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Crystal Red Shrimp 101

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#1 · (Edited)
Chapter 1: The Basics

I've recently noticed a lot of new members on gta showing an interest in keeping shrimps. So I thought I would post a continuous journal/blog on keeping and breeding crs (crystal red shrimp) and contribute anything new I learn. This hobby/ obsession will easily take up your mental time as it is very addictive and rewarding, which any shrimp breeders can attest to.

This information is based entirely on other breeders posts and my own experience with trail and error. There are many "bible laws" to crs keeping which I will go over and many debatable gray areas which I will try my best to avoid. I will however state the following with emphasis:

Do Not Ignore the Guidelines.
At the beginning of any new hobby we tend to take short cuts and make excuses with the rules. They are put in place because the experienced hobbyist at one time or another deviated from the laws themselves which had consequences which resulted in death of many shrimps. Now these rules are in place to prevent new hobbyists from such errors.

Let me start off by encouraging those currently keeping cherries to take the next step in this hobby and trying keeping slightly more sensitive shrimps such as CRS.
These shrimps paved the way for shrimp keeping and are famous world wide. They're price ranges anywhere from $5-$3000 USD each shrimp, and with a mother that can produce 20-50 offsprings in her lifetime (1-1.5 years), most breeders are more then willing to make the investment, but we'll come to that later on.



First let's take a look at what steps a typical person with a fish and/or cherries tank can take to equip their tank suitable for breeding CRS. We can do this by taking a closer look at the differences between the 2 tanks.

My friend Elva has a 10 gal with guppies and Cherries.
Her water is tap water with a ph of 7.6, temperature of 26 degrees due to her heater and her no3 is well over 20 ppm.



Let's take a moment to look at the Laws of keeping CRS.

1)Do not keep with fish.
If your interested in breeding crs, never keep them with fish, there are some crs friendly fish many debate over the forums but the fact of the matter is, no one is 100% sure these fish won't eat crs babies even if by accident and they pollute your water with excess NO3 which crs are sensitive to. Go buy a cheap used 10 gal off of craigslist or kijiji.
2)Use R/O water if you can. I go to walmart, pick up a 18.9 water cooler jug then refill in the store's culligan self help machine. For under 4 dollar I have enough RO water to last a month. However if you don't have a car or wall mart near you, use a brita water filter.
3)Keep water changes small, 15-20% every week.



4) You need shrimp soil to bring the ph around 6.6 ideally. Many have them breeding in tap water at 7.6 ph. To me that is like taking a person from sea level then forcing them to live near the base of Mt. Kilimanjaor. They will eventually adapt to the thin air but it isn't healthy for their body and will probably reduce their life expectancy. A bag of ada or netlea is only $40 and will last you a long time especially in a small tank.



5) Cover the inlet with a sponge or the babies will get sucked in and chopped up. They also have special sponge filters with large surface areas for bacteria to accumulate which babies love to feed on. In fact I've read many breeders had an increase in baby survival when switched to this sponge (photo below)



6) Don't over feed your shrimps. For 58 crs I will feed a piece of boiled organic spinach the side of my thumb nail every 2 days. Only what they can finish in under 2 hours.
7) Bacteria, bacteria, bacteria, the filter should consist of 1/3 sponge and 2/3 of bio media for bacteria to grow. Carbon is not necessary and most breeders don't even use this.
8) +10 gal, the bigger the better because it will give you a more stable water parameter.
9) Ideally you want the temp to be between 22-24 degrees.
10) CRS love aged water never expose them to any chemicals including chlorine, chloromine, copper, bleach! And here's the common sense part, never put your hand/forarm in the water is it's dirty or have just been exposed to a chemical such as dish detergent/body cream/hair product. Go to your local walmart and buy a cake of organic natural soap($3). Wash your hands with it before putting them in your tank, This stuff is amazing made with enzymes and completely natural os it breaks down easily.

Some of these points may be debatable but I can assure you that if you stick by them you'll a healthy booming population with minimal casualties.

 
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#2 · (Edited)
Now let's go back to my friend elva,
Her tank as you remembered was 7.6 ph from the tap water and temp of 26 from the heater, the NO3 was well over 20ppm from all the fish.

We start by giving away the fish/cherries (cherries outbreed crs and will be a heavy strain on the crs's food supply) or buy a cheap used tank off craiglist.
-Next we remove all plants and decor and replace the substrate with ada or netlea shrimp soil ($40)to bring down the ph. Try to do this with the existing tank water and mulm to speed up cycling. An inch of soil to cover the bottom flat is sufficient.



