Red Rili Shrimp Sex Identification

[snazy]

Well, Mr Sick Shrimp made it to three months since diagnosis and is fully intact and healthy. Yesterday I moved him in a breeder box and got him a girlfriend. He's totally excited
 
Some pics of him from about two weeks ago:
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
His new temporary home the breeder box

 

 
His new girlfriend

 
 
Moss party:
 

 

[Baccus]

I hope he breeds well for you, just keep a close eye on any of the offspring in case they develop that same white insides. One of the shrimp illnesses that causes the whitening of the body is suspected of being transmitted with breeding.
Best of luck with him, and good to see he has made it this far.

 

[snazy]

Yes, I understand that. I am just too curious and he's lonely. He was already for quite a while in the other tank with the females with no similar offspring at all.
Have you heard about Neocaridina cf. denticulata ´Okayama? I know it is high hopes but there's a slight chance he isn't sick but has got the okayama gene. The white coloured ones are mostly males and it's of course transmitted via breeding but they don't die or suffer or malfunction from it. It's perfectly normal. They are transparent when young which could explain why he wasn't like that in the beginning.
I'll have some room even if it turns out as a disaster anyways. The most that happens is for them to die from whatever it is but behaviour wise and his whiskas, legs and all parts are still there and he eats well. If he is sick, he should be close to doom age. It's been three months since he turned white.
I'll let you know what turns out

 

 

[Baccus]

Can't say I have heard of that particular variety of neocaridina, but I hope by some chance that is what you have managed to aquire.
I bet he is happy having some company now, and in no time at all you should have lots more company in his tank.
 On a side note as a treat you can feed your shrimp bananas, apparently they are pretty fond of them.,

 

[snazy]

Mmm, never knew about bananas. I gave to the pleco a couple of times but he wasn't interested and it really made a mess in the tank but I guess in shrimp portions it could be fine.
He is at least happy. He went for her straight away and they are doing fine, grazing at something. They love the NLS small pellets I give to the bottom feeders. They run for them.

 

[Baccus]

 Yeah mine love the hikari catfish wafers, they also go for the wardley shrimp pellets and the Australian naitve crumble I give my other fish.
If you give them banana only leave it in for an hour or two and then remove it, that way it can't start decomposing and making a mess in the tank. Or even better give them some of the banan peel, with the white fleshy side up. Just make sure you wash it well first. I am not sure about overseas but many of our fruit in Australia are dipped in ROGAR prior to shipping (transport to shops) due to fruit fly and not wanting them to spread or ruin the fruit before arrival. If you can get your hands on some banana leaves are also apprecaited by shrimp also mulberry leaves. You may need to blanch them first but the shrimp do enjoy them.
Actually I think shrimp will eat just about anything that comes into their tak

 .

 

[snazy]

I always wash the veg and fruit in tap water myself. You never know what chemicals there are on the outside(possibly they aren't real veg anymore as well )
I'll let you know what turns out with that risky experiment of mine. They may as well not breed, or not soon due to the move. I am double dosing that tank with liquid carbon at the moment as well so I hope it doesn't kill them or anything. They did try to climb up to where the water is pouring from in the box(it's an external breeder box that pumps water from the tank via an air pump so the water refreshes constantly with the tank water).
I thought it isn't a good sign but they do it only from the side where the water comes, then give up and go to the moss to munch on something. They are not floating up at the surface or anything just keep going for a shower in the flow. What are they supposed to do when stressed?

 

[Baccus]

Stressed shrimp usually will congregate at the surface or even try to leap out of the water. With yours it could be just that they can smell something they would like to eat coming from the external breeder box. Or it could be the carbon they are really not liking. The only thing besides food I tend to put in my tanks is chlorine/ chloramine remover, I have read to many horror stories of people dosing with ferts, co2 etc and finding mass die outs. Its also cheaper for me to not bother with all the high tech extras, 8 tanks is more than enough to fill up my weekends now.

 

[snazy]

I don't want to dose with anything either. Hence I am trying an experiment with my new tank and mineralized top soil instead, supposedly between nutritients in the soil locked in there, some debris decomposition from fish poop and food, and it could be alright without anything but I am yet to see. I am thinking if it's something in the water, why are the shrimp trying to get out from the side where the water pours out and not from any part of the surface or sides?  I did a 50% water change in the main tank so I'll see how it goes.
 
I am uploading a video just now to show you what they do, it's mainly the male. He seems restless to me.


The video is very bad because the lights are off but basically you can see the female grazing at the right side of the moss ball.
The white thing is the female going around, he disappears behind the moss ball at some stage and then re-appears in the top left corner over the moss ball where the water comes from. He doesn't do it from the side where the water comes out from or the middle for example. The female isn't paying any attention and actually when I think of it it's mostly him doing it.
 
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5JuryAgXDU

 

[snazy]

He's stopped now and is in the moss. I took a couple of flash shots. The least I'll have a well documented sick shrimp

 and the mystery sickness progression.
 

 

 

[Baccus]

Can I use your photos on another site I am on that is shrimp dedicated? I will ask those with more shrimp types experience if they think your guy is sick or if he could be that other type of rili cherry.

 

[snazy]

Go ahead, no problem.


So I did a bit of DIY. I disconnected the water coming from the tank. I did a small water change on the breeder box and put it inside the tank instead to keep it warm. And I made a DIY sponge filter but not sure how effective it will be and it also isn't cycled but I guess I'll be doing daily water changes. I can squeeze mulm inside. I guess the shrimp wouldn't mind?
Now they are in an independant 3L mini tank. The plants will do better with some light from the tank too. And I'll get the surface covered with floating plants too.
 
Here is my "sponge filter" adaptation
 

 

[snazy]

I think that calmed the shrimp down a bit but I may be making conclusions too quickly. I'll see tomorrow. As long as there's no ammonia build up they could be better off separate from the tank's water. There's a high possibility the tank has excess on some undesirable metals and stuff toxic to the shrimp, since it's been dosed with ferts and CO2 for a long time and the micro ferts contain copper that may have build up a bit too. I'd hate to kill them by accident and negligence.

 

[Baccus]

Thanks, I have started a thread and posted the various pictures that you had posted here, now its a waiting game to see who responds with what. We have some pretty knowledgeable shrimp keepers so I hope they have some positive input.
 
The shrimp will only really mind ammonia and its only likely to rise quickly with left over food. If they seem happier in the smaller tank then there is a good chance they are happy with the new set up, shrimp are pretty quick to throw themselves about the tank or start throwing death fits if things are not to their liking.
 
Best of luck with them.

 

[snazy]

I'll keep on top of the 3L tank maintenace. I only fed them a couple of mini pellets really but I guess they can't eat that much either. I put a bit of cycled floss from the filter too to try cycle that mini filter faster.
 
Thanks for asking about the sick shrimp. No one really knows what's wrong with these shrimp and it's frustrating, especially if they refuse to die from it