[runningback82]

I have been battling with the idea of getting a 10 gallon tank for shrimp. I know that the shrimp are going to breed, and I just have some general questions about it.

Question 1: Can someone describe the breeding cycle?

Question 2: How many shrimp should I initially put in my tank, and what would be the capacity of shrimp I can put in the tank?

Question 3: How should I care for the shrimplets?

I may ask some questions later on if I have one. Thanks!

This post has been edited by runningback82: 25 July 2010 - 08:29 PM

[blacksheep998]

1) It depends on what kind of shrimp you're getting. Most shrimp in the hobby simply carry eggs under their tail until they hatch into miniature shrimp that live peacefully alongside their parents and eat the same exact foods that they do as well. This includes all the popular Caridina and Neocaridina species: Bee, red crystal, tiger, cardinal, red cherry, yellow, blue pearl and snowball.

A few shrimp instead produce larva that require brackish water to survive. The difficulty in breeding them means that they're much less common. Bamboo shrimp are in this category.

2) I have 2 shrimp tanks, red cherries and yellows, and I started off with around 20 in each. They're just now starting to breed so I cant say for sure the maximum carrying capacity of the tank, but I've heard that it's in the 100-150 range.

3) See answer 1.

[runningback82]

Thanks! Also, are your shrimp tanks 10 gallons?

[blacksheep998]

Yep, both are 10 gallon tanks.

[purgatori27]

:tumup: Great answer to the question!

As far as the breeding cycle goes, there isn't much of a story, visually. The way most of us experience it...the males swim around like crazy, the female magically ends up fertilized (of course it isn't magic, but we rarely see that part) and her eggs drop from her saddle and attach to the underside of her tail. Once you are used to what eggs look like, you'll be able to tell if they are newly laid or not. When they are ready to hatch, you can actually see the tiny eyes of the baby shrimplettes inside the eggs of many species. Hatching takes around 3 weeks (give or take), depending on species.

In my case, I don't mess around with any tank smaller than a 20 long for my shrimp tanks. The larger the aquarium, the easier it is to maintain stability. Nano tanks are fine, and I know Richard and a few others here can do wonders with them. They just aren't for me. So, I would say, "Go for the 10, if it's bigger than what you have now"! My problem is: instead of trading one tank for another, I will use this tank AND that tank AND whatever other tank I can come across (20 or larger). Multi-tank syndrome, I believe it's called. Just one more facet of the addiction.

[runningback82]

Yeah, I would prefer to have a larger tank, but I am not sure I will have enough room.