Tips for Shrimp Keeping
Why the difference
This post shares a bit more information from this blog post where i have shared the difference between Main and Secondary line shrimps. After you have read this, you can continue to read the additional post here. One of the reasons for having this post is because i did a post in Facebook asking breeders to distinguish the difference between secondary and main line. The one on the left is secondary line and the one on the right is main line. There are a few characteristic differences visually however if i would make it more difficult by selecting only the good ones for the secondary line, the differences can be very small and almost impossible to tell visually. It was intended to leave the secondary line without selection if not it will be far too difficult to discern the difference. However, what i’m driving at is when we have a side by side comparison, we can then tell there are some difference. What happens if most of the time the shrimps are being selected to be sold without reference or guidance and most time without even telling you if they’re main or secondary line? This is a secondary line RSD Taking a step back and looking at a broader picture, if most of the shrimp sold are secondary line, wouldn’t that create ‘secondary’ line as a the benchmark for many since there isn’t widely available main line shrimps being sold or the prices are very high? Then wouldn’t that also means most of the shrimps sent for competition are secondary line? Is there anything wrong with secondary line? I think no but i believe we need to clearly set the standard where breeders are aware of secondary line vs main line and when everyone says a particular shrimp is the “Benchmark” doesn’t make it a “main line” The catch here is because far too many shrimps are being sold with unknown crosses diluting the genetic pool of what once was a stable line. For example the Red Stardust secondary line, the whole idea here is to massively produce to cater to the market at an acceptable price point. For Main line, they do not breed as readily as secondary line due to selective breeding.
What does it mean
To an untrained eye it is almost impossible to discern the difference, only when you experience it, breed them and see them would provide a rough idea of the minute difference.
When sending shrimps for competition, are they then mostly secondary line? Honestly it doesn’t matter because competition and contest is for show casing the work of the breeder. What should be taken into consideration is to use the outcome of a competition to then highlight that the shrimp is a main line, which then go against the grain of selective breeding. In other words, if a breeder is able to share if their line is main or secondary will be added value to other breeders.
Then the question is, how would one know if they have got secondary or main line shrimps? The long and short of it is it depends on the breeder they got from and traceability.
How do we go about this?
A prelude to what is coming in 2024, instead of looking at the shrimp to tell the difference, we would certify breeders who have the ability to share such knowledge and show case their work on main and secondary line as one of the many criterias of getting certified.
What this means?
Instead of certifying shrimps the way grading works, we will start having certification for breeders. This idea stems from the fish scene where there are many breeders who have attain Master Breeder status. However, for the shrimp side, there are no Governing body to actually certify this. In 2024, this will change and as we get nearer to the release of the certification process which we have already robustly define the scope and what it entails, Shrimp Sanctuary will start certifying breeders globally who meet the criteria. To make the criteria a pathway for breeders to attain and learn as they grow, it will take up to 10 years for any breeder to look forward. It provides a step by step approach to gain knowledge and experience. The criteria is not for the faint of heart and for breeders who want a guided path to walkthrough and experience it in a holistic manner.
Why do it?
This will help connect new breeders to gain knowledge from certified breeders, and as it stands the whole notion of building breeders up is then completed. The certified breeders will guide new breeders attain their next level and share information like how we share information widely here. The catch is it’s not an easy path to attain certification, it requires grit and determination not forgetting consistency and discipline. This will then setup a platform for breeders globally to have someone to turn to should there be a need. Today there are no differentiation or pathways to help breeders build credibility, and with the certification process helps to build credibility within the shrimp industry. It also helps breeders know where they stand in terms of shrimp breeding and helps position themselves in the industry. It increases integrity of the breeders globally to ensure more committed shrimp breeders stays within the hobby.
What in it for me?
There are multiple levels in the certification process, and each level attain will provide you with the needed skills and experience to go to the next level. Ultimately you drive the pace of certification, but a minimum 10 years to attain the highest level.
There will also be a certificate provided by us as it will be Globally recognised within the Shrimp industry.
Till then, we will keep refining it and release it in 2024.
