# CRS offsprings survival



## RONY11 (Jan 6, 2011)

I would like to know what can be done to achieve high CRS offsrpings survival.
I have a lot of berried CRS n shrimplets all the time but most don't reach adulthood.
What should I do to help the baby crs I feed Shirakura mimina breeder every other day change water 4 lts every week my tank is 22-23 degrees lots of moss n hiding places.

I remove leftover adult CRS food after an hour, My tank is 4 months old 24 lts net with Fluval shrimp substrate. PH 6.4 GH 5 KH 1 I use RO with shirakura mineral CA one a month may be 1 shrimp dies.


----------



## callmeall (Nov 7, 2010)

I have the exact same problem, if anyone has any comments or tips, please let us know.

Thanks,

Allen


----------



## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Do you guys have algae and biofilm in the tanks? Do you have all that little bugs allover the aquariums?
What do you think your shrimplets eat?


----------



## callmeall (Nov 7, 2010)

Hi Igor,

I have a lots of algae in the tank, in fact, both side of the tank are all green now.. and I have a lots of little bugs all over... yes.

I also feed Shirakura Baby Shrimp Food once a day, I know I have at least two CRS released shrimpets already, and I can only see two or three baby shrimps...

this rate is away too low... and I don't even know they won't die on me yet...

Thanks,

Allen


----------



## RONY11 (Jan 6, 2011)

Same here I have a lot of little bugs and my shrimplets live 3-4 weeks n then start disappearing (dying). My CRS r berried most of the time they release n within a week berried again. They have gr8 color come out usually when its dark. I asked a friend hobbyist yesterday coz I bought these shrimps from him. His reply was let the tank get older yr survival rate will go higher.
This is his 2yrs old 15 ltrs aquarium on you tube. He has abt.7-8 tanks.






Did u experienced hobbyists above 50% crs baby survival during the first few months on yr new tank ?


----------



## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

water stability and available mineral content is key to higher survival rates for offsprings. I helped my father setup a tank and in 2 months time he was able to achieve this: 



 . You need to understand that younger CRS molt at a much more frequent rate than adults and if you want to maintain high survivability rates, you need to focus first on anything that would inhibit molting or cause failed molts. Then focus on its diet.


----------



## callmeall (Nov 7, 2010)

I also have yellows in the same tank, their offspring seems to be perfectly fine, it just happens on CRS babes... so what I am missing here?

Thanks,

Allen


----------



## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

RONY11 said:


> I would like to know what can be done to achieve high CRS offsrpings survival.
> I have a lot of berried CRS n shrimplets all the time but most don't reach adulthood.
> What should I do to help the baby crs I feed Shirakura mimina breeder every other day change water 4 lts every week my tank is 22-23 degrees lots of moss n hiding places.
> 
> I remove leftover adult CRS food after an hour, My tank is 4 months old 24 lts net with Fluval shrimp substrate. PH 6.4 GH 5 KH 1 I use RO with shirakura mineral CA one a month may be 1 shrimp dies.


well, be careful with the dosing of the minerals. it would kill them.


----------



## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

btw just want to ask from members here. how do you know guys if you are overdosing the minerals or not?


----------



## sujeev87 (Oct 17, 2010)

Ebi-Ken said:


> water stability and available mineral content is key to higher survival rates for offsprings. I helped my father setup a tank and in 2 months time he was able to achieve this:
> 
> 
> 
> . You need to understand that younger CRS molt at a much more frequent rate than adults and if you want to maintain high survivability rates, you need to focus first on anything that would inhibit molting or cause failed molts. Then focus on its diet.


I think I see king kong shrimp in your dad's tank. Did he breed them himself? What factors do you think inhibits molting or causes failed molts?


----------



## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

camboy012406 said:


> btw just want to ask from members here. how do you know guys if you are overdosing the minerals or not?


by looking at GH and KH for us here in BC, since our water right out of tap water is better than toronto RO water even. With TDS around 20-30 and GH KH essentially 0 we know what we are putting in the water and whats dissolved in the water so we aim for TDS of about 120-250 depending on what your trying to achieve. This is equivalent roughly of GH 4-5 KH0-2. However, this doesn't mean much as even if you have alot of minerals or if you OD on minerals shrimps can still surivive and grow. You just need to pay attention to the other factors.

So to answer your question, testing GH and KH or TDS only gives you an idea of your water params. By dropping in even 1 drop of any mineral your increasing one of those 3 things. And whether or not your overdosing or not, the keeper would need to access the conditions and situation they are in (in regards to what they are trying to achieve) to determine whether their water is too "hard" or mineral rich.


