# New to Shrimp - Fertilizers, Eggs and Behaviour.



## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Hi, 

This week I purchased 3 cherry shrimp for my Ebi and it is my first time keeping shrimp so I have some questions.

A) When I first added them to the tank after acclimating them for 4 hours I noticed they were surprisingly active. The 2 females in particularly spent a lot of time zooming around the tank at all levels. I wasn't sure if this was normal. It's been 3 days since I've had them now and they aren't as active anymore. In fact I barely see them at all especially the 2 females. Is something wrong or have they just settled into their new home?

B) Both females I got were berried when I got them. One of them seem to have lost her eggs. What happened? I don't see any babies so I don't think they hatched.

C) I have read that they are sensitive to copper. Currently I dose Flourish, Excel and Iron. Will any of these harm them? I know Flourish has copper in it, but I dose the minimum amount just once or twice a week.

Thanks


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## Petah (Dec 19, 2010)

Hmmm, i read so many articles about fert and shrimps. I stay away from it... i fear of a mass death of my yellows. 

Mine just spend their days grazing for food. The males go crazy every once in awhile, but this is due to them searching for the female, to get her preggos. 

As for dropping the eggs, it's normal for a first time mother to drop it. You can try to collect the eggs and artifically hatch them. There's an article you can find online on the how to.


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## DR1V3N (Apr 22, 2010)

Atom said:


> Hi,
> 
> A) When I first added them to the tank after acclimating them for 4 hours I noticed they were surprisingly active. The 2 females in particularly spent a lot of time zooming around the tank at all levels. I wasn't sure if this was normal. It's been 3 days since I've had them now and they aren't as active anymore. In fact I barely see them at all especially the 2 females. Is something wrong or have they just settled into their new home?


This happens whenever I move shrimp around in different tanks. Leads me to think it's just their normal rituals of scoping out the new area before settling in.



Atom said:


> B) Both females I got were berried when I got them. One of them seem to have lost her eggs. What happened? I don't see any babies so I don't think they hatched.


Normal for them to drop eggs due to the stress of moving. The parameters have changed. There's a chance they might have hatched and got sucked up by your filter intake? Forewarning for the future if you decide to breed them I suppose.



Atom said:


> C) I have read that they are sensitive to copper. Currently I dose Flourish, Excel and Iron. Will any of these harm them? I know Flourish has copper in it, but I dose the minimum amount just once or twice a week.
> 
> Thanks


I also dose flourish excel (not iron though) in my planted tanks. There's a piece on Seachem's website that says the trace elements of copper won't harm inverts. I find that's true with Cherry shrimp although they seem to breed slower in these said tanks. Flourish Excel is an algaecide so it kills off naturally occurring food for your shrimp.

HTH


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

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Hey Atom , welcome to the wonderful world of shrimp keeping lol

(A) Mine were the same way when I first got into them, seems they like the darker spots in the tank. They are quite active when I have the light off. Sometimes during the day they are super active, other times they aren't. I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you start having deaths, then there could be a problem

(B) Agree with what Aaron(martialid) said about the eggs. Make sure you have a pre filter sponge on your filter intake. Unless you have super magnified vision lol you most likely won't see the babies for a couple weeks after they hatch they are suuuuuuuuuper small. I still have to wear reading glasses to see mine after about 2-3 weeks. You seen how small the eggs were, the babies are even smaller

(C) cant help ya here since mine are in a 5 gal with moss and ferns that don't need dosing.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the tips so far. 

I am really enjoying the shrimp. They are much more interesting than I thought. Though I do miss seeing them cruise around the tank now that they appear to have settled down.

Another question for you all. 

D) Do you supplement your tanks with extra food for the shrimp or do they live off your algae and fish food?

E) How about mineral additives. I have a bottle of the Fluval mineral stuff that came with the tank, but it doesn't say how much to dose or how often.


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## trevorhoang (Oct 13, 2010)

i give them a very small amount of a combination of algea wafers, shrimp pellets and boiled zuchiinii every once in a while. i dont rely on the algea in the tank to feed them.

i dont use any mineral additives except for african ciclid conditioner when i change water to raise the GH.

welcome to the shrimp world. they are very fun to watch. i started with 20 and 3 months later, i had well over 50.


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## Petah (Dec 19, 2010)

I add the FLuval EBi mineral to raise GH every water change. 
I feed them every day, except sundays. Since i have shrimplets im using the Shirakura shrimplet powder and the EBI food. Just a pinch of both.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

my shrimps diet is varied with HBH algae wafers, flake food, pellets, raw zucchini/cucumber & whenever the top of my plants, in my other tanks, get that green slime algae, I pluck it off and throw it in there...they love that stuff
I also skip a day once in while, the tank seems to be alot cleaner the next day lol

Only type of mineral supplements I use is Alkalinity booster and a little salt in my new water and I have crushed coral in my filter


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## qyrus (Apr 21, 2010)

Excel and Iron should be fine if you dose at the recommended levels (I use metricide and kent iron and manganese with no issues). Flourish seems to be a mixed bag, some report die offs others have no problems. If you're worried just keep an eye on your shrimps, healthy shrimps should be moving and foraging constantly and shouldn't be still for extended amounts of time.

Jim


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the advice. Just added another 2 cherries to the Ebi.

Anyone have advice on acclimating shrimp? I read online that some take 7 hours or more with a drip method? I've been using a turkey baster and only acclimated them for 2 hours. What does everyone else do?

Petah, how much of the Fluval mineral stuff to you usually add?


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## Petah (Dec 19, 2010)

It depends on the amount of water change, and the type of shrimps you have. I have yellow shrimps, but they do better in hard alkaline water.


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