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Cherry Shrimp Not Breeding?

Ben M

Ben M

Member
Joined
1 Sep 2009
Messages
662
Hi, I have a 40l nano tank with lemon BNs, endlers and cherry shrimp. I have seen many berried females, but no shrimplets. When I cleaned the filter a couple of weeks ago a saw a couple of tiny shrimplets in the filter, and I released them into the tank, but I've not seen any since. The tank is quite heavily planted, with a lot of ocean rock (it used to be a mbuna fry tank) which has many crevices to hide in. I dose EI ferts and use liquid carbon. Do you think that the shrimplets are being killed off by some of the ferts or something like that, or is it more likely that they are being eaten by the endlers? I have about 15 adult endlers + 30ish tiny fry. The fry all seem healthy, so I can't think what could be poisoning the shrimplets.

Thanks,
Ben
 
I've never had a problem using EI and liquid carbon,my shrimp breed very well.
With the pressurised co2 I find the breeding rate is reduced but but not vastly and I have never witnessed my endlers eating the shrimplets but it is possible I guess.
I would think that you are perhaps just not seeing them as the tank has so many hiding places 🙂 try dropping some food in after lights out,wait an hour then quickly pop the lights on.
 
if you drop the carbon you are likely to bring in other algae issues so if you really want to go down that route then would reduce use first rather than drop it all together.
you don't say how much you are dosing of the carbon but most tend to slightly under dose than over dose when in with shrimp.
are you doing regular water changes in line with EI?
cherrys are hardy but can struggle in some conditions if water changes are not regular.
heavily planted tanks are good for shrimp so they could be hiding but endlers might also be seeking out a cheeky meal here and there.
have you considered dropping some shrimp baby food in there?
 
I recon its the endlers, why wouldn't they eat tasty little shrimplets? When shrimplets hatch they tend to stay in the one spot for the first few days and could easily be picked off. Do you have any round pelia in your tank? This would provide a great surface area for biofilm and the folds provide a great cover for shrimplets. If endlers are anything like the little lampeyes I had they will squeeze into the smallest nook looking for food.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I've just seen a couple of shrimplets that are a decent size, so must have been around for a while. I think I'll carry on with the carbon, and hopefully as the plants get denser more will be able to avoid the endlers. I don't have any pelia unfortunately. I had some at one stage, but as I wasn't using any carbon it didn't do very well. I don't even have any moss ATM, as I've struggled to find some and I'm not really wanting to spend much on that sort of thing, as it is a possibility that I may have to sell the tank when I go to uni next year. 🙁
 
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