# Cherry Red Shrimp breeding



## HELLAFLUSHED!

Hi, im new here. I just got 10 one month old cherry shrimps from my friend. I put 2 in a half gallon bowl with java moss and 8 in my 5g with sand substrate, 2 rocks, javamoss, and couple anacharis. I use an aqua-tech 5-15 HOB filter with mesh over the intake so nothing but water can get sucked in. Do you think this set-up is ok? I want my RCS to breed like crazy. How long do you think they will start to berry?

And once the babies are out, will the RCS eat their own fry or protect them?

Thanks in advance guys!!!


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## JohnPaul

The setup sounds pretty good. I am presuming that these tanks are already completely cycled of course. HOB with mesh over the intake works very well for filtration. Java moss is always great in shrimp tanks. 

Presuming they are happy with their environment, RCS will start to berry when they are around 3/4" long, give or take a little. The baby shrimplets will be perfectly safe with the adults. The key to successful breeding is keeping the water parameters very stable and the water absolutely clean. Do 25% weekly PWC's and don't get lazy and start skipping them some weeks. For the most part their diet will be the natural biofilm & algae that grows in the tank, so you don't need to feed them very often. When you do, something enriched with calcium (like Hikari Crab Cuisine) is a good choice. RCS will breed like crazy until the point where they have started to become overcrowded relative to the size of your tank; at that point they will essentially stop breeding unless you remove some of them from the tank.


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

Thanks alot for the info bro. Yeah, i do about 20-25% weekly water changes in the 5g and about 30% WC in the half gallon every other day. Some of the shrimps are already 3/4" so do you think they'll start to berry? 

And do you think wardley algae wafers would be a good supplement to their diet?

And Im using seachem flourish for my plants, it says has 0.0001% copper, do you think it'll still be okay? Because Ive heard everywhere that copper kills shrimps.


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## JohnPaul

The algae wafers are fine, but never use anywhere close to a whole wafer if you only have a dozen or so shrimp. Maybe 1/4 of one at most. And as for Flourish, you can use a bit but use it very sparingly--more sparingly than the directions on the bottle indicate. That's my advice. If you are doing regular water changes then that will supply most of the trace elements your plants need.


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

Ok, thanks. Honestly, this site is really helpfull with alot of helpfull nice people compared to MFK. haha. But yeah, if the RCS doesn't eat all the algae wafers, do i have to remove it or leave it for them? And what if i put 2 pieces of 1/8? It'll still be 1/4 but which is better to do for the shrimps? two 1/8's or just a 1/4 piece?


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## JohnPaul

Breaking it up more is fine, even desirable especially if you have some smaller shrimp that might get bullied out of the way by bigger ones.

And if they don't eat it all within an hour or so, then you've fed too much. Feed less next time. Remember, their primary food is the natural biofilm & algae that grows on the surfaces of everything in the tank. Whatever you are adding is just a little extra treat, not their main feeding.


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

ok, thanks again. And one more question, how soon do you think my RCS will berry? Most of them are 3/4" as mentioned.


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## sampster5000

Good luck with your RCS. I just spotted my first pregnant female! Watched her oxygenate the eggs for a good 5 minutes straight until she disappeared in the moss. Very exciting. 

I dose with Flourish and have not had any problems or deaths. I also do 50% weekly water changes.


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## Gordonrichards

They berry around 3/4 of an inch or so. Max size around 1 inch depending on the strain of cherry that you have. 

3 months or so till they berry, 1 month till they hatch, two or three months till they grow to sub-adults.


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

sampster5000 said:


> Good luck with your RCS. I just spotted my first pregnant female! Watched her oxygenate the eggs for a good 5 minutes straight until she disappeared in the moss. Very exciting.
> 
> I dose with Flourish and have not had any problems or deaths. I also do 50% weekly water changes.


Goodluck to you as well bro 
I would love to watch it when my RCS drops her eggs.


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

Gordonrichards said:


> They berry around 3/4 of an inch or so. Max size around 1 inch depending on the strain of cherry that you have.
> 
> 3 months or so till they berry, 1 month till they hatch, two or three months till they grow to sub-adults.


Oh, several of mines are already at 3/4". And also, what do you mean "3 months or so till they berry?" Are you talking that if a newborn RCS is born today, then it'll be 3 months till it can berry? Sorry im confused. haha


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## loj04

HELLAFLUSHED! said:


> Oh, several of mines are already at 3/4". And also, what do you mean "3 months or so till they berry?" Are you talking that if a newborn RCS is born today, then it'll be 3 months till it can berry? Sorry im confused. haha


I think he means about 3 months from birth till their first berry. That's about the experience I have. Their first berry is only probably about 10 eggs, but as they get bigger they can hold a lot more eggs.


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## virgo888

if your tank conditions are right , they will breed like mad. I started with 10 and got up to a few hundreds. i feed them anything - algae wafer, shrimp pellets, flakes, ,marineland small fish pellets...


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## sampster5000

I currently have a berried cherry right now. How long will it take for the cherry to release the eggs and how long until the baby shrimp hatch?


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## JohnPaul

sampster5000 said:


> I currently have a berried cherry right now. How long will it take for the cherry to release the eggs and how long until the baby shrimp hatch?


The time it takes for the eggs to develop depends a little bit upon water temperature, but usually it's around 3-4 weeks. The mother will not "release" the eggs per se; rather the shrimplets hatch from the eggs while they are still with the mother and immediately the shrimplets will then swim away.