Shrimp Contest 2023 North America
Judging
It truly is my honor to be part of the judging committee for the North America Shrimp Contest 2023 held in North Carolina. It took me a grueling 18 hours direct flight from Singapore to Newark New York Airport before having a lay over of 3 hours for the next flight around 2 hours to North Carolina. Having travel so far, it is indeed something i was looking forward to meeting the judges, panels and most importantly the breeders that i finally put a face to the name that i was talking online.
It is interesting to note the fact this year contest has lesser tanks but of quality entry. This blog post however is not to discuss about the contest but to discuss on what entails a competition grade shrimp.
For those who are interested to learn more about shrimps prior to joining a contest, these are some tips for you.
First Place Black Ninja
In the beginning we needed to get entries rolling in and that is where we entered a couple of entries.
As i was part of the jury i couldn’t judge this category so that means i wouldn’t be able to give high scores to myself! That is a common rule in the committee that we will not be able to judge for those categories we entered.
i wanted to take this opportunity to highlight here even fundamental shrimps such as the black ninja or black/red crystal category, can still be entered into the contest and showcase your selective breeding methodology.
Over here we can look at the very first important aspects to grading:
Color:
These pictures were taken by a breeder in the US from Kevin Sheppard. As you can see the colors of the black ninja even under intense lighting which is hung no further than 15cm from the top.
Black ninja are generally fairly translucent as their color pigmentations are often not very densely structured. It get worst as they age and may go into different shades such as brownish, red, transparent. To get to a full jet black with size, may take some time and a few tanks to keep selecting. what is important however is starting with a good source, as this will save you a few years.
Colors on legs, and other areas, are they transparent or with colors?
These are some of the areas where we will award additional points if they have them. So to have good colors at a fairly large size will give you more points.
Next in my opinion is about the patterns or Size, for this shrimp, the black ninja has a white mask on the head face area and are they the same throughout. These are some of the areas we look at when we are judging.
Overall Appearance
usually here is more of a homogeneity where we want to have the same size of shrimps form/pattern to denote stability of the shrimp. Also we look at the size ratio in the group. Sometimes over here, we do also look at how difficult is it to attain such a shrimp.
For example:
Black ninja is a reverse cross of the 4 banded PBL, it goes to black ninja and then finally we select it to make it totally black. In other words, when we select from 4 band to Black ninja, we must ensure quality ones as the further down we select it will help. In other words, if we have poor quality with lots of transparency and hoping to select it better in future will add more years to the long process.
- 4 band to Black Ninja one stripe choose the best you can to select next
- Black ninja one stripe to less white choose the best
- Black ninja less spot to full black choose the best
- In breed black and black and select the best.
From this to
this and from this
This
So from here we continue to select for quality of the shrimp and become more stringent in the process of selection.
How difficult is it to arrive at this stage? After i have done it, it doesn’t feel that difficult just need to have good stock, time, an eye for detail and patience.
Level of difficulty:
Depending on the judges experience, and many have difference experiences based on their learning curve. Difficulty of breeding and degree of innovation is different things but similar direction, because the more difficult it is to achieve, the higher the degree of innovation.
Also this is relatively subjective in the sense that i may feel it is difficult based on my experience but may be easy to you. Hence it is important for judges to have a wide range of experience globally and with an eye for details, the quality of the results will be great.
Activity/Health of shrimps:
How are the shrimps looking good? Here we look at individual shrimps and see if there are any deformation or potential deformity that may arise. Is the head to body ratio in accordance to the 1:3 ratio.
How active the shrimps are within the tank and are they looking stress etc? In the next section i’ll share more about breeding for competition.
Breeding for competition
In this section i would not be discussing about selective breeding which i have touched on numerous time on my blog and youtube. However what is important here is that we breed the shrimps with vigor.
Vigor:
It means that we shouldn’t be pampering our shrimps too much yet we give them the care needed to look good and survive well. The fittest survive. Why i say that, is because when we bag our shrimps for competition, the committee will put the shrimps into the tank which has a different tank water than the ones they were being at. So by ensuring the shrimps are strong and rigorous, they’ll need to be kept in such a way that they can withstand a range of parameters.
i did mention this in one of my youtube above absolute vs range. If we are able to keep them in a stable environment but do not chase for an absolute pH or TDS or anything, then as long as they survive well in that range it will give them ad edge over others.
