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Recapping my goals for 2021 was to venture into Boa and really get into it deep and fast. I was fortunate because i have great support from Taiwan breeders particularly Hwa and also Skyfish whom have graciously supported my learning curve in it. With that i had great results thus far and the bred out is really amazing. Though few, however they’re of great quality and grading on the shrimplet. It is indeed the quality of shrimplet that matters and their shrimps have met that mark.
I would recommend if possible if you would like great shrimplets to consider getting shrimps direct from breeders to ensure the highest possible genetic pool.
With that i have also ventured into sharing more information on a weekly basis over the last 1 year. I have met many great friends along the way and certainly grew a lot in the shrimp knowledge with great interactions with you all.
It has been a wonderful 2021 and what is my goals for 2022?
2022
Don’t be afraid to try and venture because what could the worst be?
If you don’t fail, you are not even trying. I think today with all the hype about having great shrimps but people don’t share that to get there, there are a lot of setbacks. However, one can think that those are not setbacks but setup to propel you further. Failing is what make one stronger and better.
I personally have failed many times and i still continue to fail from time to time. There are people who keep pushing me down to get up, which i didn’t listen to those naysayers and run my race.
My goals for 2022 is simple:
Progress in the hobby by expanding and sharing
Share more knowledge through blogging and YouTube
The plan to get there:
Expand:
Expand 3x of current
Breed more shrimps
Share with more people and breeders overseas
Education:
Utilize YouTube format to share more information
continue to use blog as a delivery method
So that is my 2022 goals, simple and very broad but will continue to share along the way.
Now i have share with you my 2022 goals, what is yours?
https://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.png00benetayhttps://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.pngbenetay2022-01-05 18:43:002022-01-05 18:57:40What are your 2022 Goals : Progress!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
It is becoming difficult to ignore the fact that shrimplet survival is often less discussed because more often than not the shrimplets do survive in a tank. However, i also believe that in the course of their growing up stage, the fragile little one will be expose to elements that could put them at risk. Hence, i would like to share some of the tips in this post.
Hiding space
Sufficient hiding space is a critical piece of the puzzle and this is to alleviate cannibalism during molting. Shrimplets are small and when they molt multiple time to grow big, every molt has risk associated to it. Hence it is becoming difficult to ignore the fact that hiding space helps increase shrimplet survival.
Personally i like using natural plants to act as a natural hiding space and mosses are great in that. There are a lot of nooks and crevices for the shrimp to hide. There are certainly other kinds of decorative hiding space and as long as there are water circulating passing through them, i think they are fine to use.
Many a times a natural hiding space is also a food source which means it could double up like a grazing material and hide out. However, i prefer to keep this separated for the purpose that every placement have a primary purpose. For example Soil primary purpose is to buffer the water, filtration to maintain high quality water and beneficial bacterial, etc.
Hiding space offer a safe haven for shrimplet to grow up to a certain size before the risk of cannibalism is greatly reduced.
Grazing material
Grazing material is a necessity and i learn that the hard way because shrimplets are not able to compete with adult shrimp on daily feed. Even if the shrimplet goes all out and compete they may get injure during the process causing adult shrimp to immediately turn their attention to the shrimplet.
Having sufficient biofilm in the tank will encourage shrimplets to graze 24/7 so they can reduce the dependency of competition of food. Grazing material comes in all form like leaves, cholla wood and of cause The Original Lubao.
Daily Feed
It is also important to have a daily feed that is able to break down over time to provide shrimplet a chance to consume the daily feed long after the adults had their fill. There are plenty of food out there and i have tried a lot of them and some are really good and if it works for you stick with it. For my personal success i stick with using Hwa version 1 feed as it has a good draw factor plus the side of the pad breaks down into smaller pieces but the core of it remains hard for adults to pick on.
Other important aspect
I have experience that when there are shrimplets in the tank, adding new active soil is a big no no for me, the sudden ammonia spike when the soil releases is detrimental to very small shrimplet that are within 7-14 days after they are born. This is relative as sometimes we are unsure of how old the shrimplets are but in general i would advise that we do not add new soil to a tank that is establish and have small shrimplets all around.
Lastly, i would encourage to remove all shrimplet to another tank which is a grow up tank. This will ensure the highest survival rate of shrimplet however the points listed above like hiding space, adding the lubao and having good filtration still applies.
Why do we need grow up tank? There are quite a lot of benefits of a grow up tank and if you are like me is passionate about selective breeding, than a grow up tank is encouraged.
I was struggling in the beginning when i had to give up tank space for a grow up tank. However, once i started the selective process and using the grow up tank it became clear to me that there are a lot of benefits to it.
Benefits of Grow Up tank
I think firstly the most importance aspect of having a grow up tank is the shrimplets certainly have a higher survival rate.
Having a higher survival rate is understood from the following:
Reduce cannibalisms by adults during molting
Lesser competition of daily feed and grazing material
It is also important to note that shrimplet as small as 0.8-1cm will start mating and if you are selective breeding, this is not ideal. If an un-desirable male mates with the stock females in the main tank, this will means that the selection process is halted.
That is also one key element that having a grow up tank is critical.
Grow up faster
I learnt and actually also see from my observation that shrimplet that have their own tank grow up much faster than those who are together with their parents. This could be contributed by many factors such as availability of space and food.
In addition, i learn that to trigger quicker molting, perform a much higher frequency of water change such as every 3-4 days instead of the weekly routine. This helps trigger the shrimplets to molt faster and grow.
The faster the shrimplet grows up the quicker you can start selecting and kickstart the next generation of shrimp breeding by crossing back.
Taken together
With these in mind, it is important that having a grow up tank is important. They will have their own space, food and grazing material. Hence, for my own breeding tanks and grow up tank, i do see a significant increase in shrimplet survivability and also faster growth rate.
If you do not have the space to have a grow up tank, my recommendation is that we can re-think the number of types you would like to keep and breed. This will then allow you more time and space to focus on the ones you really like to breed.
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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.
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!
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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.
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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.
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.
If you like this post, remember to share and subscribe so you get updates every time there is a new release.
https://i0.wp.com/shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/PSX_20211016_080307.jpg?fit=2554%2C2553&ssl=125532554benetayhttps://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.pngbenetay2021-11-10 18:07:122021-11-10 18:31:34Shrimp molt : How to manage this
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 Bacter AE and 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. For Bacter AE, i only dose them very minutely once a month to provide additional boost for creating biofilm.
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.
Summary
Taken together, it is vitally important for food to be readily present in the tank but this is also a fine balance between food availability and water parameters. As more food and grazing material is introduced into the tank, the water parameters changes so do choose a good staple food and grazing material into your shrimp breeding setup and it will go a long way. You will be rewarded with more berried shrimps and shrimplets in the months to come. In addition, as lubao is my favourite grazing material as it is easier to manage and control.
The bigger the water volume, the less fluctuation happens in an aquarium compared to one with a smaller water volume. This is certainly true as a general rule for all aquarist. However, does it mean that everyone need to have big tanks to keep shrimp?
Apparently not, shrimps can live comfortably in smaller tanks, they can even breed given that the challenge to house them in smaller tanks will be higher but definitely possible. I have tried on a very small tank at 8 litres and with 1 pair of shrimp. They manage to breed as well. It has a tiny little filter but it works well for them. It’s a pity I didn’t take any good pictures before i decommissioned the tank for a bigger one.,
With lesser shrimp, you would also have to feed smaller quantities and everything would be in smaller proportion. While i get the question if i can use lubao for smaller tanks? Yes you surely can provided there are sufficient shrimp in the tank that can consume the biofilm. From the pictures I have shared you can see that most of tanks I will use lubao. It has been part of my breeding process as there are many advantages that goes beyond a grazing material.
While there are many types of grazing material i like to keep my tank less busy so that i have space to see the shrimp do their day to day thing and easier from a selection process standpoint. However, i too have planted tanks which i too enjoy the additional greenery in it.
Ever since i have tried and fail many times on how to use lubao in different size tank, finally after many failed attempts i manage to get it right and wanted to share this valuable information on my other blog post.
While water parameters are indeed more stable in larger water volume, if one is able to control the fluctuation of the water in a smaller water volume, you will still be able to keep and breed shrimps! Hope this post shared some valuable information.
https://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.png00benetayhttps://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.pngbenetay2021-04-23 02:32:382021-04-23 16:54:24Can my tank be too small for shrimp breeding?
A breeder shared with me his analogy and i really like it as it matches to my other blog post Michelin Star. In other words, in the hands of a Chef/Painter they are able to create outstanding food/painting but not everyone given the same set of things will be able to deliver the same result. The eye for detail, the dash of salt, and so on is what make a great chef even better.
I have got quite a number of questions on how i use Lubao and i’ll share how i use them however again there is no definite way and i’ll share what i learn from Taiwan.
