[elf123]

Hi all,

I have a tank with 2 adult RCS, 5 adult Blood Marys, and 3 Royal Blue Tigers. I have about 12 four week old RCS shrimplets and 10 one week old RCS shrimplets.

Things have been stable. I found one of my four week old shrimpies dead. They have been thriving and so fun to watch. At night they have started swimming crazy near the top and around the tank about the same time of night until I feed them a little bit of Glas Garten Shrimp Baby food. All ages seem to love it and this doesn't seem to change my TDS or parameters so I have been just giving about 1/4 supplied spoon full in the evenings. They all seem to gobble it up quickly and the wild swimming stops. It's almost as though they are asking for the food. I give them a blanched piece of organic spinach every 3-4 days and sometimes some Bacter AE or Shirakura food. Basically, I rotate everything every few days except the Shrimp Baby food.

Is it normal to lose a shrimplet? What's a typical survival rate and what age range does 'shrimplet survival rate' constitute? Just curious as a newbie to the hobby. I was disappointed. Their coloring, growth, and behavior has been great.

Just curious.

Am I feeding them too much?

 

[garfieldnfish]

It is normal to loose an occasional shrimplet. Hard to tell if you are feeding them too much as I don't know how large the spoon is, but with the number of shrimp that you have they should be able to get most of their food by grazing on the tank surfaces. I also feed my shrimp every day but I also have snails in the tanks with them and the snails will eat the left over shrimp food and when they multiply too fast I remove some of the snails and cut down on the food. The snails are my control group.

 

[Jasper408]

Unfortunately, the survival rate would be hard to quantify. Not only are they minuscule, but any dead is potentially scavenged very quickly. I have yet to see a dead shrimplet, though their 'r' reproductive strategy would hint at a low survival rate. 4 weeks, however, is potentially near sexual maturity and they would probably be classified as juveniles.

In regard to overfeeding, anecdotal evidence indicates that although they can't overeat, it's possible that the bioload could become greater than what the system could handle. What is your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate at?

 

[Mango]

You are most likely polluting your tank with that much baby food.

1/4 spoon full is enough to feed roughly 100-200 juvi shrimps and you only have about 20.

 

[elf123]

Thanks all.

My TDS has always been around 180, Ammonia/nitrite/nitrate always read 0 so I don't think it's that. I will cut back on feedings. The spoon provided is really small but I would estimate a little goes a long way. I think, as a newcomer, the biofilm is tough to see if at all and so I feel like maybe there's not enough food for them. I can see what I am adding so I think I am doing good, but perhaps I am not.

What snails help in shrimp tanks without making a big mess or bioload. I was thinking of adding a single Nerite since I only have a 3G JBJ Picotope. Thoughts?

 

[garfieldnfish]

MTSs, ramshorns or mini ramshorns all work well with shrimp.

 

[mredman]

What is your pH?
Mike

 

[elf123]

What is your pH?
Mike

Runs low 7's

 

[mredman]

You are fine. A pH under 7 is very undesirable for most invertebrates.

Mike

 

[elf123]

What is your pH?
Mike

You are fine. A pH under 7 is very undesirable for most invertebrates.

Mike

I don't check it all the time. I mainly keep tabs on my TDS to know when to do a water change now that everything else seems to stay stable with RO water changes and top offs. I don't know if this is the best, but every time I check all the other parameters they seem to remain the same.

I have a heavily planted small tank that I like to be very clean to enjoy. I love watching the shrimp dance through the water. It's so peaceful.