[cykeclops]

Hi there!
I set up a 165 litre (43.6 gallon) community tank in late august with cherry shrimp, ember tetras and rummynose tetras and I didn't really care about breeding any of them or anything. However, today I found two of my cherry shrimp carrying eggs and even though I didn't initially care I'm really excited and want to give them the best chance I can. Is there anything I can do to give them a better chance at survival?

(I've never kept fish or shrimp before this btw)

Photo of my tank here : )

 

[Crazyjayb]

Chances are most won't make it but to provide the best chances make sure you provide plenty of cover for them as well as make sure the fish are well fed.

 

[IKeepShrimp]

If you aren't interested in setting up a second tank for them, then the best hope is just making sure there is lots of cover for the babies to hide in. They will still get eaten every now and again but some will probably make it through with enough luck and enough leafy hiding spaces.

 

[cykeclops]

If you aren't interested in setting up a second tank for them, then the best hope is just making sure there is lots of cover for the babies to hide in.

I recently found a 17 litre (4.5 gallon) tank in my grandparents garage and wasn't sure what to do with it. It's pretty dirty and even had plants growing in the old filter compartment but do you think I could clean it up and set up a tank before the babies are born?

 

[Econde]

I recently found a 17 litre (4.5 gallon) tank in my grandparents garage and wasn't sure what to do with it. It's pretty dirty and even had plants growing in the old filter compartment but do you think I could clean it up and set up a tank before the babies are born?

Don't rush it. You'll have to clean it thoroughly, set it up and let it cycle. You can just hope for the best. Like everyone said provide as much cover as you possibly can.

In the meantime, set the 4.5 gallon up!

 

[en7jos]

I recently found a 17 litre (4.5 gallon) tank in my grandparents garage and wasn't sure what to do with it. It's pretty dirty and even had plants growing in the old filter compartment but do you think I could clean it up and set up a tank before the babies are born?

Maybe move the fish out temporarily to the new tank, and leave the more sensitive shrimp in their current home?

A big bundle of moss or subwassertang makes a great hiding place for new born shrimplets. With any luck you won't see them for the first week or two, and neither will the fish!

 

[cykeclops]

Maybe move the fish out temporarily to the new tank, and leave the more sensitive shrimp in their current home?

Unfortunately I can't move my fish anywhere because I have 18 tetras combined and no tank big enough to hold them : (

A big bundle of moss or subwassertang makes a great hiding place for new born shrimplets. With any luck you won't see them for the first week or two, and neither will the fish!

This weekend I'm going to go to my LFS to get supplies to set up the 17L so I'll definitely grab some subwassertang and moss for my current tank!

I'm not 100% sure I'll get this new tank done in time and I might end up leaving the shrimp and their babies in my community tank but I'm still going to set it up because I can use it if I'm in a similar situation in the future.

 

[en7jos]

Unfortunately I can't move my fish anywhere because I have 18 tetras combined and no tank big enough to hold them : (

In that case, I guess all you can do is to provide lots of hiding places and keep your fingers crossed! :wink2:

 

[Zoidburg]

If you set up the smaller tank now with media from the bigger tank you *MIGHT* be able to get it cycled before the babies hatch.... however, there really wont be much biofilm for the shrimp to graze on as it's not a very mature tank.... but it's doable.

 

[Shrimpandwhitewine]

With regard to creating additional cover for the babies in the main community tank, I've been recently watching a ton of shrimp related YouTube videos and I've seen recommendations for building a rock pile in the tank. It seems it's a great place for the berried shrimp to release the babies. If you already have some rocks in the tank, piling them up would be great because the shrimplets can hide in there and there will be biofilm on the rocks for them to graze on.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLW8WghQ9-8

 

[Reece_Huff]

your best bet is going to be supplying as many hiding places as you can. My shrimps have had the best yield with really dense carpeting plants. I've had major success with a thick carpet of dwarf sag. I say carpeting plants just because most fish will stay either mid-level or at the top of the tank.

 

[victorusaconte]

Low light led shrimps and snails to be more active

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[mfgann]

I recommend setting up the 4.5G as others have said. Take old filter media, a sack of substrate (or fill the bottom with substrate from the old tank) and if you have any logs/plants you can move into the small tank it would be good. The more you move over there, the quicker the cycling will happen. Anything you move will also have the biofilm that the babies will need to feed. That said it will still happen, and stress the shrimp. You might lose this round of babies, but if you get that 4.5G cycled, you can move some shrimp into it and breed some over there.

