Tips for Shrimp Keeping
Behavioral of Shrimplets
Shrimplet survival
If you are wondering if shrimplet are getting sufficient food after they are born, you are right to have that question because like all living things, survival is instinct.
All shrimplet are born with the instinct to survival and to be as close to food and shelter as the fundamental elements of survival. It is by no coincidence that shrimplets especially those that are relatively young within 14 days of being born.
This observation can be seen here where the shrimplet are all congregating at one particular spot in the tank. While there are some in other areas of the tank but it is very evident that most of them are near the vicinity of the kallax ball within the ceramic/terracotta dish.
In the video below, it becomes very clear that majority of shrimplet have congregate in that area. There are some found at the moss area but the most are on the feeding dish where it’s close to the food source. As shrimplets are small they thrive readily on available biofilm and kallax ball helps with that production of biofilm which the shrimplet can directly benefit.
While using the kallax ball it is important to note that it has to be soak 3 days prior to using and the effect will last up to a month, sometimes longer.
Biofilm
Are all biofilm create equal? The long and short of it is no they’re not create equal. The content to create the biofilm makes a difference in the quality of biofilm. If you have tried putting driftwood into a new tank you’ll realize there are some slimy white cotton thing appearing. Those are biofilm, however created out of the wood, which we believe have no direct benefit.
For our Kallax ball/ Kallax plus and lubao are carefully formulated and individually hand packed myself to ensure the goodness reaches your shrimp in good order.
The quality of this can be seen by various breeders around the world who have learn how to use it to their benefit.
While we understand there are quite a bit of competition in the market but we trust that the Original will provide the best biofilm for your prized shrimp.
Trust you have learn something from this article and appreciate the support once again. It has been a great journey sharing information with all of you and those who are keen in learning how to breed quality shrimps.
Ammonia is the energy source for Beneficial Bacteria
Which is which?
In one of my Youtube videos i was talking about Ammonia reading and being able to measure that. However, what should we do with the readings?
In other words, we may know from a cycling process that ammonia is present in the water column and throughout the cycle, there will be a peak in Ammonia. When there is beneficial bacteria to convert the ammonia that is in the water column, it will then be converted to Nitrite and eventually to Nitrate.
The beneficial bacteria is the catalyst to convert the harmful ammonia to less harmful nitrite and eventually to nitrate.
While we can measure the ammonia reading, we can’t really measure beneficial bacteria, or can we? We are able to know if a tank is colonized with beneficial bacteria by measuring Ammonia. If Ammonia reading is 0 then we can safely “assume” there is beneficial bacteria present.
While we are not able to measure the number of beneficial bacteria in the tank we can however measure the surface area or Meter square available in the tank surface for bacteria colonization.
Porosity
We can consider measuring porosity of filter media such as pads/substrat/ media/ etc to give an indication of how much surface area is potentially available for beneficial bacteria to colonize.
Many manufacturer market their product based on “Great Surface Area” but how great is great?
Hence to get an indication of what surface area are in filter media and sponges:
| m2/L | |
| Powerhouse S Soft | 1620 |
| Powerhouse M Soft | 1030 |
| Powerhouse L Soft | 800 |
| Poret Sponge 10ppi | 899 m2/m3 |
| Seachem Matrix bio | 700 |
| Biohome Ultimate | 680 |
| Eheim Substat pro | 450 |
| Sera Siporax | 270 |
While this post is not about which media is better for which purpose, as this can be found in other online information.
The table provides an indication of how much potential growth of beneficial bacteria at a given ammonia level.
Why does it matter
There are many ways to get to Rome and what i’m trying to share in this post is about ammonia vs beneficial bacteria.
Do you have sufficient beneficial bacteria to shorten the duration of an ammonia spike. There are many causes of ammonia spike, it can be a dead shrimp, can be an over dose of bacteria products and other things. So it is not the ammonia spike that is scary but the duration of the spike that should be looked into.
Reason being is that if the tank have insufficient beneficial bacteria than the ammonia spike will be rather long in duration until the current beneficial bacteria have multiply to cope up with the given ammonia before the spike goes back down.
In other words, it doesn’t mean having a higher porosity filter would mean higher beneficial bacteria count, but it does mean that the potential for higher beneficial bacteria count is possible.
For example if you are using 1600 m2/L filter media vs 400 m2/L both will have beneficial bacteria of the same level if the ammonia level is kept the same. However, as we all know that shrimp breed and with more shrimplet the colony grow giving rise to higher ammonia. If there is insufficient space for more beneficial bacteria to grow than the tank will have hit it’s max capacity.