Before i use the lubao, i’ll soak them for 3-6 days to leech out the coloration and then kick start the biofilm process. While soaking, remember to change the water daily in the container that you are using it to soak. Please do not pour the water that you soak your lubao into the shrimp tank (there is a reason why we soak it outside the tank first). Lubao if kept dry can last a very long time since the high quality content are all dehydrated. The lubao that i pack are measured to a certain proportion and it has to be hardpacked individually to ensure every one are made correctly.
Soaking the ball 3-6 days, change water daily, do not pour the water use for soaking into the shrimp tank
During the soaking process, normally i’ll change water daily in the container to help speed up the process. Once the soaking is done, i’ll drop them into the tank and leave them 1 month for best result and than change out when either it floats up or after 1 month
Lubao are generally used for tanks that have more than 10-15 shrimp as personally anything lesser don’t quite benefit from it since the tank would be able to produce biofilm for them to graze. So from a tank size standpoint, even smaller tanks are able to use lubao just that the number of shrimp in that tank will still need to be of a certain number. In other words, if i have tanks with 5 shrimp, than i’ll not use it until they start throwing out shrimplets, i’ll then start introducing.
i generally use 40L tanks to do selective breeding 2M 6-10F and then transfer the shrimplets to grow up tank which are generally 80-100L. So in both those tanks i’ll use Lubao. As long as the tank is properly cycled, using Lubao will have no negative impact on water quality.
i have seen drastic difference when Lubao is use, females in general are more ready to saddle and berry. Cannibalism is greatly reduced which protects the female from getting eaten after molt. Taken together, i have seen a lot of advantage in using such a small yet important ball which helps breeders with a lot of tank and also those who are very busy with their daily work to be able to enjoy their hobby when they can.
There are a myriad of different type of food available in the market and also plenty of home made recipe that shrimps consume as well. However, what really is important is providing good quality feed for your shrimp. if you are currently feeding a good staple and it’s doing well, keep going.
Feeding quality feed for your shrimp is like what the old adage says, you are what you eat. This is true for your shrimps as well and also for overall water quality. It is highly critical that the food fed in the tank does not negatively impact the water quality. Hence, it is important that the quality of the food are fed also in an appropriate amount, sufficient for the shrimp to consume within a few hours and then the rest of the food either taken out or consume by snails.
Personally after trying so many types of food, the draw factor is the highest for Hwa Version 1. What is a draw factor? It means that the shrimp are drawn to the food like honey to bee, it’s very quick resulting in shrimps able to quickly get their daily nutritional uptake. Hwa Version 1 feed has always been my favourite as it comprises of all the nutritional factor to maintain a healthy shrimp.
With the right staple food like Hwa v1 coupled with Lubao will set the stage for the shrimps to breed more and live healthily. The lubao that i use are individually hand packed by myself to ensure the correct portion and freshness are in every ball. Instead of me rambling on, please enjoy the below videos on the testimonials of Hwa V1.
The last 6 months was a total train wreaked with my work schedule however i still make it a point to have Google meet with overseas shrimp hobbyist! A shout out to those who we have met face to face on Google meet. Sharing has always been me, and has work thus far.
Diving straight into the topic on Lubao, i have got many questions from hobbyist asking why the name Lubao? What is it all about? Lubao is actually the Chinese word we say (滷包). What does it mean? if you google this, you will find that it is actually a Chinese method of combining different herbs or ingredients wrapped into a net wrap ball and boil over long period of time. The longer you boil the ‘ball’ the goodness will be absorbed by the food you are braising it with. This is how the origin of the word lubao came about. In English i think it does a better description of being a microorganism ball.
Microorganism ball like in all cooking, the secret lies in the preparation, ingredients, control of fire and many elements to cook up a delicious meal. Every lubao is hand packed myself with carefully selected ingredients which took many learning and failure before knowing how to use appropriately hence delivering exception benefits in terms of better water parameters and certainly more berried shrimp.
Lubao need to be soak 3-6 days in a small container separately and water change done on a daily basis before it is being placed into the tank. After it is being placed into the tank, the biofilm starts to form and this is where shrimp start feasting/grazing on them on top of their usual place/food that they graze on. In normal tank condition, if there are a lot of shrimp, apart from constantly feeding them it is important to have a dedicated grazing material such as lubao for them to graze upon. Other grazing material like leaves are also possible and beneficial.
biofilm occurs everywhere in the tank but grows very slowly which shrimp can strip them off very quickly (i’m sure you’ve seen how a school of shrimp strip a leaf down within hours), hence it is important to have a constant source of biofilm which has the ability to draw the shrimp to the grazing material to graze on. Another important factor is the lubao is able to remain in the tank for 1-2 months (depending on shrimp population).
When shrimp is able to know there are sufficient food available for the shrimplets to feed on, the female shrimps will start saddling with other conditions met. If you have a very busy schedule like me, lubao is God Send. It even beats having an automatic feeder which i have but eventually lubao beats the automatic feeder hands down.
Alright! i’ll keep this post short so i can get back to looking at my shrimps! Happy Easter! Enjoy the video too.
I have got some questions regarding how i do my water change and how do i reminerize. In this short post i’ll share with you how i do mine the easy and effective way. There are other ways to do water change, i just want to ensure they are the quickest possible methodology so i can enjoy my shrimps more.
The main reason for doing water change is really about remove nitrates in the water
With the filtration that i’m using a sophisticated hang on back which works very well after trying many other brands like Fluval, Ehiem, Gex, etc. http://www.totto.co.jp/en/test.php
This filter have the ability to remove nitrates from the water column as indicated by the Tokyo Institute of Technology (https://www.titech.ac.jp/english/). The correlation between lowering of pH caused by Nitrate is usually unspoken of causing lots of shrimp death unknowingly. Conventional filters don’t have the ability to remove nitrates and hence water change is required to remove it. Hence, it means if your filter don’t have the ability to remove nitrates than it is important that your water changes are done religiously to ensure the front end process such as feeding etc are still kept up because the entire process from feeding to water change are all interlinked and cannot be separated individually to be resolved when a problem arises.
During water change, what i’ll do is remove water from the tank and add in TDS 0 water directly into the tank. After it is filled, i’ll reminerize it to 85-90 TDS using Hwa Reminerizer. I normally change 5-10% of the tank water depending on the bioload and tank volume. For my denser tank with more shrimp, i’ll do up to 25-30% water change weekly. This will help reduce the amount of nitrate in the water. I have used all sorts of filter, from hang on, canister, sponge etc, even the best filter still require water change. So don’t skip that water change and make sure the water change is reminerized with a good reminerizer because there are many in the market where the GH and TDS value doesn’t hit the mark.
The reminerizer for example i’m using will get GH 2.x at TDS 85 and GH3 at TDS 90. Some reminerizer may only achieve GH 3 at TDS 120. So it’s important to know what we are adding in the tank. For my case i want to achieve at GH of 2-3 at TDS 85-90.
A shoutout to those out there who have given me very good feedback on the post and i’ll continue to pen down my thoughts.
Ben enjoys spending time browsing through online restaurant reviews and take down notes on which restaurant he like to visit. He called up a restaurant reserving a seat for himself on Friday for one. He told himself for this Christmas day, he will treat himself for once. As the day approaches, Ben was very excited as he knew that the quality will be top notch. The Christmas decoration of the restaurant and the table setting is immaculate. As he enters the restaurant he was greeted with finest and then the waiter came over and shared the menu.
Ben loves his steak so he browse through the selections and different cuts, all were very tempting. He narrowed down to two choices either a Wagyu beef from Japan or the same cut but from another country. However, the price difference is quite substantial at the higher grade. Eventually he went ahead with the Japan Wagyu selection. When he was done with dinner, he told the waiter to book him another seat next week as he wanted to try out another steak but from another country. A few good steak wrapped up his Christmas celebration!
so what am i driving at?
There are plenty of restaurant in the world like there are plenty of shrimp breeder globally. There are some breeders who does very well for a certain type of shrimp as they created the shrimp whereas for some they take on others to create their own line. If we take an example of the Japan Wagyu, the prices could be 3-4x higher compared to other country beef but does the price difference justify the quality? if you ask me personally, it does. Anybody who have tried it will understand. However, everyone have their own budget and it is perfectly fine to work within it. What is more important is you enjoy the hobby and when you see that prize shrimp collection that feel good feeling is like a foodie having a ‘mouth-gasm’. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mouthgasm
There is really no short cut to success, even given a colony of high grade shrimps does not guarantee success. Ignorance and short cut only result in the demise of the shrimp hobby. The root cause in my opinion is the sharing of knowledge and information where truth become twisted. If every breeder and hobbyist are on the up and up with each other, i believe this great hobby will be even greater. I have personally experience hobbyist dumping poor grade shrimp to enthusiastic hobbyist who have just entered the hobby and eventually calling it quits when they found out the truth. This also stems from unethical shops where shrimps advertise were not actually from the source they claim they are from. Hence, the source (a detailed explanation in another post) of where the shrimp comes from far outweigh the benefit of low prices. The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
Boa shrimp
As i sink in deeper to further understand this the more i learn about where misconception can arise. Boa in itself is a selective bred shrimp and while anybody can ‘copy’ or create Boa from Stardust it is however important to note the selection process, starting shrimp used, culling process, tank parameters, food, etc far differs from breeder to breeder. The original shrimp to create Boa is already different and any slight deviation would result in strikingly different outcome. Hence, it is safe to say that i wouldn’t be receiving a mouth watering Japan Wagyu A5 steak if i order another country Wagyu A5, they may look the same (at least to me) but the grading, keeping, etc are all different. Even at grade A5, there are a wide band to the quality of wagyu.
