Questions about breeding net?

[sara-86]

I have ordered 10 cherry shrimp for my community tank.

After ordering them I read the full description and realised they are juveniles between 0.6mm and 1cm.

I recently did a swap on the fish in my 64l planted tank,

I now have :- 6 otos, 5 golden cloud minnows, 5 rummys, 3 amano shrimp, a rabbit snail, a bulldog pleco and a male betta.

I'm slightly overstocked, but I do 25% water change once a week and always test my parameters before and after so no ammonia, nitrite and low nitrate.

The tank itself has been setup for a couple of years now.

I'm also cycling a tank for my betta, he mean.

Anyway I was wondering if I would be better to keep my cherries in a breeding net until the betta moves out and they grow a little bit, it would get better circulation than the plastic trap.

I'm worried that the size they are my minnows and rummys or even my amanos might take the opportunity to snack on them.

How long could they realistically be in the net?

What sort of size do they need to be for the minnows and rummys to leave them alone?

How long will it take them to grow?

They will have their own food and any excess can be easily removed, I have plenty of moss they can have and a thin plastic mess that can be added to the bottom incase the fish try to grab them through the net.

Any help or advice would be brilliant thank you

[ibebian]

The rummy and betta may try and snack on them especially since the RCS being added new to the tank. If you can keep them separate (maybe the Marina breeder box) might be a good idea otherwise try a few to observe how the tank reacts

[Mr. F]

They can stay in the breeders pretty much indefinitely. I too would recommend a marina or ziss breeder as well. I have a small colony of cherries that have been in a large marina for over 2 months. No deaths, several berries. You can add a thin layer of substrate to the bottom which seem to make the shrimp more comfortable, and they get great circulation!

[35ppt]

At any size, the rummys and minnows probably won't leave them alone. You will have to provide tons of hiding spots. Or better yet, their own tank.

The breeding net might work OK for a bit. I think they might not like the holes in the net, though, as they are constantly 'picking' to get their food. The Marina brand box is plastic. You just need to modify it so the littlest shrimps can't get out where the water returns to the main tank.

[sara-86]

I did have 10 adult cherries in the tank until I added the betta, he was living with amano and cherry shrimp in a tank at my LFS but he actively hunted mine tearing himself up in the process. I have loads of plants, rocks, wood and a coconut cave only the shrimp can fit inside. The rummys were fine with the adults but I swapped my platys for the minnows as the platys kept pulling up my carpet plants so I don't know how the minnows will be.

I'm cycling a tank for my betta at the moment it's almost there but I know shrimp don't do well in new tanks.

The marina breeder I have is plastic and has slits up two sides for circulation and that's it, I thought a net might be better for circulation, I do have a fine plastic mesh that can be added to the bottom or some gravel and I'll add some moss.

What about keeping them in one of the breeder traps for a few months while the betta tank ages a bit then putting them in it and my betta back in the main tank?

Which breeding box would be better out of the 2 I have?

Thanks for your help

[ibebian]

I'd say use the Marina.

[sara-86]

They arrived a couple of hours ago, slowly acclimatised them and added them to the net with gravel at the bottom, a moss ball some java moss and a shrimp bowl to make it easier to remove food.

It's larger than my plastic one the mesh in the net is smaller than the slits on the plastic breeder as well. Some of them are pretty tiny.

Do you think they will be ok?

I checked all my parameters as well :- ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm and nitrate 10-20ppm

[sara-86]

Ok, I'm freaking out a bit. I added them between 1-2pm this afternoon. They have hardly stopped swimming round the net since they went in, I haven't seen them graze really just swim around. My ammonia and nitrite are both 0ppm nitrate is between 10-20ppm. I did a 20% water change and that hasn't stopped them all my amanos and my snail seam fine, fish are all fine. Whats wrong with my cherries? There was a exoskeleton in the bag so I'm not sure if a female is ready to mate, aren't they to young? The biggest ones are about 1.2cm and quite red. Is there anything I can do? They are still going 9 hours on.

Please help

[35ppt]

I think most people try to have nitrates close to zero. Water change is one way to get there,but as you know,you have to do things gradually with shrimp. Floating plants will also help.

I think maybe when water parameters are different from what they had,it might make them swim a lot?

They molt to grow,so even if they're not ready to breed they will still molt.

 

[sara-86]

It was between 10-20ppm before I did a 20% water change I didn't retest it. I will test it and do another 20% tomorrow if it's still above 10ppm. I've added a stem plant and there's a plant floating at the surface in the net as well as he moss ball and java moss, there's loads of plants in the tank there's also a 6' airstone along the back of the tank that's in the stream of my filter.

I no they molt to grow I ment are they to small/young to be releasing hormones for mating making every swim around crazy?

My temp is at 28°c should I drop it a bit, is it close to their limit?

Will they die? They are still swimming round the net

[sara-86]

I sound crazy reading the end of that back lol I don't want them to die, I'm really worried about them but apart from another water change I don't know what I can do, I really hope it's just the change to there normal water and they will be ok. They are so small I'm scared I'm going to wake up tomorrow and they will all be dead at the bottom of the net :-(

[Mr. F]

Cool them off!

[35ppt]

2 hours ago, sara-86 said:

 

I no they molt to grow I ment are they to small/young to be releasing hormones for mating making every swim around crazy?

My temp is at 28°c should I drop it a bit, is it close to their limit?

Will they die? They are still swimming round the net

Oh, I see what you mean. Sounds possible it's the hormones.

I keep my tank at room temp, which goes up to about 20C, and I think above that is risky. Are you using a heater??