Shrimps generally can survive well between 2-6 GH. Instead of adjusting your GH always so often, a stable tank is more important than chasing a value.
De-vein:
This process is widely known in the fish industry where they stop feeding a day or 2 before the packing process. The shrimps are then net out to an area where they will start to de-vein. This will ensure the shrimps are of great condition when packed and shipped.
Bags:
Breather bags, poly bags, any bags so as long they’re of high quality and process of preparing the shrimps and packing them are done well, they will survive for a long time in the bag. We normally ship with ice pack, due to the heat in Singapore.
What if you don’t do it:
We have seen many shrimp die even before we can judge them or they do not fare as well, also there are various reasons to it, like red shrimps generally have their colors faded during shipping, hence it is important to breed with higher intensity of color to offset some of these small adjustments. For example a darker shade of red will look lighter during stress, but a light shade of red will turn transparent. Remember that shrimp colors are by pigmentation very fine spots, so the more intense the pigmentation or density to size ratio the fuller the color.
Meeting new people:
Of cause all events highlight is really to meet with new breeders and those who are very passionate about the hobby. It is surprising to know that while we are divided far from each other, we share the same passion nevertheless.
Behavioral of Shrimplets
Shrimplet survival
If you are wondering if shrimplet are getting sufficient food after they are born, you are right to have that question because like all living things, survival is instinct.
All shrimplet are born with the instinct to survival and to be as close to food and shelter as the fundamental elements of survival. It is by no coincidence that shrimplets especially those that are relatively young within 14 days of being born.
This observation can be seen here where the shrimplet are all congregating at one particular spot in the tank. While there are some in other areas of the tank but it is very evident that most of them are near the vicinity of the kallax ball within the ceramic/terracotta dish.
In the video below, it becomes very clear that majority of shrimplet have congregate in that area. There are some found at the moss area but the most are on the feeding dish where it’s close to the food source. As shrimplets are small they thrive readily on available biofilm and kallax ball helps with that production of biofilm which the shrimplet can directly benefit.
While using the kallax ball it is important to note that it has to be soak 3 days prior to using and the effect will last up to a month, sometimes longer.
Biofilm
Are all biofilm create equal? The long and short of it is no they’re not create equal. The content to create the biofilm makes a difference in the quality of biofilm. If you have tried putting driftwood into a new tank you’ll realize there are some slimy white cotton thing appearing. Those are biofilm, however created out of the wood, which we believe have no direct benefit.
For our Kallax ball/ Kallax plus and lubao are carefully formulated and individually hand packed myself to ensure the goodness reaches your shrimp in good order.
The quality of this can be seen by various breeders around the world who have learn how to use it to their benefit.
While we understand there are quite a bit of competition in the market but we trust that the Original will provide the best biofilm for your prized shrimp.
Trust you have learn something from this article and appreciate the support once again. It has been a great journey sharing information with all of you and those who are keen in learning how to breed quality shrimps.
Ammonia is the energy source for Beneficial Bacteria
Which is which?
In one of my Youtube videos i was talking about Ammonia reading and being able to measure that. However, what should we do with the readings?
In other words, we may know from a cycling process that ammonia is present in the water column and throughout the cycle, there will be a peak in Ammonia. When there is beneficial bacteria to convert the ammonia that is in the water column, it will then be converted to Nitrite and eventually to Nitrate.
The beneficial bacteria is the catalyst to convert the harmful ammonia to less harmful nitrite and eventually to nitrate.
While we can measure the ammonia reading, we can’t really measure beneficial bacteria, or can we? We are able to know if a tank is colonized with beneficial bacteria by measuring Ammonia. If Ammonia reading is 0 then we can safely “assume” there is beneficial bacteria present.
While we are not able to measure the number of beneficial bacteria in the tank we can however measure the surface area or Meter square available in the tank surface for bacteria colonization.
Porosity
We can consider measuring porosity of filter media such as pads/substrat/ media/ etc to give an indication of how much surface area is potentially available for beneficial bacteria to colonize.
Many manufacturer market their product based on “Great Surface Area” but how great is great?
