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.
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.