While everyone has the right to deem how their grading is based on their shrimp, relying on a reputable grading system based out of a renowned lineage is my preference. Taking guidance from a reputable breeder is far better than spreading rumors of how grading should be done just because you want to sell your shrimp. For example, if i’m going to keep Boa from a reputable breeder than certainly I’ll use their grading as a benchmark to determine the different grade. Grading is tricky as it take time and experience to learn how to grade and a point system will help with it. For example a Grade 2 or Grade 3 shrimp would mean a certain criteria to be met and if it falls within the band it will be graded as is.
However, within a grade, there is a continuum which allow the breeder to grade two different shrimp that may look slightly different but having the same grade. This can either be done through descriptive or point system or both. If descriptive, it can mean that a check box of criteria once met will be assigned to the grade.
S Grade for Golden Boa. Thin facial lines, very few to no body spots, slightly transparent at certain parts. Spider legs.
SS Female Boa. Colors on this may have bluish hue to it however in this grade there is a possibility that the colors are not fully display yet. These are young female and will grow up stunning (note the body pattern) it is important that the body have some spots in this grade. Having a lot of spots on the body are usually more desirable compared to fewer spots. Facial spots and pattern are big instead of thin lines and rather numerous. Spider legs coloration. This will generalize the grading for SS especially having heavier weightage on body spots.
SS Male Boa on the other hand due to the smaller body area results in fewer of the criteria being met at a given grade. Within the same grading methodology a SS male will not look as nice as a SS female. Reason being is the lower part of the male body doesn’t have sufficient area to have a lot of spots. A nice male is very difficult to come by and people are willing to shell out top dollars to get their hands on them.
A SSS Female Boa. The blue coloration resides ontop of the base color fishbone pattern with the blue tracing around the patterns on the body and face. Body spots are more obvious with abundant sprays of spot throughout the belly area. The facial pattern on this is modest with distinctive differentiation between the base color and face pattern. Spider legs with bluish tinge, swimmerets are colored as well.
A SSS (Competition grade) Female Boa. Color on this is uncontested where the colors illuminate the pattern on the shrimp. The golden hue mix with the metallic blue accentuate the overall shrimp coloration. The numerous body spots sprays across the mid section of the shrimp with high intense coverage. The facial pattern large but not overpowering giving it a sense of contrast between the black base color and face pattern. Here the facial pattern has to balance between big patterns but not covering the entire face. The legs are fully colored in the spider leg fashion. The back black line helps trace the shrimp framing itself into a beauty of it’s own.
Here is a picture where the Boa are grazing on the Lubao (Microorganism ball). It is vital to have a grazing material to help support the breeding program (Please read microorganism ball post here).
Color changes occur throughout the life of a Boa, when they’re happy through good water parameters without excessive feeding and grazing material than they will keep breeding and continue to look nicer with each molt. Here is one example of a female Boa where the first picture on the top is when i got it a month in and the bottom picture is in the 3rd month. The colors as you can clearly see intensifies to a darker shade of blue. Yes you are right both of the time when i took the picture she is berried.
People often ask me what i do to be successful in shrimp breeding? Keep it simple. No magic powder, nothing. I’m a plain old school aquarist where i do my regular water change, keeping things simple in the tank and don’t overfeed. There isn’t really a magic formula, the less i do, the better they breed and all i really do on a daily basis is to feed once or twice a day with Hwa version 1 food pad and have the microorganism ball to aid in grazing. That’s all. simple yet very effective. I find there are too many ‘bells & whistles’ in the market today that doesn’t contribute to the success of shrimp breeding. What it does is help is certainly confusing hobbyist and pulls them further away from success.
The grading are based off the grades printed on the certificates.
Right at the onset of this post i mentioned about enjoying the hobby and to me it is all about sharing with friends about my journey of keeping and breeding shrimp. Sharing the information, knowledge and the shrimps with everyone. More importantly i always believe to be inclusive in the hobby and to share the joy with immediate family.
Hope this post have shed some light on the Boa grading topic and stay safe wherever you are and wishing all breeders a happy 2021!
https://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.png00benetayhttps://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.pngbenetay2020-12-23 23:10:352021-04-22 10:08:58Boa Shrimp: Starting 2021 on the right track!
This is often overlooked when it comes to shrimp breeding because if a hobbyist keep them in a large colony and “Hope” for the best results will often be disappointed. The history of Caridina you see today with multiple colors and pattern are what we call selective breeding. *Disclaimer* i’m not a know all but a very passionate hobbyist trying to share as much accurate information as possible.
Today, i’ll touch on just 1 topic about genetic breeding known as backcrossing (Line breeding) and outcrossing . The whole idea of backcrossing is to strengthen the genetics of either side of the parent shrimp. For example, if you start off with a male and female and you would like to retain and enhance the male traits than backcrossing a F1 female to F0 Male is required. For outcrossing, it inject new genetic traits into the current pool to enhance new trait and also helps prevent deformation.
Backcrossing: I did a simplified chart with a Male and Female each carrying 100% of it’s own genetic pool and the F1 in ideal state will carry both 50% of the parents gene. (Please note that this will work optimally if the pair is of certain quality. matching a good male and a transparent female will have a higher cull % at BC1 resulting in a longer process)
Now taking the desired trait F1 Female and putting it back into the F0 Male tank to further build on the Male traits.
Now the BC1 shrimplet will carry 75% of the male genetics which is much nearer to the male F0 shrimp.
When we are in this stage, the F0 Male x BC1 Female will result in a higher % of trait similarity genetically to the F0 male.
F1
50
50
BC1
75
25
BC2
87.5
12.5
BC3
93.75
6.25
BC4
96.875
3.125
This is a very simplified outlook of the genetic makeup
The journey to create that ideal trait has it’s down side as well and after speaking to renown Taiwan breeder confirms my learning on the side effects of too much inbreeding.
Here are some of the effects where it’s classified as degeneration/deform:
When the female do not hold the eggs or keep kicking the eggs
Young shrimplet born out and keep dying given the correct parameters
shrimplets that never reach maturity and always remain small
big head and head to body ratio does not fit 1:3 deform growth in large numbers
Open skirt or some call it skirting where the carapace is too short.
decreased lifespan
Hunchback
To prevent deform shrimps and also to keep a good line of shrimp require diligence in ensuring the shrimp do not over in breed. When you do see any of the above effects, the shrimp had already reached a very late stage of inbreeding. You can use that as a gauge if not you can consider injecting new blood/genetics whenever you can and the method of doing so is call outcrossing.
Outcrossing: The idea for outcrossing on the other hand is to inject new genome to the current shrimp which has been line bred for some time. The reason this need to be done is because when line breeding get too excessive, deform start showing, shrimps stop breeding, growth stagnant, etc hence it is important for the health of the line to occasionally introduce new blood. There is no hard and fast rule when to introduce the new genetic into the pool because different people get the shrimp at different generation. If the shrimp i have gotten is already line bred for 5-6 generations it will reach the deform point faster if the shrimp has been already outcross before. A reputable breeder will be able to provide high quality new generation of shrimps when they have a large number of tanks to prevent too frequent inbreeding.
I hope this post provided you some insights into breeding high quality shrimp.
Yes, Shrimps are Shrimps and i believe everyone agrees with that. Why did i bring this up? One of the important elements during the setting up phase of shrimp keeping is the tank setup, introduction of shrimp, feeding and water change. As we go deeper into the biology of shrimp, we tend to think what is best for keeping our shrimps in the most ideal condition.
So what really am i driving at? Shrimps are by nature scavenges and they have a fairly straight digestive system unlike human. In general the food takes a very short time from consumption to passing out and there are 2 important factors here.
Firstly, shrimps would need to have sufficient nutrients such as staple food, vitamin and trace minerals for healthy growth. In addition, because shrimps feed and digest quickly it is necessary for shrimps to have a comprehensive food to provide the majority of the nutrients and also feed frequently. It is better to feed lesser but higher frequency vs feeding more but lesser frequency. However, i think it is difficult for many to feed 4 times a day including myself. If we can feed them once or twice a day, i think it is considered a luxury. The science behind this is so that excess food does not foul the water and hence i use snails to clean up the rest of the food.