Hence to get an indication of what surface area are in filter media and sponges:
| m2/L | |
| Powerhouse S Soft | 1620 |
| Powerhouse M Soft | 1030 |
| Powerhouse L Soft | 800 |
| Poret Sponge 10ppi | 899 m2/m3 |
| Seachem Matrix bio | 700 |
| Biohome Ultimate | 680 |
| Eheim Substat pro | 450 |
| Sera Siporax | 270 |
While this post is not about which media is better for which purpose, as this can be found in other online information.
The table provides an indication of how much potential growth of beneficial bacteria at a given ammonia level.
Why does it matter
There are many ways to get to Rome and what i’m trying to share in this post is about ammonia vs beneficial bacteria.
Do you have sufficient beneficial bacteria to shorten the duration of an ammonia spike. There are many causes of ammonia spike, it can be a dead shrimp, can be an over dose of bacteria products and other things. So it is not the ammonia spike that is scary but the duration of the spike that should be looked into.
Reason being is that if the tank have insufficient beneficial bacteria than the ammonia spike will be rather long in duration until the current beneficial bacteria have multiply to cope up with the given ammonia before the spike goes back down.
In other words, it doesn’t mean having a higher porosity filter would mean higher beneficial bacteria count, but it does mean that the potential for higher beneficial bacteria count is possible.
For example if you are using 1600 m2/L filter media vs 400 m2/L both will have beneficial bacteria of the same level if the ammonia level is kept the same. However, as we all know that shrimp breed and with more shrimplet the colony grow giving rise to higher ammonia. If there is insufficient space for more beneficial bacteria to grow than the tank will have hit it’s max capacity.
On the other hand if the ammonia level continue to rise due to more bioload, on the 1600 m2/L filter media, it will then continue to colonize new beneficial bacteria to upkeep with the ammonia changes.
Technically while we measure ammonia, we should also measure the duration of such a spike because the longer the spike the more damage it will do. Now with porosity given in another light, you can now look at why large area of sponge like HMF are working so well because of the large surface area.
If you are a filter media person, you can consider using filter media of good porosity to ensure high surface area. While they do clog up eventually, it is noted that a 10% change in filter media in 6-12 months can be considered to ensure new beneficial bacteria get colonize as sometimes the soil and dirt get stuck in the pores of the filter media rendering them less efficient.
With the thoughts behind porosity vs ammonia, it is important to discern the difference and that ‘getting by’ is ok but having an abundance will be beneficial in the long term. In other words, a larger potential area for beneficial bacteria to colonize is advantageous as you get into the more tricky shrimps.
Ammonia is your best friend
Ammonia is your best friend in the aquarium because they are the food source for beneficial bacteria to colonize and continue to colonize. The higher the ammonia source the higher the POTENTIAL the growth of beneficial bacteria depending on the surface area. If there is very low surface area such as using 1L of soil for 100L as filter media, than the beneficial bacteria will be much lesser compare to the same with a large surface filter media.
We can prevent ammonia spike by having good water parameters both hard and soft value. Also we can reduce possibility of ammonia spike by not adding too many products into the tank to ‘mix’ it up. The lesser we add, the better and more stable it will be. The more products you add, the less likely you will know what is causing the trouble.
While there are many products on the market, it is important to discern the difference and once the tank is stable, i only use a product to enhance shrimp gut health which is optional.
- Natto bacteria for probiotic health
other than that, i personally do not add nitrifying bacteria or other things after every water change. The only thing i would add is Natto bacteria occasionally for good gut health.
Can read more here regarding no requirement for nitrifying bacteria after every WC: https://www.tfhmagazine.com/articles/freshwater/nitrifying-bacteria
Isn’t Soil Porous too?
Yes the active soil we use for example Tropica and ADA soil are porous in nature since they’re clay and soil but the porosity of the soil if use in large quantity per L of water such as 1L of soil per 16L of water and having it up to 100L of water in the tank would house quite a lot of soil which then i believe can get away from having filter media.