----------



## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

callmeall said:


> I also have yellows in the same tank, their offspring seems to be perfectly fine, it just happens on CRS babes... so what I am missing here?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Allen


yellows are a very poor indicator of how CRS would do as they are different species and like cherries are like bulletproof shrimps. However, by having both yellows and crystals in the same tank. The yellows can out compete the crystals in food source so you wouldn't really be able to determine what the real reason for survivability or rearing of offspring is.


----------



## callmeall (Nov 7, 2010)

It has happened again in my CRS tank I think, as one of the CRS released shrimpets and I saw them for a week, then can't see them anymore... I think I really do something about, I am test my water again tomorrow.

will post all my parameters...

Thanks,

Allen


----------



## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

callmeall said:


> Hi Igor,
> 
> I have a lots of algae in the tank, in fact, both side of the tank are all green now.. and I have a lots of little bugs all over... yes.
> 
> ...


Algae is good, it should be soft and shrimps should it it. Some black beard and stringy algae will not work.
Bugs are good as well, but do not let them exploded. Reduce feedign and clear a tank if you see lots of them.

You might need to Shirakura Baby Shrimp Food once each other day. Or just add a small amount of it. 
Personally, I used to use it, but I don't like it now. It hard to mix it into water and lots of it just float on top. I use Mosura stuff now. It goes into the water column and all shrimps start looking for it right away.

Allen, what is your pH? Do you use a special soil?


----------



## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

RONY11 said:


> Same here I have a lot of little bugs and my shrimplets live 3-4 weeks n then start disappearing (dying). My CRS r berried most of the time they release n within a week berried again. They have gr8 color come out usually when its dark. I asked a friend hobbyist yesterday coz I bought these shrimps from him. His reply was let the tank get older yr survival rate will go higher.
> This is his 2yrs old 15 ltrs aquarium on you tube. He has abt.7-8 tanks.
> 
> 
> ...


There are several things that I feel are important.
1. pH under 7
2. stable aquarium, decent filtration. Note that with lower pH you need a better filtration.
3. some eatable algae in a tank
4. gH 5-7 with right minerals (look at Mosura Mineral Plus).
5. kh 0-3
6. not too much filter current
7. and bacteria in a tank. Bacteria is will clear water and they are baby shrimps food. Baby shrimps food like Mosura BioPlus﻿ will help for sure.
Stuff like Mosura Rich Water and Mosura BT-9 will grow bacteria in a long run.

It's hard to tell what is wring exactly, but if you have some CRS babies survive is not too bad.
It's odd that they are dying in 4-5 weeks. It's usually faster.
You might have not enough filtration, ammonia can be invisible for test kits.

I had only two offspring that were good. More than a half babies survived. And lost of unsuccessful attempts 

Look at the tank on a video closly, it not lots of babies there


----------



## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

camboy012406 said:


> btw just want to ask from members here. how do you know guys if you are overdosing the minerals or not?


It's relatively easy to do. Gh should be 5-7 or TDS should be 150-200.
These number are not accurate, but they will give you idea about dozing.

Camboy you mentioned once that your tap TDS is high, so you *are not adding *lots of minerals. It's not a correct way to prepare water. Important thing is having right minerals in a tank, not just some chemicals that come from your tap and maintain your TDS and GH.
I use Mosura Mineral Plus, it's a comprehensive mix of useful minerals.
Tap water in Toronto has TDS 120-140ppm. In order to archive 150ppm, only some small amount of Mosura Mineral plus should be added. And 90% of minerals in your aquarium water will be something from your tap, some junk 
So, the better way to maintain a right hardness is getting clear, RO distilled or filtered water with lower TDS and GH and then add more minerals to archive TDS 150ppm. In this your hardness will be created by useful minerals.


----------



## callmeall (Nov 7, 2010)

Hi Everyone,

Just tested my CRS tank water, here are the water parameters:

PH:	6.8
TDS:	175
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 5.0
GH/KH: don't have GH/KH tester kit yet, is it important to invest one?

Please advise what I can do to improve my water quality, so I can increase my CRS offspring survive rate?

Thanks,

Allen


----------



## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

callmeall said:


> Hi Everyone,
> 
> Just tested my CRS tank water, here are the water parameters:
> 
> ...


It should be no ammonia. Try to increase your filtration. It's important.
It's better to have lower PH, just in case, it will grow a little bit. How do you lower your pH?