Secondly, between feeds, shrimp need to graze continuously and it is important here to have a few natural biofilm producers such as mosses and lubao. Mosses are great for cover and biofilm for shrimplets to survive as they need those food in the first couple of weeks before they can consume larger food item. I have received feedback from Netherlands breeders that the shrimplets are always on the lubao that they got from me. This is great for the growth and development of the shrimplet as they get their first food which helps increase survival of shrimplets. I have written it here in detail :
Lastly, it is important to note that there are a variety of staple food and i have been using Hwa v1 pads for a long time and it is really have a strong pull/draw factor (written here: https://www.shrimpsanctuary.com/hwa-food-lubao/) with comprehensive ingredients. In addition, i also recommend having a couple of biofilm producers such as plants, mosses and lubao. While lubao is a natural producer of biofilm, it need some learning to use it well. It took me two years at least of trial and error to learn how to control using it.
Maintaining water quality
Other than feeding the shrimps and reminerize after water change, i don’t add other elements into the tank. The reason is because the lesser you add into your tank, the more stable the water parameters will be. Not all shrimps are kept the same and the higher the grade the shrimp, the purer it is and a slight change in water parameters they get uncomfortable and that had taught me to be discipline in breeding high grade shrimps. Keeping the water as consistent as possible with little fluctuation.
Good water filtration is still at the fundamental of shrimp breeding and while there are a range of filtration available, choose one that you be able to stick to. i have tried a range of filtration, box, perm ugf, etc and i stuck to the Totto filtration due to space constraint. Sponge filter will work too i think a large sponge across the tank will also be a good method.
Deciding your method and Taking Risk
I often remind myself, If i want to achieve something i never had, i need to do something i never did.
Taking risk is not just about breeding shrimps but it’s about knowing what you know and what you don’t know. There will be people who will encourage you and people who pull you down. Embrace both.
As Sarah Ban Breathnach mentioned “Consider the track record of your naysayers. How many dreams have they successfully brought into this world?“
Keep trying and never give up. Fall down 9 times, get up 10. Taking risk is also about accepting new views and new opinions. It may be frightening at times but is also rewarding, the changes you take, the people you meet, the faith that you have, that is what going to define you. People who keep trying after the first attempt generally start to see results. Brushing teeth for one day doesn’t do anything, going to the gym or running once a month doesn’t do much. It is doing it consistently day in day out and keeping at it that makes a difference. T
Time can be invested or wasted, and all the failures are time invested to be even better. With all the setbacks you have experience, do not be discourage or disappointed, it is simply a setup for better things to come.
So never be discourage, never hold back, give everything you got and while you fall down along the way, remember to always stand up and keep trying and moving forward. End of the day if you are better than yesterday, you have made progress.
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I often get this including myself. Am i a failure if i have dead shrimp? Frankly you are successful and the long and short of it is that if you don’t fail, you are not even trying. Only through failure we learn what was the fundamental knowledge behind why we fail. We dust it off stand up and keep moving forward. I have some tell me that they feel disappointed when their beloved shrimp die and all the time and money that goes into it is gone.
For me it is clear that if i want to get something i never had, i need to do something i never did. For example, if i want to do selective breeding, i need to try, i need spend time, effort and money to have a setup and than go for it. I rather fail trying than not try at all because at least i had some learnings. Shrimp breeding especially high grade shrimps are not straight forward but the learning from it will be beneficial.
There cannot be success without trying. If you don’t start, you will never have a chance of being successful. Not everyone succeed, but those who keep pushing forward, does.
Many don’t even start, some give up after the first fail attempt, the rare few keep persisting on and tweak their process and than stuck to it. Keep trying, keep moving, keep pushing forward.
Knowledge is key to understand and having the will to keep trying is as critical. Many aspire to have the best shrimp but don’t have goals and plans to reach there, all the excuses started to come in, oh i don’t have this, i don’t have that. There are thousands of reasons for not starting, but it only take one to begin.
Now, if not when?
Start now. There is no better time than now, set a goal and then move towards it. Shrimp life cycle is very short, 2 years or lesser so we need to ensure that we provide the best opportunity and probability for the shrimp to breed out their next generation. While we human may have a longer life span compared to a shrimp but the idea is the same.
Don’t count the days, Make the days count. Get your female shrimp ready by ensuring the water parameters are spot on, the male:female ratio is good, have sufficient food, grazing material and hiding space. Get the female shrimp ready before they molt. Make the days count.
Like most things in life, we often delay, wait another day, think too much and eventually life takes control. Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months and then look back and say i should have done something back then.
There isn’t a day call “Some day”, there is Monday to Sunday and Some Day isn’t in there. So instead of telling some day i will do it, make a plan and make it happen.
So start now, if not when?
if not you, who?
If not you, who?
Keeping $5 shrimp and $1000 shrimp doesn’t define if you are successful or not at least to me. I love my $5 shrimp as much as the high end ones. I have seen some breeders who are truly good and understand the fundamental of shrimp breeding and selection. Even normal $5 shrimp are being selective bred for excellence.
Don’t listen to your inner voice and say oh no, i’ don’t have the time, and it’s not me, i can only dream because i don’t have good stock shrimp. Again you beat yourself to it because whether you can or cannot, you are right. If there is a will, there is a way. Probably it doesn’t happen now, but do you have the faith to keep trying?
Maybe now you may not have good stock shrimp but you can start off the selection process and see if you get successful results from that, once you are more confident over the years you can than move on to higher grade shrimp. So why not take a chance and believe in yourself that you can do it. Learn, unlearn, relearn.
Don’t be afraid to try because you get one chance in life because if not you who?
I trust you have benefited from this post and keep trying!
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Setting up a shrimp tank is fast and easy provided you keep it simple. I have tried many methods of setting up a shrimp tank from sponge filter, permanent UGF, box UGF, overflow etc. In my opinion, choose one that will suit your availability of time and effort when you need to reset the tank later on.
Things you need:
Aquarium Tank
Active Soil
Filtration
RO water
Reminerizer
Optional items (added after cycling or during) :
Moss
some plants
quick start bacteria (liquid or powder)
Microorganism ball (Lubao)
Setting up
The steps are fairly simple and if you have everything ready, setting up the tank would probably take 15 minutes.
There are different methods and my method is to ensure during reset it also takes a much quicker time. Reason being is that if you have to use 45 mins or 1 hour to reset your tank, multiply that with the number of tanks will determine the total time required. Also resetting tanks require some form of effort and if you have a lot of tanks, it will also take a lot of effort physically.
People ask why do we need to reset a tank? When breeding slows down and the soil has slowed down in it’s buffering than changing it will help kick start the breeding too.
Coming back to the method of setting up:
Pour active soil into the tank until it reaches 1cm
45 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm tank will use about 1L of soil
Add water into the tank and reminerize to TDS of 85-90 with GH of 3
Setup filter (i use Totto hang on and powerhouse S size Soft water filter media)
Wait 40 days.
This method of cycling is the traditional method and it works as active soil release ammonia which then kick start the nitrogen process.
During this period some will add liquid bacteria (can be any brand) to ‘kick start’ the beneficial bacteria colonization. More importantly is these beneficial bacteria will then convert ammonia to nitrite and then the less harmful Nitrate.
Once it reaches 40 days it is then where the Nitrate is the highest and Ammonia and Nitrite becomes 0.
Few methods to Seed the tank:
Use existing mature shrimp tank water
Use existing filter media
Add Lubao
The first 2 directly place beneficial bacteria colony into the new tank but an ammonia source is needed to keep them going. Active soil and lubao emits sources of ammonia to allow beneficial bacteria to feed on and multiply.
The difference over here is lubao whilst a grazing material will also help condition the water.
Using Microorganism ball
Using microorganism ball to seed the tank can have multiple layers of benefit while it creates biofilm for shrimp to consume, the biofilm creation is due to the fermenting of material in the ball which invariably also feed beneficial bacteria thus in return increase beneficial bacteria numbers.
While the creation of biofilm cannot be controlled as there are no shrimps in it to feed on, what i do is to scoop out excess biofilm that i think the shrimp will not be able to feed upon when they’re release into the tank after cycling. Incorporating microorganism ball as part of tank reset or setting up new tank what i’ll do is to soak the ball for a day in RO water to leech out the tannin and then let the process begin.
After 40 days
After 40 days i’ll then measure the water parameters and if the parameters are fine, i’ll do a 20% water change, reminerize and wait for another 2-3 days and re measure the water parameters. Once everything is fine, i’ll add mosses, a claypot of plants and frogbits. By day 47 the tank will be more or less ready.
However, there is this unspoken feeling, gut feeling based on experience that if the tank doesn’t appear to be ready, i’ll continue to keep cycling till day 50-60. Once that is done, i’ll re-measure the parameters before adding the shrimp.
The shrimps will have sufficient food in the tank and i’ll hold off feeding for a few days. If you’re adding new shrimp in hundreds, they’ll strip off biofilm very quickly so you can then start feeding after 3-4 days in the new tank.