However, any lesser soil would generally mean the porosity vs ammonia may be insufficient to begin with. Hence, it is important to note that if soil is use as a filter media it should also be considered the amount of soil use to per L of water. A general rule is the tank have to be at least 100L with 80L being filled with water. Meaning 1L of soil to 16L of water or 5L of soil. That is then sufficient as a media and buffering.
If there are lesser porosity or surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonize, the cycle will take a long time hence using soil solely for the tank as filtration and in small quantity will not be beneficial to the entire ecosystem.
Probably can get away with the more hardy shrimps but as we advance to more challenging type, every single detail matters.
Getting it right
Setting up a breeding tank
Tank size: If you have a 20L/40L or bigger tank, it is important that you cycle the tank a full 40 days based on nitrogen cycle. A bigger tank with higher water volume will have more stable water parameters, the margin of error you are allowed to make is also bigger.
Soil: Now you have got your tank, what soil do i recommend? I still recommend ADA but i know there are other soil out there which can be suitable as well. For example Tropica is another great example of soil that can be use. As long the soil is active and has the capability to lower pH and keep the water soft with consistent buffering throughout the soil life can be considered.
Filtration: Sponge filter, hang on, external cannister, UGF, Uplift, etc. There are a ton of filtration out there that does the one thing: Filtration. Depending on how much time and budget you have, this is certainly the more important aspect in my opinion. Water parameters is the utmost important element in shrimp keeping/breeding and this affect directly to our shrimp. If you have a lot of tanks and want to keep cost down like how Taiwan breeders are doing than 2 unit of dual sponge filter per 100L tank is recommended. If you have a smaller tank and wish to put 2 x dual sponge filter, it is also possible. If you have a slightly higher budget and wish to provide more filtration, the matten filtration and external cannister is a good option. I’m a filter media person ever since i started aquarium hobby 19 years ago. So for my setup, i use a specialize Totto filter which i have mentioned in some of my post, it has the ability to remove nitrate as well. Yes Nitrate. The entire process from breaking down ammonia to nitrite and then onwards to Nitrate and eventually release as Nitrogen into the water column and dissipated. I enjoy having the ability to trust the system and view my shrimp given my very busy schedule, hence i opt for this option. I have tried many types of filter but this method suit my schedule the best. If i have slightly more time i would gone for sponge filter because they are really inexpensive and you have to just wash them in tank water once a month or more depending on how clog up it gets. So ask yourself how much time are you willing to allocate for maintaining the tanks, then it will give you an indication what kind of filter you can use. So far the better filter i have tried are uplift, sponge, cannister, hang on back, permanent UGF (not box) are possible ones.
Keeping it simple
Keeping things simple and focus time on selective breeding than water changes. Water changes need to be done but can be done semi automatically.
While everything can be set the same but the outcome of the cycled tank is going to be different. Every tank is different.
Plants: In one of my post i have mentioned about the types of plants you can use. I would give a summary here that any aquatic plants are suitable however you have to ensure it is contain and not over grown as this is a shrimp tank vs a planted tank. A planted tank has the focus on the plants with shrimp as one of the inhabitants whereas a shrimp tank has focus on the shrimp and plants as inhabitants. I like a lot of aquatic plants and hence i setup planted tank to satisfy my love for plants. For my shrimp tanks, i usually use Taiwan moss and plants such as echinodorus, crypto or buceps. The key to all these is they don’t grow too crazily over time unlike many stem plants that require weekly trimming. We don’t want to be dipping our hands into the tank every few days. Floating plants are fine too to absorb excess nitrate.
Bacteria: Startup bacteria is often sold as to help speed up the nitrogen cycle, however there are a myriad different type of bacteria in the market. While i’m an old school aquarist, i still stick to the very traditional free method of cycling it 40 days. While i have easy access to beneficial bacteria but still i prefer to ensure i don’t speed up things that shouldn’t be sped up. You have a lifetime ahead of you to breed the shrimps well, 40 days in a grand scheme of things is not too long. Understanding the nitrogen cycle is simply to get the beneficial bacteria ready to convert ammonia to nitrite into nitrate.
Cycling: I’ll still put here a minimum of 40 days cycling time, there are ways to improve the speed of the cycling time however the key to stable water parameters is to start the note on the right foot.