On the other hand if the ammonia level continue to rise due to more bioload, on the 1600 m2/L filter media, it will then continue to colonize new beneficial bacteria to upkeep with the ammonia changes.
Technically while we measure ammonia, we should also measure the duration of such a spike because the longer the spike the more damage it will do. Now with porosity given in another light, you can now look at why large area of sponge like HMF are working so well because of the large surface area.
If you are a filter media person, you can consider using filter media of good porosity to ensure high surface area. While they do clog up eventually, it is noted that a 10% change in filter media in 6-12 months can be considered to ensure new beneficial bacteria get colonize as sometimes the soil and dirt get stuck in the pores of the filter media rendering them less efficient.
With the thoughts behind porosity vs ammonia, it is important to discern the difference and that ‘getting by’ is ok but having an abundance will be beneficial in the long term. In other words, a larger potential area for beneficial bacteria to colonize is advantageous as you get into the more tricky shrimps.
Ammonia is your best friend
Ammonia is your best friend in the aquarium because they are the food source for beneficial bacteria to colonize and continue to colonize. The higher the ammonia source the higher the POTENTIAL the growth of beneficial bacteria depending on the surface area. If there is very low surface area such as using 1L of soil for 100L as filter media, than the beneficial bacteria will be much lesser compare to the same with a large surface filter media.
We can prevent ammonia spike by having good water parameters both hard and soft value. Also we can reduce possibility of ammonia spike by not adding too many products into the tank to ‘mix’ it up. The lesser we add, the better and more stable it will be. The more products you add, the less likely you will know what is causing the trouble.
While there are many products on the market, it is important to discern the difference and once the tank is stable, i only use a product to enhance shrimp gut health which is optional.
- Natto bacteria for probiotic health
other than that, i personally do not add nitrifying bacteria or other things after every water change. The only thing i would add is Natto bacteria occasionally for good gut health.
Can read more here regarding no requirement for nitrifying bacteria after every WC: https://www.tfhmagazine.com/articles/freshwater/nitrifying-bacteria
Isn’t Soil Porous too?
Yes the active soil we use for example Tropica and ADA soil are porous in nature since they’re clay and soil but the porosity of the soil if use in large quantity per L of water such as 1L of soil per 16L of water and having it up to 100L of water in the tank would house quite a lot of soil which then i believe can get away from having filter media.
However, any lesser soil would generally mean the porosity vs ammonia may be insufficient to begin with. Hence, it is important to note that if soil is use as a filter media it should also be considered the amount of soil use to per L of water. A general rule is the tank have to be at least 100L with 80L being filled with water. Meaning 1L of soil to 16L of water or 5L of soil. That is then sufficient as a media and buffering.
If there are lesser porosity or surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonize, the cycle will take a long time hence using soil solely for the tank as filtration and in small quantity will not be beneficial to the entire ecosystem.
Probably can get away with the more hardy shrimps but as we advance to more challenging type, every single detail matters.
Getting it right
Setting up a breeding tank
Tank size: If you have a 20L/40L or bigger tank, it is important that you cycle the tank a full 40 days based on nitrogen cycle. A bigger tank with higher water volume will have more stable water parameters, the margin of error you are allowed to make is also bigger.
Soil: Now you have got your tank, what soil do i recommend? I still recommend ADA but i know there are other soil out there which can be suitable as well. For example Tropica is another great example of soil that can be use. As long the soil is active and has the capability to lower pH and keep the water soft with consistent buffering throughout the soil life can be considered.
Filtration: Sponge filter, hang on, external cannister, UGF, Uplift, etc. There are a ton of filtration out there that does the one thing: Filtration. Depending on how much time and budget you have, this is certainly the more important aspect in my opinion. Water parameters is the utmost important element in shrimp keeping/breeding and this affect directly to our shrimp. If you have a lot of tanks and want to keep cost down like how Taiwan breeders are doing than 2 unit of dual sponge filter per 100L tank is recommended. If you have a smaller tank and wish to put 2 x dual sponge filter, it is also possible. If you have a slightly higher budget and wish to provide more filtration, the matten filtration and external cannister is a good option. I’m a filter media person ever since i started aquarium hobby 19 years ago. So for my setup, i use a specialize Totto filter which i have mentioned in some of my post, it has the ability to remove nitrate as well. Yes Nitrate. The entire process from breaking down ammonia to nitrite and then onwards to Nitrate and eventually release as Nitrogen into the water column and dissipated. I enjoy having the ability to trust the system and view my shrimp given my very busy schedule, hence i opt for this option. I have tried many types of filter but this method suit my schedule the best. If i have slightly more time i would gone for sponge filter because they are really inexpensive and you have to just wash them in tank water once a month or more depending on how clog up it gets. So ask yourself how much time are you willing to allocate for maintaining the tanks, then it will give you an indication what kind of filter you can use. So far the better filter i have tried are uplift, sponge, cannister, hang on back, permanent UGF (not box) are possible ones.
