My Shrimp Only Tank - Cherry and CRS

[LondonDragon]

Some photos taken yesterday







Enjoy!

[Daragh]

Fantastic photos. I only recently got some cherry and CRS shrimp and have them in several tanks now, great little characters. Can I ask what substate that is in the pictures?

Daragh

[LondonDragon]

Fantastic photos. I only recently got some cherry and CRS shrimp and have them in several tanks now, great little characters. Can I ask what substate that is in the pictures?
Daragh

Thanks, substrate is ADA Aquasoil Amazonia II


Some more photos taken today

Cherry:


Crystal Red:








Amano Shrimp:


This is the new home I created for the shrimp (guppies are temp):








Thanks for looking

[loachy_406]

That tank is just for the shrimp? Wow! It'll be like a palace, it's awsome!
How many shrimp are in there?
Great pictures, the substrate looks almost like minature volcanic rocks up close. Does it have added nutrients in it for the plants, seeing as it is called Aquasoil?

[LondonDragon]

That tank is just for the shrimp? Wow! It'll be like a palace, it's awsome!
How many shrimp are in there?
Great pictures, the substrate looks almost like minature volcanic rocks up close. Does it have added nutrients in it for the plants, seeing as it is called Aquasoil?

Thanks ;) the tank is just for my shrimp, at the moment has about 20 Red Cherry and 5/6 Crystal Red Low Grade.
Substrate is really top of the range for planted tanks from Mr Amano himself. Lots of nutrients in it for plants.

[Daragh]

Thanks for the info, more fantastic photos and those shrimp have one smart home

[KnaveTO]

That tank looks awesome! My shrimp tanks are on a racking system so they are deep rather than long... too bad cause I would love to attempt to recreate some of that... after all imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery

[sidguppy]

nice tank; I like the idea of keeping open spaces on the floor, on the back and lots of open water

I can see with my mind's eye dwarf catfishes in there
Corydoras hastatus for example. or Hyalobagrus flavus.....or if that tank is cooler a bunch of Hara jerdoni

[LondonDragon]

Thanks guys ;)

sidguppy the tank is for shrimp only, the guppies been in there after a couple of weeks to finish off the cycling, tank is not about 4/5 weeks old. No fish will be in there unless there are some that won't eat the little shrimplets?

[loachy_406]

little shrimplets

That sounds like baby shrimp to me. How easy are they to breed?
Or are you just referring to them affectionately?

How big is the tank?

[LondonDragon]

That sounds like baby shrimp to me. How easy are they to breed?
Or are you just referring to them affectionately?

Thats what people call baby shrimp lol
I have just started this setup so not sure how easy it is to breed them, the Red Cherries are breeding well in my heavy planted community tank, the 20 or so I have in this tank came from there, just hope I can breed some Crystal Red too ;)

[Richard B]

I really like this set-up - well done

if it's shrimps that do it for you then that's great - i'm sure with a nice set-up like this everyone would have their own opinion - id like to see a group of

Synodontis contracta

- but that's my preference

I think you'll probably struggle to find fish that'll not be interested in young shrimps (maybe i'm wrong) but shrimps only is pretty good. I was thinking perhaps hatchet fish due to their surface feeding or some of the killies???

[DutchFry]

you did an outstanding job on the background with all the moss!!

rest of the tank is very nice too, i'm sure the shrimps will love their new home!

[LondonDragon]

Many thanks guys, been adding a few more cherries that I am picking from my community tank.
Going to add some better grade CRS and some Bee Shrimp, and also some Sulawesi

[apistomaster]

I raise 5 "flavors" of shrimp with mostly catfish; Corydoras hastatus, C. habrosus, L134, L204, L260 and Sturisoma. None bother the shrimp babies and the shrimp don't eat the catfish fry.
Cherry shrimp are especially adept at surviving with small Tetras, Apistogramma spp and others. I raise Betta sp "Mahachai" along with Cherry shrimp and they so-exist just fine and newly hatched Betta fry are probably as small or smaller than new htched Cherry shrimp. As long as there is a pretty dense growth of mosses, Ceratophyllum, Najas ; anything that is difficult to easily penetrate, plenty of shrimp survive and there will be a net increase over time. Outside canister and HOB Filters are more dangerous to the tiny shrimplets than fish so just be sure to use sponge prefilters or media net type bags around the inlets and they will actually congregate on the surfaces to feed on the collect debris. Wet/Dry overflows don't allow baby shrimp to survive long enough to resist being drawn in and besides, the shrimp will explore any place they can get into in their never ending search for food.
The Crystal Reds were reproducing well until the water temps exceeded 80 then 88*F and caused them to die. That is way above their comfort zone. We went from a cooler and wetter than usual first half of June this year and by then there were hundreds of crystal red with the C. habrosus and their young but then it spiked at about 104*F and stayed at ~100*F ever since mid-June and that was the end of the CRS.

[LondonDragon]

Just a quick update, things are growing nicely on this tank, earlier in the week I moved this tank to the new cabinet and its settled quick nicely. Only been dosing 5ml per week of TPN+ and EC, lets see how this does. Haven't added any more shrimp to the tank, still hoping to get some Red Nose and some Sulawesi, maybe later in the week. Have also some good news about the CRS, see photos below.

Tank View:


Closer look:


Red Cherry Shrimp:


Now for the good news, two of my CRS are carrying eggs!!