Airstone: What? Yes i actually like placing an airstone either to the outlet of the filter to introduce more agitation to the surface thus having a higher O2 exchange. The reason for this is more true for countries where we use cooling methods to cool down the tank. When temperature rises, ammonia become highly dangerous and thus consuming Oxygen, that is also why when there is an ammonia spike fishes gasp for air at the surface, shrimp doesn’t really do that (no indication). This is to help prolong the time for you to diagnose what the issue is (faulty chiller, dead shrimp that was concealed resulting in an ammonia spike, etc. Airstone are inexpensive and last a long time so drop one into every tank can be beneficial.
Food: A newly setup tank will have quite a lot of ‘food’ biofilm in the tank hence there is really not much you need to feed them after the first introduction. However, if you are going to introduce a lot of shrimp (50-100), they can strip off the biofilm in a matter of a day or 2. A good staple food i use is Hwa version 1 which is highly recommended as my main feed. It helps stressed shrimp to get to the food and consume as it has a strong drawing power. While the drawing power is important but more importantly the ingredients are all rounded. When there are a lot of shrimp, it becomes critical to introduce lubao as a grazing material as it has a long time duration in the tank up to 1-2 months per ball (i know some hobbyist use it even longer with no adverse effect – recommended still 1-2 months max). So in this section we listed 2 important word: Drawing power and Time Duration. Whenever i categorize the food and give ratings, i usually use these 2 as a basis for my understanding. Like for example, Moss is a very good ‘food’ as it harbors microorganism and also biofilm and time duration is endless. However the quantity it produces is fairly low. Indian Almond leaf is also another very good one, high creation of biofilm, medium time duration. While you can use a combination of those grazing material it is important to get that checklist tick.
Shrimp Breeding Element 2: Breed
Breeding shrimp (Food/Biofilm)
There are a lot of factors influencing the shrimp ability to breed from water parameter to food to shrimp genetics. However, today i would like to touch on a fairly common topic on Shrimp Food. The first question i get asked frequently is how often should i feed my shrimps? If you have a lot of shrimps like 20 or more, you might want to consider a daily staple feed fed twice daily and also a grazing material. Grazing material such as Lubao, Indian Almond leaves, Alder cone, cholla are some good examples.
The reason to feed them twice is so all your shrimps are fed and the female will ‘Think” that the tank have sufficient food to support their next generation. The whole idea is to feed lesser quantity but high frequency. So twice is good and if you can do 3 times it works as well.
If you feed in the morning and the shrimps are unable to finish it within 4 hours, then you’re not required to feed the second time in the evening Thats my general rule of thumb, Remove the food by then or if you have ramshorn snail, they will help with scavenging and foraging on the shrimp food. If the shrimps are not feeding, it could be there are still plenty of biofilm in the tank but do watch out if the shrimps are looking lethargic and not feeding.
A grazing material aids in building up biofilm for shrimps to consume between meals. Think of it like a snack and a good grazing material will be the food source between feeds.
There is a wide range of food in the market and i think we are spoiled for choice and which one is good for my shrimps? Personally i like using a good staple food and that is Hwa V1.
Staple Food
- Basically shrimps are not that fussy eater, most of the staple food sold in aquarium shops today are basically ok to feed your shrimp. I personally prefer keeping things simple and to feed only 1 type of staple food but a variety of grazing material is very crucial.
- I’m using Hwa Version 1 Shrimp food pad, this food is formulated with carefully selected ingredients to provide shrimp with all their requirements.
- if you are using some shrimp food which you think they’re good for your shrimp, good! There is really no need to change.
- Occasionally i feed blanched spinach, they’re fairly good especially blanched spinach. if i’m feeling rich, i’ll order a pack of organic spinach and take out one serving for the shrimp while i consume the rest as a salad.
Grazing material
Now here we get serious, grazing material in my opinion is equally important to daily feed. The amount of surface area for creating biofilm is important as it mimics the natural environment where Shrimps feed on biofilm.