Thanks for reading and i hope you have learn something from this post.
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People often ask me why i am so passionate about the aquarium hobby and why am i doing what i do? Providing information, wasting time typing away and then share all these information. Worst part some people even use my information for their benefits. Why i do that?
They tell me i think you should not spend time to benefit others and even if i do choose to keep sharing and writing you should make your articles worth the while. Make it paid articles.
i say no, i think in life we are all measured too much by KPI and matrix cause and effect. If i do this i should get that. I find since there is no structured school or syllabus to study on this hobby, i think sharing proven data is the next best thing. Make everyone have equal chance to learn in this hobby. I was fortunate to have learn from a great Taiwan breeder and i want to reach out to as many as i can with my post.
To me i don’t think i’m wasting my time typing away, i see this as time invested so shrimp hobbyist can benefit. If i can reach 10 people great if i can reach 100 superb! I do what i can in my own time to help spread the joy of this hobby.
That is the purpose and why i keep this going.
Aspiration
Have aspiration! It is good regardless it’s life or this hobby where you aspire to have a championship boa or 20 tanks or something. Have aspiration and to share my aspiration apart from the shrimp goals i have, i have one particularly close to my heart.
I aspire to make a difference.
Like my purpose i would like to reach out and hear from you and learn from you about your shrimp breeding journey. This is by no means that i don’t have setbacks. I actually do. When i start sharing too much some people will take advantage of the situation and benefit out of it by either using my information and then telling others it’s theirs and sell a product.
Certainly i always believe there are black sheep among the white ones and i have met countless of good people. One example is that i know of someone from Europe whom i have chat with and because they have been to Singapore and so we chat even outside of shrimp breeding and talking about the Satay (a local skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce). Another whom i have shared many of my family worries with had in return shared his grandfather secret of curing common cold. Some have shared with me their life long journey and advise me what i can do and should do.
People asked me why are you wrapping lubao yourself, don’t they have a machine to do that? yes, there are. However, what i’m doing is wrapping them individually myself, each ball with love, pouring seeds of happiness and so all your shrimps are happy. Irreplaceable by machines. Like a craft, a chef cooking his food all done manually.
To be open and vulnerable and aspiring to make a difference can be rough at times when taken advantage but we keep pushing on and focus on the journey ahead.
So have aspiration in your hobby, keeps you more engage and share them with others, if nobody wants to hear you, send a note to me, i’ want to hear what your aspiration is for shrimp breeding.
Do what matters
Life is short.
Don’t count the days, make the days count. This is the same for breeding, if you would like to have a nice boa or excellent black fancy, go for it. Set it as a goal for the year and strive towards it. Make every day count, because shrimp life cycle is very short, at best 2-2.5 years pushing it. So every molt, every water change matters.
It’s a race against time when we are talking about selective breeding, how much can we extract the gene out of the male into the female. The reason why we have a 2-4M to 20F ratio is to shorten the time required to achieve the goal and also reduce the probability when both the male and female molt and the male will not be able to mate so other males will help in this case. The shrimps wouldn’t last forever to breed, the older it gets the lesser it will breed and even if they do, risk dying of complications. The life cycle is very short hence plan out what it is, select 2-4 best Males and use all available female that you can get. If you do this right, you will have hundreds of shrimplet and then the selection begins.
Do what matters. Make the days count.
Hope you have learn something from this post and have a great weekend!
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Shrimp breeding for some can be a daunting task and have met many problems and setback along the way. Tank crash, mass death due to some error that has happen.
It is easy to be disappointed and discourage and tell yourself this is as good as it gets, i’ll just learn to live with it. We all go through setbacks, disappointment and pain. However, this pain that we go through is part of the shrimp breeding process. It is what we do in this situation that will determine the outcome. This will change us, we re-evaluate our processes and technique, we refine our skills to shrimp breeding. Every painful time even if you don’t like it, it’s developing something in you.
Eventually if you decide to go through it, you will emerge with more knowledge of how to deal with it, a total change in your breeding setup. How you want to deal with the situation is up to you.
You can come out bitter or come out better?
You can come out defeated and giving up your dream or you can come out passionate with a new fire, remembering your dream of what you truly want to do. The new opportunities in getting where you want to be and a revitalization of your breeding setup are some of the things you can change to be better.
we all know sometimes we make poor choices, we were led by people who i was too a victim and i had to deal with the consequences. All of us experience some form of challenges, don’t go through it, grow through it. Gain new knowledge, talk to people who have succeed. By not quitting, you will eventually come out better.
if you encounter setbacks during shrimp breeding such as they are not breeding, lots of shrimp death, etc, don’t take it as a setback but a setup for better things to come. Re-look and plan again how your setup is done, look at ways of improving. Eventually you will grow through it and be successful.
Selective breeding
It takes a long time to see results in selective breeding as it requires time and patience. It’s easy to get discourage and be cover under disappointment, setbacks, failures that let us lose our dream.
Easy to settled for mediocrity, at one time you were all fired up and passionate about breeding really good shrimp, you believe you have the right setup to do it but over time, some setbacks, had some bad breaks that weigh you down. You can settle where you are and nobody will fault you. The naysayers will be happy that your dreams are dash, encouraging you to let it go, it’s impossible they say. However, don’t believe those lies. It’s not too late to dust it off and forge towards your dream.
There are plenty of naysayers who are looking at what you are doing, making side remarks and telling you that you couldn’t make it. Deep down thinking you will fail. Hoping you will fail. A true mark of a Champion is when the naysayers throw dirt on you, you keep shaking it off. Keep moving forward. If you don’t have a dream that is alive and well, you wouldn’t have those naysayers going against you. If your dream of selective breeding has been toss aside, it is time to re-live it again. Setup a plan again to select and move towards your goal and dream. Share your goals and dream with like minded people.
Dream Simply
I have a goal and dream. That is to help and reach out to others in need and i know i can only reach out to so many people, but i hope those people whom i have reached out will help reach out to more. Only then will the community be better, and i fully understand the balance there will always be naysayers, but don’t let those pull you down.
This is the reason i write in the blog to share as much information as i can, to help those in need; hence the name Shrimp Sanctuary. For breeders to breeders.
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Why do we need grow up tank? There are quite a lot of benefits of a grow up tank and if you are like me is passionate about selective breeding, than a grow up tank is encouraged.
I was struggling in the beginning when i had to give up tank space for a grow up tank. However, once i started the selective process and using the grow up tank it became clear to me that there are a lot of benefits to it.
Benefits of Grow Up tank
I think firstly the most importance aspect of having a grow up tank is the shrimplets certainly have a higher survival rate.
Having a higher survival rate is understood from the following:
Reduce cannibalisms by adults during molting
Lesser competition of daily feed and grazing material
It is also important to note that shrimplet as small as 0.8-1cm will start mating and if you are selective breeding, this is not ideal. If an un-desirable male mates with the stock females in the main tank, this will means that the selection process is halted.
That is also one key element that having a grow up tank is critical.
Grow up faster
I learnt and actually also see from my observation that shrimplet that have their own tank grow up much faster than those who are together with their parents. This could be contributed by many factors such as availability of space and food.
In addition, i learn that to trigger quicker molting, perform a much higher frequency of water change such as every 3-4 days instead of the weekly routine. This helps trigger the shrimplets to molt faster and grow.
The faster the shrimplet grows up the quicker you can start selecting and kickstart the next generation of shrimp breeding by crossing back.
Taken together
With these in mind, it is important that having a grow up tank is important. They will have their own space, food and grazing material. Hence, for my own breeding tanks and grow up tank, i do see a significant increase in shrimplet survivability and also faster growth rate.
If you do not have the space to have a grow up tank, my recommendation is that we can re-think the number of types you would like to keep and breed. This will then allow you more time and space to focus on the ones you really like to breed.
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One of the most important steps in breeding shrimp is to have a goal in mind and a direction where you would want the shrimp to develop into. This will help lift you up when the going get tough. I have breeders tell me that after 1 generation of breeding they can’t get any nice shrimps from their brood. Do not breed shrimps with a defeated mindset.
With the goal in mind, even with 1 pair of shrimp, one can still succeed as long as the process of breeding them are kept the same like your other proven methods. High grade shrimps can be costly hence it’ may not be financially viable to get a big colony to start with. Even if one starts with 1M 2F it is still possible to be great.
The 1M 2F trio should then be bred to masses first and from there keep using the female shrimplet from the F1 to breed more and get to masses as soon as possible.
Racing against time
Shrimp have a very short lifespan, hence it is a racing against time to quickly get them to breed as fast as possible. Female shrimps when they reach about 1.2cm start to breed but their brood size is small but with higher frequency.
As they start to mature their brood size becomes larger but with lesser frequency. When the female start to get old, their breeding slows down to once in 2-3 months. Hence the ‘breeding’ duration is really short.
