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Why Aren't My Shrimp Breeding? ?️ Reasons with solutions!
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Oct 2, 2023
If you have ever wondered why your Red Cherry Shrimp don't seem to be breeding, this video may have the answers for you. Here I share with you 5 reasons your shrimp may not be breeding and what you can do to solve the problem. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Check out the products I use eSHa 2000 ? https://fishkeepinganswers.com/9ud1 eSHa EXIT ? https://fishkeepinganswers.com/sj4c eSHa gdex ? https://fishkeepinganswers.com/rmzt ? FREE copy of my new Neocaridina Shrimp eBook - https://fishkeepinganswers.com/shrimp-ebook/ Links to products used in this video ? API Copper Test Kit - https://amzn.to/3nOZpWX ? Seachem Copper Test Kit - https://amzn.to/3plClzn
View Video Transcript
0:00
So you find yourself wondering why aren't my shrimp producing any babies
0:05
When in this video I'm going to share with you five reasons your shrimp may not be producing any babies
0:10
and let you know what you can do about it. How do friends, welcome back to the channel. If you're new here, my name is Richard and I'm a fish
0:16
and shrimp breeder based in the UK. So reason number one is because your shrimp are in fact all
0:21
female and this happens more often than you might think. When it comes to red cherry shrimp
0:26
it typically is the females that boast most of the colour. To the only
0:30
initiated, it's all about the colour. If you go to the store and buy yourself the five most
0:34
colourful shrimp in the tank, there's a good chance you'll walk away with all females. Now
0:40
needless to say, to produce babies, you need at least one male in that group. Now when it comes
0:45
to sex in red cherry shrimp, it's not just about the colour. You do get brightly coloured males
0:49
you do get poorly coloured females. There are a number of different signs we need to look out
0:53
for. In fact, I'll link up here to a video that tells you how you can go about sex in your
0:57
red cherry shrimp. But if you've got a tank full of really bright coloured shrimp and you're not getting any babies at all, the first thing I would
1:04
suggest is check that you actually have at least one male. Now reason number two you're not
1:09
getting any baby shrimp is because you have predator fish in there. Now I know what you're
1:14
thinking. Predator fish, they're Oscars, they're piranas, they're big fish, right? To be
1:18
fair, to a baby shrimp and neon tetra is a predator. In this tank here, I have a healthy colony
1:24
of red tree shrimp, but it doesn't grow particularly quickly because I have a healthy colony
1:27
are guppies. And to a baby shrimp, the guppy is the predator. An adult guppy can easily come
1:33
along and snipe a baby shrimp. So if you're hoping your red cherry shrimp are going to
1:38
breed and you keep them with pretty much any fish at all, with a possible exception of a
1:42
otter's inclinous. If you keep them with any fish at all, there's a good chance you're not
1:46
getting babies because you have predator fish Now this is an easy one to fix All you need to do is add more cover If you get yourself a large clump of java moss if you grow yourself lots of live plants all packed together if you get yourself a decent pile of rocks
2:01
somewhere the babies can hide, you'll find your red-choice shrimp population will increase significantly and should increase quite quickly
2:07
Baby shrimp just need to hide long enough that to reduce the chance of them being eaten
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The larger the shrimp is, the less likely it's going to be eaten, unless you are actually keeping it with oscars or piranas or large predator fish
2:18
If you're keeping your retro shrimp with any fish at all, the more cover you provide, the more babies will survive
2:25
and the larger your colony will grow. Now before I move on to reason number three
2:30
in the next few days, I'm setting up a dedicated shrimp breeding tank and I want to go through the whole process for you guys
2:35
from setting up the tank to introducing the shrimp to what I feed them and how I breed them
2:40
how I filter them, what temperature I keep them at everything. So if you're not already subscribed to the channel
2:44
subscribe now and enjoy that series with me. So reason number three is, is your filter is eating the babies
2:51
Now, I know this sounds crazy. If you run your tank with a hang-on-back filter or a canister filter
2:56
that filter will have an intake of some sort, an intake pipe, with a strainer over the end
3:01
And those strainers, as I've said many times before, are perfect for keeping fish out
3:05
But they're absolutely hopeless at keeping shrimp out. The shrimp will naturally be drawn towards them because on that strainer is where bits of food get caught
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bits of leaf that are breaking down. They're ideal places for shrimp to find food. The problem is, the shrimp gets sucked up the pipe
3:21
And once you're in the hang on back filter, once they're in the canister filter, the chances are the shrimps are gone
3:26
Now, this two is a simple fix. Just get yourself an intake sponge, which goes over the intake to the hang on back or canister filter
3:33
It'll set you back a few dollars, a few pounds, are not very expensive. They're literally like the sponge from a sponge filter
3:38