Also be sure you are careful about your filter selection. Most filters are baby shrimp blenders. A sponge filter is a great one for a small tank like that. If you have a HOB style, you at least need to buy the sponge cover for the intake.

Good luck!

 

[j_iffy]

Seconding everything everyone else has said:
- Gets LOTS of moss- they love it. It grows fast, great hiding places for baby shrimp, and holds a lot of bio-film they'll eat.
- Set up new tank now for the future- don't rush putting anything in that tank though. I was having trouble keeping shrimp in my tank even after 6-8 weeks. It wasn't until 3-3.5 months after the tank was set up and run for awhile before I could sustain any sort of numbers.
- Look into a sponge filter for the small tank- they're cheap and easy. If you have a filter already or are looking at getting one, at least make sure there's a sponge on the intake (if there's no sponge on the intake, it will suck up all the baby shrimp).

ALSO- Do yourself a favor and get Bacter AE. It spreads a biofilm for your shrimp to eat and it increases baby survival rate tenfold. Since I've been using Bacter AE, I haven't had a single problem with my shrimp and I seriously think it makes a huge difference. (Just make sure you make really small doses- one container will last forever)

Goodluck!!

 

[Zoidburg]

I would recommend being careful about Bacter AE. A lot of people swear by it, so it works great for many! However, it has also been known to kill shrimp, even potentially an entire colony when it was fed at either recommended or half dose or even fed at all.


It's believed that it removes oxygen from the water column, thus suffocating shrimp.


I've never used the stuff personally, but there's plenty of anecdotal data out there. That is, it can vary from person to person, perhaps even colony to colony aka type of shrimp vs type of shrimp.

 

[Shrimpandwhitewine]

I would recommend being careful about Bacter AE. A lot of people swear by it, so it works great for many! However, it has also been known to kill shrimp, even potentially an entire colony when it was fed at either recommended or half dose or even fed at all.


It's believed that it removes oxygen from the water column, thus suffocating shrimp.


I've never used the stuff personally, but there's plenty of anecdotal data out there. That is, it can vary from person to person, perhaps even colony to colony aka type of shrimp vs type of shrimp.

I’ve heard that too about Bacter AE and I’ve adjusted to feeding way, way less than the recommended scoop. I don’t use a half scoop or even a quarter scoop. I use about an eighth of a scoop once a week and it seems to work well and I haven’t recorded any deaths since toning down the quantity. I think it’s good stuff, but the recommended dosage is entirely too high.

 

[[email protected]]

Hi there!
I set up a 165 litre (43.6 gallon) community tank in late august with cherry shrimp, ember tetras and rummynose tetras and I didn't really care about breeding any of them or anything. However, today I found two of my cherry shrimp carrying eggs and even though I didn't initially care I'm really excited and want to give them the best chance I can. Is there anything I can do to give them a better chance at survival?

(I've never kept fish or shrimp before this btw)

Photo of my tank here : )

What about an acrylic breeding box... with some moss in it... might be an easier option for this time

 

[en7jos]

Regarding BacterAE, I'm in the camp who think it's great on the ***big proviso*** that you ditch the supplied spoon and dose a small fraction of what the instructions say. All my shrimp (from few day old babies to the big ones) go mad for it! I use a very small (3 or 4 mm diameter?) kids drinking straw - the type you get with Yakulk probiotic drinks. I cut the end at an oblique angle so as to form a tiny shovel. I then add about 1/2 to 1/3 of what I could fit into this tiny scoop into my 11 litres tanks. I used to mix in with tank water in a syringe and squirt it in, but now I just throw it on the surface. The shrimp zoom up, find something to hang beneath and filter it from the surface. My chilli rasboras also seem to love it.

I've read that others feed by dipping a tooth pick into the BacterAE pot and what sticks to the end is their dose. Think this illustrates just how little of the stuff you need!

 

[cykeclops]

Hi guys! Sorry for no updates!
I set up the 4.5g a while ago and added plants, driftwood, substrate, filter media and indian almond leaves that had all been in the previous tank. I also added some snowflake food and let it sit there and grow fungus, added some snails to create ammonia and added some fluval biological booster all to speed up the cycle. I added a few male shrimp a few days ago to make sure it was 100% safe before adding the more sensitive berried shrimp and they've been doing great! I'm planning on adding the berried shrimp soon.
Thanks for all your advice everybody!!

Photos of the 4.5g:
[1] [2] [3]

 

[SardinePatheNews]

if you worried about there being enough to eat make up some spirulina powder and gelatin ' jelly' , loved by shrimp of all sizes and won't just sit in the water column briefly before embedding itself in the filter foam like loose powdery food tend to