-do an 80% water change with R/O water ($4)
- replace filter intake with double sponge filter ($10) or simply cover the intake with sponge
-remove carbon from filter and fill the cavity with as much bio pellets as possible.
-cycle until tank NO3 is less or equal to 5ppm. You can remove No3 most efficiently with rooted plants/moss and more water changes.
-remove heater to maintain 22 degrees
-buy 10 A grade crs from local breeders or stores like menagerie and Franks



-fill a bucket with shrimp and the water in the bag they came with beside/below your tank.
-place one end of a thin tube inside the tank and tie a loose knot at the opposite end of the tube. Suck on the end with the knot until water flows and place in bucket (siphon). Now tighten or loosen the knot to adjust the flow of water to a slow drip for 2 hours.



-net crs into tank and your set and viola!! You have a crs breeding tank!!



Maintenance :
5%tap+15% R/O water changes every week.
Feed organic boiled spinach every other day
Indian almond leaves which you can pick up from Menagerie ($5-$10) put in closed tupperwear with tank water and place outside in direct sunlight for a week. Feed 1 leaf per week.



There maybe method others can debate but if you follow these rules and a little common sense you have a thriving population in no time. 10 mature crs can grow to 50 crs in less then 6 months under these ideal conditions where no crs die and the sexes are even. $5 x 50 = $250 if they are all A grades. Which you can sell easily in the toronto market.

This is a very basic/ general tutorial, I will get into more specifics with future posts. Add any comments, questions, or concerns.
 
#3 ·
Since I am still fairly new to the shrimp hobby, this is absolutely amazing!

Thank you so much for taking the time to put together all this awesome information for people like myself. I have a starfire cube that is cycling right now, getting ready for some CRS's. I currently have some A/B/C's in a little tank but I think I'll likely sell those guys and go with TT's and/or No Entrys for the nice new setup. I wish the Netlea shrimp soil was easier to find! I used the Fluval stratum and I am hearing not so great things :(

Thanks again!
 
#6 ·
No problem sinerviz, I wanted to show everyone interested in the hobby that it isn't as difficult as most people think.

Selling your shrimps sounds like a great idea and the way to sell your A's is by offering a free B/C for every 2 A's they buy. However, keep in mind that if you added a snow or golden shrimp, they will cross with the crs producing A, S and even S+ in their off springs with very beautiful white colors.

The netlea is at aqua inspirations the only store in canada authorized to sell them. I'm currently using it and loving this stuff. I will post a pic of my shrimp designated tank ( most optimal for shrimp breeding) when I get home in 2 hours.
 
#19 ·
Hey camboy. The filter I have it hOoked up to is a marina slim which I picked up from AI for only $20. But I've also tested it with many other aqua clear filters and they all fit, though not very snug.



With the double sponge filter just remove the top 90 degree bend(black plastic piece) On the filter remove the intake piece. Now there should be a hole in the motor where the intake piece was. Just stick in the double sponge filter and your set.



I'm sure this double sponge intake will fit any filter. My eheim which I'm cycling right now in another tank will be fitted to this piece next week. Hopefully it's a snug fit but if not I'll just go to lowdepot and buy a small piece of tubing($2) to connect the two. Hope that answers your question.

It's so much fun to watch your shrimps climb all over, in and between the slits. They love this and I'm really glad AI had it for only $10.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Hi sin,

Both soil are the same except the brown is more nutrient rich for plants and algae, and remember that crs loves to eat green algae. I wouldn't worry, since both soil will do an amazing job of bring your ph down to 6.4 which is the main reason for buying shrimp soil.

I agree, their tanks are beautiful and oddly very inexpensive.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Chapter 2: Baby Deaths

Baby deaths is a common occurrence with both beginner and medium level hobbyists have. I've lost countless babies myself, but in the process I did learn a few things.
There are many variables / factors that can kill a baby crs. We can only find the answer through a process of elimination and the best method of doing this is by looking the most probable causes first. Let me start by informing you that a typical mother in ideal conditions can give birth from 10 to 20 babies in a single batch. Not all the babies will live past the first week let alone the first month.



A small portion of deaths (10%-50%) will be attributed to weak genetics. Since this is currently out of our control we will focus on other areas.



The main causes of crs deaths will firstly be water conditions and secondly food source.

Ideal water conditions are based on accurate parameters and water stability.
First off invest in a good bag of shrimp soil. Too many people take shortcuts here including myself with peat/leaves/co2 and we wind with lots of crs baby deaths and a few adults here and there while we scratch our heads puzzled. You know you'll end up buying the soil regardless and in the mean time you would of wasted time/money/and countless crs deaths.

You need R/O water, crs prefer a tds(total dissolved solids) of less then 300us.



My newly setup crs tank's is a success with the shrimp soil and R/O water. I've never seen my crs so vibrant and active.
My parameters are 6.4ph/6gh/2kh(you'll need to buy a gh/kh tester kit, no way around it) temp 22, NO3<10ppm (this is very important to the health of your crs, and obviously ammonia/NO2 are both at 0ppm) and all you really need is the soil and ro water, that's it!