Lubao, Indian Almond leaves and moss are three very popular and recommended grazing material. Alder cone and Cholla are not native to at least this part of the world, so i defer that information to those who have them. For Indian Almond leaves and Lubao we have very easy access to them hence we use them readily. I really like using Lubao because it is technically a microoganism food that produces food for cultivating microorganism for the shrimp to feed on and also biofilm. Indian almond leaves without going too deep into this topic has antibacteria properties, produces biofilm and are well liked by most shrimp. Grazing material is important because shrimp feed constantly and if there are not enough biofilm in the tank and daily feed is not consistent, the shrimps will not breed. They will start cannibalizing during molting. Hence, it is highly critical to have grazing material available.
A living grazing material that works very well is moss. Moss harbour a lot of microorganism which allow adults and shrimplets to graze on. Moss also provide cover for berried shrimp and shrimplets however it is also important not to over crowd the tank with moss because if it get too dense, some of the berried female may get stuck in there and die. Hence, always thin out the moss to a small bunch the size of your hand
Male to Female Ratio
Male to Female Ratio:
There are simply too many males in the tank causing a higher probability of females being harass and eventually succumbing to death. This is because too many males will try to mount onto the female shrimp which during the process might injure it as the shell is very soft after molting. It does not really happen to males because when male shrimp molt they do not emit the pheromones like female do. So chances are the male will be left alone for the shell to harden after molting.
A good ratio to consider:
- 2M 8F
- 3M 7F
- i personally like to use 1-2M to 15-20F
Deep dive
First and most critical step in the 4 guiding principles
Keeping shrimps alive, what so difficult about it? In a very broad stroke it is actually fairly simple and straightforward. However, there have been many methods to keep shrimps alive, some easier than others and eventually it is people who made a simple linear keeping more difficult.
While the building blocks of shrimp keeping such as water parameters (soft and hard), biofilm, source etc helps prop up the success rate of keeping shrimps alive, but because there are many possibilities in between where the norm is deviated.
This is where the complexity starts.
Complexity
Where does the complexity starts? It all start with adding more things than we should and also looking at short term/low unproven methods adds up to the equation.
Soil:
Here we talk about using active soil which have the capability to alter the pH and KH of the water parameters, there are certainly a lot of soil in the market. Generally, active soil with trusted brands are slightly more costly and normally most active soil react similarly. All active soil releases Ammonia, however, we may know the level of release, we don’t normally know how long it last as it differs batch to batch.
For me it’ is rather straightforward and it is inexpensive for us in Singapore to get ADA soil because of the nature of competition, prices are often kept low.
There are repackaged type but would recommend to purchase a 3L or 9L original bag rather than any repackage type, who knows what they are in there.
Filtration:
There is a myriad of filters on the market, there isn’t one best filter as everyone have their own budget to get it through. To give a bit of a background of filtration and why are some of the larger scale operation have to use simple filtration vs why hobbyist are doing things differently.
Large scale operation usually for breeding purposes have north of 50 tanks and some having 800-1000 tanks in a couple of facility which is why expensive filtration cannot be utilize. It doesn’t make business sense. So the most efficient filtration in such setup is sponge filter.
Then we have the Lift filter (HMF) with sponge on the side which essentially is air driven. This is by far the sponges be it dual or lift are the most economical and have great biological filtration.
In addition, there is also non-box UGF filtration within the tank itself and has been also quite well accepted however regular maintenance is required for that to happen.
i’m also aware that there are renowned Taiwan breeders large scale using external cannister filter which is high cost but overall does a very good filtration system for the tank.
Hobbyist on the other hand with more budget to spend can opt for above the top filtration to get additional benefits such as external filters, hang on filters and motor driven ones.
Key: Filtration is key to keeping shrimps alive as it is to clean the water and provide a safe haven for them. Providing beneficial bacteria to turn harmful ammonia to less harmful nitrate.
If you are looking for a budget filter, just go with Sponge or HMF, i think that will be in my opinion among the better ones. This decision here does however impact the later part of the guiding principle. So if you want to be successful later on to breed great looking shrimps, this right here is key. If not you will get stuck at step 2-3 and can’t progress to step 4
Personally for my own collection, they are run with Totto filter so it helps remove Nitrate as well which means fewer water change even on higher bioload. However, a good filtration does not replace water changes.
Reminerizer:
A general rule here 3GH per 90TDS. Any deviation from it, may result in higher than required TDS which will then create issues with molting. Again yet another key component.