[sara-86]

Ok the tank is down to 25-26°c I don't want to go to much lower for my fish. Yeah it has a heater, I live on Scotland room temp at my house is about 16°c on a good day. They are still swimming round like mad, I ended up doing another 20% water change at half past midnight last night but there's still no change this morning. They don't stop, I haven't seen any of them eat. They will die soon if I can't find out what wrong

[ShrimpP]

You could go down to 24*C or even a tad lower. Most of your fish, the otos, minnows and pleco would prefer the cooler water anyways. Rummys and Amanos would be fine.

I would say your cherry shrimp are just stressed (from normal transporting and and acclimation) or maybe even a bit excited (like water changes trigger more activity, but in this case, not a water change, but a new tank). If you want, give them something to hide under/in, and/or put some floating plants for them to hang/hide under.

The temp is a bit high, but RCS are hardy and I know many people that have kept them in high temps just fine. As long as you acclimated them slow enough (if you did it way too fast, the shrimp would not be so active, but rather shocked and really inactive). Leaving the lights off can help them calm down if it's stress reasons.

[sara-86]

Thank you, i just did a quick online check of my fishes temperature ranges and I agree with you I'm slowly bringing my temp down to 24°c I think everyone will be ok at that temp.

I drip fed them my tank water while floating them in a bowl in the tank with a thermometer once the temperature finally matched I transferred them and kept the light off for a couple of hours when they went in, but they have never stopped.

They had gravel, a moss ball and some java moss in the net when they went in, I also added a stem plant and some floating plant to give them more cover they are still swimming round.

When I did my first water change I gave my filter a clean incase it wasn't flowing properly but it seems fine. I'm just about to retest my parameters and see if I need to do any more water changes.

I also gave them a shrimpking pellet late on last night it's not been touched so I've removed it.

They are all still alive at the moment but still really over active.

[ShrimpP]

Just them being non-stop active, I personally wouldn't worry too much. If all the water parameters really check out fine and they were acclimated gradually, I bet they will be fine. They can go way over a week without eating, so that wouldn't worry me either. If they were inactive (not even moving their arms/legs or swimmeretts) or their body tissue was milky white, then I would be more worried.

Are any of the fish trying to peck or swoop at the shrimp?

I really think the shrimp will be fine and shouldn't die. They should calm down within a day if the water chemistry is alright (no real need to do a water change if params are correct, but if you do, only do maybe 10-20%). Able to test TDS?

If you have a piece of cholla wood, put it in there to act as a shelter.

[sara-86]

Thanks again, I hope you are right.

I retested parameters - ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm and nitrate 5ppm my ph stays around 6.8 - 7. what does TDS stand for? I only have an api master test kit. The temperature is still about 25° c and dropping slowly.

I did treat my tank about a month ago with esha Exit, it has small amounts of copper but is ment to be shrimp and snail safe, all my shrimp and my snail survived the treatment no strange behaviour while I was dosing the tank either. The tank has had 2 50% water changes (one a week to bring the copper down) 2 25% water change (my normal every week amount) and 2 20% water changes ( yesterday when the shrimp went in) surly there can't be any copper left?

I don't have any cholla wood, I have a tantora catappa log in the tank I could add to there net.

The fish can't get to them through the net, my betta has had a look but hasn't charged at the net or anything.

[ShrimpP]

Do you have a GH (general hardness) and KH (carbonate hardness) test kits? Those parameters are important. API sells a separate test kits for these.

TDS is Total Dissolved Solids. You use a TDS meter. Fairly important as well.

[sara-86]

Sorry I can't test any of them, if I order the kits today it would probably be Monday or Tuesday before they arrive. My LFS only sells the api master kit and I'm in pretty rural area. I didn't know about the TDS meter I will have to find one as well. Should I do another 20% water change, maybe once the temperature is at 24° just incase?

I don't get why they are so crazy my other cherries were fine until I got my betta and the amanos and snail are happily grazing round the tank

[ShrimpP]

What's your pH?

RCS are really hardy. If the Amanos and snails are doing well, the RCS should too. Even without knowing the GH, KH, TDS, those shouldn't cause the hyperactive shrimp behavior. Copper toxicity wouldn't either.

The shrimp aren't trying to climb out of the breeder net right? Pretty sure they are not.

I still think the new RCS should be fine, just need a bit of time to calm down. Guess we'll just wait to hear an update after they've been in 24-48 hours.

 

Not sure what your TDS is, but if you have been doing water changes weekly or so beforehand, TDS should be in acceptable ranges. And so, I personally would not do another water change. The water change may just have them get even more active (shrimp and fish often get more active after a water change).

[sara-86]

Ok, api gh and kh test kit is ordered as well as TDS meter and an underwater digital thermometer, I have a glass tube underwater thermometer just now but the lines indicate at every 2° I will hopefully get better accuracy with that. The test kit should be here by wed at the latest but the TDS meter and the thermometer won't be here until the end of the week.

I'll leave them until tomorrow and see what they are like once they have been at a better temperature for a while, my lights are dimmed right down for the day as well so fingers crossed.

I tried to add a video clip there but my app crashed I'll try to add it and you can see what they are doing.

[sara-86]

that's the video clip of them

[ShrimpP]

Oh, that's not nearly as "hyperactive" swimming as I thought they were doing. I think they just want to get out of the net and explore. I personally wouldn't be worried.

Maybe others can offer their opinion.

[sara-86]

I can relax a bit thanks.

That's literally all they have done since I got them.

Still no signs of stopping.

I really hope you are right and that's all it is :-)