Now the difficult part is keeping all of this stable. Something I had to learn the hard way and now you'll learn it the easy way after reading the this.
-avoid co2, they cause ph swings, are hard to control, and commercial/profession breeders rarely touch the stuff.
-keep tank in a room with stable temp. My room is 22-23 degrees consistently day and night. Avoid keeping your tank near windows as the temp can drop rapidly overnight and beware of computers as they can heat up a room very quickly, especially with the door closed ( this is why some office buildings leave their comp on 24/7 and leave the heater off during fall and spring)
-keep water changes small, and at similar temps. Remember to replace any additives you remove such as mosura mineral plus (I will be doing a review on products/store review in my upcoming posts)

In order to master this skill you must practice and be aware of "water discipline" and no shortcuts.
The more you practice the easier it gets, I promise.

For crs baby food source, all you need is the double sponge filter (I picked up from AI for $10) which my babies love to climb all over to find food and tons of surface area for the bacteria they enjoy to grow. I use baby food like shirakiku from Menagerie, or Waka ebi from theshrimplab.com which has great baby food at the most affordable prices and is already sol out but check back soon.





Keep in mind the babies don't eat the baby food, rather it feeds the bacteria and help them to multiply. The babies then eat the bacteria. Read the feeding instructions on the labels and then reduce by half. All commercial products instruct us to use a lot more then we need so we'll have to buy more sooner. "rinse then repeat" sound familiar?

Water parameters/stability and food source, this alone accounts 80% for cause of death among baby crs. (Excluding genetic deaths)

I'm currently able to maintain these parameters and my babies are active and healthy. Something I cannot claim in my previous tank which lacked the soil and sponge.
 
#43 ·
You need R/O water, crs prefer a tds(total dissolved solids) of less then 300us.

My newly setup crs tank's is a success with the shrimp soil and R/O water. I've never seen my crs so vibrant and active.
My parameters are 6.4ph/6gh/2kh(you'll need to buy a gh/kh tester kit, no way around it) temp 22, NO3<10ppm (this is very important to the health of your crs, and obviously ammonia/NO2 are both at 0ppm) and all you really need is the soil and ro water, that's it!
I have a question about this. According to this site that I found, 300 us corresponds to 150ppm TDS, which, if divided by 17.8, gives 8.4 dGH! Toronto tap water, IIRC, has a dGH of 6-7.

So I'm wondering, why use R/O at all? I imagine that the main purpose of R/O would be to lower TDS, yet, it seems that tap water TDS should be acceptable to CRS?

Also, is it possible to breed CRS by feeding nothing but spinach? What about other vegetables/fruits like carrots, yams, mango? (Basically, whatever scrap I end up with...)
 
#15 ·
CrystalMethShrimp I PM'd u with my specific problem.
My tank parameters r (checked 2day) PH 6.4 KH 2 GH 5 Temp 22-23
I have a temp.controller attached to fans which go on the minute the temp. rises above 23 degrees. My heater (Sera) is at 22 degrees, I do not disconnect my heater during summers as well. Light is on for 8 hrs on timer,
0.5 watt per litre, tank is 24 lts net. I feed sparingly.
 
#16 ·
I don't use RO water I have straight tap water that is conditioned with Amquel+. I feed Mosura Gravidas and Mosura Bio Plus, as well as Hikari algae wafer, Shirakura shrimp food. I feed every other day, sparingly! I don't clean the bottom of my shrimp tanks, I have brig snails in these tanks, and they clean up any left over food very quickly.

I have currently over 100+ babies of all ages, and new babies and mammas berried again! I have Fluval stratum soil in this 10 gallon square tank with a piece of dragon lace rock and moss floating in the tank. I have left 3 sides of my tank with algae growing on it which feeds the babies, including new ones! Temp is room at 70F year round, no heater, and light is on 12 hours daily.

Algae is also growing on my rocks too. ALL new babies need algae to feed off, so by removing algae from your tanks as some people do, you are depriving the shrimps of natural food source!

Sponge filters are great for breeding tanks as all shrimps will eat any biofilm on those including the new babies! I use one HOB filter and one sponge in each tank.
 
#20 ·
Thanks for these tips Anna. I'm one of the guilty parties responsible for removing my algae and that was a great point.