Keeping it simple
Keeping things simple and focus time on selective breeding than water changes. Water changes need to be done but can be done semi automatically.
While everything can be set the same but the outcome of the cycled tank is going to be different. Every tank is different.
Plants: In one of my post i have mentioned about the types of plants you can use. I would give a summary here that any aquatic plants are suitable however you have to ensure it is contain and not over grown as this is a shrimp tank vs a planted tank. A planted tank has the focus on the plants with shrimp as one of the inhabitants whereas a shrimp tank has focus on the shrimp and plants as inhabitants. I like a lot of aquatic plants and hence i setup planted tank to satisfy my love for plants. For my shrimp tanks, i usually use Taiwan moss and plants such as echinodorus, crypto or buceps. The key to all these is they don’t grow too crazily over time unlike many stem plants that require weekly trimming. We don’t want to be dipping our hands into the tank every few days. Floating plants are fine too to absorb excess nitrate.
Bacteria: Startup bacteria is often sold as to help speed up the nitrogen cycle, however there are a myriad different type of bacteria in the market. While i’m an old school aquarist, i still stick to the very traditional free method of cycling it 40 days. While i have easy access to beneficial bacteria but still i prefer to ensure i don’t speed up things that shouldn’t be sped up. You have a lifetime ahead of you to breed the shrimps well, 40 days in a grand scheme of things is not too long. Understanding the nitrogen cycle is simply to get the beneficial bacteria ready to convert ammonia to nitrite into nitrate.
Cycling: I’ll still put here a minimum of 40 days cycling time, there are ways to improve the speed of the cycling time however the key to stable water parameters is to start the note on the right foot.
Airstone: What? Yes i actually like placing an airstone either to the outlet of the filter to introduce more agitation to the surface thus having a higher O2 exchange. The reason for this is more true for countries where we use cooling methods to cool down the tank. When temperature rises, ammonia become highly dangerous and thus consuming Oxygen, that is also why when there is an ammonia spike fishes gasp for air at the surface, shrimp doesn’t really do that (no indication). This is to help prolong the time for you to diagnose what the issue is (faulty chiller, dead shrimp that was concealed resulting in an ammonia spike, etc. Airstone are inexpensive and last a long time so drop one into every tank can be beneficial.
Food: A newly setup tank will have quite a lot of ‘food’ biofilm in the tank hence there is really not much you need to feed them after the first introduction. However, if you are going to introduce a lot of shrimp (50-100), they can strip off the biofilm in a matter of a day or 2. A good staple food i use is Hwa version 1 which is highly recommended as my main feed. It helps stressed shrimp to get to the food and consume as it has a strong drawing power. While the drawing power is important but more importantly the ingredients are all rounded. When there are a lot of shrimp, it becomes critical to introduce lubao as a grazing material as it has a long time duration in the tank up to 1-2 months per ball (i know some hobbyist use it even longer with no adverse effect – recommended still 1-2 months max). So in this section we listed 2 important word: Drawing power and Time Duration. Whenever i categorize the food and give ratings, i usually use these 2 as a basis for my understanding. Like for example, Moss is a very good ‘food’ as it harbors microorganism and also biofilm and time duration is endless. However the quantity it produces is fairly low. Indian Almond leaf is also another very good one, high creation of biofilm, medium time duration. While you can use a combination of those grazing material it is important to get that checklist tick.
Shrimp Breeding Element 2: Breed
Breeding shrimp (Food/Biofilm)
There are a lot of factors influencing the shrimp ability to breed from water parameter to food to shrimp genetics. However, today i would like to touch on a fairly common topic on Shrimp Food. The first question i get asked frequently is how often should i feed my shrimps? If you have a lot of shrimps like 20 or more, you might want to consider a daily staple feed fed twice daily and also a grazing material. Grazing material such as Lubao, Indian Almond leaves, Alder cone, cholla are some good examples.
