# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Crystal Red Shrimp (pics)



## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Alright, I'm gonna take the pludge and purchase some crystal red shrimp or snowball. Whatcha think? 

-John N.


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## Jane of Upton (Jul 28, 2005)

Are you getting them from the Crayfish Germany guy? Apparently he's a pretty experienced keeper and breeder of crayfish and dwarf shrimp. Other folks who keep and breed shrimp have gotten specimens from him.

How experienced are you with shrimp keeping? I keep Red Cherry Shrimp and Bumblebee shrimp, and now some Malayans (that I got as Red Cherries). My Red Cherries have bred, but not the Bumblebees (yet). The Malayan are a relatively new aquisition, so I'm not even sure how mature they are.

I've read a lot though, in preparation of possibly keeping & breeding other types of shrimp. Here's what I've found to be the consensus. The Crystal Red Shrimp are very demanding of water quality - low nitrates are a MUST, and they are reported to not breed or breed but drop the eggs if water parameters are not favorable, or the water temperature is too high (a lot of shrimp keepers in SE Asia use water chillers because their ambient temp is very warm). Some folks even report juvenile die-off if too large a water change ( >20%) is made. 

The Snowball are more like the Red Cherry Shrimp (both are Neocardinia types), in that they have a higer tolerance of fluctuation in water parameters (although still pretty demanding). They also have a lower "shrimplet mortality" rate, so breeding success is easier. Personally, given my own experience level, I'd probably get the Snowball shrimp "next", and then try the Crystal Reds.

A lot of folks who breed shrimp report problems with inbreeding if you start with a limited stock, or are unable to bring in unrelated individuals to expand the gene pool. Starting with a single pair of green dwarf shrimp (a Cardinia type like the CRS) a German commercial breeder experienced problems as early as F3 (third generation). But with a group of 20 Tiger shrimp and occasional introduction of new individuals, the same breeder has seen no problems well into F9 to F12. Oh, and "Problems" range from increased sensitivity to water parameters, to decreased fertility, to slight mutations.

So, if you're planning to breed them to trade or sell, the larger the population you can begin with, the better your chances at success. Also, the availability of unrelated individuals will go a long way towards the long term health of your colony. 

Let us know which type you decide to get! This is very exciting!
-Jane


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Jane - Thanks for all that great information. I didn't know half that stuff! My only shrimp I ever kepted were cherry shrimp since the summer. I started with about 15, now 5 months later I have about 75, with more on the way.

I'm leaning towards the CRS since I can toss them in with the cherries without worry of hybridizing. I'll definately keep you guys posted. I'll likely make the purchase after the holidays! Stay tuned!

-John N.


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## Jane of Upton (Jul 28, 2005)

Well, it certainly sounds like your Red Cherries are happily breeding away, so you'll probably have success with the Crystal Reds as well. Is it a shrimp-only tank? The CRS seem to thrive more in shrimp-only tanks than community tanks, probably because of the amounts of waste from fish. 

I'm sure you'll do well with the Crystal Reds - They're a very nice looking shrimp - I've been drooling over them as well!

Best of luck with your shrimp!
-Jane


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

*The Crystal Reds have arrived!*
I just got some CRS, I floated them for about half and hour. Upon release, they started to color up, but remained slightly pale. I think they're still getting use to the new water, since they are swimming everywhere, especially around the filter flow. They bearly stay still. Their behavior so far has me concerned. They don't act like my cherries whom pick at the ground and plants, instead they land on the glass and stand still.

10 gallon planted tank, with 60+ cherries.
Temp getting slowly lowered to 73/74 from 76.
NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 15 ppm

Anything I should be concerned about? Food, care advice?


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Here's some pictures.

























Hope you enjoy the pictures. Any care instructions or suggestions?

-John N.


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## Falesha13 (Dec 15, 2005)

oh, They are cute. Hope everything goes well with them. Good luck.


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## Jane of Upton (Jul 28, 2005)

Very nice, John!

Is the one you have in your avatar now one of your new CRS? Those are nicely banded ones - how many did you end up getting? 

They look good!
-Jane


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Thanks for the comments guys. They are rather pretty looking. Some are banded fairly nicely, while one or two of them have a very pale white. Overall they look great! I am definately happy with my purchase, I can't wait to share some with the other members. 

Jane, I ended up getting a little more than a dozen. So far no deaths, and they look pretty happy. They are noticable lazier than cherries, and tend to swim around rather than picking at the ground. I lowered the temperature from 25 to 22 c. 

I'll keep ya posted.

-John N.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Where did you buy them from John?


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

It was a toss up between aquabid.com and franksaquarium.com. I decided to go with aquabid since franksaquarium was out of stock at the time. But I hear the quality from both places are very similar. I'm extremely happy with the coloration on my CRS. They are the new stars of my cherry shrimp tank.

-John N.


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## Gladhertha (Jan 13, 2006)

Isn't CR's lovely?! There realy easy to breed also! But if it is fish in the tank they kind of "holding back". I had mine with nine Boraras Briggitae a while. They didn't like it AT ALL! Then i moved de B. briggitae and suddenly i find a lot of shrimp-babies!







Now i have over 40, had a lot more before, but i sold some!

Excuse my bad english.


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