[Caliadria]

Hi all! First post!

So I've had my little planted tank for about 6 weeks now. My husband is, (supposedly), pretty good at the whole thing, so he set it up correctly, and has been answering my questions while I learn how to take care of my little guys. Well, he's out of town right now, and in meetings so I can't ask him questions, so I'm hoping you guys can help?

I have not yet welcomed new babies, but I do have two berried females. Actually, until this morning I thought I had one ("Scarlett"), but then I found this second one this morning. She was either hiding before, or I didn't notice her because she and Scarlett are approximately the same size. Anyway.

Problem: she appears to really be struggling. I'm not sure if she's trying to give birth, molt, drop eggs, or what. I've never actually watched a live birth.

Two video links here: The first, "Complications" was made immediately after I found her (the vocal is my message to my husband). In the second, "Skrimp Babies?", I say essentially the same things, but I'm posting both videos here because they're different "views".

She has been very active all morning, "flying" all around the tank from plant to plant, etc. Her attitude is completely normal; if it weren't for her um, abdominal activity, I would think she's perfectly fine.

Help?

Complications: https://youtu.be/Z70scdKDwXA

Skrimp Babies?: https://youtu.be/PhtcaPyY3Ws

Thank you!!!

 

[PortalMasteryRy]

I saw the video and your shrimp is doing fine. They usually try to aerate the eggs by fanning them. The amount of eggs they carry is a good sign. The mother seems to know which eggs are fertilized as she will drop unfertilized eggs. Also new mother shrimp have a tendency to end up with less eggs at first but I would not worry about it either.

Be sure to start providing baby shrimp food prior to the eggs hatching as it can happen any time. I remember I feed a small amount of baby food 1-2 times a week on top of the regular shrimp food. This allowed me to get more babies to reach juvenile size.

 

[Termato]

PortalMasterRy has hit the nail on the head. I've experienced the same thing with my shrimp. It's kind of funny to me, because I'm in the same situation with my girlfriend. She has started a shrimp / microdanio tank and I've been helping her along the way. Good luck with your shrimp!

If you do see anything wrong, just remember to check your water parameters. And if you still feel weird, just do a partial water changes. That always helps.

 

[Caliadria]

Thank you SO MUCH for your help and reassurance! This has made me feel SO much better! My tank is on the desk in my office - I have gotten almost NO work done, and even missed an appointment, because I've been glued to the tank watching her. This is also why it has taken me over an hour to respond! I um, may or may not be a little obsessed with my little guys.

Baby shrimp food: Is there a guideline as to which point in the gestation process that they "aerate" the eggs? Should I be ordering baby shrimp food on Amazon for overnight delivery or can I wait until the weekend? (And um, again, he's not around - what kind of baby shrimp food are we talking about here? Preferred brand?)

Incidentally, great news... I have now found two MORE berried females in the tank due to my near-obsessive observance this morning. And 7-8 with saddles! That means they're ready to mate, right?

Bump:

PortalMasterRy has hit the nail on the head. I've experienced the same thing with my shrimp. It's kind of funny to me, because I'm in the same situation with my girlfriend. She has started a shrimp / microdanio tank and I've been helping her along the way. Good luck with your shrimp!

If you do see anything wrong, just remember to check your water parameters. And if you still feel weird, just do a partial water changes. That always helps.

LOL My husband has an absolutely awesome planted tank (I'm not sure if he's a member here or not) and I would sit in his office and stare at them until he kicked me out to work, lol. So I bugged him for months to let me breed his shrimp. He finally bought me the little tank for Christmas. We've only had shrimp in it for about two weeks now because he was getting the tank ready, but I love them so much.

And we've both acknowledged that I need a bigger tank. Go big or go home! (ONLY shrimp though).

 

[PortalMasteryRy]

The saddles indicate they are ready to breed. They breed constantly so if the first few tries does not yield baby shrimp then that is OK. At one point all females should be berried all the time.

They will keep fanning the eggs on a constant basis until they hatch. Sometimes I see them moving the eggs around. I would not really stress about it too much.

I use Mosura Shrimpton for my baby shrimp food. I fed mine twice a week but I did have a ton of shrimp in different sizes. I made it part of their diet.

Also do not stress if you think the eggs have hatched and you do not see them around. It took me a 1-2 weeks to finally see the tiny 1-2 mm fry. They are so small and colorless.

Also if you get a chance, record your water parameters. Temp, GH, PH, TDS, etc. So once you get a bigger tank you can simply replicate the water parameters and get your bigger tank shrimp ready much faster. Stable water parameters are also key so if you can encounter issues you can always go back to the parameters that you had when they were successfully breeding which is a good sign you have the right water.

 

[Caliadria]

Everyone is still happy and healthy and wonderful. And one of the other girls is now fanning her eggs, too. Thank you again for your advice!

One little question: the water line in my tank looks pretty low... dangerously close to the filter line. I don't know how to (or whether I should) pre-treat the water before I add some. Can I just add a couple cups filtered water (at the proper temp, of course) to the tank or will that ruin the ph balance etc?

If I should pre-treat it, can you tell me what I should put in? My husband has a hundred little bottles and powders and things, I can surely find what I need in the collection.

Sorry to be such a pest!

 

[PortalMasteryRy]

If it is a small tank then use distilled water. I never took a chance with my shrimp. My top offs come from RO water which I bought a small RO filter for. If you are going with a big tank then RO water is a must because buying distilled water is expensive.

I also have my top offs done by an automatic top off system which adds small amount of RO water everyday. I try to avoid adding large amounts of water to keep the parameters stable. Cherry shrimp can work with a wide range of water parameters but like with any type of ornamental shrimp, you need to keep the parameters stable.

Try adding small amounts until you get it back to the right level.

If you are going to use tap then dechlorinate it with seachem prime and maybe age the water for 6-12 hours? The risk with tap is I know the tap source can change and the chemistry changes depending on the season too which affects the water parameters. This is the reason pro shrimp breeders use RO water.

If you are really into your shrimp then you might start looking into an RO unit =)