Why am i saying this? The reason is because the conditions have to be optimum during the breeding period and to ensure maximum clutch size everytime. Not forgetting newly minted female often need to gain experience in the first few brood before successfully deliver shrimplets.
Water conditions often measured by parameters are just one side of the equation. The other part of the equation is if there are sufficient biofilm, microorganism, hiding space, breeding ratio.
Second part of the equation
A large part of the 2nd equation consist of biofilm/microorganism/hiding space/male to female ratio etc. This is where it is often overlooked and equally important to water parameters. I like to categorize it as the last piece to obtain an optimal ecosystem.
As hobbyist we can’t measure biofilm or amount of hiding space, it however has a very strong contribution to the success of breeding. We can setup a tank with soil, filtration, plants and get the right water parameters but that does not mean your breeding tank is well established or optimal for breeding.
Getting to that optimal point is where considerations such as if there are sufficient biofilm in the tank (can be lubao/kallax ball/moss/leaves etc). Is there microorganism in the tank that is feeding on the biofilm as well. Hiding space while important also has to be visible so shrimps don’t hide and die in there without knowing. How about the male to female breeding ratio of 4:20? All these are measurable elements that are often missed out but contributes a lot to the success towards breeding.
While the hard numbers measuring for pH/KH/GH/TDS/Nitrite/Nitrates are important, a successful breeder goes beyond just the above measurements to ensure breeding success.
Hence, it is important not to have a defeated mindset when breeding shrimps. Look beyond measurable water parameters, these are just the foundation of shrimp breeding. Once your ecosystem is well established, breeding shrimps would then be rewarding and gratifying. Till then, never be discourage, never give up, give it all you have and remember one day when you succeed, reach out to those who need help. Each one teach one.
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How does grazing material impact the breeding process
It is becoming difficult to ignore the fact that grazing material is one of the key elements for successful shrimp breeding process. It can be understood from the abundance of available grazing material to ensure continual breeding to happen. Shrimps like in the ‘Animal Kingdom’ breed when the conditions and environment are ideal. They thrive and procreate their next generation. In their natural habitat, shrimps feed consistently all the time. While their ‘hands’ are constantly feeding they’re trying to pick up the biofilm and consume them. Biofilm is an important source of nutrients to shrimps as they consist of nutrients that can be absorb naturally by the body. In this day and age, high quality feed is made to create as much beneficial nutrients to the shrimp. However, according to some research (Importance of biofilm as food source for shrimp), the feed they use although ingested were not properly incorporated by the shrimp tissue. In other words, it appears to suggest that while we may feed our daily feed, there are still some nutrients that must be compensated through biofilm consumption.
The term grazing material really encompass a large area but what i would like to share in this article is while most grazing material are used, it is the biofilm they produce that have a direct impact to shrimp overall health and breeding. Biofilm grows almost anywhere, and it is not simply the biofilm that is the important intake, it is also the microorganism that the shrimp consume. With an abundance of microorganism and biofilm, that is where the ‘invisible’ nutrients are playing a major role of the breeding process.
Growing biofilm
There are many ways to cultivate biofilm such as leaves, cholla wood, media, plants, mosses and microorganism ball aka Kallax ball or lubao.
Leaves such as Indian almond are good source of biofilm generation, the leaves soak in water will start developing thin layer of biofilm for the shrimps to consume, however the leaves will not be able to consistently produce biofilm as the leaf tissue are consumed together with the biofilm by the shrimp.
A wide variety of biofilm producer is ideal, and personally i’m using plants, mosses and definitely the lubao or kallax ball.
While one cannot directly see the impact of shrimps consuming biofilm, however there are research paper that is done scientifically that natural food for shrimps are biofilm and is the key that allow shrimps to continue their existence.
Biofilm, female shrimps and shrimplets
If one have put leaves in the tank or have use Kallax ball or lubao, it can be observed that during the conditioning phase of breeding (saddle), they can mostly be found near biofilm source. When female shrimp berried, it is often seen that they are on the biofilm generation such as lubao in this case when i use them. While shrimp feed are fed daily, the female shrimp continue to graze on the lubao very frequently more so when they’re not berried. This observation is seen across many tanks when female shrimps berried.
Another observation and reported by many who have used lubao is shrimplets find their way to the biofilm source and graze for the first few weeks of their live and then move on to other food source. The constant biofilm allows females and shrimplets in my opinion benefitting the most out of it.
With the above, it in turn help to encourage females to saddle more readily and directly improve shrimplet survival by providing first food.
Long term impact
The long term impact for having a consistent biofilm source in the tank outweigh the risk of deformity and degrading, and hence important to have different sources of biofilm readily available in your tank. Like i’ve mentioned, every surface area in the tank is able to harbour some biofilm but the more direct source it is, the more you’ll be able to control.
While we may not be able to see any impact immediately, biofilm is still an important source of grazing material/nutrients for the shrimps and if you’ve not considered them before, i hope this article would allow you to wade deeper into the water and learn more about the intricacies of why biofilm is an important source of nutrients to shrimps.
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There are a few reasons that resetting of tank is important and that can be first understood that what i’m referring here is on active soil. Active soil such as ADA/Tropica/platinum/aka/etc are soil that releases ammonia to the water column and also have the ability to lower the pH to an acidic level.
Buffering conditions wear off over time and the ideal state is no longer ideal over a certain period of time. This is one of the major factor influencing why a reset is necessary. The ability to buffer the water parameters like how it should has slow down drastically and visually it can be seen that the shrimps are no longer breeding as much/fast as they should.
A newly laid level of soil also have the strongest buffering condition which helps the eco-system in your tank to be in a much better state where microorganism and biofilm grows quicker than when the soil is near exhausting. Hence, it is important to know the reasons why it is necessary to reset your tanks over time.
When to reset
When buffering conditions become slow, water parameter changes and shrimp do not breed as frequently, shrimplets too don’t grow as quickly as they once would as everything in the tank is related to one another. This lead to the need to change the soil. These are visual appearance that you can probably see and observe.
I have used UGF with a lot of soil and also with tanks with just 1cm of soil, the buffering duration doesn’t appear to be exponentially different. Hence, while there are many methods of shrimp breeding, the one i use and follow is thin layer of soil but to reset more frequently.
Hence there is no hard and fast rule when to change your soil out however what i do is that i use two criteria and if one of them is met, i’ll reset. The first criteria is if the shrimps are no longer breeding as quickly as they should and the tank condition doesn’t appear to be favourable to shrimp breeding, i’ll reset.
Another criteria is when the tank is about 8-10 months old i’ll reset, considering that with a cycling time of 40 days hence it would mean i’ll reset once a year including a 40 days cycling time.
How i reset
A hard reset:
This means all soil plants etc are totally remove including changing out the filter medias everything to be brand new like setting a new tank.
A soft reset:
This is what i do most of the time.
Remove the shrimps to another tank.
Remove soil and water
fill up with new soil and add water
wash all filter media and change 10% of filter media.
cycle
A very simple process to reset the tank, without the UGF i could now reset much quicker and not be put off with the time needed to reset the tank.
i have much more success usually after resetting the tank when the water becomes rich again.
Factors delaying resetting of tanks
One of the biggest concern of resetting is where do i house my shrimps when i reset?
There are a few ways to do so, one is to house them in a big breeder box in another tank for some time and if a soft reset is used, the filter media which still have beneficial bacteria will certainly help speed up the cycling process.
Breeder box are not meant to house and breed shrimps long term but are like temporary housing until the shrimps are able to go back to their home.
I have heard and tried it before is to remove the soil partially during water change and adding new soil until 100% of the soil is being totally change out. For example 50% of the soil is vacuum out on the first month, then on the second month another 50% of the soil is removed. However, there are risk to this is because while active soil releases ammonia, it is important to note small shrimplets within 7 days may not be able to take the sudden ammonia spike when it’s release. However, because there are beneficial bacteria in the tank constantly, the spike doesn’t appear to affect the adults.
For me i’ll prefer to use a safer method whenever possible is to transfer the shrimp to another tank and so the shrimps location will shift over time as i kinda play musical chairs with all the tanks however usually only resetting one tank at a time depending on availability of tanks.
Summary
There are numerous benefit of tank reset and shouldn’t be put off to a “Later Time”. Instead of procrastinating about tank reset, i think it’s better to consider stream-lining the process of tank setup so that tank reset doesn’t become a burden to you. In the past i tried many ways including UGF and box UGF thinking that reset would be much easier, however, at the moment nothing appears to beat the thin layer of soil in terms of speed and ease of resetting because long term it all adds up.
https://i0.wp.com/shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/20210825_210333-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=119202560benetayhttps://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.pngbenetay2021-09-01 14:34:442021-09-01 14:34:59Tips on when to reset your tank
Everyone has 24 hours, nobody have more of it or less of it. It is how we fully utilize and the willingness to allocate time for things that matter. This is because i believe that let us strive to improve continuously; for we cannot remain stationary. One either progresses or retrogrades.