You pop it over the strainer, and instantly, the chances of a shrimp, a baby shrimp being sucked in the filter are pretty much eradicated
3:45
In fact the additional benefit of having that sponge is well not only does that sponge provide you additional surface area for beneficial bacteria to live on but the sponge prevents bits of uneaten food prevents leaves getting sucked into the filter where they ultimately just sit and rot
4:00
Any bits of detritus will typically stick to the outside of the sponge, making it much easier for you to clean, and reducing how often you need to actually service your hang-on-back or canister filter
4:08
So if you do find yourself running a canister at hand-on-back filter and you're not getting any babies
4:13
the chances are putting an intake sponge over the intake will solve your problem
4:18
So reason number four is because the shrimp aren't getting sufficient food
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Now as I've said many times in the past, shrimp are great clean-up crew
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They are detrovers and scavengers and they will eat leaves that are breaking down, fish poop dead fish
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well pretty much anything they come across. And that's fine for them to survive
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That's how they survive. But in this situation, we don't want them to survive
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We want them to thrive. We want the colony to grow. We want the shrimp to be happy and healthy and colourful
4:47
And we want them to breed. Unless you are target feeding your shrimp
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you're specifically getting food to them. You may find that's the reason they're not producing babies
4:56
Shrimp actually have voracious appetites. They will eat all day long. They spend the entire day going like this
5:02
And whilst bits of detritus, leaves that are breaking down biofilm bacteria
5:07
all these things make up a great part of their diet, I think one of the absolute best things
5:11
you can do for your shrimp is ensure they get enough food, whether that's algae wafers, sinking
5:16
pellets, rapashi gel food, frozen bloodworm cubes, whatever you have access to, feed those
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to your shrimp. Now this can be tricky. In this tank here again, I keep red cherry shrimp
5:28
with the guppies and the two have to fight for the food. They really do. I drop a cube of rapashi
5:34
in and the shrimp will be on it and the guppies will be pecking at it. but I just make sure I feed sufficient food so the guppies don consume it all and the shrimp get their first share So if you not getting red cherry shrimp babies and you not specifically feeding your shrimp try target feeding them with a sinking food and see if that
5:51
helps them improve the size of the colony. Now reason number five, your shrimp may not be producing
5:56
any babies is because there is a lack of biofilm in their tank. Now in the previous tip
6:01
I suggested you need to target feed your shrimp and you do. But a massive part of a shrimp's diet
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especially the baby shrimp, comes from eating biofilm. And biofilm, is a naturally occurring layer of bacteria and algae and other micro crustaceans
6:18
that form on pretty much every surface in your aquarium. What you need to do as a shrimp keeper is provide as many surfaces as possible
6:25
Now this might come in the form of gravel on the substrate, or rocks, or live aquarium plants
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Everything you add to your shrimp tank not only provides the shrimp cover
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but provides them a surface for biofilm to develop on. Now personally, I find Java moss is one of the shrimp
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is one of the best places that biofilm forms. If you keep Java moss in with your red cherry shrimp
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you will find they're constantly on it. Peck, peck, peck, peck, peck. They spend their entire day eating the biofilm
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that develops on the jarv moss. Catapleaves or Indian almond leaves are another fantastic addition to a shrimp tank
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because they provide not only surfaces for biofilm to develop on, but as the leaves break down
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the shrimp don't eat the leaves themselves. They eat the bacteria that is breaking down the catapermost
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breaking down the catapar leaves. So whilst we do need to feed our red cherry shrimp, we also need to make sure they have sufficient biofilm
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Now biofilm is naturally occurring. It naturally forms in every aquarium, given time and the correct conditions
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You don't go to the shop and buy some biofilm and add it to your tank
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But if you're not sure whether or not you have the right conditions for biofilm or whether
7:31
your aquarium has biofilm forming in it, why don't check out this video here
7:37
Thanks for watching
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