# new baby shrimps



## callmephathead (11 Apr 2012)

Excitment this afternoon, I noticed about 8 little baby shrimps in my tank!!!
I am so pleased since I was not trying to breed or anything, plus I assume I must be doing something right if they decide to reproduce  I think they are Orange Sunkist Shrimps because of their orange colour but the tanks also contains a mix of RCS and other unknown red shrimps...
Now, is there something special to do to keep these alive? they are about 5mm long at the moment and I don't know if I need to feed them a special diet or protect them in a special way...I don't thinks my fishes will eat them as I only have guppies and a mix of other tiny fishes (I don't have the speicies names with me right now) that are only about 1cm long...
thank you for your time


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## spyder (11 Apr 2012)

Apart from fish, the main predators to baby shrimp are filter intakes. Hopefully you have it covered.


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## callmephathead (11 Apr 2012)

Oh...OK i'll cover that as soon as I can...but if I cover my filter intake won't it mess up my filter? I thought it was bad to obstruct the water intake?
Also, i see only 8 shrimps? But how many shrimps does a mother produces? Just so I know how many I lost at the end...


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## spyder (11 Apr 2012)

Many could be hiding. 

You can use a piece of sponge to cover the intake pipe. Doesn't restrict flow too much and provides more biological area for bacteria and a grazing spot for the shrimp.


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## Nat N (11 Apr 2012)

> I think they are Orange Sunkist Shrimps because of their orange colour but the tanks also contains a mix of RCS and other unknown red shrimps...


Congratulations on your new babies.    Just a word of warning:  there are shrimps which cannot be kept together because they interbreed and the offspring – alas! – will not combine the colours of the parents but will be dull at the best... Orange Sunkist shrimps are Caridina and Red Cherry Shrimps are Neocaridina so should not be risk there.  However, watch in the future what shrimps you are mixing. For example, you cannot add Orange Sakura Shrimps as they are Neocaridina. They will not breed with your Orange Sunkist ones but with the RCS producing not very nice offspring... Another example – any Tiger Shrimps are out of question as they will interbreed with your Orange ones and the result will not be that good either... With regards of your unknown red shrimps, hopefully, they are of Neocaridina sp. (Like “Fire Red”) – in this case they will be breeding with your RCS producing red offspring which will not be, however, of the same grade as Fire Reds themselves...


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## callmephathead (11 Apr 2012)

Thank you all for your help 

At the moment I am not too bothered if the result of breeding isn't particularly nice to look at, any breeding is a bonus for me  
I used to have a marine tank and tried to breed different things in there without much success so I am exctatic that anything breeds in this setup, even if it is perfectly common and doesn't mean I suddenly became the best aquarist in the world ( although nobody will take that title away from me today  )

Also, would you have a link that details the results of different species breeding together? Just so I learn a bit more while I am at it.

Thanks


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## callmephathead (11 Apr 2012)

Thank you all for your help 

At the moment I am not too bothered if the result of breeding isn't particularly nice to look at, any breeding is a bonus for me  
I used to have a marine tank and tried to breed different things in there without much success so I am exctatic that anything breeds in this setup, even if it is perfectly common and doesn't mean I suddenly became the best aquarist in the world ( although nobody will take that title away from me today  )

Also, would you have a link that details the results of different species breeding together? Just so I learn a bit more while I am at it.

Thanks


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## spyder (11 Apr 2012)

callmephathead said:
			
		

> Also, would you have a link that details the results of different species breeding together? Just so I learn a bit more while I am at it.
> 
> Thanks



I believe they will revert to their wild colouration, typically a manky grey colour.


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## Antipofish (11 Apr 2012)

Hi mate, just remember, if you allow them to interbreed for your own pleasure just at seeing them actually breed, you must make sure not to sell them or give any away.  Its because this leads to serious weakening of the gene pool, people thinking they are getting one thing when its something else etc.  It happens a lot with fish breeding (esp in a lot of african cichlids) and causes damage to the hobby .  Not trying to preach, just make you aware of the dangers whilst not taking away from your success.


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## Nat N (11 Apr 2012)

Hi again,
Here’s the link to one of the freshwater inverts dedicated sites (page about interbreeding): 
http://ukshrimp.co.uk/freshwater-articl ... patability 
Adrian (Ade) from this forum is Wolfenrook  here on UKAPS. 
There is one more thing you probably need to know: whilst interbreeding means shrimps of different types breeding together with not nice results, there is another thing called inbreeding. Inbreeding occurs when multiple offspring is produced from only a few shrimps put in the tank together. You will need to add some “fresh blood” to your shrimp population from time to time to maintain their health and looks. The babies you have in your tank are most likely RCS – they are very-very easy shrimps and breed very readily. So, expect many more babies!


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## callmephathead (11 Apr 2012)

Cool,

I will look at all this info and will read more about the weakening of te gene pool / inbreeding issue...thanks for pointing this out!!!


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## callmephathead (12 Apr 2012)

Cool,

I will look at all this info and will read more about the weakening of te gene pool / inbreeding issue...thanks for pointing this out!!!


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## hotweldfire (12 Apr 2012)

Sorry, aren't sunkist shrimp caridina propinqua? I thought they needed brackish water to breed. In which case perhaps OP has another species?


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## BigTom (12 Apr 2012)

hotweldfire said:
			
		

> Sorry, aren't sunkist shrimp caridina propinqua? I thought they needed brackish water to breed. In which case perhaps OP has another species?



Probably whatever that orange strain of cherries is (I'm fairly crap at shrimp, but pretty sure I remember seeing some somewhere!).


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## callmephathead (14 Apr 2012)

I don't know about breeding requirements for orange sunkist  shrimps at all...all I know is I bought 4/5 of them under that name and ended up with some of these : 



If it's anything different then please let me know 
Thanks


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