The reason to feed them twice is so all your shrimps are fed and the female will ‘Think” that the tank have sufficient food to support their next generation. The whole idea is to feed lesser quantity but high frequency. So twice is good and if you can do 3 times it works as well.
If you feed in the morning and the shrimps are unable to finish it within 4 hours, then you’re not required to feed the second time in the evening Thats my general rule of thumb, Remove the food by then or if you have ramshorn snail, they will help with scavenging and foraging on the shrimp food. If the shrimps are not feeding, it could be there are still plenty of biofilm in the tank but do watch out if the shrimps are looking lethargic and not feeding.
A grazing material aids in building up biofilm for shrimps to consume between meals. Think of it like a snack and a good grazing material will be the food source between feeds.
There is a wide range of food in the market and i think we are spoiled for choice and which one is good for my shrimps? Personally i like using a good staple food and that is Hwa V1.
Staple Food
- Basically shrimps are not that fussy eater, most of the staple food sold in aquarium shops today are basically ok to feed your shrimp. I personally prefer keeping things simple and to feed only 1 type of staple food but a variety of grazing material is very crucial.
- I’m using Hwa Version 1 Shrimp food pad, this food is formulated with carefully selected ingredients to provide shrimp with all their requirements.
- if you are using some shrimp food which you think they’re good for your shrimp, good! There is really no need to change.
- Occasionally i feed blanched spinach, they’re fairly good especially blanched spinach. if i’m feeling rich, i’ll order a pack of organic spinach and take out one serving for the shrimp while i consume the rest as a salad.
Grazing material
Now here we get serious, grazing material in my opinion is equally important to daily feed. The amount of surface area for creating biofilm is important as it mimics the natural environment where Shrimps feed on biofilm.
Lubao, Indian Almond leaves and moss are three very popular and recommended grazing material. Alder cone and Cholla are not native to at least this part of the world, so i defer that information to those who have them. For Indian Almond leaves and Lubao we have very easy access to them hence we use them readily. I really like using Lubao because it is technically a microoganism food that produces food for cultivating microorganism for the shrimp to feed on and also biofilm. Indian almond leaves without going too deep into this topic has antibacteria properties, produces biofilm and are well liked by most shrimp. Grazing material is important because shrimp feed constantly and if there are not enough biofilm in the tank and daily feed is not consistent, the shrimps will not breed. They will start cannibalizing during molting. Hence, it is highly critical to have grazing material available.
A living grazing material that works very well is moss. Moss harbour a lot of microorganism which allow adults and shrimplets to graze on. Moss also provide cover for berried shrimp and shrimplets however it is also important not to over crowd the tank with moss because if it get too dense, some of the berried female may get stuck in there and die. Hence, always thin out the moss to a small bunch the size of your hand
Male to Female Ratio
Male to Female Ratio:
There are simply too many males in the tank causing a higher probability of females being harass and eventually succumbing to death. This is because too many males will try to mount onto the female shrimp which during the process might injure it as the shell is very soft after molting. It does not really happen to males because when male shrimp molt they do not emit the pheromones like female do. So chances are the male will be left alone for the shell to harden after molting.
A good ratio to consider:
- 2M 8F
- 3M 7F
- i personally like to use 1-2M to 15-20F
Deep dive
First and most critical step in the 4 guiding principles
Keeping shrimps alive, what so difficult about it? In a very broad stroke it is actually fairly simple and straightforward. However, there have been many methods to keep shrimps alive, some easier than others and eventually it is people who made a simple linear keeping more difficult.
While the building blocks of shrimp keeping such as water parameters (soft and hard), biofilm, source etc helps prop up the success rate of keeping shrimps alive, but because there are many possibilities in between where the norm is deviated.
This is where the complexity starts.
Complexity
Where does the complexity starts? It all start with adding more things than we should and also looking at short term/low unproven methods adds up to the equation.
Soil:
Here we talk about using active soil which have the capability to alter the pH and KH of the water parameters, there are certainly a lot of soil in the market. Generally, active soil with trusted brands are slightly more costly and normally most active soil react similarly. All active soil releases Ammonia, however, we may know the level of release, we don’t normally know how long it last as it differs batch to batch.
For me it’ is rather straightforward and it is inexpensive for us in Singapore to get ADA soil because of the nature of competition, prices are often kept low.
There are repackaged type but would recommend to purchase a 3L or 9L original bag rather than any repackage type, who knows what they are in there.
Filtration:
There is a myriad of filters on the market, there isn’t one best filter as everyone have their own budget to get it through. To give a bit of a background of filtration and why are some of the larger scale operation have to use simple filtration vs why hobbyist are doing things differently.
