RCS won't breed!

[antonello09]

Hello!

I bought five red cherry shrimp about a month and a half ago. I am sure I have three females and two males. Most females began to get their saddles about three weeks ago, but I still haven't seen any berried females. Nowadays most of shrimp hide for the whole day and don't do anything, they used to be very active. I feed them Hikari Shrimp Cuisine. I also checked my parameters and they seem stable. I keep them at 75 degrees. I heard they will breed as soon as they molt, but for some reason mine won't breed, I don't know what to try now. Should I raise the temperature? Buy more shrimp and see what happens?

[Calmia22]

It took a few months before mine would breed. They have to get comfortable in their surroundings. Do you have them in with anything else? Do they have a lot of hiding spots?Have you checked all of your water parameters?

[Bananariot]

Water quality params.........need to be listed.
gh, kh, tds, ph, even though rcs are tanks.....there still is a range.

I would drop the temp down to 70 too. Most shrimp like the lower 70's.

Also like calmia says it sometimes takes a while. Also it takes around a month to hatch so you may be almost there.

[Soothing Shrimp]

With RCS, a temp of 75F is fine. I agree that sometimes they just have to get used to their new environment though. Do you have fish in the same tank?

[antonello09]

I have three glofish, one endler, and one mollie. My ph is 7.0 my KB is 40 ppm, my Gh is 120 ppm, nitrite is 0 ppm, and nitrate is 20 ppm. I have some java moss and two caves.

[Calmia22]

Originally Posted by antonello09

I have three glofish, one endler, and one mollie. My ph is 7.0 my KB is 40 ppm, my Gh is 120 ppm, nitrite is 0 ppm, and nitrate is 20 ppm. I have some java moss and two caves.

The glofish and endler may not be an issue. The molly might be. They have bigger mouths and at times they may try to peck at a shrimp thinking its food. Watch the tank closely to see if that is happening at all. That may be the reason you don't see the shrimp out much, and it may also make them uncomfortable in their tank. Whenever I have added fish to my shrimp tank they stop breeding.

I know others may disagree, but I have come to the conclusion that shrimp+fish just doesn't work. Even little scarlet badis' will make them uncomfortable. (at least in my experience with them)

[wicca27]

thats why i like my least killi the adult shrimp are bigger than them lol

[Kinection]

At first, I had 6 saddled females, and I thought I didn't
have any males... but then the next morning, I had 4 berried.
I think a slightly colder water change/ feeding at night
does the trick. I had them for about 1 month, and now
I got a lot of babies picking at the gravel.
Just give them time I think. Have you seen any molts?
Do you have moss in the tank?

[antonello09]

Originally Posted by AquaticStory

At first, I had 6 saddled females, and I thought I didn't
have any males... but then the next morning, I had 4 berried.
I think a slightly colder water change/ feeding at night
does the trick. I had them for about 1 month, and now
I got a lot of babies picking at the gravel.
Just give them time I think. Have you seen any molts?
Do you have moss in the tank?

I have Java moss and I have seen a few molts. I guess I will just wait and lower the temp to 70.

[antonello09]

Originally Posted by Calmia22

The glofish and endler may not be an issue. The molly might be. They have bigger mouths and at times they may try to peck at a shrimp thinking its food. Watch the tank closely to see if that is happening at all. That may be the reason you don't see the shrimp out much, and it may also make them uncomfortable in their tank. Whenever I have added fish to my shrimp tank they stop breeding.

I know others may disagree, but I have come to the conclusion that shrimp+fish just doesn't work. Even little scarlet badis' will make them uncomfortable. (at least in my experience with them)

I don't think the molly is an issue because its just a baby. Thank you so much everyone!

[GeToChKn]

Originally Posted by wicca27

thats why i like my least killi the adult shrimp are bigger than them lol

Ya, I love the least kili's. Only have 3, had them breeding for a while, then moved them and now down to 3 and can't find anymore in my area.

[PuddlesAqua]

In my experience a goldfish will eat anything that fits in its mouth. If there is a shrimp sitting on a piece of moss, minding its own business, and the goldfish wanders by... it might eat it out of curiosity if nothing else. And your other fish may be stressing the shrimp out even if they're not attempting to eat the shrimp. I know it is tempting to keep fish and fish together but it's not really feasible.

[antonello09]

Originally Posted by PuddlesAqua

In my experience a goldfish will eat anything that fits in its mouth. If there is a shrimp sitting on a piece of moss, minding its own business, and the goldfish wanders by... it might eat it out of curiosity if nothing else. And your other fish may be stressing the shrimp out even if they're not attempting to eat the shrimp. I know it is tempting to keep fish and fish together but it's not really feasible.

I have glofish, not goldfish. Glofish are just scientifically modified zebra danios. I guess I will have to invest in a shrimp tank.

[Kinection]

Uhmmmmm... fire reds like warmer temperatures though,
unlike the cardina species. The slightly colder water
will usually trigger breeding though. Although they
like the warmer temps, you could keep them in a wide
range. If you do drop the temp, raise like 1-2 degrees
a day to be safe.
Good luck.