No Crystal Red babies, but LOTS of Red Cherry babies

[jweis]

So, my Red Cherry shrimp are breeding like crazy. Lots of little shrimp everywhere. As they grow, I will certainly have plenty to share.

On the other hand, my Crystal Red Shrimp seem very shy and hang out in the back of the tank and I don't see any babies (although maybe they are hiding too).

Anyway, what should I do to get the CRS to have babies? Also any ideas to get them to come out of hiding?

[Rick Dotson]

Do you have crushed coral in the tank to add calcium to the water? A lot of people seem to comment that they think it is important.

The other things is lots of hiding places for the babies. The parents eat them if they can so limiting parents or having lots of hiding wholes helps.

I also found that changing the water too frequently hindered their numbers. Their color also darken. From these two items makes me think the calcium (pH) is important.

Good Luck

[halak]

How much crushed coral should be in a shrimp tank?

[Rick Dotson]

I put about a couple tablespoons in a 5 gallon tank.

I pretty much abuse them and they grow like crazy. The biggest thing is to thin them so the adults do not eat the babies.

The babies are tiny and very hard to see so lots of plants and hiding places are good too. High light seems to help their color as well.

[jweis]

I put about a couple tablespoons in a 5 gallon tank.

I pretty much abuse them and they grow like crazy. The biggest thing is to thin them so the adults do not eat the babies.

The babies are tiny and very hard to see so lots of plants and hiding places are good too. High light seems to help their color as well.

OK, I will try adding some crushed coral. I have the tank crammed full of plants so they should have plenty of places to hide. I did buy some fancy Japanese shrimp food that dosen't turn into mush once it is put into the water. All the shrimp love it and in particular I noticed the Red Cherry Shrimp have turned a deeper red. The snails seem to love it too.

[jweis]

One more question for you shrimp experts out there. When I do water changes, I try to suck up some of the gunk out of the gravel. I am always worried I am also sucking up little shrimp or baby guppies. Of course, I try to be VERY careful, but they are so impossibly small I would never be able to tell if the very small ones are getting sucked up. I did put a piece of needle point plastic mess in the extractor tube, but I'm not sure if that is enough.

I do about a 25% water change once a week. Does that seem about right?

Any suggestions/recommendations? What does everyone else do?