Large scale operation usually for breeding purposes have north of 50 tanks and some having 800-1000 tanks in a couple of facility which is why expensive filtration cannot be utilize. It doesn’t make business sense. So the most efficient filtration in such setup is sponge filter.
Then we have the Lift filter (HMF) with sponge on the side which essentially is air driven. This is by far the sponges be it dual or lift are the most economical and have great biological filtration.
In addition, there is also non-box UGF filtration within the tank itself and has been also quite well accepted however regular maintenance is required for that to happen.
i’m also aware that there are renowned Taiwan breeders large scale using external cannister filter which is high cost but overall does a very good filtration system for the tank.
Hobbyist on the other hand with more budget to spend can opt for above the top filtration to get additional benefits such as external filters, hang on filters and motor driven ones.
Key: Filtration is key to keeping shrimps alive as it is to clean the water and provide a safe haven for them. Providing beneficial bacteria to turn harmful ammonia to less harmful nitrate.
If you are looking for a budget filter, just go with Sponge or HMF, i think that will be in my opinion among the better ones. This decision here does however impact the later part of the guiding principle. So if you want to be successful later on to breed great looking shrimps, this right here is key. If not you will get stuck at step 2-3 and can’t progress to step 4
Personally for my own collection, they are run with Totto filter so it helps remove Nitrate as well which means fewer water change even on higher bioload. However, a good filtration does not replace water changes.
Reminerizer:
A general rule here 3GH per 90TDS. Any deviation from it, may result in higher than required TDS which will then create issues with molting. Again yet another key component.
Food:
High Draw factor: food that shrimp goes towards and having a couple of food type is sufficient and not to add to the complexity. As food decompose in the tank and having too many types of food becomes difficult to pinpoint the issue later on.
Biofilm:
This is important for later stage 2-4 and if in absence of this, most will get stuck at level 3 (selective breeding).
Bacteria:
As beneficial bacteria is important for good water parameters, an optional top up of bacteria products to replace it can be considered. This should be used in older tank when the ammonia source is depleted from the soil and beneficial bacteria are not reproducing (how do we know, it’s unmeasurable – hence it’s a soft value). There are bacteria products that are of natural elements such as bacteria with composition of bacillus subtilis var. natto.
Keeping things Simple
Once you get the basic right, the chances of shrimp survival will be much higher.
- Thin soil (1cm) laid in the tank as i have move away from UGF. Reason for doing that is because the time needed to reset a UGF setup takes a much longer time. Resetting a tank with thin soil setup only takes 30 mins per tank.
- Feed a good staple food and supplement with a reliable grazing material
- weekly water change using RO water
- Every few months i’ll give the Totto filter a wash and change 10% of the filter media to allow new colonization of beneficial bacteria
With that, even with the busiest schedule i’m able to at least still keep the hobby going. So for those out there who are feeling that you don’t have time to continue on this hobby, i would urge you to try another process that will suit you rather than being slave to the hobby. The product/process you use will determine how much time you need in the hobby to keep it going. There are methods/products that lengthen the time required for maintenance so that you be able to allocate lesser time on it and spend more time on enjoying the hobby.
Signs, Internal, External
Looking out for signs
Basically there are 4 signs you should look out for to give you a sense if the shrimps are still actively feeding or hiding from stress and shock.
If the shrimps are hiding constantly it means the shrimp is in stress. Usually cause either by internal or external factors.
When they’re not actively feeding due to hiding, then it is a telltale sign something is amiss and need to be rectified.
In addition, if they are not breeding it could mean somewhere there are deterrence to that. Lastly if there were cases of fail molt, it is best to keep observing.
Internal
This is as simple as it get, why are my shrimp dying? What are the main causes of shrimp death?
- Water Parameters
- This is the first reason that your shrimps are dying by the numbers – 1-2 per day or weekly. Why is water parameters the number 1 reason for shrimp death? The old adage goes like this, if you want to keep good quality shrimp, first learn how to keep good water parameters. If your tanks have good water parameters, everything else will fall in place.
- I have in my other post talk about water parameters and my water parameters recommendation.
- Too little or too much water change
-
- i usually recommend at least 10% water change and if the tank volume is large (100L) and a few shrimp, a 5% water change will do.