Yes, GH and KH are important. Get Nutrafin one.
Look at the High GH causes minor molting problems short article.
At the same time, having high GH is not so big problem as low GH


----------



## callmeall (Nov 7, 2010)

Hi Igor,

I use to change 15% of water every weekend, but I have not changed it for two weeks now, because I hear that their offspring prefers aged water. I always replaced water with RO water from big Al's, that should lower the PH.

Just changed 20% water now with RO water, will see what happens...

During the water change, I have confirmed that my recent batch of CRS offspring has disappeared 100%, so there is something with the tank for sure.

Any advise will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Allen


----------



## callmeall (Nov 7, 2010)

I will go get a GH/GK test kit tomorrow as you advised, and let you know the output.

Thanks,

Allen


----------



## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Ebi-Ken said:


> water stability and available mineral content is key to higher survival rates for offsprings. ... You need to understand that younger CRS molt at a much more frequent rate than adults and if you want to maintain high survivability rates, you need to focus first on anything that would inhibit molting or cause failed molts. Then focus on its diet.


I agree, fixing your molting issue will fix your shrimplette death rate.



callmeall said:


> ...Just tested my CRS tank water, here are the water parameters:
> PH:	6.8
> TDS:	175
> Ammonia: 0.25
> ...


You shouldn't have any ammonia or nitrite. That explain why you are geting deaths. Find out what is causing these kind of spike. Never mind shrimps, even for fish, I would not be comfortable with 5.0 Nitrite.

gH and kH test is important if you want to fix your shrimplette death problem.

*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------



## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

callmeall said:


> Hi Igor,
> 
> I use to change 15% of water every weekend, but I have not changed it for two weeks now, because I hear that their offspring prefers aged water. I always replaced water with RO water from big Al's, that should lower the PH.
> 
> ...


15% weekly water change looks good. Your can do 10% as well.

Aged water in a tank is good and some breeders do not change water. This works good when your water is perfect. And this is not always happen 
So, it's better to change water, this will remove some possible undesirable minerals and add new ones.

Do not use RO only, mix it with some tap water (like 1/3 of tap water and 2/3 of RO) or all minerals.
Pure RO water is like distilled, it's dead, there is no minerals, no bacterias is there. Some minerals are required, at least to maintain hardness (GH) for shrimps to grow new shells


----------



## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Zebrapl3co said:


> You shouldn't have any ammonia or nitrite. That explain why you are geting deaths. Find out what is causing these kind of spike. Never mind shrimps, even for fish, I would not be comfortable with 5.0 Nitrite.


> Nitrate: 0
> Nitrite: 5.0
I guess these number are mixed 

5ppm of Nitrite is deadly, 5ppm of Nitrate is Ok.


----------



## callmeall (Nov 7, 2010)

Hi guys,

As you all know I am too having extremely low CRS offspring survive rate, and I tested my water parameters on May 12th.

here was the counts on the 12th.
PH:	6.8
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 5.0
TDS:	175

and from there, Igor advised that my "Nitrite" count should be "0", and that could be the root cost of my problem.

Therefore, here are what I have done from the 12th to now:

1. I changed water twice, both time are 15% and 10%, I didn't add any aged tap water on both time (normally I do), because my PH was 6.8, so I though I'd to low it.

2. I feed them less for the past 5 days, only one piece of shirakura pallet per day per 30 adult shrimps

3. changed the filter, add new filter media

with all the above, it seems all the adult shrimps are remaining fine as they were before, but I have tested my water again.

and here are the results:
PH:	7.0
Ammonia: 0.1 or 0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
TDS:	190

so as you can see Ammonia is almost none, and both Nitrate & Nitrite are "0" now, although TDS is a bit higher than last time, but it is still well under 200... the only thing is PH count actually increased, compare to the count of 6.8 before the water change... and I think I know why, I tested the ph count on the RO water (where I bought it from Big Al's) the water straight from the RO water bucket from Big Al's is actually "7.2"!

Is that normal?

alright, with the all the new parameters, what else can I do to improve my water quality, thus increase my survive rate for my next batch of CRS?

Thanks,

Allen


----------



## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

This goes for everyone.

Avoid water from big ALS as they never change their filters. I gave up on them along time ago. Use the machine at walmart as they date the time of filter changes right on the machines. 

Allen are you using a shrimp soil?

Get your ph to 6.6 if you can.

I have 60 crs mostly adults and I only feed 0.5 cm of the shirakiku food and I always skip a day.


----------



## callmeall (Nov 7, 2010)

I actual don't know walmart sales RO water? can you be more specific about this?

Thanks,

Allen


----------



## CrystalMethShrimp (Apr 27, 2010)

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24249

Read the first post.


----------

