# Does water temperature effect shrimp sex?



## Burks (May 25, 2006)

*Does water temperature affect shrimp sex?*

Is there any correlation between water temperature and what sex a shrimp will be during development?

I've been noticing an ever growing number of adult males to adult females in my 10g. Would this be due to water temperature or just dumb luck?

Forgot to mention these are Red Cherry Shrimps


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## Purrbox (Jun 1, 2006)

I've heard from other people that the temperature will indeed affect the ratio of males to females. I don't remember for sure the exact temperature breakdown though.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Please let me know if you find the article/post about that Purrbox. Very interested in reading that. Maybe this summer I'll set up two tanks with the same number of males to females but with different temperatures. Say one at 70F and the other at 78F. Depends if my parents, who live 100+ miles away, will "rent" me some space for the tanks in the basement. 

Just a neat little side note to go along with this post. Today I cleaned out my canister filter and found a full grown female RCS. May not be surprising except I don't have any shrimp in that tank....and never have! Must of jumped over during a plant transfer a couple week ago or even came with a plant shipment a few months ago and just grew inside the filter. Rather amazing.


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## NatalieT (Mar 20, 2007)

I tried a little google searching about shrimp and sex-determination, and the only article I found that looked relevant is here:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1420-9101.1988.1040355.x

Someone found a population of shrimp where gender appears to be determined by day length. They weren't studying any of the kinds of shrimp common in aquariums, and I don't know how similar different kinds of shrimp are to each other in that respect (i.e. it may be irrelevant to your question  )


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Very interesting article Natalie. Sure it doesn't deal with water temperature but day length is just another factor that could determine shrimp sex! Never really thought of that.

Thanks a lot!


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## fish newb (May 10, 2006)

There is some talk about temperature and sex ratio but nothing concrete yet... For most people it's just luck as of now.

How is everything with the shrimp going btw?

-Andrew


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I haven't noticed any difference between male to female ratios with temperature changes. I used to keep the shrimp farm at 78 degrees, but dropped it down to 69-70 for the Crystal Reds. Male to Female ratios appear the same.

However, reproduction rate seemed to drop off dramatically because of the lower temperature or because of the introduction of the CRS. Also, the individual growth rate became slower.

-John N.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

fish newb said:


> How is everything with the shrimp going btw?
> 
> -Andrew


Just awesome! They came from good stock (John ) and are just breeding like mad. I have about 50-60 in a 10g with six females carrying eggs. It's about time to thin the herd to people in my local fish club. One person is willing to trade RCS for Bee's. :heh: I've got a line of people waiting on them. Should have a shrimp rack set up this summer. There's a nice demand in my area, LFS wants $4 for juvies!

Thanks for the reply John, it's always appreciated around here . I did notice that bumping my temperature up to 78 from the low 70's resulted in more breeding. Which I kind of figured would happen.


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## CampCreekTexas (Mar 7, 2007)

So what temp is your tank? The one you're noticing more males in? Just curious so I can watch for the same thing. Will let you know if I notice anything.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

CampCreekTexas said:


> So what temp is your tank? The one you're noticing more males in? Just curious so I can watch for the same thing. Will let you know if I notice anything.


Normally around 76-78. But since it's been very warm today (with no AC) it topped out at 82.4.


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