Cherry shrimps not multiplying?

Essjay said:

So it's the shrimps not breeding rather than baby shrimps being eaten.

I wonder if it's too hard for them? Mine are in half your level (117 ppm)

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I haven't had that problem before I quit the hobby. They were happy breeding, then they stopped and population dipped.

Essjay said:

In addition to 117 ppm GH my KH is 3.4 dKH/61 ppm according to my water company. Although this is quite low I do regular weekly water changes to keep it constant. I've had this shrimp colony since 2012 so my water is OK for them. My tank nitrate is so low it's unmeasurable (my water company gives my tap water average as 2.853).

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I've found on my water provider's site:

I was grasping at straws with the hardness, I'm afraid.

One other thing occurred to me since my last post. I'm sure I read somewhere once that shrimps won't breed unless they're "happy". This could mean anything from tank water nitrate being low, to having lots of hiding places, to not being scared by other tank occupants and lots between. The problem is working out what it is that's stopping them breeding.




In your photo I've circled the two hardness units to take note of as those are the two used in fish keeping. We call them by different names from water companies - we call German degrees dH and we call mg/l CaCO3 ppm. (You probably already know this, but other people reading it might not )

Essjay said:

I was grasping at straws with the hardness, I'm afraid.

One other thing occurred to me since my last post. I'm sure I read somewhere once that shrimps won't breed unless they're "happy". This could mean anything from tank water nitrate being low, to having lots of hiding places, to not being scared by other tank occupants and lots between. The problem is working out what it is that's stopping them breeding.




In your photo I've circled the two hardness units to take note of as those are the two used in fish keeping. We call them by different names from water companies - we call German degrees dH and we call mg/l CaCO3 ppm. (You probably already know this, but other people reading it might not )
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So you think it's the hardness? Before I quit they were happily breeding, well until they ceased.

As for hiding spots, I'm not sure what they'd like:



To that I have two more plants coming in the mail

Or could it be the loaches? I wouldn't blame my little guplets, or my oto who keeps everything to himself and is rarely seen.

I will be moving the loaches once I get another tank set up for any future guppy fry.

Don't know if this helps, but I found out today that shrimp supposedly breed more in cooler water. BUT I have some in two different tanks, and the one WITH the heater has lots of babies. The shrimp in the cooler tank don't seem to breed.

Nells250 said:

Don't know if this helps, but I found out today that shrimp supposedly breed more in cooler water. BUT I have some in two different tanks, and the one WITH the heater has lots of babies. The shrimp in the cooler tank don't seem to breed.

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Shrimp are complex creatures that go on beyond our understanding

If they were breeding before it's not the hardness, and your photo shows lots of hiding places in the tank.

Jinx_ said:

Shrimp are complex creatures that go on beyond our understanding

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We can never know what shrimps 'think' or what they consider to be a hindrance to breeding

Jinx_ said:

got them August 26th. They're soon a good couple months old.

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Cherry shrimp take a few months to settle, then they start breeding and you have a constant colony for years.
If there are no babies after a few months they may be being predated but IME they are very easy to keep and breed in a wide range of parameters.
A lot of the noise about specific parameters, conditions and acclimation is probably just impatient people trying lots of different things and thinking they have found the magic formula when the shrimp start to breed.
All the shrimp really need is time.

When you are going to see shrimps with saddles, it's on it's way, then you should see berried shrimps. If they make it to that point, They are molting correctly and all is good. then a month or so later, you should see shrimplets.

But still, keep in mind that small crustacean are on the guppies menu, guppies are fast and baby shrimps are tiny.

MaloK said:

When you are going to see shrimps with saddles, it's on it's way, then you should see berried shrimps. If they make it to that point, They are molting correctly and all is good. then a month or so later, you should see shrimplets.

But still, keep in mind that small crustacean are on the guppies menu, guppies are fast and baby shrimps are tiny.

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I have seen some saddled shrimps, and have seen the like that for a long while but haven't seen any berried shrimps.

My guppies for now are so tiny they still can't eat pellets.

Newly hatched shrimps are smaller than most pellets, I wouldn't put it past the guppies to eat them.

Once a female develops a saddle, it takes 2-3 weeks before it mates, if the water is ok and there is no molting issues, she should reappear berried in the next days.

The only thing that could make a female hold her eggs is the lack of suitable males or a serious impossibility to molt.

If there is no suitable male, at some point the female will dump the unfertilized eggs in the water and wont molt. While it's sad, it's not a problem, next time will be good. You probably need a couple more months to gauge what is really happening.

Another factor I observed, when the shrimps lay their eggs, they are not hatching immediately like magic, they can rest a couple days there before and even more. So they have a lapse of time they can be found easily for a sneaky little empty tummy... Loll

And I wouldn't be surprised if the peaceful finned opportunistic feeding little brats are stealing the fertilized eggs from the berried shrimp belly directly...

I don't know what is happening to them, before I quit I had no problems at all. Shrimps are hard to please mannn....

Just make sure these a little too much food, and wait.

But I will reiterate, add very thin cholla wood, flat on the bottom somewhere.

Could try playing some smooth saxophone music near their tank...