater or marine aquariums to feed scavengers thereby reducing the chances they will attack other aquatic pets.
3. Full of stabilized vitamin C to help build resistance to disease.
4. A rapidly sinking pellet that retains it's shape and won't cloud your water.

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein Crude Fat Crude Fiber Moisture Crude Ash
min. 31% min. 4% max. 3% max. 10% max. 9% 

As with any food overfeeding will certainly futz with your water parameters. I only drop a few pellets a week and have roughly 50-80 shrimp at any given time in my tanks.

Spinach? Why it gives them huge biceps and lets them talk like a sailor, and date Olive Oil.  

More seriously - taken from answers.com: Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, and vitamin B6. It is a very good source of dietary fiber, copper, protein, phosphorous, zinc and vitamin E. In addition, it is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, niacin and selenium. 

I'm not sure how shipping seaweed across the border would go. I hope you can find some there. Like I said, I prefer the subwassertang but any moss would do as well and they grow well in most setups.


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## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

is this the hikari food you were suggesting?

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/StoreCat...ry=hikari+shrimp&queryType=0&hits=12&offset=0


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## dgphelps (Jan 1, 2008)

Not exactly but I have also heard good things about that. This is more what I was talking about - Hikari Crab Cuisine


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## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

so thinks arent going so great for my shrimp farm right now....in the past couple weeks I have lost about a dozen shrimp...mostly RCS but at least 1 CRS too. I am wondering why I might be losing shrimp? I am getting some readings as far as nitrates and ammonia right now (5ppm NO3, .6 ppm NH3) but I think this is from the dead shrimp. 
I have started feeding the shrimp Hikairi Shrimp Cuisine and I was wondering if the copper in the food, might be too much for the shrimp.

I do regret to say I have not added any Calcium Buffer, could that be the cause of death or perhaps the lack of breeding?

I figure I'll throw in a picture of the setup, any suggestions?
I did a major trimming/remodelling yesterday so its looking rather sparce...








left








middle








right








front
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k241/wittle_weo/DSC_3577.jpg


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## Saturation (Mar 24, 2010)

I did a 50% water change after posting, ammonia and nitrates are now zero, however I am still wondering if the small amounts of copper in the hikari shrimp cuisine could be a cause of death. I did not have any more casualties in the week I did not feed it to the shrimp, so I've decided to try feeding them some now to see if its the food.


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