This post helps to conceptualize the Why of things and streamline the processes to gain back time.
We all have busy life with work and family that we need to take care. We have jobs that need us to be there majority of time and we still need to spend time with our love ones. However, without giving up any of those we can stream line our processes and optimize our setup so we can spend more time with things that matter. At least for me, i would want to spend as much time as i can with my family, so this the “Why” i invest in the initial setup. Time and Resources during the setup.
There are two things that takes up majority of time (excluding seeing them), water change and reset of tanks. There is no escaping that water change is necessary and resetting of tanks is necessary but both takes up a lot of time if you have a lot of tanks.
Hence, this is the why of things that i do what i do and still progress on the hobby, which in retrospect helps me a lot more in visualizing what i want to do with the next project and such.
I’m going to share with you how i do it in the following paragraph.
Setting up the infrastructure
During the course of my journey and as i learn how to better optimize the infrastructure such as the tank setup and location, it becomes important to me. For example there are 2 main important things which i really look for :
water source
drainage
Sink
Though very basic for shrimp keeping, i needed these two important things due to ease of water change. Water change is a large part for shrimp breeding. This small yet essential change to the infrastructure helps reduce time taken to drain water and fill it up.
There are a few ways to do so, either we drill a hole in the tank and make it an outlet for draining or we can use gravity with another hose to drain the water.
since filling the water up is fairly quick, i have opt for using gravity to drain the water in the tank.
Lastly is a small sink which allows me to wash and disinfect tools, unpacking of shrimps and so on. A sink provides a lot of flexibility when dealing with the aquatic hobby. With the opportunity to re-do everything again, what i did was to have a sink, a drainage and water outlet all in one place. This helps contain and reduce movements in and out of the facility.
Drainage and Inflow
Draining using gravity requires some calibration to the hose use to fill the tank up. It uses the same inlet into the tank but with an additional valve to drain the water out.
This method if done correctly will help save a lot of time in draining the water. However, this doesn’t remove the need to siphon or clean your soil once in 3-6 months.
From the picture below the first 4 tap is for the inflow of water into the 4 tanks after draining and the last tap (5th) is the drainage valve. What this does is if the “main water in tap” is shut off and the “water out tap” is turn on, than the draining process will begin. If multiple tiers are connected, it is important to note the draining hoses connected at the next tier below for draining need to be lower than the draining height. A safe method is the connecting valve on the next tier be at the level of the bottom of the tank.
Alternatively, individual tiers can have it’s own drainage outlet but all connected to the main drainage outlet.
Thin layer of soil but more frequent reset
The reason why i use thin layer of soil is because it is easier to manage from a 3-6 months siphoning (cleaning of soil) perspective and it is also faster to reset the tanks when needed.
These two elements help reduce time spent in resetting and siphoning. With thinner layer of soil yes we do need to increase frequency of tank reset but resetting tanks frequently also helps boost the shrimp to breed.
During reset, what i do is to vacuum out the soil and water together and i can now reset tanks very quickly. The entire end to end process takes 15 mins per tank but does not exponentially increase with more tanks because now i can reset 4 tanks in an hour. In the past when i have UGF setup and box UGF i couldn’t reset as fast.
Now it is a breeze.
Increasing grazing material
Daily feed is still a routine for me and it is something i do so the inspection of the shrimps are done that way, looking at how the shrimps are doing. While i feed once or twice daily, i have opt for using lubao as a grazing material. This helps and allow me to go on vacation or days without feeding if needed. Increasing the grazing material helps with extending the time between feeds.
Enjoying Shrimp Breeding
Personally i would like to achieve minimizing time spent in the various necessary task essential to shrimp breeding, and with the above steps taken i was able to truly enjoy the shrimp hobby as it doesn’t steal away a lot of time yet able to achieve good results in breeding. Over time i was able to keep improving through the years and consistently do what i believe is great work.
Life is short to live in regrets because tomorrow is no guarantee. We can’t become fit if we go to the gym once a year, it is through small steps, small changes, small adjustment and doing it consistently that will eventually adds up to the goal.
i’ll close with this quote which i like from Roy Bennett “Maturity is when you stop complaining and making excuses in your life; you realize that everything that happens in life is a result of a previous choice you’ve made and start making new choices to change your life.
Hope this post is beneficial for those who are rethinking their setup and or going towards a different phase of shrimp breeding.
It is difficult to ignore the fact that the shrimp breeding journey can be quite daunting. Why so? Reason being is because there are many different methodology and processes to keep and breed shrimps. My opinion is that there isn’t one best way, there is only a better way.
Adding to the complexity of shrimps breeding are the external environment where knowledge are often seek, information gathered via the internet. With so many information, which one suit me the best? I do use one personal gauge to help me filter out the noises.
Look at the quality of shrimps by the person.
Yes a very simple with flaws definitely but effective way, because i believe how you do anything is how you do everything. The quality of shrimp continues on year after year, because ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle
That will help cut through the clutter of information and onto where better information is found.
Why are some breeders more successful?
Have we wondered why some breeders are more successful than others?
I will share my perspective on this and we can relate that some breeders shrimp are often a league above the rest, why? Is there a special methodology or anything? No. There isn’t. There is no dark secret on getting better shrimps.
Again i’m going to repeat the above sentence from the paragraph, “How you do anything, is how you do everything”.
An example:
Breeder A and Breeder B get similar shrimps from the same batch. Breeder A breeds them and didn’t really select, complains about quality of shrimp and poorness of genetics and after 2 years have not much results to show. Blames the seller for poor genetic shrimp, unable to achieve good results and stopped trying.
Breeder B on the other hand, started selecting and after 2 years, though couldn’t improve the line but had at least maintain the quality of the line, still don’t have much results to show. Feedback to the seller that he will buy another batch to try again. Seller was very touch by the determination of the breeder decided to net something better for the breeder to breed. He keeps on trying and journey was positive.
The outlook of two different breeders given the same circumstances makes a huge difference in the outcome. Breeder B didn’t quit and that is where the success is.
I have seen this time and time again, and it is also very interesting because over the years, breeder A don’t last quite long as breeder B in the hobby. The negativity and poor information shared by breeder A could have already spread like Covid.
– Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity – Dr. Rick Ridley
You can or you can’t, you are right
Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right – Henry Ford.
I have seen breeders who had set a goal for themselves and focusing solely on something that they would want to achieve and being successful. There are many good examples of breeders who don’t have very good stock shrimp to start with, but end up with excellent looking ones. Selective breeding is the end all be all. while the environment to get there has many ways, this is where the complexity/confusion comes about because if breeder A from the above example was sharing his information, while breeder B share his, there is a clash of notion.
Hence, it is very important and critical when gathering information, do ask questions and certainly look at the quality of the shrimp.
https://i0.wp.com/shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/PSX_20210809_001310-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=119202560benetayhttps://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.pngbenetay2021-08-11 14:53:342021-08-11 14:53:46How you do anything is how you do everything
If you like to try selective breeding using the cross back method this post is for you. There has been a lot on-going on my side but things will start settling down and i’ll be able to resume providing new blog post.
To recap what cross back is and does.
Cross back happens when the F1 female is use to cross back with the F0 Male. This way when the first shrimplet that comes out would be the Crossback 1 or CB1. Usually i will use the Female as the F1 cross with the F0 Male instead of the other way around. The reason for this so we have 1 fix variable to selectively breed.
As you continue to use CB1 female to cross back with F0 male again will result in CB2.
What it does with cross back in such a way is to increase the genetic similarity towards the male that was use to breed in this case F0.
This was the F0 male
After 2 back crosses this is the female that i have chosen to use for continuing the line. There is still a long way to go to improve the shell, the colors and such. The size is good at 2.5cm very big.
When we are in this stage, the F0 Male x BC1 Female will result in a higher % of trait similarity genetically to the F0 male.
F1
50
50
BC1
75
25
BC2
87.5
12.5
BC3
93.75
6.25
BC4
96.875
3.125
To prevent deform shrimps and also to keep a good line of shrimp require diligence in ensuring the shrimp do not over in breed. When you do see any of the above effects, the shrimp had already reached a very late stage of inbreeding. You can use that as a gauge if not you can consider injecting new blood/genetics whenever you can and the method of doing so is call outcrossing.
Outcrossing: The idea for outcrossing on the other hand is to inject new genome to the current shrimp which has been line bred for some time. The reason this need to be done is because when line breeding get too excessive, deform start showing, shrimps stop breeding, growth stagnant, etc hence it is important for the health of the line to occasionally introduce new blood. There is no hard and fast rule when to introduce the new genetic into the pool because different people get the shrimp at different generation. If the shrimp i have gotten is already line bred for 5-6 generations it will reach the deform point faster if the shrimp has been already outcross before. A reputable breeder will be able to provide high quality new generation of shrimps when they have a large number of tanks to prevent too frequent inbreeding.
