I have heard that 10-15 is a good starting point.
Recommended group size to start with?? (is there one)
I was curious - is there a recommended number of shrimp to start a new colony with? I see a lot of sellers shipping shrimp in lots of 5, 10, and so forth. Is there a safe minimum where you can expect enough to survive to reproductive age (given that many are shipped at very small sizes)?
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I started from 10, 15 and 50 shrimps... It doesn't matter, 10 is enough for a start 
I got 3 Red Cherry Shrimps (2 females & 1 male), now I have 60 or so (probably more little ones hiding) after a little over 3 months.
One of the females was already berried when I got it and I have no fish in the tank, only other 3 Amano shrimps.
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One of the females was already berried when I got it and I have no fish in the tank, only other 3 Amano shrimps.
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If you have a properly set up tank there's no reason they should not survive to breeding age .That said I usually start with at least 20
I would start with 5 if you are guaranteed a mix of makes and females and know how to take care of shrimp well. Otherwise, I'd start with 10 to make sure you get a mix.
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I think 20 plus is a good number, yes you can do it with less, but 20 gives a decent safety margin and if you order from 2 sellers, out get some local to supplement you have a wider pool of genetics as well.
I would recommend a minimum of 10, as well, even better, 10 each from 2 different sellers.
I received 12 Blue dream Neo. 10 survived, 2 females, and found the 2nd one berried today. Yai!!
Congrats - I've never managed to get a berried female. They just sort of dwindle over several weeks until the last one dies (usually while molting). No trouble with any other kind of invertebrate though (ghost shrimp, amano shrimp, snails...all happy). Not counting the attempt where they all arrived DOA.I received 12 Blue dream Neo. 9 survived... only 1 female. I cross fingers
In fact, 10 survived, 2 females, and found the 2nd one berried today. Yai!!
Trying again - got them from a different seller and just had a successful molting with no death - so here's hoping. I gave them too many hiding places, so I can't see more than 1-2 at a time....but they seem healthy.
Supreme Fish, do you know what your GH, KH and TDS are at?
Usually, deaths by molts are caused either from too soft of water or too hard of water.
Usually, deaths by molts are caused either from too soft of water or too hard of water.
i have 6 mature CS and I cant get them to breed, even though they are all very much ready enough to, any advice on how I can get them going? >I got 3 Red Cherry Shrimps (2 females & 1 male), now I have 60 or so (probably more little ones hiding) after a little over 3 months.
One of the females was already berried when I got it and I have no fish in the tank, only other 3 Amano shrimps.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
:x:nerd:Start 5. You fail, you lose the least amount of money. You succeed, and you start a whole colony from 5 shrimp.
You're basically guaranteed to get atleast 1 male and 1 female from a group of 5.
You're basically guaranteed to get atleast 1 male and 1 female from a group of 5.
I don't know TDS, but the GH came in at 7 and KH at 12 (pH 7.6), and since I tested these too: Nitrates less than 5, nitrate 0, ammonia 0.Supreme Fish, do you know what your GH, KH and TDS are at?
Usually, deaths by molts are caused either from too soft of water or too hard of water.
The previous shrimps typically died in the days following the molt rather than during the molt itself. No trouble with ghost or amano shrimp (both are breeding - although obviously the amano are not having viable offspring).
Current group is doing fine, and the molter has been spotted and is still alive and well. Fingers crossed!
If you have no trouble with your current shrimp, then keep the parameters as they are.
If you end up having die offs again, it might help to try and figure out a way to lower the KH while keeping the GH about the same, then see if this helps any.
I believe that ghost and amano shrimp tend to be more forgiving of water parameters than the smaller "ornamental" shrimp do.
Best way to encourage breeding is to get the females to molt. As long as they are ready to molt, you can use colder water at a water change to get them to molt, then breed. You just don't want them molting too often. It is possible to induce a molt in a berried female, which can cause her to molt and drop her eggs simultaneously.
If you are using tap water, do you know the GH and KH of your tap?
If you end up having die offs again, it might help to try and figure out a way to lower the KH while keeping the GH about the same, then see if this helps any.
I believe that ghost and amano shrimp tend to be more forgiving of water parameters than the smaller "ornamental" shrimp do.
Best way to encourage breeding is to get the females to molt. As long as they are ready to molt, you can use colder water at a water change to get them to molt, then breed. You just don't want them molting too often. It is possible to induce a molt in a berried female, which can cause her to molt and drop her eggs simultaneously.
If you are using tap water, do you know the GH and KH of your tap?
I think you need another tank with different water parameter. It sounds like you have really hard water and suffers during molting or after molted.... I think you should grab a TDS meter on amazon or ebay .They're cheap and really useful for shrimps!
if shrimp are in hard water this will happen:
(personal experience, felt really bad afterwards since this is so cruel in my opinion... T-T) The shrimp will not be able to molt out of its old shell, causing it to basically go crazy and kill itself, think of it as you with a cardboard box around your entire body, you eventually just go insane and die... Hard knock life man
(personal experience, felt really bad afterwards since this is so cruel in my opinion... T-T) The shrimp will not be able to molt out of its old shell, causing it to basically go crazy and kill itself, think of it as you with a cardboard box around your entire body, you eventually just go insane and die... Hard knock life man
Hmm, well I think the GH and KH are somewhat higher than the average shrimp tank (cherry, not crystal obviously) but not unheard of. Since the previous shrimp did not have trouble molting, but died after molting...I'm inclined to think something stress-related may have been more at fault. My new shrimp seem to be doing quite well, and the one molt thus far was successful and that shrimp is looking A-OK.
I'm going to let this play out a bit more before I start changing things, but I will update on how things go with my death-water.
Edited to add: the GH and KH I reported are identical between the tap and tank water.
I'm going to let this play out a bit more before I start changing things, but I will update on how things go with my death-water.
Edited to add: the GH and KH I reported are identical between the tap and tank water.
Sorry for the late reply, the Hollidays have been taking a lot of my time lately. I believe the reason my shrimp have been reproducing so fast is that I put some crashed coral in my HOB filter. The first female got berried about a week or so after I added the coral, and it's been a baby boom after that.i have 6 mature CS and I cant get them to breed, even though they are all very much ready enough to, any advice on how I can get them going? >
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about a week ago I found 3 of my females where all pregnant, waiting for babies now...Sorry for the late reply, the Hollidays have been taking a lot of my time lately. I believe the reason my shrimp have been reproducing so fast is that I put some crashed coral in my HOB filter. The first female got berried about a week or so after I added the coral, and it's been a baby boom after that.
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