- On a very stable tank and shrimp, even changing 50% at once hasn’t proven to be an issue (Remember point 1 and point 2)
- Stirring too much soil up during water change, creating a sudden spike and then returning back to normal
-
- Itchy hand syndrome
- There is no need to add bone meal, Cutterbone, decorative item, tons of plants, feeding excessively, adding wood, adding rock, adding any other thing other than reminerizer during WC
- Mixing source A,B,C,D shrimp in 1 tank – stick to your trusted source
- Putting your hand in there every few hours to move decorative item around.
- Feeding more than twice a day – if you have a lot of shrimp
- Your feed should be altered to the number of shrimps and should consume all of the feed within 2-3 hours. If not, cut the feed to a smaller portion and feed. if not, consider adding more shrimp.
- Adding new soil in large quantity inside an established tank, tried that – adult shrimps does ok, shrimplets die.
- Insufficient biofilm and too high male:female ratio
- When there are insufficient biofilm and with a high male to female ratio increases cannibalisms very significantly which causes female to die.
External Factors
External factors such as :
Transportation and packing:
This is important as when the shrimps are transported it is a stressful event with the water swirling around. A good packing method is required to reduce the stress of shrimp. Inverted double bag will be good.
Temperatures:
Large swing in temperature upwards during heat wave of sudden day high above 28 degrees Celsius is dangerous. The heat stress can impact the shrimps and cause issue a few days later.
Shrimp like all living things die
All living things die – we like it or not. There is no way we can keep all 100% of our shrimp alive and this is esp. true if they’re genetically weak. For example i haven’t experience a PRL die for a long time but occasionally i still get a selectively line bred shrimp dead (it’s part and parcel of shrimp keeping)
The 4 Guiding Principles
Why the need for Guiding Principles?
We can understand from the guiding principle as the pillar of support that rest above the building blocks of basic fundamentals. The basic fundamentals such as the water parameters, filtration, plants, etc are the building blocks that allows the shrimp to be able to survive, breed, select and split.
In this post we talk about the guiding principle to share the importance of not rushing for results as any of the blocks can come crushing down the entire support structure which will put you further away from getting the results.
Alive, Breed, Select, Split
Alive:
This is the first step and the most important of all. Without mastering this step there is actually not much of a progress and while most shrimp breeders are able to keep their shrimps alive but when task with a very high grade shrimp that has been inbred for excellence/pedigree, they also stumble. Reason is simple, in-bred for pedigree show grade shrimps are often so in-bred where the genetic similarities are very close.
Keep the shrimp alive is actually the result of good water parameters (soft and hard values). A breeder keeps the water in tip top condition and the water will keep the shrimps alive.
Breed:
When we are able to keep the shrimp alive, then we will be able to start discussing about breeding. While breeding is fairly straight forward once you are able to get good water parameters, this part of it requires food/biofilm to be present to encourage breeding. Breeding shrimps is very fun and to see the next generation is very rewarding.
When in general you are getting the hang of breeding shrimps and they are growing and breeding again and again, we can move on to the next step which is select.
Select:
Selective breeding process is slightly different than just breeding the shrimps. Here there are a lot more technical details and book keeping to ensure the selection process are well documented.
To be able to discern between male and female is the fundamental for this step to begin because it involves removing males from the colony, using good males for breeding with females. In addition, multiple tanks are required for this step and a really good line can take more than 3 tanks to ensure genetic difference. Here, it is also important to know selection process while is the Be all End All does not mean it will guarantee there are results you expect. It may not work out and often adjustments are made and this can only be seen and know much further down the line when the shrimplets are big and when the colors/patterns are fix.
Split:
This is where you have improved the shrimp and colony to a large enough size to split into 2 tanks where you can then continue to selective breed them by crossing cousins. This helps dilute the genetic similarities comparing to inbreeding (Father x Daughter or Father x Grand Daughter). While cousins are still classified as inbreeding but they’re classified as distance so it will still help with the genetic stability.
Summary:
While the individual elements of the guiding principle in itself is a whole chapter by itself, the above shares the high level of what the guiding principles to get to results.
Taken Together
While we chase for results, we must also keep in mind that to allow ourselves to have time in the process to also enjoy it. Do not be frustrated or disappointed if you don’t get there the first time, so long as one is open minded and willing to keep trying and improve, eventually you will get there.
Not all projects will succeed and this is a given, so there is no need to feel bad about it. I have fail project time and time again just to try to get something out but after 1 year, nothing happens.
Hence, i have tried to categorize the journey i went through and share this with you so as to get more clarity on the topic of shrimp keeping.
Thanks for reading and below you can watch the video too!
