# Tricks to keeping shrimplets to adulthood?



## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

Hey Guys,
My first batch of baby CRS population seem to have shrunk from 4-5 babies to now 1-2 live ones i can spot!

They are disappearing every week!  I have 4 berried SS and want to ensure this next batch survive! Can you guys give me some tips?

I currently have CO2 injection and my pH does swing by +0.6 during the day (with lights and co2 off) 

I feed Mosura Bioplus 2x a week ... so I doubt they starve. 

I do have a bit of planaria swimming around ....not sure if this is OK

I added some IAL to lower pH to around 6.2 so I hope this will boost survival.

I will only top up for the next few months unless my Nitrates get too high. I do bi-weekly water changes of 5-10% using RO dripping in over a period of 48 hrs++.

Maybe this next batch will pull through with NO WATER CHANGES?


----------



## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

How old is the tank, I never had good luck until my tank was mature for a while. Never dosed CO2 in any tanks, so I can't comment on the effects of that in the tank and if it effects the babies or not. Planaria aren't good, they can sometimes harm shrimp as they can sting them but I don't know if they take out a whole population or not so fast with babies (although I'm pretty sure hydra did to mine before but the hydra were infested in my moss and where do babies hang out for the first few weeks). Also, how planted/populated is the tank. I counted about 110 babies, so I just had a sale and sold 100 thinking that was most of them and I can count another 50-60 right now with more berried moms again, so I know they can hide extremely well despite you thinking you looked everywhere. Took me 5 days to move a tank of yellows with their babies because everyday I saw new babies when I thought the tank was empty.

A good way to tell your survival rate as well is to use an external breeder box. Put the mom in there with some moss and a bit of substrate. Try to make sure the moss is clean and the substrate so their is no planaria in the breeder box, when she pops, you will be able to count babies from birth and see what kind of rates you are getting. My last CRS I did that with, dropped 27 babies in the box and after 2 weeks, there was still 25 or so, maybe 27 as it's hard to count them all the time but that let me know that after 2 weeks I was at near 100% rate of babies making it past a few weeks before I released them into the tank.

I don't do much WC's, mostly just top off with RO water, sometimes I'll mix a bit of mineral plus in the water for a TDS of 30-40 just to get some fresh minerals in, sometimes I won't. For some reason I'm better at breeding CRS than I am at neo's. lol. My neo population should be in the thousands by now and it's not, but my CRS are going like bunnies. Thinking of ditching my neo's and going for more card's. lol.


----------



## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

1. How old is the tank, and how big, and how many shrimps in it?

2. CO2 is okay if shrimps are healthy.

3. Bioplus alone won't solve shrimplet food issue.

4. Planaria will definitely eat shrimplets.

5. IAL helps to some extend for PH control and bacteria infection.

6. If tank is matured and no issue with nitrate, 10% bi-weekly WC should be fine. Novice never does water change and his shrimps are breeding like rabbits and survival rate is pretty good.

If #2, #4 are addressed, I'm sure next batch will get much higher survival rate.


----------



## splur (May 11, 2011)

Mosura bioplus. I fed them every day when they came out, like a fraction of the scoop they gave me, and had a very high survival rate. Stopped feeding them every day, had some die on me. I don't know if it's just coincidence or if the bioplus actually does something, but I'll just use that as an excuse now.


----------



## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

Tank is 6 months old...

What is best way to get rid of planaria? The little swimming worms.

I'll try to use an external breader box I have as my gold bee should drop any day now


----------



## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

Symplicity said:


> What is best way to get rid of planaria? The little swimming worms.


Little swimming worms? Are you sure they are planaria? If they swim around, or more precisely wiggling in the water column, then more than likely they are Nematodes which is harmless, just ugly.

Planarias "crawl" on the substrate and have a spear shape head, also with a flatter body. Sort of like a pale colour leach but much smaller.


----------



## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

randy said:


> Little swimming worms? Are you sure they are planaria? If they swim around, or more precisely wiggling in the water column, then more than likely they are Nematodes which is harmless, just ugly.
> 
> Planarias "crawl" on the substrate and have a spear shape head, also with a flatter body. Sort of like a pale colour leach but much smaller.


Ah then they may be just Nematodes as they are motionless and slightly twitch around the water column.  woot lucked out there...

Ill keep you guys updated once my gold bee drops her eggs. Ill try to put her in her own beta tank i have lying around


----------



## splur (May 11, 2011)

nematodes are still an indication of overfeeding, they're just not directly harmful like planaria is.


----------



## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

splur said:


> nematodes are still an indication of overfeeding, they're just not directly harmful like planaria is.


Not always though... I have a tank that's been cycling for 7 weeks now, I don't feed anything since there's only plants in there, but I see nematodes. But yes, if you overfeed you likely will see them in your tanks.


----------



## splur (May 11, 2011)

randy said:


> Not always though... I have a tank that's been cycling for 7 weeks now, I don't feed anything since there's only plants in there, but I see nematodes. But yes, if you overfeed you likely will see them in your tanks.


Or decaying matter, either way, some sort of food source which you don't want in your tank. I had that happen to me as well, I had to throw a fish in there to eat them up.


----------



## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

My Gold Bee was hiding and could not find it before it dropped her eggs.

I see 3-4 baby shrimplets with CRS patterns. No gold bee traits in any of the off-spring ......... sucks.... there should be 15+ in the tank but I cannot find any more shrimplets. 

In 3 weeks Ill nab the next 1 and put in a breeder box so I can control and count the babies.


----------