Food:
High Draw factor: food that shrimp goes towards and having a couple of food type is sufficient and not to add to the complexity. As food decompose in the tank and having too many types of food becomes difficult to pinpoint the issue later on.
Biofilm:
This is important for later stage 2-4 and if in absence of this, most will get stuck at level 3 (selective breeding).
Bacteria:
As beneficial bacteria is important for good water parameters, an optional top up of bacteria products to replace it can be considered. This should be used in older tank when the ammonia source is depleted from the soil and beneficial bacteria are not reproducing (how do we know, it’s unmeasurable – hence it’s a soft value). There are bacteria products that are of natural elements such as bacteria with composition of bacillus subtilis var. natto.
Keeping things Simple
Once you get the basic right, the chances of shrimp survival will be much higher.
- Thin soil (1cm) laid in the tank as i have move away from UGF. Reason for doing that is because the time needed to reset a UGF setup takes a much longer time. Resetting a tank with thin soil setup only takes 30 mins per tank.
- Feed a good staple food and supplement with a reliable grazing material
- weekly water change using RO water
- Every few months i’ll give the Totto filter a wash and change 10% of the filter media to allow new colonization of beneficial bacteria
With that, even with the busiest schedule i’m able to at least still keep the hobby going. So for those out there who are feeling that you don’t have time to continue on this hobby, i would urge you to try another process that will suit you rather than being slave to the hobby. The product/process you use will determine how much time you need in the hobby to keep it going. There are methods/products that lengthen the time required for maintenance so that you be able to allocate lesser time on it and spend more time on enjoying the hobby.
Signs, Internal, External
Looking out for signs
Basically there are 4 signs you should look out for to give you a sense if the shrimps are still actively feeding or hiding from stress and shock.
If the shrimps are hiding constantly it means the shrimp is in stress. Usually cause either by internal or external factors.
When they’re not actively feeding due to hiding, then it is a telltale sign something is amiss and need to be rectified.
In addition, if they are not breeding it could mean somewhere there are deterrence to that. Lastly if there were cases of fail molt, it is best to keep observing.
Internal
This is as simple as it get, why are my shrimp dying? What are the main causes of shrimp death?
- Water Parameters
- This is the first reason that your shrimps are dying by the numbers – 1-2 per day or weekly. Why is water parameters the number 1 reason for shrimp death? The old adage goes like this, if you want to keep good quality shrimp, first learn how to keep good water parameters. If your tanks have good water parameters, everything else will fall in place.
- I have in my other post talk about water parameters and my water parameters recommendation.
- Too little or too much water change
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- 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
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- Itchy hand syndrome
- There is no need to add bone meal, Cutterbone, decorative item, tons of plants, feeding excessively, adding wood, adding rock, adding any other thing other than reminerizer during WC
- Mixing source A,B,C,D shrimp in 1 tank – stick to your trusted source
- Putting your hand in there every few hours to move decorative item around.
- Feeding more than twice a day – if you have a lot of shrimp
- Your feed should be altered to the number of shrimps and should consume all of the feed within 2-3 hours. If not, cut the feed to a smaller portion and feed. if not, consider adding more shrimp.
- Adding new soil in large quantity inside an established tank, tried that – adult shrimps does ok, shrimplets die.
- Insufficient biofilm and too high male:female ratio
- When there are insufficient biofilm and with a high male to female ratio increases cannibalisms very significantly which causes female to die.
External Factors
External factors such as :
Transportation and packing:
This is important as when the shrimps are transported it is a stressful event with the water swirling around. A good packing method is required to reduce the stress of shrimp. Inverted double bag will be good.
Temperatures:
Large swing in temperature upwards during heat wave of sudden day high above 28 degrees Celsius is dangerous. The heat stress can impact the shrimps and cause issue a few days later.
Shrimp like all living things die
All living things die – we like it or not. There is no way we can keep all 100% of our shrimp alive and this is esp. true if they’re genetically weak. For example i haven’t experience a PRL die for a long time but occasionally i still get a selectively line bred shrimp dead (it’s part and parcel of shrimp keeping)