For those new to gta or the inverts section, Anna is one of the first and most experienced breeders here in Toronto. She is full of great advice and I'm looking forward to her adding her expertise as we develop this thread. Perhaps you could give us a review on the mosura gravidas? (shrimp viagara)



Either siphon the water without sucking anything near the bottom or use a cup and remove 10%-15% of the tank water every week. Then replace with R/O (reverse osmosis) water. If you have to use tap, then let it sit in a pale/bucket with some primer (removes chlorine/chloromine) for atleast 24 hours.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Alex I'm sorry to hear that you can't get netlea or Ada. Both soil can last from 1.5-2 years if you use r/o water. Keep this in mind however, many people have the belief that they can keep crs in a beautiful aquascape. This was my belief for the past year where I had a heavily planted tank with co2. The truth I now realize is that if You use co2 You can for sure expect low birth rates and even some CRs baby deaths. In fact chapter 3 will be about crs deaths.

If your intention is to grow a large thriving population if crs get the soil and ditch the co2/fish. If you want a beautiful aquascape get a separate tank like I finally tank. If you attempt to keep both by trying a balancing act you will lose slot of crs and they will breed slowly for you. Why don't you use the 25 gal as your crs tank and your 40 gal as your aquascape, when you have a large enough population you can transfer the lowers grades into the 40 gal so that the 25 gal will produce higher grade offsprings. For a 25 gal you'll only need two 4 kg bag which should give you about 1.5 inch of flat substrate
 
#25 ·
Alex I'm sorry to hear that you can't get netlea or Ada. Both soil can last from 1.5-2 years if you use r/o water. Keep this in mind however, many people have the belief that they can keep crs in a beautiful aquascape. This was my belief for the past year where I had a heavily planted tank with co2. The truth I now realize is that if You use co2 You can for sure expect low birth rates and even some CRs baby deaths. In fact chapter 3 will be about crs deaths.
Yeah, maybe I'll get some Netlea or ADA when I'll come visiting Toronto with my folks.....how much do you think I should get for my 40gal tank(36Lx18l) ?!?!

And do you think I could grow plants in a shrimp soil without too many problems ?

I like the look of a shrimp tank that has only some java fern on a piece of driftwood and some moss but I'd also love to have my dream aquascape !!!

PS: waiting for chapter 3-4-5....
 
#26 ·
I am also using the Marina i25 inside filter for my new custom tanks....it keeps the water very nice and clear and doesn't make any noise at all...if you don't like the sound of bubbling water which some people don't (I find it soothing and often want to fall asleep at the computer which is in my fishroom):)

The Marina i25 is a small compact filtration system (you replace the insert as needed and they are fairly cheap) Filter costs approx $15 + tx and Petsmart
and PJs sells them.

They don't take up much room in your tank space, and just hang from a hook off the top rim of your tank inside...very compact and efficient! Water is smooth out of the inlet and doesn't create huge water columns beneath it where shrimp can get washed up in. I use a nylon sock to cover the intake part so no babies get caught in it, and they shrimps like to hang on the nylon where biofilm gathers!

Camboy: The photos were all on fastpictures.com which has gone down, and taken all my photos with them...now I have to try to upload all of them to photobucket, so will take time! I will find them and post here when I can.
not all 100+ babies are in the same tank....I have them in 4 different tanks.
 
#29 ·
For a 40 gallon tank you'll definitely need more than just one 9L bag of Aquasoil. Just to give you an idea, in my Mini-L (about 8.2 gallons), I used two of the 3L bags to get a 1.5-2" deep substrate. In my Mini-M (about 5.5 gallons) I used about 6L in total.

Here's the link to my tanks on TPT.
 
#30 ·
Well you see, this is one thing I'm not sure of.....is 9L = 9 pounds ?!?!?

After all I can decide on the spot how much as I see the bags are somewhat transparent(unlike the Fluval).

I think 2 bags are enough for my setup.

Actually I have two tanks that I could use:
1. 30 gal(30Lx18lx13H)
2. 40 gal(36Lx18lx15H)

I haven't decided which one I'm gonna use but I can always start the 30 gal and save a little on the substrate.

One last thing....which one should I go for: ADA - Netlea - Fluval ?!?!
 
#34 · (Edited)
Yeah, well I guess a 30 gal is enough to raise CRS.

The only problem is that I don't have access to any ADA/Netlea products in this fricking town so I'm really pissed....any1 comming to Montreal/surroundings soon :D ?!?

Does anyone knows where I could get some ADA/Netlea online with smaller shipping charges ?!?....if needed, I can order 3-4 bags for free shipping !!!

And Leo, that quite expensive buddy, good luck.
 
#36 ·
Yeah, I guess I'll go with Fluval this time.

A buddy of mine that used to work at a petshop and he can get stuff for 50% off so I guess I'll tyalk to him maybe he can get me 2x4Kg bags of Fluval.

Here in MTL its 31$+tx for a 4Kg bag....I guess two bags are more than enough for a 30 gal(30Lx18lx13H)
 
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