ruskie13 Posted January 6, 2019 Report Share Posted January 6, 2019 I'm looking for some advice. I purchased my first RCS today at my lfs and on arriving home I've noticed that one is heavily pregnant. Through reading and examining her - it seems she is pretty far along and the eggs seem to have eyes (which apparently is a sign she's a few days from releasing them). Given I hadn't expected shrimp babies (or this soon), my tank filter intake may pose a risk to potential hatchings. As a result I have put her in a floating breeder box with some moss and other plants that have established biofilm and goodies for her to snack on. I have placed a thin layer of filter foam on the bottom of the box to hopefully prevent the hatchings from falling through (the holes in it are large in comparison to what they likely will be). I plan on buying some tights tomorrow to cover the filter intake, but do you guys have any other advice on helping the mother shrimp and hatchings? Since she came home from the fish store today, I imagine it's not the calmest circumstances for her, so wondered whether I should leave her be in the breeder box until she releases the eggs? The water parameters in the tank are very stable, and temp is at 27-28 °C which I have read is most suitable for preggo shrimp. All other species are peaceful (neon green rasbora and pygmy corys) and it is stocked to 50% of total capacity. Any advice on this situation or shrimp keeping in general would be amazing!! It appears that the lfs accidentally gave me a lone amano shrimp aswell - so I will be getting it some buddies as soon as I know that the current shrimp are happy with the habitat. Thanks, Shrimp noob Amber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGlassBox Posted January 6, 2019 Report Share Posted January 6, 2019 Is it a shrimp only tank? If it is, I'd just cover up the filter intake and put her in the main tank. There will be more places for the babies to hide once born among all the plants. And more food and biofilm. Also, more places for the Mom to hide until giving birth. Pregnant Moms like to hide a lot. They'll come out to eat, but hiding makes them feel more secure. Shrimp Life 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruskie13 Posted January 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2019 It's a community tank of peaceful micro fish species. Lots of hiding places so that shouldn't be a problem. Haven't managed to get out to buy tights to cover the filter intake. I have some already, but they've been through the washing machine so I'm worried about traces of detergent that may be on them. Do you know any easy diy ways to cover the filter intake? I have filter foam that could cover it, but it may be too dense and make the filter burn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGlassBox Posted January 6, 2019 Report Share Posted January 6, 2019 I love small fish!! I have 5 tanks of small schoolers! I'd go with the filter foam. Covering filter intakes with shrimp is an evil necessity. It will reduce the filter's ability to clear the water as the larger particles won't get through so they can't be removed by the filter. But if you don't have one, you'll loose the babies... Small peaceful fish will still eat the babies if they can catch one. Even something as small as a rice fish or a chili raspbora. The babies are that small. The only fish that won't eat them are otos. That being said, I keep neos in all of my fish tanks. Once they get breeding, the fish will get some, but some always manage to escape and keep the population going. And adding neos to a community tank is a great way to add interest with a very low impact to the bioload. I don't tend to keep caridinas in with fish, unless I have an overabundance of them. Caridinias don't breed as prolifically as Neocaridinias. That's why they're pricier than Neos. Since you don't get so many babies from them, every one is precious. Most folks don't mix caridinias with fish. And most folks who keep caridinias use sponge filters in the tank as they won't suck up any babies. I do have some PRLs in a tank with small schoolers, but I only did that because I had another shrimp only tank with too many in it. So I put some PRL culls in with the fish... It looks really nice and if the population died off tomorrow, well I always have more culls LOL. I certainly wouldn't have done it with my best shrimp. So I'd just go with the filter sponge. Lots of folks use filter sponge for this purpose. Coarse filter foam works best as it impedes the water flow the least but will still prevent most babies from getting sucked up into the filter. It may shorten the life of the filter, but not too badly. I usually get 3-4 years of life out of a marineland canister filter with foam on the intake before the motor finally goes. And I've done it with HOBs as well. Maybe I'd get an extra year of life out of one if I didn't use it, but then I wouldn't be able to keep the creatures I want. So don't worry, it won't blow the motor overnight unless it was already getting ready to die. What's that in the bottom of the breeder box? It looks like coarse foam.... If the foam that you have is too fine, just rinse an old pair of panty hose really really well. Let it soak for a few minutes in water in between rinses to make sure all the soap is out. A final swish in some water with dechlorinator would be good. I've used panty hose in an emergency when I was low on filter sponge. Tights tend to be heavier material than panty hose, so they might impede the flow more. If you still feel uncomfortable with that, I suppose you could just leave them in the floating breeding box. You might loose the least amount of babies that way anyway. Just make sure the water gets changed and there's some kind of aeration or water movement. But once you have a few berried ladies in your community tank, you'll probably be okay if it's heavily planted. Yeah, the fish will get some. But they probably won't get them all. 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimp Life Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 Also your temp is rather high, Neos have less problems in a lower temp closer to 20 degrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGlassBox Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 Nice catch Shrimp Life! The fish would probably appreciate it a little warmer, but 23 ought to be fine for everybody. Shrimp Life 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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