[matt_t]

hi
im new to this forum and relitivly new to keeping planted tanks, i apoloize in advance if i have re posted a common subject.

about 11 months ago i bought a fluval edge and decided to set it up as a shrimp tank,
i have read that cherry red shrimp are very easy to breed and keep so i bought some of them, i currently have about 15-20 shrimp in the tank (hard to count them) and 5 Otto cats.
over the past 11 months i have not had them breed even once so i must be doing something wrong??
they seem perfectly healthy and ive only had 3 or 4 die in that time

if any one could shed any light on to why they are not breeding and give me some tips it would be much apreciated

my tank is a fluval edge, with a mixture of Oliver Knott Nature Soil and black fine sandy stuff as a substrate. a few live plants (not sure of thier names) i know one is java fern
i have a pre filter in the intake and an adjustable heater set to 27 celcius

and also a few rocks as ornaments

i do a 30% weekly water change

i think i have listed every thing you may need to know
if any one could help or tell me why my shrimp are not breeding, i am very keen to get it right.

P.s one of my otto's seems thinner and has a smaller stomach than the others, is there anything i need to suplement for him
i currently feed them alge wafers and cat fish pellets and the occasional blacnched zuchini, cucumber and peas.

thanks for reading
and thanks in advance for any replies

 

[BradH]

Your temp is kind of high. That will usually keep them from breeding, so I've learned.

 

[piffy]

Really? I'd think high temp increases metabolism and breeding in cherries. My cherries did fine in high temps.

Can you tell us your other water parameters?

pH? Ammonia? NO2? NO3? kH? gH?

Do you see any berried shrimp (shrimp with eggs)?

 

[matt_t]

thanks for your quick replys

i have read that the ideal tempreature for cherry red shrimp is 27 celcius, for a while the tank was at 30 celcius and they where fine, i did not have a digital thermometer and my fluval edge heater must have been faulty, since then i have used an adjustable heater and set it using a digital thermometer it not stays between 26-27 celcius.

would you sudjest colling it down to arroud 22-24 celcius to see if that make a difference?

no i have never seen a berried shrimp in my tank.

i think my problem may lie in my male to female ratio. is there a given amount to aim for or should breeding be possible with one of each. i'd have thaught the bigger the population the better withing reason

also i have trouble telling the males and females apart. i know the females are bigger especialy at the rear but i see larger ones with the rounded under bellies with no saddle and smaller thinner ones with a saddle. also some of the saddles are dark almost black in colour.

a few weeks ago i noticed two of my shrimp with a thin clear band around them one thinker than the other's, i read that this was a resuls of stress but i could not think of anything i had done to cause this, niether shrimp has died and one has no clear band at all now the other still has a slight one left. any ideas what may have caused this.

as for my water perameters i dont know much other than every time i have the water tested at the lfs it is all fine 'perfect' is what the tester says most times.

i will have the tests done tomorrow and record the exact levels if this helps

again thanks for your replies and any more info or light you can shed on the subject would be great

 

[BradH]

Mine wouldn't breed at all. I turned the heater off. Then they started breeding like crazy. However, since it's been so hot this summer they quit breeding because my temps went up. So I would try turning the heater completely off and see what happens.

 

[matt_t]

thanks BradH
interesting bit of info, i will try it. or at least turn the heater down, do you know the temp of the tank when your heater was off to give me somthing to aim for?

also what would be safe to go down to for the shrimp and ottos? i dont know if the ottos like it hotter or colder but i do know they are very sensetive to change.

again thanks for all your info

 

[BradH]

Hmm. I replied to this, but for some reason it didn't show up. Here it is again

I would lower your temp by 2 degrees each day until you get down to 74F. That should be safe for the oto as well.

 

[matt_t]

thanks

i will try this and let you know how i get on

as i said before i dont know my exact water perameters but i will find out
all i know is the guy at the LFS says its percectly safe and theres no hight nitates or bad stuff,

does any one know what water parrameters are best to aim for. high or low ph etc

i once added apiece of corral/cluster of shells (not sure exactly what it was but i was told it was safe for my tank inhabitants but would slightly increase the ph. i noticed after a few days my ottos went quiet and dint eat as much so i took it back out and they seem better now so i presume ottos dont like too high ph levels.
recently my ottos have been displaying typical behavior and appear nice and healthy with plump bellys. the one i mentiond in a previous post has since plumped up. i have though, noticed a slight red couloration around the gill/head area of most of the otos

never noticed it before but not sure how long they have been like that. anyone know if this is something to worry about or is this a normal feature of ottos?

thanks again