Why do we need to differentiate
Selective breeding
One of the most critical aspect in learning how to differentiate male and female shrimp is one of the key to successful selective breeding. This post is really for the avid breeders who want to ensure and breed a line of beautiful shrimps.
When we are able to select male and female at a very young age, we will be able to control the selective breeding process which is important. Reason for that is because if a sneaker male who isn’t very nice breeds with all the female, the next generation of shrimplet will not be your ideal direction. Test your breeder the next time you get shrimps from them.
I get this question quite a bit and i would like to take this opportunity to share with you what i was taught in Taiwan on how to differentiate male and female shrimps.
The Taiwan way
There are basically a few ways to tell between a male and female shrimp when they are of certain size, however at 0.8cm onwards we know some of the male start to fly and mate. Hence it is important to either remove the shrimplet to their grow up tank or get the males out. However, to avoid any possibilities of shrimplet mating with the parents unintentionally, we will remove the shrimplet to another tank.
There when the shrimplet grows up, it will then be again split between male and female.
Differentiating Male and Female:
- Antennae
- Saddle
- Rounded bottom (female)
Antennae
This is the most accurate at 0.8cm onwards to identify between a male and female. I rank this as the top most reliable source to differentiate between male and female. However, this requires a steep learning curve as it is not as straight forward. I learn that in Taiwan apprenticeship to learning shrimp is to get the gender right. They do this day in and out to learn and differentiate and over years of learning they become master of it. I am very impress so far by how the Taiwanese have identify the male and female shrimp even at 0.8cm.
It is very difficult for this to be shown on a picture but the long and short of this “With the same body length, the male have longer antenna while female shorter”
This is by far the most use in Taiwan breeders to differentiate shrimplet between male and female. There are however still risk of Miss ID.
- Males go into fight and the antennae breaks off making them look like female
- Stunted growth making the shrimp look smaller than actual
Saddle and Curve Belly
This usually happens when the female shrimp is already of a certain breeding size where the saddle can be seen and Curve belly.
Trying to see saddle in Caridina can be quite challenging however given time you will be able to peek into the gap between the body and head.
The curve belly as one can see is a tell tale sign that it is a female, however if we reach this size to ID male and female, it is way too late from a selection process perspective, it has to be done way before that. This small yet crucial step can make or break the next generation of shrimplet.
This is also one of the reasons why all the shrimplets are house in a grow up tank to avoid unintentional breeding happening.
Other factors:
Such as curve 2nd carapace cannot be use as an ID of male and female because some males of high quality do have similar size carapace as female.
size is also not use when ID-ing the gender.
Pictures are not good at determining size of shrimp and hence do not send pictures of shrimplets and asking if they are male or female. Keep in mind that the antennae is in relation to body size. Hence, it is important that instead of providing the fish to you, teaching you how to fish is important.
So now what after sexing them?
Identification of male and female is the fundamental basis for shrimp breeding and it can be daunting at first, however over time and lots of shrimp practice you will soon graduate from the school of shrimp academy.
With the ability to differentiate male and female you will now be able to start splitting the males out from the grow out tank as we would usually only use a few males of good quality during selective breeding.
While sexing male and female is important, it is part of the entire process of breeding good shrimps including cycling of tanks and setting them up for success.
I’m sure you have benefitted from this post and a special shoutout to those who have requested for this article.
Cheers! and Peace out.
Molting
Why of Molting
Molting as you already know is a process where the shrimp grows out of their old shell and then grow bigger. It is how it is like with snakes and spider as a means to grow.
Without molting, shrimps are unable to grow bigger and it is during this very fragile week or so which the shrimp become more vulnerable. During this time it is important that measures are taken to ensure water parameters, male to female ratio and hiding space are well established.
Molting is also a sign of new life where females molt so they can berry and have their next generation all in this entire lifecycle.
What Happens During the Molting Cycle
The long and short of the molting cycle begins when the shrimp reduce feeding to eventually stop feeding a day to hours before molting begin. During the process a new shell is being developed under the old shell which takes time to fully develop.
During the molt, the outer shell breaks usually along the top area where the head and back meets.
After molting, the shell are left in the tank for the shrimp to consume as a source of food. Now that the shrimp has fully molted out of the shell, the new shell is very soft and it requires 24-48 hours before it gets hard again. The faster the shrimp is able to harden the shell the better chances of it surviving.
During this period they are also very vulnerable.