Not all selective breeding projects are successful sometimes after a couple of years (Yes it takes this long), so having a few project running at the same time is recommended. In other words, you’ll need to have a few more tanks to select and try to see if it works.
I hope this post provided you some insights into breeding high quality shrimp.
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There must be sufficient grazing material for the shrimp to consume when you are away. Shrimps graze 24/7 and if you have a small tank without much surface area for biofilm to grow fast enough, it is risky. In addition if you have a lot of shrimp they can strip the biofilm in your tank in a day or 2. When shrimps start to go without sufficient biofilm it triggers cannibalisms, which means they will start preying on each other. This is detrimental if you are doing a selection process as your stock shrimp will be at risk. Hence, having a good source of grazing material not only is critical for a small tank, it enhances the probability of breeding as well.
How to use it?
Directions before using:
Soak the ball 3-6 days in RO Water and change the water daily
Pour the water used for soaking away, do not pour the soaking water back into the tank
place it in the tank, preferably in a feeding dish
use 1 ball per tank
General rule:
30L and above can use Lubao
30L and below can use Kallax ball
30L and below with a lot of shrimps i.e more than 20, can use lubao too (Soak 5-6 days)
If you have a big tank with less than 20 shrimps, there is really no need to use, but if you would like to use, the Kallax ball is more appropriate
if you have a heavily planted tank, there is actually no requirement of using the ball
if you are traveling on vacation, lubao or kallax ball is used to help provide additional grazing material on top of other grazing material such as leaves, moss etc. The ball do not replace food, when you come back from vacation/work, you’ll need to resume feeding regime.
Directions during using:
If you have a lot of shrimps, you will not see massive biofilm growth as shrimp has eaten them, means it’s good.
if you have lesser shrimp, you will see a lot of biofilm. If there is too much biofilm growth, you should consider using the Kallax ball than the lubao.
Directions during exchanging:
During replacement, use a net to take the ball out and quickly bag, seal and throw away the ball. When the ball is outside of the water, it will smell so quickly seal it and throw.
put in a new ball that has been soaked for 3-6 days.
Signs on removing:
When you experience cloudy water, remove the ball
Let the tank undergo a mini cycle as there isn’t sufficient beneficial bacteria
During the fermenting process to create biofilm, ammonia is release, hence a good cycled tank with beneficial bacteria will be able to convert the ammonia into nitrite and nitrate. Hence, if cloudy water is experience, remove the ball. A bacteria bloom is happening as there is now more food for the beneficial bacteria to feed and multiply. once clear, soak another new ball and put it in. this time it will be ok or use the kallax ball if you’re using the lubao initially.
Support
In doubt, always ask. I can be contacted via facebook messenger benetay or email which can be found in the contact section.
I believe in this “Each one, Teach one” so don’t be shy and contact me on how to use it.
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Recapping my goals for 2021 was to venture into Boa and really get into it deep and fast. I was fortunate because i have great support from Taiwan breeders particularly Hwa and also Skyfish whom have graciously supported my learning curve in it. With that i had great results thus far and the bred out is really amazing. Though few, however they’re of great quality and grading on the shrimplet. It is indeed the quality of shrimplet that matters and their shrimps have met that mark.
I would recommend if possible if you would like great shrimplets to consider getting shrimps direct from breeders to ensure the highest possible genetic pool.
With that i have also ventured into sharing more information on a weekly basis over the last 1 year. I have met many great friends along the way and certainly grew a lot in the shrimp knowledge with great interactions with you all.
It has been a wonderful 2021 and what is my goals for 2022?
2022
Don’t be afraid to try and venture because what could the worst be?
If you don’t fail, you are not even trying. I think today with all the hype about having great shrimps but people don’t share that to get there, there are a lot of setbacks. However, one can think that those are not setbacks but setup to propel you further. Failing is what make one stronger and better.
I personally have failed many times and i still continue to fail from time to time. There are people who keep pushing me down to get up, which i didn’t listen to those naysayers and run my race.
My goals for 2022 is simple:
Progress in the hobby by expanding and sharing
Share more knowledge through blogging and YouTube
The plan to get there:
Expand:
Expand 3x of current
Breed more shrimps
Share with more people and breeders overseas
Education:
Utilize YouTube format to share more information
continue to use blog as a delivery method
So that is my 2022 goals, simple and very broad but will continue to share along the way.
Now i have share with you my 2022 goals, what is yours?
https://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.png00benetayhttps://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.pngbenetay2022-01-05 18:43:002022-01-05 18:57:40What are your 2022 Goals : Progress!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
It is becoming difficult to ignore the fact that shrimplet survival is often less discussed because more often than not the shrimplets do survive in a tank. However, i also believe that in the course of their growing up stage, the fragile little one will be expose to elements that could put them at risk. Hence, i would like to share some of the tips in this post.
Hiding space
Sufficient hiding space is a critical piece of the puzzle and this is to alleviate cannibalism during molting. Shrimplets are small and when they molt multiple time to grow big, every molt has risk associated to it. Hence it is becoming difficult to ignore the fact that hiding space helps increase shrimplet survival.
Personally i like using natural plants to act as a natural hiding space and mosses are great in that. There are a lot of nooks and crevices for the shrimp to hide. There are certainly other kinds of decorative hiding space and as long as there are water circulating passing through them, i think they are fine to use.
Many a times a natural hiding space is also a food source which means it could double up like a grazing material and hide out. However, i prefer to keep this separated for the purpose that every placement have a primary purpose. For example Soil primary purpose is to buffer the water, filtration to maintain high quality water and beneficial bacterial, etc.
Hiding space offer a safe haven for shrimplet to grow up to a certain size before the risk of cannibalism is greatly reduced.
Grazing material
Grazing material is a necessity and i learn that the hard way because shrimplets are not able to compete with adult shrimp on daily feed. Even if the shrimplet goes all out and compete they may get injure during the process causing adult shrimp to immediately turn their attention to the shrimplet.
Having sufficient biofilm in the tank will encourage shrimplets to graze 24/7 so they can reduce the dependency of competition of food. Grazing material comes in all form like leaves, cholla wood and of cause The Original Lubao.
Daily Feed
It is also important to have a daily feed that is able to break down over time to provide shrimplet a chance to consume the daily feed long after the adults had their fill. There are plenty of food out there and i have tried a lot of them and some are really good and if it works for you stick with it. For my personal success i stick with using Hwa version 1 feed as it has a good draw factor plus the side of the pad breaks down into smaller pieces but the core of it remains hard for adults to pick on.
Other important aspect
I have experience that when there are shrimplets in the tank, adding new active soil is a big no no for me, the sudden ammonia spike when the soil releases is detrimental to very small shrimplet that are within 7-14 days after they are born. This is relative as sometimes we are unsure of how old the shrimplets are but in general i would advise that we do not add new soil to a tank that is establish and have small shrimplets all around.
Lastly, i would encourage to remove all shrimplet to another tank which is a grow up tank. This will ensure the highest survival rate of shrimplet however the points listed above like hiding space, adding the lubao and having good filtration still applies.
Why do we need grow up tank? There are quite a lot of benefits of a grow up tank and if you are like me is passionate about selective breeding, than a grow up tank is encouraged.
I was struggling in the beginning when i had to give up tank space for a grow up tank. However, once i started the selective process and using the grow up tank it became clear to me that there are a lot of benefits to it.
Benefits of Grow Up tank
I think firstly the most importance aspect of having a grow up tank is the shrimplets certainly have a higher survival rate.
Having a higher survival rate is understood from the following:
Reduce cannibalisms by adults during molting
Lesser competition of daily feed and grazing material
It is also important to note that shrimplet as small as 0.8-1cm will start mating and if you are selective breeding, this is not ideal. If an un-desirable male mates with the stock females in the main tank, this will means that the selection process is halted.
That is also one key element that having a grow up tank is critical.
Grow up faster
I learnt and actually also see from my observation that shrimplet that have their own tank grow up much faster than those who are together with their parents. This could be contributed by many factors such as availability of space and food.
In addition, i learn that to trigger quicker molting, perform a much higher frequency of water change such as every 3-4 days instead of the weekly routine. This helps trigger the shrimplets to molt faster and grow.
The faster the shrimplet grows up the quicker you can start selecting and kickstart the next generation of shrimp breeding by crossing back.
Taken together
With these in mind, it is important that having a grow up tank is important. They will have their own space, food and grazing material. Hence, for my own breeding tanks and grow up tank, i do see a significant increase in shrimplet survivability and also faster growth rate.
If you do not have the space to have a grow up tank, my recommendation is that we can re-think the number of types you would like to keep and breed. This will then allow you more time and space to focus on the ones you really like to breed.
https://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.png00benetayhttps://shrimpsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/shrimp2-1-300x300.pngbenetay2021-12-01 20:39:462021-12-27 22:20:37Shrimplets Care and Survival Rate
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.
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!
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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.
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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.
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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