If a mother releases eggs before the shrimplets hatch from them, that's a bad sign. She will usually only do that if water conditions are poor or else if she is startled by a predator or something like that. Occasionally a new mother (first-time berried) will lose her eggs as well.

Whatever the cause of it, eggs that are released before the shrimplets are hatched will die.


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## sampster5000

Ah ok thanks. Was starting to get concerned because its been 2 weeks. Got another berried one spotted


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

JohnPaul said:


> The time it takes for the eggs to develop depends a little bit upon water temperature, but usually it's around 3-4 weeks. The mother will not "release" the eggs per se; rather the shrimplets hatch from the eggs while they are still with the mother and immediately the shrimplets will then swim away.
> 
> If a mother releases eggs before the shrimplets hatch from them, that's a bad sign. She will usually only do that if water conditions are poor or else if she is startled by a predator or something like that. Occasionally a new mother (first-time berried) will lose her eggs as well.
> 
> Whatever the cause of it, eggs that are released before the shrimplets are hatched will die.


So they will kinda give birth like livebearers? like once the shrimplets are out, they are free swimming or still in eggs?


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## JohnPaul

HELLAFLUSHED! said:


> So they will kinda give birth like livebearers? like once the shrimplets are out, they are free swimming or still in eggs?


Well all during the times the eggs are developing, they aren't inside the mother but outside of her, on the underside of her abdomen held in place by her pleopods (swimmerets). When females are like this they are said to be "berried" because the collection of eggs under the mom looks like a handful of berries of some sort. The picture below is from one of my tanks, it shows a berried female Blue Pearl shrimp with her eggs clearly visible. She will keep the eggs like that for 3-4 weeks as the baby shrimplets are developing inside the eggs. Then when the shrimplets are fully developed they hatch (while the eggs are still attached to her underside) and immediately swim away.

So I guess you could kinda say they are "like livebearers" insofar as you never have eggs laid anywhere on plants or substrate or anything; but the big difference is that in livebearing fish all of the development takes place *inside* the mother, whereas with shrimp the development takes place with the eggs *outside* (but attached) to the mother.


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## potatoes

IT is also important to introduce new shrimp every few generations in order to prevent inbreeding/recessive traits poping up. You could trade with another keeper or your lfs


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## Gordonrichards

I second potatoes. Always collect new stock when able to.
I have 5 colonies, with four different sources.


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## Tex Gal

Thought I might mention to be careful of wafers/food that might contain copper as a preservative. Copper and shrimp don't mix. It will kill them.


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## Gordonrichards

Thats an important one too!


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

JohnPaul said:


> The time it takes for the eggs to develop depends a little bit upon water temperature, but usually it's around 3-4 weeks. The mother will not "release" the eggs per se; rather the shrimplets hatch from the eggs while they are still with the mother and immediately the shrimplets will then swim away.
> 
> If a mother releases eggs before the shrimplets hatch from them, that's a bad sign. She will usually only do that if water conditions are poor or else if she is startled by a predator or something like that. Occasionally a new mother (first-time berried) will lose her eggs as well.
> 
> Whatever the cause of it, eggs that are released before the shrimplets are hatched will die.


Thanks! Thats all i wanted to know. haha. And oh yes! I just found a berried red cherry shrimp yesterday. How long do you think till the babies will be live and free swimming??


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

Gordonrichards said:


> I second potatoes. Always collect new stock when able to.
> I have 5 colonies, with four different sources.


oh, instead of trading shrimps with a friend or a lfs will you be able to trade some shrimps from tank to tank?


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

ohhh, and can someone explain the interbreed stuff? Sorry i forgot what it meant -__- lols


&&&& btw, is it okay for my RCS to have greensih color looking eggs. I mostly see RCS eggs yellow, like some of the vids on youtube..


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## Gordonrichards

Yes, the idea behind mine is selective breeding.
I am a fan of the Sakura/Taiwan Fire Shrimp and my focus will be on that. Already I have about 120-160 shrimplets in one of my sakura tanks. By spring I may have 5-6 groups available for the forum to play with.

Anything I cull will end up bolstering the color of my other tanks.
I love cherry shrimp since they never seem to die on me. I am however currently trying to create two colonies of Red Crystal Shrimp. ::fingers crossed::

Every 4-5 generations you'll want to add in some fresh blood.

You'll see many people in the forum looking to add to their colony all the time and will trade between one another.

Depending on which colony, some of my cherries sport yellow eggs, others have green. I think its a difference in genetics though I'm not sure and don't want to spread rumors.


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

Wow. I just spotted another berried shrimp. But this one has yellow eggs. How long more till you think the babies will be free swimming?


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## Gordonrichards

Eggs will be with the mother for about 3 weeks. They will hatch and be free swimming. Growth is fairly quick. Within 2 weeks they will be about the size of a grain of rice and easy to see. 3 months they're at breeding age.


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

Wow, I already see alot of babies. 

How long will it be till the mothers have they're next batch??


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## Gordonrichards

Depends on the diet you feed them. If they get what they need to eat, they should already have a saddle developing (ovaries) after a couple weeks.

After the females molt the eggs travel down and get fertilized.

Congrats on your first colony. All you need is one female to give birth and your tank establishes itself.

Keep doing what you're doing and you'll always have shrimps. Every 6 months or so, purchase a group of 20 from a breeder and add them in your tank for diversity.

:^)


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## HELLAFLUSHED!

Thanks man, so maybe in about 2-3 weeks, the mother will start to have eggs again? Just like the guppies gestation period is about 28 days and the RCS is like howmany days??


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