# Sulawesi Cardinal Shrimp



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

Hello, . 

I'm new to the forum & indeed to fish keeping.

I've recently set up a tank, done a fishless cycle and added a few fish and all is going well.

Whilst in the lfs the other day, I noticed some Cardinal Shrimp & thought they looked very cool. I'd not thought of keeping shrimp before, but decided to buy 4 & give it a try. (an expensive impulse buy!)

I've since done some research & seem to have the wrong set up completely, (my pH is 6.5!) but 10 days on, all 4 are still there happily munching away with evidence that 2 have molted.

Getting a bit ahead of myself, I'm now thinking about the prospect of breeding!

My tanks is planted and has numerous hiding places in rocks / wood / plants etc - It takes me hours to find them!

The question is, will any babies that are produced have any chance with the fish in there? and what should I do about the filter intake - it's an internal. The current shrimp haven't ventured to that side of the tank yet!

Thanks


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

You are very lucky. These are some hard shrimp to keep!

You need to put a sponge over your filter intake. The babies are tiny and will get sucked in. I use these:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21426&cmpid=03csegb&ref=3312&subref=AA&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=0071267000000

Most who keep the shrimp you have don't add fish. These are so expensive they want to make sure none get eaten. Others do keep fish with their shrimp (different types). Do a search for nano fish. Pygmy rasboras, scarlet badis, celestial pearl danios are a few that are, for the most part, safe with shrimp.

Good luck with your adventure!


----------



## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

no matter what kind of fish it is, it will still pick off a several baby shrimp. with shrimp this expensive, I would not take the chance.


----------



## praxis5624 (Apr 22, 2006)

Cardinal shrimp require different water conditions similiar to african cichlids and like one of the members stated, shrimp fry are hard to survive in tanks where fish are housed.


----------



## feiyang (Jan 27, 2007)

do you know the lfs water's ph? surprised to see this shrimp live in ph 6.5 water.


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

Hi,

All 4 are still there after a month with all having molted at least once. 

I've noticed they are bright red just after they have molted, with their shell going darker as it hardens.

They're more adventurous now coming out of hiding much more often.

No idea what the lfs pH is. They seem happy enough so I'll just let them be.

Cheers


----------



## kvntran (Nov 9, 2007)

This is interesting, if they do well in lower pH I might try them as well. RO with Amazonia would get the water into 6.5 range. Please keep us updated. Thanks


----------



## unchin (May 8, 2005)

Hey Chris,

I've been trying to find these forever. What LFS did you get yours at?


----------



## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

unchin said:


> Hey Chris,
> 
> I've been trying to find these forever. What LFS did you get yours at?


check aquabid. I saw some for sale there.


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

Hello, 

All 4 doing well after about 5 weeks with all having molted at least once.

My water is still (and has always been) 6.5pH.

There is no sign that I can see of any mating / berried females. This may of course be if I have 4 of one sex (unlikely I hope) or that the pH is just too low for them to mate. 

I've read that they do not breed as often as say cherry shrimp. Assuming I have both sexes, could anyone shed any light as to when I might see signs of breeding.

Cheers

By the way, I got them from Maidenhead Aquatics in Liverpool (UK!)


----------



## feiyang (Jan 27, 2007)

ph 6.5, i am thinking to get some sulawesi shrimps and put them into my CRS tank... haha


----------



## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

what temp is your tank at? i have a colony of them, and i keep them at least 81F. they dont like the cold, and get stressed if the temp drops below 78F. so even if they can live at the lower ph, with CRS liking it on the cooler side (72F) i cant see them living together, sorry.......

they carry eggs for longer than other shrimp i have, up to a month or more. and the batches are small so dont expect a population explosion like rcs. if they do breed, the offspring are more bold than their wild parents and will come out more readily. 

my water specs:

81-82F 
ph: 8.0
tds: 202 (seems high but they seem to not mind)
basically use RO water with coral chips in the HOB filters with top offs for evaporation being pure RO.

good luck, they are striking shrimp.


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

Hi, 

My tank is between 25C & 26C (77F & 79F).

If I increase the temp, will it affect any of my other inhabitants or plants? Will it encourage algae growth?

By the way, I don't want to get too excited, but I do believe one of them is carrying babies, or a baby at least?! She has been hiding behind a rock for a few days & I spotted a reddish purple thing about the size of a grain of sand under her belly last night, which she seemed to be fanning a lot. I thought it might just be something that got stuck there, but it is the same colour as the adult, just paler, similar to when they molt. Also, I can only see one? - is this possible.

I must say though, she has been very timid & checking out her belly has been very difficult. 

dhavoc - As you seem to have bred them successfully, could this be babies iyo? I've only had fish / shrimp for a few weeks so I basically have no idea!!

If it is, I hope it isn't too bold as it could become food!

Cheers


----------



## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

yes that would be eggs. they are teh same reddish color as the shrimp itself. if there is only one, that means she either dropped the rest (dead or infertile), or if you havent seen her in over a month, the eggs hatched. 

your temp is borderline, 79 is ok. shouldnt affect other inhabitants as they are already at that temp daily.


