# Cherry Shrimp - breeding



## dwhite645 (Jan 9, 2005)

Ok, so I recently put together an old 10 gallon that I had sitting around. My goal for this is a small 'plant farm' and cherry shrimp hatchery. So far, I'm putting plant clippings and other baby plants in that I don't want to throw out from my main tank. I also want lots of cherry shrimp in there, and I have a few breeding questions. First off, I have 10 or so cherry shrimp in there, 2 larger females already have yellow eggs. I also put pantyhose over the intake of the filter to prevent mishaps with any young. I bought the one female already complete with eggs, and the other was netted out from my main tank since I didn't want the eggs/young eaten. So, my questions include water temp, special lighting conditions, mosses or riccia, hiding places and that sort of thing. Any info would be great.
I'd also like to thank Marcus from the aquatic store for helping me out so much. It's not a plug, but he lives in my area and he's very knowledgable.
Thanks for any info, I appreciate it!


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

These things are so easy to breed. I have massive #s right now.

I have:
26-G aquarium
3 watts/gallon
Plant nutrients per the Barr method
Seachem Prime for chlorine, etc.
Tap Water (Southern CA)
Injected CO2 @ 30ppm
ph of 6.6-6.8
Temp ~76F
Java Moss (Good "fry" cover)
Dwarf Hairgrass (Good "fry" cover)
Hemianthus Micranthemoides 
Hemianthus Callitrichoides
Lots of Glosso (Good "fry" cover)
15 Cardinal Tetras, 2 Otos, 3 Harlequin Rasboras

The females develop yellow "saddles" in the the ovaries (behind the head, along the back). Once the yellow eggs are visible in the swimming legs (pleopods), you'll have another 2-3 weeks during which the eggs become green & then hatch. The young grow FAST, though this depends on food.

Try to stimulate the whole process by supplementing with Hikari Crab Cuisine or Algae Wafers.

Now I'm working on breeding Bee Shrimp. We'll see how that goes.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

There is no special conditions that I know of, when I had my baby Cherrys I raised them in regular tropical tank conditions. They really seemed to like hanging out in floating Hornwort, any type of moss would work as would Ricca.


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## anggi (Jan 16, 2005)

is the rasbora eat cherry fry?


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Anggi...Welcome to APC. Why don't you introduce yourself in the introduction section.

Baby shrimp are very tiny so any fish that are able to fit them into their mouths will more than likely make snacks of them.


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

anggi said:


> is the rasbora eat cherry fry?


Maybe, but providing lots of hiding places keeps them alive & well. I had 4 Cherry Shrimp in November or so, now I probably have 50-75. I cleaned my canister filter tonight, and there were 10 or so fry in there, too.


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## dwhite645 (Jan 9, 2005)

Thanks everyone for your input and suggestions. So far, so good. The two females are still running around with their eggs. About how long can I expect them to hatch?


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

See my post!


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

what fish would bother or eat the cherry shrimp? I am thinking about getting them but I recently bought 12 amano shrimp and now I can find any. My tank is full of tetra's, Sae's, Bushy nose pleco's, otto's, and a couple skunk botia's. I dont know why they died but I have seen the Sae's eating the dead ones. My tank is pretty stable, so I dont think its water parameters. Possible high Co2, I keep the tank 30-40ppm. Any ideas?


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

_Is your tank heavily planted?_ They could just be hiding, I've went two weeks without seeing mine Amanos.

_Are you sure what you are seeing is dead shrimp?_ It could just be their molt shell, fish and other shrimp will eat these.

_How big where your Amanos?_ I don't see any fish that you have that would kill the shrimp, except maybe the Loaches.


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

it is heavily planted, but what I saw an Sae eating was a shrimp not just the shell. The skunk botia's mouth is so small I doubt it can hurt it, thats why I bought it. The amano's were mid to full size. I even dosed iodine in the wtr column. I just did a major cleanup in my tank so maybe I will see them again, but it looks like they are all gone. I thought Sae's ate plants and algea only not shrimp. Anyone heard of this happening?


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

chiahead said:


> I recently bought 12 amano shrimp and now I can find any. Any ideas?


I've read a lot of posts about people's Amano's crawling out of the tank. Is yours covered?


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I have uncovered tanks and I have only lost one shrimp in a year and a half. As long as the shrimp have plenty of hiding places and are living in a stress free enviorment then they should not want to get out of the tank.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

chiahead said:


> it is heavily planted, but what I saw an Sae eating was a shrimp not just the shell. The skunk botia's mouth is so small I doubt it can hurt it, thats why I bought it. The amano's were mid to full size. I even dosed iodine in the wtr column. I just did a major cleanup in my tank so maybe I will see them again, but it looks like they are all gone. I thought Sae's ate plants and algea only not shrimp. Anyone heard of this happening?


Do you have more than one SAE? I've never had a problem with my SAE's harming shrimp. When I only had one SAE in the tank he did chase some of my fish & shrimp. This is why I always keep at least two SAE's, they chase each other and not other fish/shrimp. My SAE's will eat others food beside algae.


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## dwhite645 (Jan 9, 2005)

Good news! I came home after work and really gave the tank a good look over. I counted 7 cherry shrimp fry at one time. I'm guessing that there's 15 or so, since only one of the females dropped the eggs. I'm also assuming that they've been in there over a week or more since they're about 1/8" - 3/16" long at the moment. It's kind of surprising since I did a lot of work and moving stuff around last weekend in there. Had I known they were in there, I probably wouldn't have bothered for fear of accidently killing them by shoving a plant on top of them or something. Will keep you updated, thanks for the replies!


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

Prepare for the invasion! They will soon be everywhere!  

Think of it this way--you won't need to add as much NO3!


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

once the female shrimp shows the eggs, about how long until they drop them and then hatch? I haver a few showing eggs and I am just wondering what to expect. They are cherry red shrimp.


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

2-3 weeks once they're showing in the pleopods (swimming legs). They won't drop the eggs per se--the young are released "live" from the female.

They start yellow, then the eggs may turn greenish & then light prior to "birthing."


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

they were yellow about a week ago now they seem greenish.


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## dwhite645 (Jan 9, 2005)

Yeah, that's what mine did too. Yellow - green - clearish. Total time was about 3 weeks I believe, maybe slightly more. Thanks for the rotala again Bryan (chiahead)!


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

no problem Dwhite thx for the riccia. Hopefully I shall have some fry soon. Should I pit some sort of screening over the intake from my canister filter so they dont get sucked up?


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## dwhite645 (Jan 9, 2005)

I put some panty hose over the intake and secured it with a rubber band just to be safe. I left the two top most intake vents uncovered though because the panty hose was getting clogged frequently. It seemed to do the trick.


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