Close up of the eggs:


Comments and critics always welcome, thanks for looking

[apistomaster]

I doubt if anyone could criticize your shrimp setups; they look ideal to me.
The Crystal Reds are about as prolific as the cherries if the temperature stay in the 70's*F so you should have a lot more adults in 8 weeks.
Plenty to choose from if you plan on selective breeding.
The shrimp are providing aquarium keepers another dimension to our hobby which can use a boost now and then.
Well done.
We "Shrimpers' still have much to learn about the Sulawesi Lakes' Shrimp but what is known is their larvae directly developing like Cherry and Crystal Red Shrimp and that makes their culture much easier than riverine species which have a complete larval stage, usually requiring time in a brackish water environment and micro-phytoplankton foods. Given a couple more years and they should become easier and cheaper to get as cultured specimens. They are so recently introduced(circa'06) that there just hasn't been much time to work on developing aquarium raised stock.

[Carp37]

Another stunning looking tank! I've made my preference for non-planted tanks made known before, but I'm definitely willing to make an exception for your tanks- they look awesome.

[LondonDragon]

Apisto many thanks for the info, I plan to breed these and then distribute to forum members for little profit, just a little more than postage costs, to try and get other members to breed them and make them available cheap to everyone.
Carp glad you enjoy the setups maybe we can still convert you one of these days ;)

[apistomaster]

I do wish you success with what ever species you decide to try. There are some really "lookers' among them. I like all of the species that resemble reef cleaner shrimp or the tiny Harlequin Shrimp. They are going to be an interesting project since our practical knowledge base is still limited.
They are still very expensive and the importers have huge losses. I hate to see so many collected never to find their way to someone like you, who cares about them.

I'd love to join in the learning phase but I just have too many projects and plenty of more readily available shrimp.
I have had my most difficulties(cooked CRS aside) with Snowball shrimp. I'm working with my second batch and lost half of 12 but one surviving female from the first batch mated immediately with the new and i still have half so it may be just enough to get some established that are used to my aquarium conditions. Not all shrimp are equally easy to keep and breed.

The type of substrate doesn't appear to be critical but I do think the quality plant substrates like the Amano ADI or FloraBase have an edge over more inert substrates. I don't know if if it is because the shrimp find them as good sources of trace minerals important to their development or if it's just because plant growth is optimized but the shrimp do seem to do better with these substrates. These are all attractive as background materials that help show off the shrimp better along with the healthy growth of mosses. I have a more utilitarian approach and allow tropical Hornwort, Ceratophyllum submersum fill the shrimp tanks. It is important for shrimp to have a lot of surface areas to pick over for food.
I combine my shrimp raising with fish I know to be harmless that breed well in continuous set ups. Not as pretty as specially designed shrimp display tanks but highly productive in terms of having enough shrimp to sell.
I think with all shrimp this is true but especially if I want try any Sulawesi shrimp, it is best to begin with a couple dozen. The more frequently shrimp encounters are the higher the breeding rate will be. Two dozen Sulawesi Shrimp would put a serious dent in the wallet though.

[peterl]

little shrimplets

How easy are they to breed?

I have CRS in my 15 gallon with my Otos.

I can clear out 100 or more every month or so and not miss any.

[LondonDragon]

Got some bad news about this tank, I have lost most of my CRS including 3 females carrying eggs
Might have been due to the heat wave we been having lately, noticed temps at 32ºC the other day and did a quick water change to lower things, I did install a fan under the lights and the temp now its at 23ºC, but was too late to save the CRS
The red cherries are breeding already and there are loads of shrimplets swimming around the tank.

[Richard B]

Sorry to hear that LondonDragon,

[Violence]

Sorry for your loss.

The pictures are amazing, beautiful tank and amazing looking shrimps!

[LondonDragon]

Thanks guys, the Red Cherries seem to be doing fine and there are lots of shrimplets swiming about.
My LFS is going to get me some more CRS in the next couple of weeks so I will try them again and see.

More info and photos soon enough ;)

[LondonDragon]

Just a quick update, the tank is doing great and the red cherries are breeding just fine this morning I counted at least 32 shrimplets that I could see. I haven't given up on the CRS, I should have a delivery on Tuesday of 15 to try again, I have kept fans on the tank now to keep the temps at around 23/24ºC.

Here some photos of my Cherries:




The shrimplets around a pellet:


One of the tiniest shrimplets in the tank on the flame moss:


Another female carrying eggs on the weeping moss:


Thats all for now, thanks for looking

[pLaurent1251]

Your photos are truly amazing, and your tank just beautiful.

Sorry to hear about the losses. Good luck with your new CRS!

[LondonDragon]

Your photos are truly amazing, and your tank just beautiful.
Sorry to hear about the losses. Good luck with your new CRS!

Many thanks, fingers crossed, maybe this time I can breed the CRS ;)

[LondonDragon]

Just a quick update guys, my delivery arrived today, been way to busy today, just managed to get some shots of them a few minutes ago, here are my new babies

Full tank shot to start with, this is how the tank looks now:


My new CRS








To finish off another very tiny Red Cherry shrimplet:


Thanks for looking

[LondonDragon]

Love my little shrimplets so here are a couple more photos

Both shots on the Xmas moss:


This one with a little snail too


The RCS seem to be settling in pretty well, with the fan going I can maintain the temp at 22/23ºC.

Thanks for looking.