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

Cool, it looks like I've got both sexes then! & managed to get these guys to at least do the do!!

OK, got home & increased temp to 79-81F.

She's hiding tonight so haven't been able to see her. It's only the last couple of days she's been hiding & I have seen her most evenings - I haven't noticed any signs of pregnancy prior to the other night (& I have to admit I've been keeping a hopeful eye out!), so it's definately a recent occurance (I think!).

If I have missed it all, there is no sign of small ones now so they must have turned to fish food.

If there's only one egg, lets hope I see it hatch.

I didn't expect babies quite yet & my moss, etc hasn't had a chance to grow enough yet, but there are lots of little hiding places throughout the tank, so here's hoping.

Will keep you updated.

Cheers


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

It looks like the "egg" that was dangling has been dropped, so I'm hoping that was just an unfertilized one as she still looks "fat" - I just can't tell if there are others as she's always in the shadows..... here's hoping!!


----------



## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

sorry to hear, dont give up, as long as you have healthy adults you can start a colony. my colony started from the 4 remaining shrimp of an order of 45. i moved them to a bare cycled tank from their supposed sulawesi specific tank and just forgot about them. i knew they were still alive as i would see one from time to time but low and behold, months later i see little white antenae poking from the rocks. colony is now over 20-30 from those original 4, and they are still alive as far as i can tell (they are larger than the 3-4 batches of offspring i have counted so far).


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

No change, still looks fat & fanning her underbelly (which the others aren't doing).

Quick ? - I was in the LFS today having a look & the guy said that the shrimp will get pregnant, but will just drop unfertilized eggs with non making it. He said that in the wild, they travel down river to salty water where the babies are dropped, then go back up stream. Therefore successful breeding in my tank will not happen - I was a little disappointed - is this right? .... or is he just trying to get me to part with more money!?


----------



## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

sulawesi cardinals do not need brackish water. offspring are mini versions of the adults (high order breeders). the guy is wrong.


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

Brilliant!!

Cheers - will keep you updated


----------



## feiyang (Jan 27, 2007)

can you post some pictures of your shrimps?


----------



## Button (Nov 3, 2009)

Hi,
Do you have any updates of the shrimps condition?


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

I've tried to follow the instructions to post a pic but have not been successful - I'll try again later - they're not great compared to some of the pics on this forum though! Probably a combination of my poor skills & an unsuitable camera.

There doesn't appear to be much change - the one I thought was berried still spends a lot of time hiding, so it's difficult to tell, but she's still "fat" & she still "fans" her underbelly a lot, but I've seen no more dropped eggs or evidence of baby shrimp.

It's been about 3 weeks since I first thought she may be berried - I would have thought something would have happened by now?

If anything has happened, I've missed it all
& if it has been successful - my fish must have found the babies


----------



## feiyang (Jan 27, 2007)

keep finger crossed...


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

I just can't work out how to put pictures onto my reply on this forum.

I think I have uploaded 2 pics into the shrimp gallery under the name "cardinal". Sorry about the quality!

No change yet - will keep you informed - it is not the one I think might be preganant.


----------



## giypsy (Oct 6, 2009)

They are in there CJ. Still hard for me to tell if she is berried or no as I raise good old American grass, currently.

If it looks to you like the second picture is what you saw when she was berried, then my best guess is she still is.
Good Luck, Keep us posted!


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

Cheers Giypsy,

Pictures - this is not the one I think is berried.

The one I think might be berried is much fatter - I just can't get a decent picture of her.

Could this mean I have 2 that are berried?.......


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

Been a while so thought i'd update.

No babies have been seen & all 4 shrimp have been out loads as they seem to be getting more & more comfortable in their surroundings, with no sign of any of them being berried, suggesting that all the eggs were dropped.

The other day, I saw one of them berried again - I'm sure this time as she was sat there for ages rolling each egg in turn as I watched - she did appear to drop one though.

This leads me to conclude that, while they are happy in the tank and can suscessfully mate, I guess that the fact my pH is only 6.5, it is just too low for the eggs to fertilize properly and reach "birth" - 

I'm not going to try and raise the pH as my aim is to eventually transfer them to a shrimp only tank & get some rams. So for now I will just let them carry on and you never know......


----------



## giypsy (Oct 6, 2009)

Indeed, do please carry on. One of us has to hit the 
shrimplett jackpot at some point.My American glass seem 
to not be able to produce either, same berry-no baby. 
Wicca suggested they may be brackish variety and need 
a different tank condition that I currently am able to provide. 
She may indeed be correct; however there is no way to tell if my 
AGs are freshwater or brackish water species.

On another note; Amano are on their way to assist the nerites 
with algae reduction. 
No babies from the Amanos either for the same reasons.

I believe it is time for me to put the long awaited 
Neocaridina on the purchase list.


----------



## chrisjj (Dec 14, 2009)

All eggs have been dropped again so it looks like my suspisions were correct - the pH is just too low.

I know that cardinal shrimp reproduce susccessfully in fresh water, so it must be the pH.

I will be getting some amano shrimp to help with my algae issues too - I trust they will be OK in the same tank as the cardinals?
They won't reproduce, but I believe that live for several years - is that right?


----------