Molting issues explained
Molt fail:
During the entire cycle, the shrimp wasn’t able to molt cleanly as sometimes when we see a break between the head and back but the molt fail to come out despite several attempts to get it out.
The new shell hardens before the old shell is able to come out fully, and this is generally caused by a few factors.
- Water Parameters
- Source
Water Parameters:
When we discuss about water parameters against fail molt, it is important to discern between an occasional molt fail vs a consistent molt fail. When you have been keeping the shrimps for 3-4 months and there are generally no issue and out of the blue 1 shrimp had a molt fail, this can be classified as part and parcel of the normal lifecycle. If your shrimps are constantly weekly having molting issues it is generally due to water parameters.
There has been a lot of debate between what kind of water parameters will help reduce molt fail, but there isn’t one way of resolving it. Adding calcium will not encourage success molt because it is not the lack of calcium that prevent the old shell from coming out.
but is calcium important? Yes. Actually Calcium and Magnesium is required for a good successful molt but where do we get calcium and magnesium from? A good reminerizer have sufficient proportion of this and a constant daily feed with natural food like biofilm will ensure that the shrimp get all the necessary foundation for a good clean molt.
GH:
Over the last few months i have been talking to European breeders on how their levels of GH is which hovers around 5-6 GH whereas in Asia we normally do 3-4 GH. Is there any risk of concerns with the differing GH because Calcium and Magnesium are present in reminerizer? i believe that shrimps are hardy and being at the range of 3-6 GH is absolutely fine.
Types of Salt:
There are many brands of reminerizer and also the concentration of them are fairly different. For example while we tried different brands of salt some takes up to 120 TDS to arrive at GH of 3 whereas the ones we use from Hwa is GH 3 at TDS 90. This means the concentration level differs. If you have experience molting issues you might want to test you GH against your TDS level to test the salt.
Does Fixing GH fix everything?
It doesn’t, still you will experience fail molt because shrimp keeping isn’t 1+1. It does not have an absolute cause and effect. So there are other factors that need to be address fundamentally.
Fundamental: Water parameters
Over here it is important to discuss this as it is not a natural occurrence molt fail happen frequently. Usually it starts with the very beginning when the tank is setup and it is far more difficult to adjust the water parameters after it has been setup and running. I have discussed this in depth on water parameters here. Setting it up right the first time is much a better approach than to use band aid and further adjust later on because adding/removing later on is going to be a tricky affair.
I’m currently guiding a few local breeders and i can be very strict when coming to cycling of the tank to ensure strong healthy shrimp later on. i always believe in doing it first time right. anyway it’s easy to reset a tank so might as well do it right.
When they see my tanks they know the shrimps are really happy in there because the females breeds right after they release their clutch. The level of comfort for the shrimp is ideal and i’m referring to more difficult to breed shrimps.
Source:
Shrimp source is also critical in this as having a good shrimp source will also determine if the livestock are healthy, poor looking shrimp and unhealthy husbandry is a sure fire way of experiencing more of these issues. Choose your source wisely and ensure they have a good process and able to explain everything in much detail why they do what they do.
Other factors causing shrimp to die after/before molting
Male to Female Ratio:
There are simply too many males in the tank causing a higher probability of females being harass and eventually succumbing to death. This is because too many males will try to mount onto the female shrimp which during the process might injure it as the shell is very soft after molting. It does not really happen to males because when male shrimp molt they do not emit the pheromones like female do. So chances are the male will be left alone for the shell to harden after molting.
Hiding Space:
A dense coverage of natural vegetation will be the best cover for females and shrimplet to molt in peace because the natural cover act like a barrier against other shrimp. While we add coverage please note that females release pheromones so it doesn’t matter where, the males will keep flying around until they find the female. However, what it means is the female has the ability to play ‘tag’ so she can go round in some maze and lose the male. Do not provide coverage that has one entrance. Keeping things simple, using moss and plants are the best natural coverage you can offer.
As you can see a nice boa right after molting was hiding away from the rest, a good natural coverage.
Food:
I generally stick to the food with strong draw factor like Hwa v1 food. From this i know the shrimps are consuming the food which have high nutrients for them to grow and breeding profusely.
In addition, it is also important to provide biofilm which not only is the natural food for shrimps to get their nutrients, it helps water parameters as well. Kallax ball/lubao encourage the multiplication of microorgansim which indirectly helps a tank water reach a better level.
Closing
I hope this post shed some light on what it meant to get to a point where molting shouldn’t be an issue. The entire eco-system is fairly fragile and hence important to ensure at every check point it is well setup.
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Cheers!