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How can I start a colony of cherry shrimp?

BrandoBn29

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Hi guys!,
I’m looking to start a cherry shrimp colony with my bn plecos. What can I do to increase breeding and get the best results. The tank is 40 gallons and I have 10 -14 cherry shrimp with some java moss.
 
What is the temperature of the water? How long have they been in there?

10-14 cherry shrimp should give you a good variety of males and females, which is good for breeding purposes.
 
What is the temperature of the water? How long have they been in there?

10-14 cherry shrimp should give you a good variety of males and females, which is good for breeding purposes.
The water is at about 77-79 degrees. I got them yesterday
 
1)Avoid keeping fish with shrimps as most fish will eat the shrimplets.
Probably, only the Chili Rasboras are safe with the shrimplets. (but still not 100% guarantee)

2)Use bright light(8-12 hours per day) for the first 1-2 months for the algae to grow as much as possible.
You can reduce the lighting brightness and the number of hours when your tank have enough algae.
The shrimps will graze at the algae whole day especially the shrimplets.
Keep a lot of Java Moss for the shrimplets to hide.

3)Use Bacter AE to promote the growth of biofilms. But don't dose too much as it may cause a spike in ammonia.
Don't follow the manufacturer's instruction as it's too much.
Shrimps and shrimplets will feed on biofilms.
https://www.glasgarten-aquarium.de/english/bacter_ae.html

Add some driftwoods and plants (such as Anacharis Elodea, Hornworts, Cabomba).
These will provide more surface areas for the biofilms to grow.

Some fish stores even put big pieces of sponge pads instead of sand or gravel at bottom of the tank for the shrimplets to hide and easy cleaning.

If you have sand or gravel, you have to be careful not to siphon out the shrimplets during your tank maintenance/cleaning.
I covered my siphon with fine net during the cleaning of my tank.

4)Get some powder food for the shrimplets.
And get different varieties of food for the adult shrimps.
Get some shrimps food that contain high Calcium, Beta-glucan(to improve immune system), etc.
Mulberry and Kale have high Calcium. - You can find them in pellets form or you can use the fresh plants to feed them.
For fresh plants, I soak them in hot water to soften the plants before feeding them to the shrimps.
They also need some Protein especially for female that are carrying babies.

Some brands of shrimp food:
1)GlasGarten - Shrimp Baby, Shrimp Dinner Pad, Bacter AE, ShrimpFit, etc
2)Dennerle - Crustagan Baby, Shrimp King Complete, etc
3)Borneo Wild
4)Hikari - Crab cuisine, Mini algae wafer

Some examples of shrimp food:



More information for your reading:

 
Last edited:
Shouldn't need to do anything. Just food and clean water - you will be over-run soon enough ;)
 

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