This article will teach you how to breed the easiest of freshwater shrimp: red cherry (Neocaridina denticulata sinensis). Red cherry shrimp, or RCS, are part of a group called "dwarf shrimp" (adults reach 4cm in length). Red cherries do not need aquariums or special foods, dances or shamans to reproduce. The conditions of the aquarium are easy to keep. They are a fun addition to an aquarium and eat leftover fish food.
Steps
Step 1. Prepare the aquarium
You will need a 20-40 liter aquarium, a heater (to keep the temperature at 24-27 ° C during cold nights), sand (the dark one stresses the shrimp less), and a bubble filter that has gone through a cycle.
- To cycle a filter in a new aquarium, put the new filter in an old aquarium, turn it on, and wait 4 weeks. Red cherries would not survive the cyclical process, they would die from the high levels of ammonia or nitrite.
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Do not use an electric filter, unless the entire access is covered with a mesh (or something similar with tiny holes) and secured with a zip tie (otherwise the shrimp could be sucked into the filter and pulped).
Breed Red Cherry Shrimp Step 2 Step 2. Buy a master test kit
This is absolutely necessary to keep shrimp. It is impossible to determine the problem of an aquarium without a master test kit. You will need the following tests: ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Take drip tests, not strips. Strip tests are expensive, and expire approximately 6 months after opening. Drip kits are much cheaper and last longer.
Breed Red Cherry Shrimp Step 3 Step 3. Buy 5-10 red cherry shrimp
Red cherries cost around € 1-3 each in a pet shop. If purchased online they have a lower unit price, and many people also offer free shipping, and you can get to pay as little as 20 euros for twenty or so shrimp. Try to get a mix of light-colored males (males may have red as well) and red females. If you catch 10 shrimp, your chances of getting both males and females are roughly guaranteed.
- If someone wants to ship the shrimp to you in a method that takes more than 3 days, ask for photos of how they intend to ship them. Red cherries are VERY hard to kill, and they probably won't have a problem with a week of shipping. Consider the weather for the distance the shipment will travel, ask for heated or ice packs in the container to help counter the temperatures if they can be an issue. Also ask for breathable bags.
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Don't buy red cherry (or any fish or shrimp) that the store has received in the last 3-4 days. Any shipping stress deaths tend to occur during the 3-4 days after arriving in the aquariums at the store, so buy only after this time frame. Buy shrimp that have been in the aquarium for at least 4 days.
- It is common to ask that the shipping bag be 1/3 or half full with water. This maximizes the amount of oxygen locked in the bag during shipping. This only rarely applies to bags that are made of normal plastic; if shipping ones are used, ask if the vendor can use pure oxygen rather than plain air.
Step 4. Fill your aquarium with water to which you have added a dechlorinator
Chlorine and chloramines will kill the shrimp, so be sure to get a dechlorinator that neutralizes both.
Step 5. Get the shrimp accustomed to water using these steps
Put the bag in the water and attach it to the wall using a paperweight. Add 1/4 of the aquarium water to the bag (perhaps a ladle full of water). Wait 15 minutes, then repeat 2 more times. An alternative to this is to test the water parameters and those of your aquarium and see if they are similar; if they are, simply have them acclimatize to the temperature and then place them in the aquarium, red cherries are very hardy and harder to kill than other shrimp.
Step 6. Pour the shrimp into the aquarium
The water and temperature parameters (such as pH) should have equalized enough not to shock the shrimp.
Step 7. Set the temperature to 27 ° C
Use another thermometer (such as a digital thermometer, if you can afford it) to verify that the heater is working well. Check daily as you feed them.
Step 8. Give the shrimp chopped food, peach balls, blanched cucurbits or courgettes
Shrimp eat anything a fish would eat. You don't even have to make particularly small pieces, they will tear them one piece at a time and eat on their own. Some shrimp don't eat seaweed cubes, others do. Foods with copper deposits are not good for red cherries.
- If there is still food in the aquarium when you go to feed them, skip that turn and check back later.
- Give small amounts of food a day, especially if you start with 10 shrimp. A little bit the size of your little finger nail should last 10 shrimp about 2 days, maybe 3.
- To blanch the zucchini, place one slice in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover it with about 3 cm of water then let it go to high temperature for 1 minute. Let it cool for 20 minutes, then drop it into the aquarium. If the courgette floats, sink it with a zip tie, a piece of plastic, or a marble, but not metal.
Step 9. If the water temperature is high enough and there is enough food, they will just reproduce
Female shrimp should lay yellowish or greenish eggs under their tails within 30 days of welcoming them, if they don't already have any. Female shrimp take a yellowish "saddle" -shaped patch behind the head. They are eggs in their ovaries. These eggs should move to the tails in 7-10 days. Once they are under the tails, the eggs will hatch in 3-4 weeks. You will notice how the mothers fan the eggs from time to time to prevent fungus from forming. The eggs will hatch earlier if the water is warmer. You may wake up one day and find small clear shrimp on the plants, or on the bottom. Red cherry puppies look the same as adults, but are very small, around 2mm long, and light in color - but their shape is the same as an adult. Shrimp will not eat their pups unless they are starving. Plus, the little ones are quick to escape.
Step 10. Maintain the aquarium
A 40 liter aquarium can safely hold 100-150 adult red cherries, if you change 25% of the water every week - without exception. Do not clean the bottom of the aquarium, the puppies take a lot of their daily food from the "junk". Either way, too many leftovers will cause an increase in nitrates, and a high nitrate level can kill shrimp.
Advice
- Dark sand, such as black sand, will make the shrimp redder because they will try to blend in with the color of the sand.
- Red cherry shrimp eat far more types of algae than Caridina japonica, which are often considered the best scavengers for aquariums. Perhaps the best way to grow java moss is to let the red cherries clear it of algae.
- In a common aquarium it is essential to give shelters to shrimp that have just made moult. Even in a shrimp-only aquarium they will be appreciated. There are special shelters for sale, but small clay pots will do as well.
- Shrimp love small pieces of boiled carrot. It also enhances their color. But remove it after 24 hours or it will pollute the water.
- Occasionally you will find whitish, EMPTY shrimp-shaped exoskeletons in your aquarium. It's normal! Shrimps lose their exoskeleton in order to moult. An exoskeleton appears whitish, clear and hollow. A true dead shrimp will appear pink, or solid white. And it will probably have friends around who eat it.
- Red cherries can survive low temperatures (up to 15 ° C) for long periods of time, as long as the temperature change occurs gradually (over hours rather than minutes). But they will not reproduce at this temperature.
- When you add more water, add a dechlorinator to a 20-liter bucket. The new water should have the same temperature as that of the aquarium. Use your fingers to check the temperature. It doesn't have to be identical, but it does have to be similar enough.
- For best results, shrimp should have their own aquarium with no other fish. Some fish eat these small shrimp, such as astronote, angelfish, cichlids, most catfish (except herbivorous ones). They are safe with other fish, such as those of the Poeciliidae family (guppy, platy, molly).
- If your tap water has high amounts of harmful chemicals, such as nitrates, you can use reverse osmosis water rather than tap water mixed with a dechlorinator. Tap water often contains a host of other substances that can alter the parameters of your aquarium. This includes phosphates which are a leading cause of algae growth. Scientists linked phosphate levels to cyanobacteria concentration.
- Shrimp preparing to moult will take a "U" shape. They will bend over and try to touch their tail. If you are lucky you will see them shedding. It's a very quick operation: they pop out of their old skin in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a perfect replica.
- The biggest mistake you can make is using too many chemicals. If your water is ammonia = 0, nitrite = 0, nitrate <50, and the pH is 6.0-8.0, it should be fine. You should never create pH increases or decreases, use chemical conditioners, or other substances. They will only give you problems. The only chemical you need is a dechlorinator to neutralize chlorine and chloramines.
- Red cherries can survive at different pH levels, as long as they can slowly get used to it.
Warnings
- Many fish will eat adult crayfish, as well as pups. Any type of catfish, angelfish, predatory fish, astronomer, clown loach, or eel will eat the shrimp. If there are many protections, more shrimp will survive. Java moss is excellent both as a cover and as a forage.
- Adult red cherries are safe with guppies, mollies, platys, rasbora, and any type of fish that is too small to eat shrimp.
- DO NOT remove empty hides of shrimp that have moulted. Many will eat them to summarize important minerals.
- Shrimp in general are sensitive and can be killed by chlorine, chloramines, ammonia, nitrites and concentrated nitrates. Make sure the dechlorinator for your water gets rid of chlorine and chloramines.
- Heavy metals like zinc, lead (from plant weights) and bronze will kill the shrimp - especially bronze. If an aquarium has ever had bronze in it, it will be difficult for you to keep the shrimp alive. Fish feed bronze sulfate is safe because it is a bronze compound in low quantities. The bronze compound of snail-killing substances is toxic to shrimp.
- Some bronze COMPOUNDS may be safe to give to shrimp. For example, small amounts of bronze sulfate are commonly used as a preservative in almost all fish feed. It is okay to give red cherries some food that contains bronze sulfate, because it is not in the elemental state.
- Despite a lingering myth, an iodine supplement is NOT needed for freshwater crustaceans. There is no scientific support for the use of iodine for freshwater shrimp. They absorb enough iodine from their feed. However, saltwater shrimp MAY need additional iodine.
